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What's a good crossbow?

RobG

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OK, I vehemently oppose crossbows during archery season, but I hunt a weapons restricted area where they might work well. I've shot several deer with shotguns on this place but the more I hunt it the more worried I am about a ricochet. There was an article published a while back suggesting shotgun sabots can ricochet as far as a rifle.

I've taken several deer with my compound, but I'm not comfortable past 30 yards and they are always a bit past that....

This might be a good place for a crossbow, maybe out to 50 yards. Any recommendations?
 
When i wrecked my shoulder last year I bought a Raven 26 crossbow for an Arizona elk hunt. Took special permission to use it. It took only 12 pounds of pressure to crank it, which maxed out my shoulder during practice. i could get 4 inch groups at 100 yards from a bench type setup laying in the back of my pickup. Its expensive but im glad i had it. Its very narrow and i carried it cocked and loaded for 2 weeks even though i never fired it at an elk. My one complaint is when you fire it, its not unlike the sound of .22 or maybe a loud pellet gun. It has a bit of a whack to it. I would love to get something with it but now I'm back on my bow since my shoulder is mostly healed. I attached photos of a group at 70 yards and a group at 100 yards. Not all were like that but im sure the weapon can out shoot my ability. Hope you find what your looking for.2019-09-02 08.01.20-1.jpg2019-09-02 08.43.38 HDR.jpg
 
I have a Mission Sub 1-XR and it’s nice. Does the job and very accurate. They are pricey and louder than a bow but will work well. I would not shoot farther than 40 with mine. It is capable to shoot further but they really are short range weapons IMO because of noise. Mine will shoot great 100 yard groups but they are not much (if any) better than my compound bow. They are great for whitetail hunting from a stand or blind.
 
That's good to know about how loud they are - I assume it can cause the deer to "jump the string."
 
I hate the idea of them also, but I recently crossed(no pun intended) over to the dark side and bought one. I took a trip to Nebraska with an older guy that had one, and after seeing it in action I could not deny that it was far superior to my 20year old compound. You can spend a ton of money if you want, but it seemed to me that you can get something pretty decent in the $300-$400 range. I got a Barnett at Walmart, and I'd feel comfortable shooting 50 with it. Using the bottom dot on my sight I'm about 2 inches high at 50. They're so fast that I don't worry as much about string jump.
 
Best bang for your buck is this one.

I have a Centerpoint Mercenary which is very similar to the Sniper, and like it really well. The Sniper is the Centerpoint that has the most staying power in their lineup. They are not the best fit and finish, but are very accurate and I have taken mine to the field numerous times thus season and can say that I’m pleased. It’s not a Ravin, but it’s an eighth of the price as well.

And I am NOT vehemently opposed to them in archery season if it’s legal. Different strokes for different folks.
 
You might want to look into the Barnet Recruit. My nephew has one and for the $$ it's pretty impressive. Up to 330 fps, 91+ foot ponds, 140# draw, comes with a scope.....shoots better than he & I can. Match it up with some 100gr Thunderheads and I think you'd be good to go.
 
I have a Centerpoint Mercenary which is very similar to the Sniper, and like it really well. The Sniper is the Centerpoint that has the most staying power in their lineup. They are not the best fit and finish, but are very accurate and I have taken mine to the field numerous times thus season and can say that I’m pleased. It’s not a Ravin, but it’s an eighth of the price as well.

And I am NOT vehemently opposed to them in archery season if it’s legal. Different strokes for different folks.
I actually bought this for my son a few years ago (I'll brag a little now....). He is in high school and takes dual-credit classes, advanced placement classes, and honors classes and has been on the varsity soccer and tennis teams all 4 years as well as model un, spanish club, scholorbowl science club, etc.... He has very little free time so if we can get a day or two during the archery season we go and he uses the crosssbow. Without that ability he wouldn't go and I am grateful for the choice. I couldn't care less if someone uses a crossbow or not as long as its legal. Illinois allows crossbow use by anyone for a few years now. Each year more and more of the archery kill is by the crossbow with this year expected to be a majority for the first time. So the trend is towards crossbows and I don't see that slowing down anytime soon.
 
I think I have taken 15 deer with an Excalibur Matrix 380 over the past seven years. Excalibur is made in Ontario, and is a recurve. Very simple tool. I keep an extra set of limbs and an extra string for it. That's pretty much all that can go wrong. I can repair it myself without a bow press, at home or in a tent on a trip. They are noisy when fired. They are ridiculously accurate even over 50 yards. My opinion though, is that they are short range weapons. My limit is 35 yards. 380 FPS is a long way from a bullet's 2800 FPS. If the animal steps or turns at the last split second, you have a miss or even worse, a wounded animal. There are lots of great crossbows on the market. The Raven is certainly one of the best. I absolutely wish they did not advertise shooting 100 yards. Some folks I have talked to interpreted that to mean they are good to go shooting at deer out to 100 yards. Unfortunately, that has already lead to several wounded deer that I am aware of just in the town where I live.
 
When I researched purchasing a crossbow after a neck injury ten years ago, I settled on Kodabow. I talked to bow shops and talked to the service folks at Cabelas and quickly observed s pattern in reliability among brands. The Kodabow offered an innovative design that is a recurve design - much like Excaliber - and the customer service and technical assistance is stellar. That said, there are a lot of very good crossbows as noted in the earlier posts. Do your due diligence.

Note: I have since been able to return to bowhunting (thankfully) but crossbows have their place and allow folks with temporary/permanent physical limitations to still enjoy hunting.
 
Thanks. I felt like I had to say something about crossbow during archery since I’ve spoke up about it in the past and testified in Helena against it, but it’s mostly an elk-during-rut issue with me. Where that isn’t an issue it isn’t a big deal to me, in fact my wife shot a deer the other day with an xbow at her parents.

but back on topic... Thanks for the input. Are some of these bows more robust than others? I crawl through grass to get closer and I wouldn’t want the cams to bend or the string to pop off.
 
Thanks. I felt like I had to say something about crossbow during archery since I’ve spoke up about it in the past and testified in Helena against it, but it’s mostly an elk-during-rut issue with me. Where that isn’t an issue it isn’t a big deal to me, in fact my wife shot a deer the other day with an xbow at her parents.

but back on topic... Thanks for the input. Are some of these bows more robust than others? I crawl through grass to get closer and I wouldn’t want the cams to bend or the string to pop off.
I don't think that would be a problem. As my friend would tell you after our recent Nebraska archery antelope hunt...crossbows are nice because you can shoot them prone.
 
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