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Hickory Creek Koolaid

Bama_Xander said:
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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I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it. You're going to be surprised how compact it is and easy to transport and walk around with. And at that price, pretty sure you could resell for what you bought it for in the future. The whole vertical crossbow thing really has opened up a lot of opportunity for me and allows me to ground hunt more as though it's rifle season, which is great around here where the deep population that great--sometimes you just got to have the boots on the ground and be moving around to see anything.
 
Vtbow said:
I think you'll thoroughly enjoy it. You're going to be surprised how compact it is and easy to transport and walk around with. And at that price, pretty sure you could resell for what you bought it for in the future. The whole vertical crossbow thing really has opened up a lot of opportunity for me and allows me to ground hunt more as though it's rifle season, which is great around here where the deep population that great--sometimes you just got to have the boots on the ground and be moving around to see anything.
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I already have a few spots I feel like an 80-90% kill chance. High deer numbers but urban area that’s early successional growth and really thick and has to be ground hunted. Hunted 4 times last year and saw deer every time in range but busted while drawing cause they were so close.

My public land deer last year was a boot rubber deer. I walked until I ran into them. But I had the wind in my face so they came back to investigate. Poor decision for him.
 
Bama_Xander said:
I already have a few spots I feel like an 80-90% kill chance. High deer numbers but urban area that’s early successional growth and really thick and has to be ground hunted. Hunted 4 times last year and saw deer every time in range but busted while drawing cause they were so close.

My public land deer last year was a boot rubber deer. I walked until I ran into them. But I had the wind in my face so they came back to investigate. Poor decision for him.
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Just having a crossbow in general has opened a lot of spots for me, but the vertical x-bow design just makes so much more sense in the woods and makes me more comfortable walking around with something pointy sticking out. Hunting high ridge lines looking down into ravines and areas where I needed another 10+ yards to make an effective shot if one arose is where it is really shining for me. I wouldn't have have taken the shot I did on the deer I got this year with a bow. 37yards. I pegged it with the HC. IT walked 10 yards and layed down.
 
I hunted with the Mini and Ravin R26 this year. The R26 is twice the bow compared to the Mini. Killed two doe with the Mini. One I gut shot at 10 yards. Not sure if I caused this or Mini
And one I heart shot at 20 yards. This kill was a pass thru but not impressive. Arrow laid on top of brush 10 yards down the escape route. I looked at hit site amazed it was not sticking in the ground. Appears doe carried arrow a bit.
Killed two bucks with R26. 20 yards and 40 yards. One heart shot and one double lung. Both arrows passed thru and hard into ground.
All kills were with Rage Hypodermic. I’m very thankful the bucks showed up while hunting with R26. I did not see the 10 point until in my last shooting lane. Stopped him, removed bow from hanger and shot him at 40 yards. All in about 15 seconds.
I hunt with crossbows to minimize mistakes and I’m just not a good shot with compound. My Mini will be going in the classifieds. Just can’t take the risk of missing or wounding animals. Nice concept, but doesn’t perform up to my expectations.
 
larasea said:
I hunted with the Mini and Ravin R26 this year. The R26 is twice the bow compared to the Mini. Killed two doe with the Mini. One I gut shot at 10 yards. Not sure if I caused this or Mini
And one I heart shot at 20 yards. This kill was a pass thru but not impressive. Arrow laid on top of brush 10 yards down the escape route. I looked at hit site amazed it was not sticking in the ground. Appears doe carried arrow a bit.
Killed two bucks with R26. 20 yards and 40 yards. One heart shot and one double lung. Both arrows passed thru and hard into ground.
All kills were with Rage Hypodermic. I’m very thankful the bucks showed up while hunting with R26. I did not see the 10 point until in my last shooting lane. Stopped him, removed bow from hanger and shot him at 40 yards. All in about 15 seconds.
I hunt with crossbows to minimize mistakes and I’m just not a good shot with compound. My Mini will be going in the classifieds. Just can’t take the risk of missing or wounding animals. Nice concept, but doesn’t perform up to my expectations.
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I'm sensing a shoot off next "Saddlepolooza"...
 
larasea said:
I hunted with the Mini and Ravin R26 this year. The R26 is twice the bow compared to the Mini. Killed two doe with the Mini. One I gut shot at 10 yards. Not sure if I caused this or Mini
And one I heart shot at 20 yards. This kill was a pass thru but not impressive. Arrow laid on top of brush 10 yards down the escape route. I looked at hit site amazed it was not sticking in the ground. Appears doe carried arrow a bit.
Killed two bucks with R26. 20 yards and 40 yards. One heart shot and one double lung. Both arrows passed thru and hard into ground.
All kills were with Rage Hypodermic. I’m very thankful the bucks showed up while hunting with R26. I did not see the 10 point until in my last shooting lane. Stopped him, removed bow from hanger and shot him at 40 yards. All in about 15 seconds.
I hunt with crossbows to minimize mistakes and I’m just not a good shot with compound. My Mini will be going in the classifieds. Just can’t take the risk of missing or wounding animals. Nice concept, but doesn’t perform up to my expectations.
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I kind of feel like you're comparing a sports car to a pickup. Isn't the r26 close to 3 times the price of a mini? I'd expect it to be 3 times the bow at what they cost.
 
