Scope Aim Points

[fender]

Has anyone sighted in their crossbows to shoot 25yrds on the crosshair and then 35/45/55 on the remaining chevrons? If so, is the process the same as standard sight-in? The stands and food plot I hunt fit these settings better than the standard 20/30/40/50. Although I did get a doe last Friday at @36yrds it was at low light and I hit low judging between the 30-40 settings. I am using the shadow Zone scope.
Thanks

[paulaboutform]

Yes, you can zero at 25 and add 10 yard increments.

[fender]

Great, thanks for your help!!

[xcaliber]

My problem is getting the deer to position themselves where my scope settings are!
Yes, I did something similar with my Nikon to better align my dots farther out.

[paulaboutform]

My problem is getting the deer to position themselves where my scope settings are!
Yes, I did something similar with my Nikon to better align my dots farther out.

This is what I love about the setup on my M380 with my HHA Optimizer. When I set my Optimizer at 33yards I'm 2" high at 20yards and 2"low at 40yards. Perfect for hunting purposes. It all equals dead minutes of deer.

[VixChix]

I leave my Optimizer set at 25 - if a deer comes in closer I can dial it back to 20 by feel.

[wabi]

I use a Leupold rifle scope with a duplex reticle.
I sight the crosshair at 25 yards and can just use the crosshair for any deer from 0-30 yards. (I'm shooting an old Phoenix w/400gr arrows) Since I usually confine my shots to a range of 15-25 yards this system allows me to use the K.I.S.S. philosophy which fits my mental abilities perfectly.
I can also use the duplex "posts" for 15 & 35 yards when target shooting or if the need arises to hit a smaller target (the 25 yard sight in keeps arrows +/- 3" out to 30 yards), but in reality I have only used the 15 yard "post" once in several years of using this system and that was on a doe at my feeder (a known distance of 16 yards). Some hits have been an inch or two high or low, but all deer have died very quickly (I saw or heard all of them go down).
The deer I've killed with this method have ranged from about 7 yards to 21 yards (I knew they were inside the 30 yard limit) and I've never missed one!



To explain my reasoning in a bit more detail I'll add that I'm now classified as a "senior citizen". Been hunting since I was a child and grew up shooting scoped rifles. Back then scopes usually had a plain old crosshair. You put the crosshair on the target and squeezed the trigger. When I went to crossbow hunting I got one of the fancy Excalibur scopes with all the nice range marks.
When a deer was in range (about 30 yards) I put the crosshair on the "sweet spot" and squeezed the trigger while watching the arrow sail under it's "belly".
I learned from that experience and used the "chevron" on another deer. Watched the arrow sail over it's back (wrong chevron and it ducked a few inches ).
I did kill a few deer with the Excal scope, but those misses in the heat of the moment kept me thinking there had to be a better system for hunting.
I did some research on arrow trajectory and decided on the 25 yard sight-in and a 30 yard limit on shots. I've been using this method for several years now and my kill ratio is 100% with it. All I need to do is range several reference points from my stand to be certain the deer are within 30 yards before I shoot. Yeah, I've watched a few that didn't cooperate (and get close) walk off, but I'm good with that. They are still around and I may get them next time, but I sleep well knowing they're still healthy because I didn't try to make a questionable (in my mind) shot and end up wounding them.

[Deerstalker]

I use the Nikon Bolt Xr and have the X-hairs set for 25 yards. I use the CB for hunting and no 3D shooting. I limit all of my shots to 40 yards or less. I use the 1st circle under the X-hairs for 35 yards.

[yooper_man]

I use a Leupold rifle scope with a duplex reticle.
I sight the crosshair at 25 yards and can just use the crosshair for any deer from 0-30 yards. (I'm shooting an old Phoenix w/400gr arrows) Since I usually confine my shots to a range of 15-25 yards this system allows me to use the K.I.S.S. philosophy which fits my mental abilities perfectly.
I can also use the duplex "posts" for 15 & 35 yards when target shooting or if the need arises to hit a smaller target (the 25 yard sight in keeps arrows +/- 3" out to 30 yards), but in reality I have only used the 15 yard "post" once in several years of using this system and that was on a doe at my feeder (a known distance of 16 yards). Some hits have been an inch or two high or low, but all deer have died very quickly (I saw or heard all of them go down).
The deer I've killed with this method have ranged from about 7 yards to 21 yards (I knew they were inside the 30 yard limit) and I've never missed one!



To explain my reasoning in a bit more detail I'll add that I'm now classified as a "senior citizen". Been hunting since I was a child and grew up shooting scoped rifles. Back then scopes usually had a plain old crosshair. You put the crosshair on the target and squeezed the trigger. When I went to crossbow hunting I got one of the fancy Excalibur scopes with all the nice range marks.
When a deer was in range (about 30 yards) I put the crosshair on the "sweet spot" and squeezed the trigger while watching the arrow sail under it's "belly".
I learned from that experience and used the "chevron" on another deer. Watched the arrow sail over it's back (wrong chevron and it ducked a few inches ).
I did kill a few deer with the Excal scope, but those misses in the heat of the moment kept me thinking there had to be a better system for hunting.
I did some research on arrow trajectory and decided on the 25 yard sight-in and a 30 yard limit on shots. I've been using this method for several years now and my kill ratio is 100% with it. All I need to do is range several reference points from my stand to be certain the deer are within 30 yards before I shoot. Yeah, I've watched a few that didn't cooperate (and get close) walk off, but I'm good with that. They are still around and I may get them next time, but I sleep well knowing they're still healthy because I didn't try to make a questionable (in my mind) shot and end up wounding them.

Absolute perfect thinking Wabi.

I've only used single crosshairs during rifle hunting. I've tried hunting with ballistic reticles, but I find them to busy for my liking. My Leupold is set at 25 yards center crosshair. I hold center behind front shoulder from 0 - 30 yards my maximum.

Andrew

[Drew]

I'm using the Nikon Bolt XR on my M355 and have it zeroed out at 30yds with my hunting arrows (408grs @ 334fps). This puts the upper thick to thin transition on the vertical cross hair dead on at 20yds. The first index circle below the crosshairs is 40yds. I've not tested past that distance yet. I've guessing the second index down would be 50-52yd-ish but I limit my shots to 45yds so no too concerned with the rest of the aim points.