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Crossbow Conundrum

woodsdog2 said:
Last year was my first ever big game crossbow kill. Never hunted deer with one before and I had a blast. I’m not using one this year because the season isn’t open yet. I’m probably still not going to use one but I just might depending on the situation. And the only criteria is legality and then simply what I want to use. The 3.5 year old 8 I shot last year went 40 yards and somersaulted itself into pile. I’ve never witnessed the devastation with a mechanical that a crossbow can do with them. Higher poundage’s, higher speeds, it pushed that three blade NAP Spitfire through it like it was a hot knife through butter. It bled like I’ve never witnessed a deer bleed before. My vertical bow is a fixed blade head so I’m not an anti mech guy or anything.
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Somebody grab the ol’ W-Dog a bottle and a stool…
 
I look at it like this, I bought my 6 year old a crossbow last year. Before it arrived I had never held one. He killed a buck last year with it. This year I thought maybe I'll bring it in the woods... then after much thought I realized I could do everything I wanted the crossbow to do with my compound.
There will be a time I do hunt with it but I'm not at that point yet. Every season is different. Some years I hunt muzzleloader season with a smoke pole. Some years I hunt rifle season with a rifle. Most years I hunt with a bow all season.
If i could predict turkeys hanging up at 40-50 or yotes showing up I'd probably hunt with a crossbow.
If I had injuries or pinched nerves that held me back from hunting, I'd probably hunt with a crossbow.

When you shoot a big buck or trophy longbeard or bear, or coyote... nobody ever asks what you shot it with so it all boils down to personal preference. Hunting is a personal passion. If you've got some type hang up with pulling a trigger with a crossbow to kill something then there's your answer.
 
When I bought my Excalibur I quickly learned that though more ready than a compound I can shoot more consistently and further with my compound. I love the Excalibur it does very well with hog mitigation and it’s ruggedness is unmatched. But out of my entire arsenal rifle included the compound is hard to beat for the woods I hunt. But for kids crossbows are a dream and good way to get them into archery, so far my boys that have reached 8 years old have gotten a crossbow for Christmas, the next one up isn’t really into it so I may be saving some money in a year lol
 
MattMan81 said:
What sounds better. Happy wife, happy kids, maintenance done around the house and cars. Kill deer in the fall not having to worry about the time you put into shooting a bow that fires in a horizontal plane versus a vertical?
Or unhappy wife because you spent all summer shooting your bow to be perfect, faucet leaks, kids starving for attention because your always busy tinkering. But hey, your groups at 40 are TIGHT!!!!!

Now if your friend is just lazy sitting on the couch smoking a joint and drinking beer. Well. That's a different story.
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Time management...I work 7 days a week most weeks (30-40 a year), stuff getting done around the house, wife not complaining, I do drink but mostly only weekends, I don't do drugs, I don't hang in bars, and still find time to shoot an hour or 2 a month.

Not saying he does any of those things...but IF you don't put in time (Bow, X-bow, Gun) you will not be proficient, then when you lose a deer due to a bad shot...who's to blame ?
 
It's up to you really. In my case, I shot archery when I was younger but can't shoot in my backyard anymore so I went with a crossbow. I hate shooting it. I recently cracked a limb on my tenpont so ordered a cp400 and sent my old one off to be fixed. Got the new one and recalled how much I hate them when I was sighting in. Unless I buy a new scope, I have to shoot the included 400gr arrows to match the reticle and the two arrows they sent won't group. My solution was to sight in with 1 arrow and order a dozen more, even though I have a dozen custom bolts that are much heavier for the tenpoint.

But at the end is the day my objective is to kill deer, and it doesn't matter what weapon I use.
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
Ooooohhh we have an evildoer in the chat finally!
Do tell.
Ironically enough I don’t really enjoy practicing with the crossbow by comparison to the compound or recurve. I like it, but more out of necessity than desire. I’m the total opposite of your buddy in that regard.
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I was not condoning you for shooting one...If you have limitations physically, I'm all for it.

I shot my buddies maybe 3 times when he got it...not a fan...but know there may be a day when I have to.
 
First thing I ever shot with an arrow was a Jake at 30 with a 405 fps bolt and an enormous mech ( 4 inches I think, swat). Blood trail for like 175 yards but we never did find it. Yup, turkey blood trail. Sucked, but we all know it's going to happen. My point is really that things can and will go wrong with a crossbow too. I don't think anyone here would take sloppy shots or anything, just saying.

