Hi,
Do any of you have experience hunting with a crossbow? How much of an advantage would you rate it as? Some people believe it is waaaay too easy, whilst many websites argue it is nearly the same thing...By the way, wouldn't a crossbow kill slower since the bolt doesn't have blades like a field point? or can those arrows be used in a crossbow too?

Ok, a crossbow, ballistically does not have any advantage over any compound bow.

The only advantage is that for those less acquainted with archery it is easier to point and shoot.

The bolts can use any type of broadhead you desire, they are have the same thread as most (bow)arrows, the shafts of which are often used to make xbow bolts.

I have hunted with 2 crossbows, a Barnett Rhino and a Horton hunter, both 150lb draw.

It is certainly not waayyy toooooo eeeeeeeeeeeseeeeey to hunt with a crossbow.

I feel that the maximum range is somewhat less than that of a 70lb compound, limiting my shot to 20m max, preferebly 10 to 15meters.
Further out one problem I have found, especially with deer is that they can jump the string quite easily.

It is not easy to hunt with any weapong if you're planning on getting to 15m of the beast. When it comes to shooting, a crossbow can be easier to shoot, but a seasoned archer wouldn't say it is "hard" to shoot a bow either.

I have target shot a cross bow very briefly. They are heavy and very noisy so I am sticking to my compound. I saw no real advantage.

I killed a deer this last season with a recurve crossbow set at 150#. I feel the range, and power is less than with my cambow at 70#. The bolt didn't pass through the animal (the arrow was hanging by the vanes)

I can't say if it is something I percieve due to my own experiences, but I get the feeling that crossbows may have a little more "umph" at very short ranges.
I have had a bolt enter a smallish boar on a frontal angle and exit completly from the opposite thigh, continuing it's flight into the ground behind the animal of about 35gk(80lb).
3 blades on the broadhead, although narrow in diameter...Needless to say, the pig only managed a few steps.

I have been deer hunting with a crossbow for the last 2 years. The crossbow is only an advantage at close range and for the reason you can just aim and pull the trigger, no drawing of the bow. I shot a real nice 9 point with it last year and it was as tough as any archery hunt could be. I have found that crossbows lose power much faster than a compound and there for I do not suggest using one over 35 yrds max!! I have used a barnett rhino and I now have an Excalibur,the Excaliber is trully a well made piece of equipment and I reccomend them highly.You other crossbow hunters out there stay in touch. DaveK

Bog go to the crossbow forum at excaliburcrossbow.com, good group of guys and gals and can answer all your questions

As a bowhunter who has never hunted with a crossbow, I can only voice my OPINION that to say that a definite advantage to crossbow hunting is not having to hold the draw weight.

Ask any bowhunter who has pulled back their bow on game, only to have the game stop behind a tree, etc. After about 30 seconds, once the quivering and shaking begin, the crossbow advantage starts to become obvious.

I had to turn to a Crossbow after 8 Back Surgery's. It has been the only way that i could keep hunting. I have used only Horton Crossbow's & Spitfire Mech. Broadhead's. I have never lost a Deer with it and I have shot some Dandy Buck's out to 40 yds.
I to think there is a greater impact at short range's. Im now shooting a Horton Max Impact, One very nice shooting Bow. I still take out the Old SuperMag Model from time to time too. Very accurate.
I dont think its that much easier, just on the holding of the Draw. You still have to Practice & get as close as you can as with any Bow.

A few years ago, I broke a hand bone that kept me from shooting my 75# compound. I usually shoot 31" 2514's and Anderson 1-1/2" broadheads. I borrowed a high-tech PSE compound crossbow and finished the archery season with it.

Power advantage?
No, I did not feel like it had as much power as my normal bow at any range.

Accuracy advantage?
Not really. At hunting ranges, accuracy (4x scope) was no better than my compound when I was fully focused. Drop took the arrow completely out of the field of view within a few yards either side of the zero range.

