I think (hope
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) the three crosshairs & dots will be similar to shooting the 3-dot red-dot sight I've been using. The 3-dot sight works well for my Phoenix, but a little magnification would also be nice at times. I don't seem to have the brain farts of forgetting which reticule to use for various ranges with all the reticules looking the same.
Never tried to say the vari-zone isn't a great sight, I'm just saying it's not for me. With only one crosshair, that's what I use under the stress & excitement of a hunting situation. The triangles work fine for other yardages, but I often forget they are even there when a deer is in view!
I've missed deer by using the crosshair at longer range, and also missed a deer by using the wrong triangle when I did remember to use them. (put the 40 yard point on a 31 yard deer and the arrow went over his back with the old Vixen) That shot was my first attempt beyond 20 yards and the old Vixen was only getting about 260 fps with the arrows I was using. It was also the old drop-zone scope and I watched the buck actually drop (string jump) a few inches before the arrow went just over his back.
The next miss was with a new Exocet (175#) and a new vari-zone. I tried a doe at 32 yards and used the crosshair instead of the 30 yard mark. I saw the arrow go under her, but it was so close I wasn't sure I'd missed completely. Found the arrow and there was no blood, then I went to where she had stood and there was no hair to indicate a hit. I followed the trail she took and never found anything to indicate a hit, so I called it a clean miss. One thing I did learn on that shot was that she did not react to the noise (jump the string) with the new bow and velocity at just over 300 fps.
Since then I've kept shots close to 20 yards and under, but it is comforting to know that I could reach out to around 30 without worrying too much about them jumping the string if I keep velocity close to 300 fps.
I have one promising stand this year in a very small food plot that has a decent buck visiting it. The route he takes across would mean the shot would be 20 to 25 yards and quartering away if I get it. I only get to hunt that plot about one or two evenings a week because I have to take my 6 year old along most days while my wife works, and if it's been raining the creek floods easily and the plot is in a "horseshoe" bend, so the chances are good a wounded deer would cross the creek. Trailing one across a flooded creek can get real interesting, and I don't need that challenge if I can avoid it.
Actually, a single reticule sight isn't too much of a disadvantage. With a leupold scope I had on the Phoenix sighted at 25 yards the close shots could be easily made with a little "hold under" and a 30 yard shot takes very little "hold over". I plan to sight the center crosshair/dot on the new scope for 25 yards and do most of my practice at that range. If I need to hold over or under the other crosshairs should be a good reference if I remember to use them, but if I forget the center one should still put the shot in the vitals at out to 30 yards.
Maybe I should write a new article for HBM -
"crossbow sights for dummys"
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