Need help choosing a crossbow. "I BOUGHT AN IBEX TODAY

Crossbow Hunting

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B-Logger
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Re: Need help choosing a crossbow.

Post by B-Logger »

Cat power wrote:Hi there, I'm new to forum and crossbows and need some advise from members.

I am looking to purchase a crossbow within the next 2 weeks and am really torn between a recurve and a compound bow.

My biggest concern with the Excal is the width, and noise. I hunt from pop up blinds and ladder stands mostly. My biggest concern with the Parker Tornado is quality, longevity and complexity.

I have visted over 10 bow shops in SE Michigan including Cabelas and Gander Mountain. They are all selling the Tornado far and away over the Excal (Some shops had not even sold an Excal yet). I'm not sure if that means anything, because most of the shops aren't really familar with the products yet.

I really want an Excal, that why I came to this forum. Please help me with some personal experiences with maintenance etc.
thanks Mark
Welcome to the forum from another Michigander.

I can certainly relate to what you are going through trying to select a crossbow. I went through that several years ago and found it was not easy. I also found that every dealer I went to wanted me to buy either a Ten Point or a Horton. Now they want to sell Ten Points or Parkers. No doubt they must make more dollars selling those, especially the expensive Ten Point. They are a good bow; actually an excellent bow, but certainly not worth the dollars they are asking.

The number one thing I ran into was the belief that a recurve bow just could not match up with a compound and was not even worth looking at.

In every dealership I visited that also carried Excalibur, I wanted to try them. The dealers usually just tried to steer me away. Truth is, they knew almost nothing about Excalibur bows!

It was really funny though when I finally made up my mind to buy. I asked them to get me a Ten Point, Horton, Excalibur and Barnett. The guy did take one of each into the shooting range. Another guy was there practicing and he was one of the top archers in the area. A real know-it-all.

I shot each and the only comments that were made was when I shot the Excalibur. Let's just say the comments were not positive. They even joked about the bow. Of course, anything that was not a compound had to be trash...

They about fell through the floor when I told the guy I'd buy the Excalibur.

That was many years ago and I have never been sorry I bought the bow. I found it is certainly different carrying the bow out to hunt and some stands have to be set up a little different but very little. That is, I had some stands with an extremely small shooting lane but I had to trim a few small limbs using the crossbow.

This brings up your number one concern. I've heard this comment from many about the Excalibur being wider so harder to handle. With the bow strung, I have measured the limbs tip to tip vs a Parker measured tip of the wheel to tip of the wheel. It came out somewhere around 2" difference. I was surprised. I don't recall the exact measurement but it seems to me it was just under 2". Is 2" really a concern?

And once again I will bring up Excalibur's warranty and their efforts to make happy customers. I recall something when I purchased that the dealer didn't have at the time; seems like it may have been the crank. Excalibur went out of their way to make sure I had what I wanted. I also recall part of the string looked like it might have been weak and I stated that. No more talk. They simply sent me a new string. Last year I foolishly dry fired my bow. I lost a tip from one of the limbs. In a matter of a couple days the new limbs were delivered to me via UPS.

If I can be of more help, please do not hesitate to send me an email or PM.

Also, I do believe Excalibur will be at the Woods & Waters Show in a couple of weeks. I am planning on going as I haven't been to that show for a long time and remember it as a good place. Its a pretty good drive from here but will be worth spending a day there.
Keep smiling!
Dennis
Cat power
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Post by Cat power »

B-Logger,

Your experinces are exactly what I have been going through for the last 60 days. In fact I went to a bow shop today, and all the salesman wanted to show me was the Parker. He knew nothing about Excalibur's.

I may go to Woods and Water show too.

I have decided to buy the Ibex with the Lite Stuff package.

I am considering shopping the internet for the best price, unless someone can point me in the right direction.

Mark
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Post by wildman »

Cat give give Dan Miller a call @740-483-2312 he will get you set up right .. :D
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Post by Doe Master »

I second the recommendation on Dan . He is the best of people . :)
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Post by saxman »

Welcome to the forum friend.
You will find great people here.

