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Hickory Creek Koolaid

DB4x4 said:
So how did it perform? (You know, other than "got'er done")

Pros/Cons?
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There is definitely going to be a bit of a learning curve and tweaking with it. She was slightly quartering away and I hit her a few inches back of where I was aiming at 15 yards and didn't get a passthrough. I was pretty shocked. She ran off and did the j hook, then stopped, walked a few steps and I believe layed down, but it was about 80 yards away. I could see the lighted nock in her and I sat there and watched it for 20 minutes in the same spot. I figured that she was dead right there so I'd get down, go to the truck and come back. I went over to check POI and immediately found some gut material and dark red blood. I decided that if she was laying there alive I didn't want to push her and it would be cold enough to leave her overnight. I came back in this morning before a quick morning hunt and walked right over to where I could see the lighted nock in the dark.

I spent more time tinkering with my accuracy with this thing than I planned and I never ended up bumping in up from the 125 pounds it came at to the 150 max. I had figured it had more than enough energy to put a rage hypodermic on it but I was questioning that decision overnight. When I opened her up I found that the way the rage entered it broke 2 ribs on the way in and 1 on the way out, and may have caught the leg if it was back (I forgot to check). It went through the stomach and sliced the liver. She probably died pretty quick cause the cavity was filled up with blood.

What did I learn- Well when I came home and shot it the scope was off about 3-4 inches to the left so I must have bumped it. Makes more sense why I hit back. I'm less concerned with not having enough KE- when I saw the damage that it did to the ribs on entrance and exit I know it hit pretty hard. I wasn't sure I had an exit wound last night but it ended up being a pretty good one. All that being said I ended up cranking it up to 150# today-- just because I can. I weighted my arrow to see where I was at - 355 grains. I might tinker with a little heavier arrow after the season. We'll see how it performs on the next one.

I really like this thing for a crossbow. It's fun to shoot. It fits my saddle hunting style. I hung it on my right hand side and I just had to peek around the right side of the tree to get the shot off.
 
7mmremmag said:
5 perimeters around the hole and tap it.... or a melted inbarb nut
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Could you explain those ideas a little more? The bracket I bought works but I definitely think we could come up with something better.
 
redsquirrel said:
There is definitely going to be a bit of a learning curve and tweaking with it. She was slightly quartering away and I hit her a few inches back of where I was aiming at 15 yards and didn't get a passthrough. I was pretty shocked. She ran off and did the j hook, then stopped, walked a few steps and I believe layed down, but it was about 80 yards away. I could see the lighted nock in her and I sat there and watched it for 20 minutes in the same spot. I figured that she was dead right there so I'd get down, go to the truck and come back. I went over to check POI and immediately found some gut material and dark red blood. I decided that if she was laying there alive I didn't want to push her and it would be cold enough to leave her overnight. I came back in this morning before a quick morning hunt and walked right over to where I could see the lighted nock in the dark.

I spent more time tinkering with my accuracy with this thing than I planned and I never ended up bumping in up from the 125 pounds it came at to the 150 max. I had figured it had more than enough energy to put a rage hypodermic on it but I was questioning that decision overnight. When I opened her up I found that the way the rage entered it broke 2 ribs on the way in and 1 on the way out, and may have caught the leg if it was back (I forgot to check). It went through the stomach and sliced the liver. She probably died pretty quick cause the cavity was filled up with blood.

What did I learn- Well when I came home and shot it the scope was off about 3-4 inches to the left so I must have bumped it. Makes more sense why I hit back. I'm less concerned with not having enough KE- when I saw the damage that it did to the ribs on entrance and exit I know it hit pretty hard. I wasn't sure I had an exit wound last night but it ended up being a pretty good one. All that being said I ended up cranking it up to 150# today-- just because I can. I weighted my arrow to see where I was at - 355 grains. I might tinker with a little heavier arrow after the season. We'll see how it performs on the next one.

I really like this thing for a crossbow. It's fun to shoot. It fits my saddle hunting style. I hung it on my right hand side and I just had to peek around the right side of the tree to get the shot off.
Click to expand...
I had a similar issue, could've been the scope and could've been the take down knob being slightly loose. If that knob isn't wrenched down tight it'll allow horizontal movement which could explain the misplaced shot. Grab the two pieces by the handles and do a slight opposing direction twist and you'll know what I mean. I wish this thing was just 1 piece, it would solve most of the issues!
 