Tactical advantage?
Yes, I believe that it DOES present the advantage of being able to prepare for the shot while within view of the animal, since movement is so much less with a crossbow. It is much easier to simply slowly raise the crossbow and take the shot, than it is to raise the bow AND draw under the same scrutiny. Once drawn, the 65% letoff of my bow allows me to hold quite a while. If your timing is good, you'll only hold a few seconds anyway.

Other considerations:
Heavy sucker.
Bulky, especially with scope & bow quiver.
Awkward, nothing quite like a 3 foot trianglar package, eight inches tall, weighing ten pounds to sneak around with. Almost as long as a rifle, both ways.

My permit was good for a year. Once my hand was healed, I had a few more months that I could have used the crossbow, but resumed with my compound. I returned the crossbow as soon as i could pull my regular bow. Clunky bastard.

[/qb][/QUOTE]Sounds like a good arguement until you add in the fact that most of today's compounds have 75%-85% let off.....that means, with a 70 pound draw bow, you are only holding 10.5 to 17.5 pounds. If someone else pulls it back for me (I have a bad shoulder), I can lower my elbow and hold a 17.5 pound draw for several minutes without a problem!

So, find another reason to hate crossbows, 'cause that one doesn't hold water![/QB][/QUOTE]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
The hand held bow has one characteristic that distinguishes it from a crossbow or any type of firearm. The internal ballistics are a function of the shooter, his or her physical geometry and capabilities, shooting form, consistency and reaction to stress and trauma. In the crossbow and firearms, the internal ballistics are fixed. The action of the shooter in triggering a release of energy does nothing more than initiate a process that is consistent and repetitive. The hand held bow is different. Every action of the shooter contributes something either positive or negative to the interior ballistic process. As the interior ballistics vary, so do the exterior ballistics. Shooting the hand held bow and arrow is much more complicated than aiming a fixed system of ballistics and touching off the energy discharge. The total energy to draw, hold and release the bow must come directly and unassisted from the shooters muscle power.

BTTS
T

BB

I think you are protesting too much!

Go back and read eshell's post because every word of it is absolutly true. I know this from direct experience.

The way you make it sound, a rifle or crossbow almost aims and fires on its own!

The crossbow has a few advantages, the biggest of which is less movement just before the shot, in other words, you don't have to draw the bow just before you shoot. However, along with that advantage comes a disadvantage......ever try to cock a crossbow in a treestand? Ever try to do it while trying not to spook the buck you just missed with your first shot because you mis-judged the distance?

Let's be realistic here, I could buy a 3 pound 85% let off Matthews compound that pulls 75 pounds, carbon arrows, a state of the art release, sights, limb savers and mechanical broadheads and you would probably not give me a second look. Instead, I shoot aluminum bolts, fixed broadheads and a 2x scope, an Excalibur recurve crossbow that far outweighs the Matthews, is MUCH more noisy and is a clumsy thing to carry through the woods and handle in a treestand, now, which set-up is more technologically advanced? And you want me to believe that my crossbow has a huge advantage over the compound described above?

Yes, crossbows are different than modern compounds, but they both do exactly the same thing......they launch a fletched shaft.....at about the same speed.....with about the same trajectory......


[ 07-18-2003, 23:07: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

I Totaly agree with turtle ............ I do not have anything agaist them but they ARE NOT A BOW AND ARROW

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!
Again!

Check out articles from Norb Mullany. He is allot more articulate than my self.

DOA

"Not a bow and arrow"????

Let's see.......

when bows were first invented, they involved two sticks and a string.....one stick launched the other stick when the archer pulled and released the string

So......

a device that includes cables, cams, sights, mechanical arrow rest, overdraw, space age composite limbs, etc, etc, etc....is a "bow"..... but a crossbow, that is powered by fiberglass recurve limbs isn't a bow because, and only because it has a stock????

Well, my dictionary defines a bow as: "A flexible strip of wood or other material, bent by a string stretched between it's ends, for shooting arrows."