I would go ahead and take noise out of the equasion on any crossbow purchase,unless the noise is from just being poorly made.
I like the recurve style for it's simplicity and ease of personal maintainence. I can change the string without a bowpress.
I don't really do any stalking so the width is not an issue with me.
I didn't read all the replies so you may have one by now.
Good luck with your choice,There is a bow in the excal line for anyone.
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Post by dick195252 »

I third that give Dan Miller a call and he will have every thing you will need in one shipment. His prices are right in the ball park you will be ready to hunt. :wink:
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Post by Migabby »

Hey Cat,

About 6 weeks ago I went thru the same thing your doing! What I found out is that there are not any real expert X bow People in Michigan Yet. They think a compound is a compound and a Recurrve is old fashioned and can't preform. (Wrong) Next, service becomes a big issue with compounds, not recurves. Think about it. I was in the local Gander mountain store last week when a compound came in for a problem with the cable being off the Wheel. Needed the Bowpress however the repair guy was off so he had to leave his bow. Think about it.

There are bow packages by the Manufacturer and then there is what you really need. These guys here are all correct call Dan Miller. he will help you with your real needs. I think his prices are well in line, plus you get what you want.

John
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B-Logger
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Post by B-Logger »

Cat, keep in touch on the Woods & Waters show. Perhaps we could meet there.
Keep smiling!
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Post by VixChix »

Was away for a few days last week and took my bow along to do some shooting and to introduce a few others to the joys of shooting a xbow. I had a well-used string on and the serving wore through during the first day of shooting. The guys I was with were so impressed at how quick and easy it was for me to change the string - took just a minute or two and we were back shooting. The one guy who already owned a compound xbow was particularly impressed. There's a lot to say for recurve simplicity!
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Post by Cat power »

I went down to Cabelas today to give a couple more xbows a look. I shot the Ten Point Defender and was really impressed. Now I'm really confused.
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Post by Gimpaw »

You need to know what it is that you want. There are other good crossbows out there.
Everything comes at a price. The simplicity of a recurve means that you have a little wider weapon, but it also means that you can do the work yourself... and for free.
If you went to a forum that was hosted by the Ten Point company, I'm sure that you'd get all kinds of advice leading you to buy a Ten Point. You're in an Excalibur site, so it stands to reason that all of us would tell you what a great product Excals are.
When I went looking, I had already been leaning toward the Excalibur. Watching the Ten Point fly apart during the sales pitch, just solidified my decision.
Consider all things... speed, cost, cost of having it worked on, service after the sale... anything that's important to you, and then when you decide what's important to you, buy whatever feels right to you.
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Post by Cat power »

I want to apologize about bringing up the 10 point like that. I mean no disrespect. I have put over 50 hours of internet research into this purchase and it is driving me nuts. I have literally drove my wife crazy with the constant flip flopping on which one I should buy. No matter what I always seem to come back to an Excalibur. I am going to call Dan tomorrow and talk to him about it. I am 95% sure an Ibex is coming my way and I'm excited about it.

Mark
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Post by VixChix »

No worries Mark! We love our Excaliburs, but we're by no means against any other crossbow. We've got some members here who don't even own a crossbow. It's all good. We hope that even if you decide to purchase a TenPoint that you'll feel welcome to come here and share your hunting and shooting experiences with us. Glad to have you here!
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Post by lscha »

WELCOME, Catpower! Been there, Done that. When I got mine, none of the shops hardly carried any Excaliburs. I told them, "you will!". I know that not everyone is going to love the recurve like I do but here's a little fact I don't share on the other forums: My husband bought a TenPoint and on at least 4 occasions he has made the statement "I should have bought an Excalibur". :lol: :lol:

I would never knock another crossbow company and especially not TenPoint. They make great bows but if both of us accidently dropped our bows out of a tree, I wouldn't be the one crying. Image
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Post by Undertaker »

Get the Ibex and the nightmare ends, or maybe the Vortex, hmmmm let's see. Just call the guy.
Just an over informed newbie with a misinformation spreading disorder- and a Vortex
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