Jtaylor said:
I had a similar issue, could've been the scope and could've been the take down knob being slightly loose. If that knob isn't wrenched down tight it'll allow horizontal movement which could explain the misplaced shot. Grab the two pieces by the handles and do a slight opposing direction twist and you'll know what I mean. I wish this thing was just 1 piece, it would solve most of the issues!
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I put the locknut on the front of it. I haven’t taken the takedown knob off but I assumed it was meaningless at this point.
 
This is the penetration of a Rage in a dead tree with my HC mini set 2 turns open on the limb bolts. The blades opening sure do limit the penetration.
The head snapped when the top of the dead tree hit the ground. The arrow is fine, I think. I sawed out the head section to recover the blades. I ordered some replacement blades from Amazon last year but they sent the wrong ones and I wasn't sure which ones to order. Their pictures were not correct on the website.
 
redsquirrel said:
I put the locknut on the front of it. I haven’t taken the takedown knob off but I assumed it was meaningless at this point.
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I was just informing you and others of this because it'll still move side to side with that front lock nut on if the take down knob is slightly loose. I have a new scope on mine and I went to shoot it this past weekend before hunting and it was off slightly. I didn't notice anything loose until I grabbed the take down knob and it was just loose enough to allow a little slop and slight movement between the two pieces.
 
Jtaylor said:
I was just informing you and others of this because it'll still move side to side with that front lock nut on if the take down knob is slightly loose. I have a new scope on mine and I went to shoot it this past weekend before hunting and it was off slightly. I didn't notice anything loose until I grabbed the take down knob and it was just loose enough to allow a little slop and slight movement between the two pieces.
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Ok cool I’ll double check it, thanks!
 
If they started making this one piece with no takedown ability, do you think it would rectify these issues?
 
DB4x4 said:
If they started making this one piece with no takedown ability, do you think it would rectify these issues?
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They need to go back to the old square fitting like the original. Fits like a glove, super tight tolerances....
 
Tighter tolerances or a one piece design for those of us that don't really need to take it apart. I see why some people find their used mini epoxied together, it's crossed my mind a few times.
 
Nutterbuster said:
I had to tighten the safety on mine too. Time for a confession though...

I almost never have my safety on when I am in the woods or at the range. Only time I use it is if I am with someone hunting in close proximity. Something like a duck blind situation. 95% of the time my gun is in my hands and ready to do what I brought it out to do. Shot opportunities sometimes come and go in an instant in our thick terrain.

I also am lucky in that it's just me and my wife in our home. Every time somebody has ever asked me if my gun was loaded the answer is "Yes, and it has no safety." Even if that's not strictly true. Call me crazy, but when you need a gun you need it NOW, and I think the world would be a safer place if everybody assumed every gun was loaded and ready to go off. Hence, no safeties.

Who wants to come down and go hunting? ;)
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Me! As long as I don't get gar holed ;)

I'm halfway through this thread. One glass of whiskey and one glass of wine tonight. Got to be careful or I might order one.
 
Bama_Xander said:
Me! As long as I don't get gar holed ;)

I'm halfway through this thread. One glass of whiskey and one glass of wine tonight. Got to be careful or I might order one.
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Just buy the one in the the classifieds...I mean. You'd be saving money!
 
I shoot 500ish grain arrows with 125 grain fixed blades at 150lbs 280fps. Currently have exodus heads on there. The bow has the same energy as my 70/30 compound did - how do I know? They shoot the same weight arrow at the same speed. It will blow through any North American game animal with the right weight arrow. The bow has plenty of juice.
 
I bought mine used with this hole drilled and tapped. It is rock solid.
 
Swingin' Free said:
I tightened mine all the way down them backed it off 2 equal turns on each limb
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Thanks for the explanation. This worked well and got me hitting on the target.

I did ok cocking this for awhile by hand, but during the sight in process of a dozen plus shots my hands started to get tired of it. I make look into the available rope cocker that Jerry has.

I moved my Hawke 3x32 SR IR scope from my old crossbow over to this one and it took a huge amount of adjustments (80+ clicks) to start hitting the bullseye. I had to be about out of room, but it's at least hitting the kill radius of a deer consistently. I tried using the method on this youtube video, but it didn't seem to work well with this scope. I started picking up the limbs of the bow really quick in the adjustment process and just made the scope straight and level and did the adjustments via the turrets.
 
Google "crossbow thumb". I think you made a solid choice.
Side note. When you click the image tab, what about the guys neck WTH...
 
Swingin' Free said:
Google "crossbow thumb". I think you made a solid choice.
Side note. When you click the image tab, what about the guys neck WTH...
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OUCH! That is crazy. I just read about that in another thread on here today.

I am pretty excited about the HC mini. I like killing deer and it seems to be a very efficient way to do it. I can already smell the back straps.
 
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