So, according to my dictionary, my crossbow does, in fact, meet the definition of a bow....and it does shoot arrows.....so it must be a bow and arrow!

Somebody please explain why a crossbow isn't a bow? I don't believe you can argue technology, a modern compound is far more technologically advanced than my recurve crossbow! I don't believe you can argue performance because my crossbow is no more powerful or accurate or even any faster than a modern compound. I don't believe you can argue design because my crossbow has no cables, cams or wheels......

Face it people, a crossbow IS a "bow"!

It is different than other bows, just like a longbow is different than a recurve is different than a compound........a crossbow is NOT a gun, it does not shoot any harder, faster or more accurate than a modern compound.......

If anything, it would be easier to argue that a modern compound is not a bow......sure, it has a string and limbs......but the similarity to the original bow ends right there!

It realy shouldn't matter one way or the other with the decline in hunter numbers,and game on the increase we should be pulling together , I have seen this argument almost go to fist-a-cuffs with bow hunters. As i have always said to them "fine if you want a true bow season put away the compounds and go to long bows"
I wish I could go back to a bow but due to some back problems it isn't in the cards any more so am working with the cross bow, and its not as easy as it looks.

MY LOCAL DUNHAMS SPORTS STORE HAS A BARNETT COMMANDO CROSSBOW WITH AN ON BOARD QUIVER AND 4 BOLTS FOR $130. IS THAT A GOOD PRICE ON ONE OF THESE UNITS??

GonHuntin is right on. any device that shoots an arrow is a type of bow. as for technology, crossbows have been around a very long time. I remember when compound bows came out. everybody argued they weren't bows, that they gave the users an advantage, and they shouldn't be used during bow season. now high tech bows are the norm.

Here you go boys and girls.
Please read and listen

Bow and Arrow?

Back to macke a Xbow
Turtle

What a load of rubbish! There are so many inaccuracies in that diatribe that I don't know where to start!!!! He makes so many false generalizations that it's almost funny! I'd be more than happy to refute his bogus arguements if I thought for one second that it would change anyone's mind.

I'll put it in very simple terms......a crossbow is as closely related to a "primitive bow" as any compound is.....PERIOD!

Let me give you a little background......I got my first bow when I was 5 or 6, it was a fiberglass recurve. I continued to shoot recurves until I bought my first compound in 1978. I shot and hunted with compounds for several years, went back to recurves for a few years and then back to compounds. During that time, my wife and I were very active in the local archery club.....in fact, I held the office of rangemaster and then president of the largest bowhunting club in Tulsa Co. You know what, we were against crossbows back then too! We just knew they were evil.....that they would easily kill deer at 100 yards....that they shot as flat as a rifle......but guess what, like most people who were against crossbows..... we had no actual experience with them! We believed what all the bowhunting magazines had fed us.....and, that was the big lie! I injured my right shoulder about 20 years ago.....didn't really bother me until 6 years ago.....at that time, my doctor suggested that I stop shooting conventional bows and change to a crossbow. He signed the application and the state issued me a crossbow license. I was very reluctant to change and didn't buy a crossbow right away.....I still believed the big lie about crossbows.......then I decided that I missed being in the woods during archery season and, if I had to shoot a crossbow to participate, so be it. I researched all the available crossbows and decided to buy an Excalibur......I got it home, cut down a few arrows and turned them into bolts......went out to the archery target and preceeded to get an education! Was it fast, yes, about as fast as a compound, was it accurate, yes about like a compound. Did it shoot flat, no, not any flatter than a compound, did it shoot farther, no, not any farther than a compound......basically, I learned quickly that the big lie was just that, a BIG LIE!

I hunted with the crossbow the first year and didn't kill a deer......I had several that stayed just out of my self imposed range of 30 yards (so much for shooting like a rifle) and I think I missed one doe that "jumped the string" (crossbows are LOUD).....I also found out that it was terribly clumsy, hard to carry though the woods and difficult to hang onto in a treestand (I haven't figured out how to hang mine up like I did with a compound).

