Whispers Death
Well-Known Member
I bought a bow in early October and I really hated it. Could not get it to shoot tight groups. I spent a lot on the bow and spent a lot more money trying to get it to shoot from changing scopes to building custom arrows. nothing really worked. Now don't get me wrong the bow was "hunting" accurate I suppose. 3-5" groups at 20 yards. The problem is My Dad's old Ten Point is 12 or 13 years old and will hit a one inch dot every time.
Sooo.......I did some research on accuracy, durability, field maintenance, build quality, etc and I came up with one choice. A small company in Pennsylvania called Kodabow. I ordered a Zulu Scout. This is a recurve limb bow....no wheels. There are a few cons I will discuss before I discuss the pros. First...this bow is heavy. There is no plastic that I can find on this bow. Aside from the fiberglass limbs and the polymer AR stock, everything is machined aluminum and then anodized/hard coated. Furthermore, the machine work is outstanding with very tight tolerances. It is 8 lbs before the optics/rings and quiver with arrows are attached. Mine weighs 10 lbs, 2 oz with my Harris bi-pod on the front. 2nd, it ain't quiet. My friends assure me that their compound crossbows are just as loud or louder and I have seen some ways to quiet the bow down that I might experiment with. I know my Dads old Ten Point was loud. Dad hunted a quarter mile away from me and I always knew when he shot a deer. It was loud, but It made little difference in the outcome. We found every deer he ever shot with that thing. 3rd, it ain't cheap. The bare bow minus optics ran me $980.00. It came with a stringer for changing strings or working on your string and a cocking rope with pulleys and nice large handles. Last.....I'm not saying it's hard to cock but it is hard to cock. The Zulu Scout is a 200 lb pull with a 12" stroke. The last 2 inches is a bear and you simply do not want to do it a bunch of times. You can buy a cranking device for it. I may need it some day but not yet.
Now for the pros. It is a recurve limbed crossbow. No wheels, no cables...way simpler and more stable. I can put a new string on it out in the woods. It is supposedly not as loud as compound crossbows...I don't know about that. It is built like an AR with a buffer tube and collapsible stock. It has a very good trigger. It shoots hard and it is fast. Most crossbows that shoot 300 FPS do so with a rather light bolt of 350 grains or so. The custom arrows I built weigh in at 505 grains and I was shocked when I chronied the bow. It shot 302 FPS! That's 101 foot lbs. of kinetic energy. It nearly knocks my 3D deer target off the stand. What prompted me to write this review; however, was a shooting session I had today. I had shot the bow a few times to get it close, but I bought a new HHA optimizer scope mount and wanted to do a full precise sight in. I loaded up and headed out to my brother's house with my bag target, bow, and range finder. I had it dead on at 20 yards in 3 shots. Instructions for the HHA mount stated for a bow shooting 290-305 dial sight to 49 and back the target off to 60 yards. I did that and my next arrow was dead center 6 inches high. I set it to 47 and the next arrow was 3" high. I set it on 45 and the next 2 were in the bull. I put the number 45 tape on the wheel, backed up to 70 yards and set the dial to 70 and proceeded to put 3 in a 3 inch circle. I backed the target up to 80 and stuck a soda can to my bag. Simply amazing accuracy. I could not believe it and I was shocked at how loud it was when the arrow hit the bag at 80 yards.
I like it......a lot.
Sooo.......I did some research on accuracy, durability, field maintenance, build quality, etc and I came up with one choice. A small company in Pennsylvania called Kodabow. I ordered a Zulu Scout. This is a recurve limb bow....no wheels. There are a few cons I will discuss before I discuss the pros. First...this bow is heavy. There is no plastic that I can find on this bow. Aside from the fiberglass limbs and the polymer AR stock, everything is machined aluminum and then anodized/hard coated. Furthermore, the machine work is outstanding with very tight tolerances. It is 8 lbs before the optics/rings and quiver with arrows are attached. Mine weighs 10 lbs, 2 oz with my Harris bi-pod on the front. 2nd, it ain't quiet. My friends assure me that their compound crossbows are just as loud or louder and I have seen some ways to quiet the bow down that I might experiment with. I know my Dads old Ten Point was loud. Dad hunted a quarter mile away from me and I always knew when he shot a deer. It was loud, but It made little difference in the outcome. We found every deer he ever shot with that thing. 3rd, it ain't cheap. The bare bow minus optics ran me $980.00. It came with a stringer for changing strings or working on your string and a cocking rope with pulleys and nice large handles. Last.....I'm not saying it's hard to cock but it is hard to cock. The Zulu Scout is a 200 lb pull with a 12" stroke. The last 2 inches is a bear and you simply do not want to do it a bunch of times. You can buy a cranking device for it. I may need it some day but not yet.
Now for the pros. It is a recurve limbed crossbow. No wheels, no cables...way simpler and more stable. I can put a new string on it out in the woods. It is supposedly not as loud as compound crossbows...I don't know about that. It is built like an AR with a buffer tube and collapsible stock. It has a very good trigger. It shoots hard and it is fast. Most crossbows that shoot 300 FPS do so with a rather light bolt of 350 grains or so. The custom arrows I built weigh in at 505 grains and I was shocked when I chronied the bow. It shot 302 FPS! That's 101 foot lbs. of kinetic energy. It nearly knocks my 3D deer target off the stand. What prompted me to write this review; however, was a shooting session I had today. I had shot the bow a few times to get it close, but I bought a new HHA optimizer scope mount and wanted to do a full precise sight in. I loaded up and headed out to my brother's house with my bag target, bow, and range finder. I had it dead on at 20 yards in 3 shots. Instructions for the HHA mount stated for a bow shooting 290-305 dial sight to 49 and back the target off to 60 yards. I did that and my next arrow was dead center 6 inches high. I set it to 47 and the next arrow was 3" high. I set it on 45 and the next 2 were in the bull. I put the number 45 tape on the wheel, backed up to 70 yards and set the dial to 70 and proceeded to put 3 in a 3 inch circle. I backed the target up to 80 and stuck a soda can to my bag. Simply amazing accuracy. I could not believe it and I was shocked at how loud it was when the arrow hit the bag at 80 yards.
I like it......a lot.
