Crossbow solution(s) required for Lady shooter.

Maritimer · Post by **Maritimer** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:10 am

Welcome to the forum, I bought a exocet for my wife and she had the same problem as you described. She just was not tall enough to pull the string the last 1/2 inch to cock it. I bought her the Phoenix and she has no problem cocking it. She loves her Phoenix so much that she will not let me shoot it, she tells me I have my own.

swiftfox · Post by **swiftfox** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 10:32 am

welcome both of you to the forum. I have had a vixen bow for 17 years. It's an older model. I have shortened the cocking rope and can easily cock and uncock the bow. I am only 5'5 and a women hunter. I agree with the comments that have been posted. Don't be in a hurry to buy your wife a bow. Let her try the pheonix and vixen at a range. Most gun clubs now have a archery range. I am sure with a little practice the Huntress will manage to use the cocking rope effectively. I would not trade my vixen for any other bow. Have shot several other excalibur bows but the vixen fits my body size best. It's like finding a gun that fits, it becomes second nature when you shoot. Glad to have you on the forum , members here will answer any question you have.

gunnutjay · Post by **gunnutjay** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 6:43 pm

Hey Guys, Fran tried cocking the Phoenix, soooo close but it's a NO GO... She's pretty bummed out about it cause it was the one she liked. We are now looking for a Vixen to try out. Geez, we hope she can cock the Vixen...

Cheers
Jay
P.S. Fran being 5 feet tall is PERFECT for me, but this crossbow thing is really bothering her, she's so frustrated...

Rich · Post by **Rich** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:09 pm

Jay,

Sounds like the Vixen is the ticket for Fran. Bud has a pretty good deal in the trading forum for a Vixen package:

http://www.excaliburcrossbow.com/phpBB2 ... 4db73b7841

My wife and I have the Exocet and Phoenix, and I end up having to cock the Phoenix for her all the time.

Rich

farmer54 · Post by **farmer54** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 7:17 pm

The girlfriend got her vien from Als's corner store on old hwy 17 near Arnprior. She is 5' tall. She must have talked to Al himself for about 1/2 hour at the Carp sportsman show about it. Al has a full line Excalibur crossbows and accessories to boot. That is where l got my phoenix. They have a out door range to sight in the bows. Gobble "n" grubt on the Gilles side road off the Perth road is another Excalibur dealer. They have a indoor and outdoor range. Both spots are top notch in my books.

fletch · Post by **fletch** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 9:16 pm

Hey gunnut Larry from South Nation is very helpful and he knows more than most about archery and his wife being in the Olympics is no small feat either. Larry is very knowledgeable and usually can pick exactly what a person should use it's just too bad he didn't have all the models there for her to try. But I bet the Vixen will do the trick. If she wants it bad enough she will get it done.

Good luck.

gunnutjay · Post by **gunnutjay** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 5:51 am

Thanks for the replies guys, we are taking in all the info and trying to solve this problem. The main reason that Fran wants to be able to run her own bow is that in the "worst case scenario" a bad shot could leave an animal disabled from a spine shot... And Fran would be unable to cock her own bow to finish the job...

We used the crankaroo and Fran could cock the 225 lb model with it, so we realize that is the route she could go, but both of us found the crankaroo cumbersome and a pain in the a$$, so we'd rather avoid it...

Cheers
Jay

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:32 am

The cocking rope can be shortened to make the total "reach" less, but the Vixen is plenty of crossbow for most commonly hunted North American game. The secret with archery is not power - it's accuracy! - and the Vixen is the most accurate Excalibur I've owned. Not to say the others are not accurate, but the Vixen usually has a slightly better trigger pull due to less force against the "claws", and the ease of use allows more practice.

saxman · Post by **saxman** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 11:52 am

This is a very interesting thread for me as I would like to get my wife and youngest daughter to hunt with me so I'll be watching.

groundpounder · Post by **groundpounder** » Wed Mar 12, 2008 12:46 pm

I remember a while back seeing where someone made a hinged foot stirrup dropping it straight down versus straight out the end of the xbow. They did this to allow clearance for them to shoot the Gobbler Guiotine broadheads. I think this would also be a relatively simple solution to getting you another couple inches of pull to be able to cock the xbow. There could be several ways to addapt the stirrup to help her out. I could play with the idea more if you do not come up with another solution or xbow that you can handle cocking.

gunnutjay · Post by **gunnutjay** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:32 pm

Problem SOLVED!!! Huntress and I just met up with farmer54 and his little lady, Huntress was able to cock the Vixen, so Vixen it is!!!

farmer54, YOU ROCK! And your little lady is top notch too!!!

Cheers
gunnutjay & LadyHuntress

VixChix · Post by **VixChix** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:44 pm

Congratulations!!!

You'll enjoy it!

xbowking · Post by **xbowking** » Sun Mar 16, 2008 3:11 pm

Congrats !!, great to hear.

fogducker · Post by **fogducker** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 7:50 pm

hey huntress and jay..

quess who i am on CGN,s

thanks for the link in CGN to get me here,looks like i got lots to read here to get my feet wet in my new adventures of trying out bow hunting

Cossack · Post by **Cossack** » Thu Mar 27, 2008 8:48 pm

You can shorten the rope(quite a bit) to the point that you have to pull the bowstring up to the hook (several inches) with the left hand while holding the hook with the right hand. That way it not only cocks easiest but you can leave it there while you transport.

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Crossbow solution(s) required for Lady shooter.

crossbow solution