So you see, I've been on the other side of the fence.......and I've had to re-evaluate my thinking.......because we were wrong about crossbows and so are you!

Here is the bottom line and what anti crossbow people really fear........they are afraid that people shooting crossbows will somehow, someway cut into their hunting opportunities! That's the real reason they are against crossbows and it's PURE SELFISHNESS plain and simple!

I'll make a deal with any of you compound shooters that are anti crossbow....... let's ban them both in archery season! When you are willing to do that, then I'll believe you are really interested in hunting with primitive weapons.....until then....you are just making noise!

[ 07-24-2003, 00:48: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

Ok Mr Expert. I give.


Now
Back To The Stove
Turtle

Sorry Gonehuntin -
You're an Ass.

DOA

Don't be afraid Bill M.

I think you should be able to use what ever you want at any time of the year . I don't see a need for differentiating between weapons . I think if you call it a bow and you think its a bow then it must be a bow . Its is kind of like saying that bow fishing is not fishing . Why yes it is. If you are catching fish your fishing. If you not hunting with a gun or spear then you are bow hunting . I just see these bows as one that is loaded before the hunt starts. Nothing wrong with popping a shot off when hoofing into the woods. I think Turtle and DOA are just jealous that they don't have one. BTW. They make great weapons for poaching too .
Oh well
Back To My Bowl
Birman

Gonehuntin -

You are an ass
No you are a fucking ass hole
A jerk off
A scum bag
How about missinformed FAGGOT

Back to thine bowl
Birman

Gonhuntin asshole -
You can always tell an asshole by his profile.
You are no exception.
learn before you speak little brain . Keep your mouth shut and ears open. You are definitely a slob.

Yap, Yap, Yap!!!

What's that I hear....why it's DOA and one of his buddies, they can't defend their opinion with facts, so they set on the porch and yap, yap, yap!

Listen to the lap dogs.......Yap, Yap, Yap!

Get an e-mail buthead.
Also please tell me your qualifications as an expert . We all wait with baited breath for your enlightenment. My gosh we may even get you out to the fields and let you show us what true genius is. You know what? I can even whip up some good eats for you and you can tell me what's wrong with it. Please forgive us for speaking out of turn your majesty. I think we three will sit back and listen in silence as you bless us .
Thank you Oh Lord Gonhuntin.

Now To Work On Something Special For You

Back To The Stove
Turtle

I have an e-mail.....I don't list it precisely because of people like you.....anything you need to say to me can be said right here.

Never said I was an expert......but I have hunted with recurves, compounds and crossbows.....I think that qualifies me to have an opinion. Have you hunted with all three? How much experience do you personally have with crossbows?

If you want to have an intellegent discussion about crossbows, I'm ready. If you want to stoop to name calling and profanity.....well, I don't have time for that nonsense. I'm also not interested in hearing opinions from so called experts that have an axe to grind.....such as was found at the link you posted......

So, stand up on your own two feet and tell us, in your own words, why you don't like crossbows. Throughout this thread, you have failed to address the issues I put forward......it's time for you to put up or shut up!

We are waiting......

[ 07-25-2003, 22:26: Message edited by: GonHuntin ]

You are a one hundred percent'r and a genius ta boot . Must be nice to have such power in harness . I admire you sir . My hats off to you . I salute you .
God bless you Lord Gonhunten

I cower back to the stove
Turtle

Hey Gonhuntin

I know you don't have an e-mail but that's ok. I was wondering why you do not put a location I'm a pussy and I have a location. Are you blonde like derf and me I guess Turtle has made it clear that your smarter than us but I don't think you are as confident as us . If you need help in that area I am the one to turn to . I am a spirit that has been around from pre Buddha times. I have seen many great men that lack self confidence. I believe they started calling it "small man syndrome" . Well that's here nor there as far as I'm concerned. If you need help just ask. I am here for you buddy.

I'll wait by my bowl
Birman