Jtaylor said:
I kind of feel like you're comparing a sports car to a pickup. Isn't the r26 close to 3 times the price of a mini? I'd expect it to be 3 times the bow at what they cost.
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The R26 is twice the price. You may look at it in your vehicle analogy. But I look at it like they are both designed to kill animals and the Mini is far inferior in what it is designed to do.
 
larasea said:
The R26 is twice the price. You may look at it in your vehicle analogy. But I look at it like they are both designed to kill animals and the Mini is far inferior in what it is designed to do.
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It's worked great for me. There have been a few issues but everything mechanical has issues. I like being able to do my own maintenance on the mini, cock it with my hands and shoot cheap 300 spine arrows. I guess both have their pluses, just kind of sucks it didn't work out for ya!
 
Jtaylor said:
I kind of feel like you're comparing a sports car to a pickup. Isn't the r26 close to 3 times the price of a mini? I'd expect it to be 3 times the bow at what they cost.
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Isn't it also 3X as heavy?
 
Jtaylor said:
It's worked great for me. There have been a few issues but everything mechanical has issues. I like being able to do my own maintenance on the mini, cock it with my hands and shoot cheap 300 spine arrows. I guess both have their pluses, just kind of sucks it didn't work out for ya!
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bj139 said:
Isn't it also 3X as heavy?
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I do not have the specific weight difference, but the R26 is a little heavier. The R26 is also much easier to cock in the saddle while hunting. I have killed deer, cocked again, and could have killed a second deer out of the same group. I tried to love the mini but it didn't happen. I had visions of selling my R26 when purchasing the Mini. Glad I didn't sell the R26.

R26 advertised weight 6.5 lbs. Hickory Creek Mini advertised at 6.3 lbs.
 
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larasea said:
I do not have the specific weight difference, but the R26 is a little heavier. The R26 is also much easier to cock in the saddle while hunting. I have killed deer, cocked again, and could have killed a second deer out of the same group. I tried to love the mini but it didn't happen. I had visions of selling my R26 when purchasing the Mini. Glad I didn't sell the R26.
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Honestly curious how it is easier to cock? I could have shot 2 doe first day with my hc, had it cocked and ready before the 1st one went down, but decided to pass. Is it cockable by hand?
 
larasea said:
I do not have the specific weight difference, but the R26 is a little heavier. The R26 is also much easier to cock in the saddle while hunting. I have killed deer, cocked again, and could have killed a second deer out of the same group. I tried to love the mini but it didn't happen. I had visions of selling my R26 when purchasing the Mini. Glad I didn't sell the R26.
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I hear what you say about power. I have a Scopyd Velocity 165 that shoots bolts at 415 FPS. I need a double action rope cocker to cock it. It is super large and super heavy. It blasted through the bottom of a bucket filled with shrink wrap that my 3 other crossbows could not. But do I need that much power for deer, even the larger northern deer?
 
Vtbow said:
Honestly curious how it is easier to cock? I could have shot 2 doe first day with my hc, had it cocked and ready before the 1st one went down, but decided to pass. Is it cockable by hand?
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When I cock the Mini I have to stand and place the bow on my platform. If my tether is not low enough, I can't reach the string to cock. The R26 is cocked with a handle. You can cock it in any position in the saddle; sitting, standing, or leaning.
 
larasea said:
When I cock the Mini I have to stand and place the bow on my platform. If my tether is not low enough, I can't reach the string to cock. The R26 is cocked with a handle. You can cock it in any position in the saddle; sitting, standing, or leaning.
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I think HC sells a crank cocking device also if you need one. I can cock my HC while sitting in my saddle by sticking my leg out into the foot loop and pulling back.
 
larasea said:
When I cock the Mini I have to stand and place the bow on my platform. If my tether is not low enough, I can't reach the string to cock. The R26 is cocked with a handle. You can cock it in any position in the saddle; sitting, standing, or leaning.
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Cool, can you manually decock? I honestly have liked my original hc more than my mini, but the mini has been great too. The original berries arrows a good 6" plus deeper in my targets, and is 125 instead of.150 so easier to cock in saddle or on stand. But it is quite a bit bigger....

Im by no means a "mini only" fan boy. But I do like it and the benefits of its design. But I'm not discounting other designs that have benefit im missing
 
Vtbow said:
Cool, can you manually decock? I honestly have liked my original hc more than my mini, but the mini has been great too. The original berries arrows a good 6" plus deeper in my targets, and is 125 instead of.150 so easier to cock in saddle or on stand. But it is quite a bit bigger....
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Yes decock R26 in the same manner.
 
bj139 said:
I think HC sells a crank cocking device also if you need one. I can cock my HC while sitting in my saddle by sticking my leg out into the foot loop and pulling back.
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I'll try that. Advertised weight deference is 2 ounces between the two.
 
so I'll tell you about a deer that I missed with the mini on Friday, it was a doe at 25 yards, she stopped on a bait with a tree covering her vitals
so she wasn't moving and it was getting darker, I was leaning in the saddle, so I dropped down a little and rested my knees on the tree
all good, except at the angle I couldn't see the sight with my arm on my side of my bridge, so I moved my hand around to the far side of my
bridge, all good, leaned in a little bit more, put the red dot on the crease and shot. missed the deer completely, as I thought about the mistake
I figured I put the lower half of the string up against the inside of my bridge and pressed the sting against the rope, no good. have to make sure I
don't do that again. operator error in it's finest example LOL if I have to reach around the bridge again, I have to make sure I go all the way around the bridge, and not thru the center of the ropes. this way it will force me to lean to the left and clear the string with no pressure on it

Saturday was a different story, buck came by, string was clear, pass thru at 25 yards, he fell in sight after 60 yards and is now in the cooler
first deer with the mini.
 
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