Edit: let me take the heat on a less than awesome shot, I'm not trying to make excuses for me either :)
 
Xbows have gotten quite popular over the last several years. I worked on more Xbows this year than compounds. I don't care what someone else hunts with, it's their choice, there money and their time. I much prefer a compound and always will. I think the Xbow is great for those guys who don't shoot a compound enough to get good with one. The Xbow helps those guys from unnecessarily wounding deer due to lack of compound skills. It still takes skill and self-control to shoot an Xbow but it does help to eliminate the need to do much shooting practice.

Compounds are not carry friendly but Xbows are even worse. If a person has to walk a long way, the Xbow will be more tiresome. This works out to be an advantage for compound hunters.

Someday a far off in the future when most guys are shooting Xbows, a few guys will rediscover the compound bow and think, this thing is amazing. And a new trend will be reborn. Then before you know it, every guy will have to buy a compound bow and they will think it the greatest thing since sliced bread. Die-hard compound guys like me will be saying, "I told you so."
 
Horn said:
First thing I ever shot with an arrow was a Jake at 30 with a 405 fps bolt and an enormous mech ( 4 inches I think, swat). Blood trail for like 175 yards but we never did find it. Yup, turkey blood trail. Sucked, but we all know it's going to happen. My point is really that things can and will go wrong with a crossbow too. I don't think anyone here would take sloppy shots or anything, just saying.

Edit: let me take the heat on a less than awesome shot, I'm not trying to make excuses for me either :)
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I have sure taken my share of crappy shots. With a crossbow, compound, and gun.
Anything that can happen will. That's for sure. If my memory quickly is correct. Most of them have been with a compound. Then gun. And lastly crossbow.
Yet tomorrow morning I plan to be in a tree with my.compound. I did have to shoot it several times today to check everything. Yeah it only took 10 minutes or so.. But it did require a commitment to do it.
 
I didn't what to use a crossbow until a friend of mine who used to shoot IBO 3D and was a super archer who won many big tournaments sold all his bows and bought a crossbow. He had harvest many big whitetail deer over the years . He said to me you have harvest many whitetail deer over the years including P&Y bucks with your bow and that I didn't have anything to prove. So I started using a crossbow and I even bought Hickory Creek Vertical Mini Crossbow. I still hunt with my bows but I do enjoy my Mini and I wouldn't think twice about shooting a buck with it.
 
I bought a crossbow a few years back. I thought it would be nice to try something different and get my then 10 year old son in the woods a little earlier during archery season. It was just too heavy for him to shoot unless it was a tripod/stand, which then limited us to blind hunting. I sold it and haven’t regretted it. He’s older and bigger now and can shoot most anything you hand him, recurve, compound etc. I can tell you that the hickory creek mini catches my eye, but I still knock everything down with my ole Bear compound so I haven’t made the plunge yet.
 
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Almost took the compound again. Wife said take the xbow so here I am. Grim Reaper decided to stick around after Halloween to help me get a turkey. That’s what we’re hoping for tonight but if a slob comes in, we’ll certainly test my resolve. A fat doe or any bearded bird is getting shanked for sure and any buck over 3.5YO is getting scoped. 44A60490-CB01-4571-99D5-F1D8BBA09FD9.jpeg
 
DelaWhere_Arrow said:
espite recognizing all the upsides to xbow use, I have a mental block on using it to shoot a nice buck. What’s my deal, yo?!
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Big picture? You're influenced by a culture that believes that the harder you work for something, the more it means; and that the cost of good is pain. We believe fundamentally that we have to be fighting something, and that we are separate from and in conflict with reality. The religious believe that we are bad children who are charitably tolerated despite our unworthiness. The secular that we are somewhat tragic accidents in a blind and indifferent, if not outright insane and cruel, universe.

Therefore, we have to constantly prove to ourselves that we are worth something. Trying to justify our existence. The measure of man is man, so we constantly struggle to prove that we are at least equal to or better than others. In manners, in mind, in money, and in all matters. We unconsciously believe that if we can prove our superiority to others, then they will feel admirable feelings towards us, and that we will then be permitted to feel admirably towards ourselves.

Or you just think crossbows are for weanies...or something.
 
I take my compound out during bow season, my crossbow out in crossbow season, rifle in rifle season, and smokepole in smokepole season and think nothing more about it.

**actually I do use my crossbow in rifle and ML season too depending on where I'm hunting and if I am concerned about where the projectile could wind up.
 
Forgot about pocket knife

Grab a buck, hang on for the ride & then if u haven’t been gored or had stomach sliced open by hoof kicks u stab the buck with a pocket knife while trying not to stab ur leg that u have locked around his body


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
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