Crossbow Questions

[Mergie Master]

What's y'all opinion on Crossbows?

I have tentative permission to thin some deer in a subdivision by hunting the edges and the vacant lots. Folks can't have any flowers and shrubbery due to the deer eating up everything they plant. They're even having trouble decorating the gated entrance to the subdivision.

My problems are, I can't used a firearm, and I don't want to spend the time practicing to become proficient with a bow. And I refuse to just go out there half-assed and sling arrows crippling deer. So I'm thinking about purchasing a crossbow with a red-dot system or scope. From what I've read/heard a crossbow is basically like a rifle in that once you zero the scope it's pretty much point and pull.

From looking around it seems the top brand names are: Horton, Excalibur, Barnett, and TenPoint. Velocities seem to run between 250fps - 380fps, with hunting ranges mentioned as max 60 yds on most systems. Prices from my Googling search are from $285 - $600+.

Does anyone know what my best choices of crossbow would be, brand name, velocity etc?

[tradorion]

On my soapbox- i absolutely detest the idea of a crossbow in archery season... no major archery organization in the US is in favor of them.

Now having said that- they are a blast to shoot and can be avery effective hunting weapon and a way to introduce new shooters to the outdoors.

Horton makes a good rig-- they are like any bow in one sense-- you get what you pay for as a general rule AND older ones will still kill well although newer ones are faster and probably quieter.

Keep your range to less than 30yds and shoot a heavy bolt. Anyone saying they are killing at 60yds is holding WAY THE HELL OVER the back of the deer... one of our hunter ed guys told me that when he attended a crossbow introduction course he was really surprised to learn just how much they drop off as range increases. Put the same sort of limits on it you would with an average bow and you'll do fine.

Good luck with it!

R

[Mergie Master]

Trad,
Thanks. This ain't for bow season it's for shooting where I can't shoot a firearm. I don't plan on hunting with it anywhere except around the subdivision. And thanks for the tip on range.

But I gotta tell ya...I seen Rambo blow a feller slam outta his shoes must have been a good 85-100 yds with a crossbow? [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[btduckcall]

man for a second there i thought it said it was something trad learned in a class so reread it and saw it was someone else. [img]tongue.gif[/img] but i do agree with the big r on this one. but they are fun on the tree rats . but takes alittle getting use to before using it in the neighbor hood.