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Talk me out of a crossbow. :-)

I love to shoot and hunt with my bow and also love to shoot and hunt with my crossbows,rifles,shotguns,muzzleloaders and a while back pistols.I just bought a Hickory Creek Verticle in-line here on the classifieds and I gotta day it’s awesome.Check em out
 
IMO whitetail bowhunting is about 75% getting in the right place at the right time and 25% everything else... somebody that can execute on that consistently has mastered the most difficult skill (or dumps in massive amounts of time) whether the kill happens w crossbow or compound. I was pretty deadly at 15-20 yards within about a month of buying my first compound in the early 90s. The practice maintains this, and extends that range, but I’ve never even shot past 27 yards. Your rationale makes sense to me, or maybe you can dial back the time you’re dumping into practice and just limit your range... but an overall goal of hunting less and keeping life in balance, and considering hacks to make that happen, is worth brainstorming on.
 
Crossbows are a hoot.Not my cup of tea but hey man.Have at it.Hard to be criticized by guys who would blast one with a rifle.Whats the difference?Dead deer is a dead deer.And if you enjoyed it and follow the game laws what difference does it really make.Give it a try and have fun My Brother.You only go around once.
 
sureshotscott said:
The compact xbows Excalibur puts out are fantastic. No cams, very simple. I don't have experience with the latest/greatest Excalibur xbows I see now they have cocking cranks and whatnot. Mine is very low maintenance.
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I'll second this. The Excalibur micro is brilliant and the maintenance is minimal and simple.
 
Being as cool as ole Nutterbuster is like being as badarse as Chuck Norris. Admirable goal, but not gonna happen.

Why would you want to be talked out of something by a bunch of faceless dudes on the internet? Do what makes you happy and stay true to your moral compass.

Enjoy whatever you choose.
 
sojourner said:
Being as cool as ole Nutterbuster is like being as badarse as Chuck Norris. Admirable goal, but not gonna happen.

Why would you want to be talked out of something by a bunch of faceless dudes on the internet? Do what makes you happy and stay true to your moral compass.

Enjoy whatever you choose.
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data collection my friend :)
 
Jeff F. said:
I'm a relatively new deer hunter (meat hunter). This year will be my 5th season.

I've managed to take 6 deer in that time (public and private).

I got three deer last season so, with the freezer full, I decided to take this bow season off to do some more camping, mountain biking, fishing, and other fall activities instead of grinding it out on public land with my compound bow.

This has given me plenty of time to mentally masturbate about giving a crossbow a try.

I love shooting my compound bow but the bottom line is, practically speaking, it has a lot of downsides compared to a crossbow (in my opinion). I'm not a slob so if I'm going to archery hunt I am going to practice practice practice (this takes time and money). I'm going to take it to the shop to make sure it is properly set up (this takes time, money, and hopefully they do it right). I also take some issue with the fact a lot of stuff can go wrong when you are flinging arrows at a deer. I'm extremely careful and I practice my ass off but none of my archery kills have been as clean as I would have hoped.

For me the main benefits of a compound bow are they are small, light, they are FUUUUUUUUUUN to shoot and practice with, and you can use them more widely across the country if you intend to out of state hunt.

The primary reason I am interested in a crossbow is it would allow me to engage in other outdoor fall activities and I could focus on scouting public land (work on hunting not shooting) and potentially hunt less with more focus and lethality in the fall. When the winter hits my family is not interested in camping or fishing with me anymore so I can spend as much time in the woods as I want (this is usually gun season).

Anyway I just thought I would be a thread started and get some thoughts.
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A Cross bow is the most awkward thing you will ever carry into the woods. Yes, they are easier to shoot, and no draw motion to spook deer. But awkward.
 
I have both and enjoy both. However, I have hunted since the early 1980's with a compound bow and I just find that my muscle memory and techniques have become almost second nature with a compound that I find it much easier to hunt with one. I find the horizontal crossbow bulkier and less efficient and I just enjoy hunting with my compound more. I am seriously looking into the Hickory Creek Outdoors Mini which is the best of both worlds in my opinion.
 
woodsdog2 said:
I have both and enjoy both. However, I have hunted since the early 1980's with a compound bow and I just find that my muscle memory and techniques have become almost second nature with a compound that I find it much easier to hunt with one. I find the horizontal crossbow bulkier and less efficient and I just enjoy hunting with my compound more. I am seriously looking into the Hickory Creek Outdoors Mini which is the best of both worlds in my opinion.
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My post sounds super lame now since I didn't read all of the posts prior. Sounds like Nutterbuster has what I'm talking about.
 
If your goal is to hunt less and kill more, than a crossbow may be a good option. Just keep in mind that anything that makes a hunt easier will likely make it less rewarding. If you are strictly meat hunting than that may not matter to you. Either way best of luck with your decision.
 
tyson12590 said:
If your goal is to hunt less and kill more, than a crossbow may be a good option. Just keep in mind that anything that makes a hunt easier will likely make it less rewarding. If you are strictly meat hunting than that may not matter to you. Either way best of luck with your decision.
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I agree 100%. If you don't like hunting and are only interested in killing something using the easiest legal method available, you might be a crossbow hunter. If you don't mind waiting until firearms season, get a 7mm and you won't even have to get close to the animal to kill it.;)
 
ricky racer said:
I agree 100%. If you don't like hunting and are only interested in killing something using the easiest legal method available, you might be a crossbow hunter. If you don't mind waiting until firearms season, get a 7mm and you won't even have to get close to the animal to kill it.;)
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I like hunting, but I like the killing part the most, and a crossbow helps me kill critters. I have admitted on many occasions that if Alabama would let me gun hunt during bow season and on bow-only WMAs, I would do so. And I worked in an archery shop for 5 years and have a press on my back porch!

After I've killed 100 deer or so, I may calm down and start shooting a strugglestick.

As far as challenging and the whole "rewarding" thing, I get my kicks killing deer that anybody else with $30 for a license could have killed. If I kill a buck after canoeing 2 miles, walking another, and hunting hard all season with minimal deer sightings, imma be pumped regardless of what puts a foreign object in the diaphragm cavity.

Shoot the deer. Shoot them with rifles. Shoot them with pistols. Shoot them with blowgun darts. Shoot them with arrows. Shoot 'em until they tell ya you can't shoot 'em no more, and then go bass fishing.;)
 
Jeff F. said:
data collection my friend :)
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I transferred from vertical to crossbow due to bone spurs and arthritis. There are ups and downs to both. Biggest upsides for me are: it takes less off-season shooting an xbow to maintain proficiency (no need to do the 3D shoots) and I can easily shoot to 35 yards right or left hand (which is great for saddle hunting, no off side shot or sneaking all the way around a tree). Biggest downsides are: cumbersome to carry in the woods and longer to get a second shot off.

Just another data point for your research.
 
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