You all know by now I am a croossbow hunter. 4 major surgerys on my shoulders and the left will need replacement in the future, sooner if I keep playing with you guys at the range. Plus I crushed 4,5 &6 dics in my lower back. at 24. Now Crossbows have made some major changes over the 23 years I have been hunting with them. They are seriously accurate and getting harder to pull back, as the manufactures are making them higher in poundage every year trying to out due the other guy, but it still can be done by hand if one is tought the correct way to do it.
.It still shoots and arrow that can hit a limb, deer can still jump the string at ranges closer than one would think and you still need to get in position for the shot.
.I had to learn to think and hunt like a bow hunter, just because the bow is sitting in my lap or hanging on a limb dosn't mean I can be ready for what ever deer comes in. It's true that if I see the deer 1st I can 99.9% of the time be ready for the deer. But the deer that comes in behind me or along side me and sometimes from the thickets right in front of me It can be tricky to manover the bow into position. I've learned the signs deer give to allow me to move and get in positions to make a clean kill. Holding the bow up for a period of time is not uncommon either. Waiting for the perfact shot. At times I have been busted by many doe's and bucks while holding.
.2nd shots can be made, but quess what, I have to recock my bow to do so. I have made many kills with deer standing insight with a 2nd shot either for a 2nd deer kill or a missed shot and reloaded to take a 2nd.
.The major difference I have found between Crossbow shooters and virticals shooters in stand placement, guys always ask me. "Are you putting me in one of your CB stands?" My stands are usualy in think cover and this is where the difference comes in, Sence I don't need to draw back I usualy will be tucked in between limbs or low over hanging branches.
.If I was shooting a "Bow Gun" that shot a "BULLET" I can asure you I would have a dozen or more major size bucks that would be in the record books. My arrows are just that an arrow and thus subject to the same surcomstances ever bow hunter faces in the field.
My responce to differences between CB's and virticals
Moderator: Excalibur Marketing Dude
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mdcrossbow
- Posts: 1368
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:48 pm
I watched 3 different really nice bucks walk last year because they stayed out about 50 yards.........they would all have been very easy to kill with my iron sighted 44 mag revolver......easier yet with a muzzleloader or rifle.....but I wasn't hunting with a handgun, muzzleloader or rifle, I was hunting with ARCHERY equipment in the form of an Exocet.......if a crossbow will easily kill a deer at 100 yards like a lot of those guys claim.......then tell BillT I want a refund 'cause mine is defective! 
GonHuntin wrote:I watched 3 different really nice bucks walk last year because they stayed out about 50 yards.........they would all have been very easy to kill with my iron sighted 44 mag revolver......easier yet with a muzzleloader or rifle.....but I wasn't hunting with a handgun, muzzleloader or rifle, I was hunting with ARCHERY equipment in the form of an Exocet.......if a crossbow will easily kill a deer at 100 yards like a lot of those guys claim.......then tell BillT I want a refund 'cause mine is defective!
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mdcrossbow
- Posts: 1368
- Joined: Sat Feb 01, 2003 12:48 pm
I usually see them during the rut......no telling where they will be the next hour, let alone the next day! When the big boys are chasing does......all bets are off for patterning them!DaveHawk wrote:Gon, when I see the bucks like that I just figure out my next move for my next hunt to get close up and able to make that 10 or 15 yard shot. Why hunt from 50 yards when you can be right close.
If a Crossbow differs that much from a verical bow. I wonder how the shotgun hunters felt when they introduced the "inline muzzleloader". Here in southern ON, shotgun and muzzleloader share the same season, and we all know that they are nothing alike.
In my mind a RIFLE has a RIFLED barrel, a shotgun has a smooth bore and a bow shoots a shaft. How simplier does it get.............................
In my mind a RIFLE has a RIFLED barrel, a shotgun has a smooth bore and a bow shoots a shaft. How simplier does it get.............................
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Woody Williams
- Posts: 6440
- Joined: Wed Oct 09, 2002 5:07 pm
Here is mine...
Crossbows VS Compound Bows Hunting
There are numerous pros and cons for any type of archery equipment.
Accuracy
Shooting off hand the compound wins hands down. That is proven out at any archery event where the compounds and crossbows shoot the same targets. If the crossbower can use a rest (not always possible in a deer hunting situation) then the tables are reversed.
Although a hunting tool’s good accuracy is a positive and not a negative desire.
Trajectory
In most bow hunting conditions (less than 25 yards) there is no difference as both the compound bow and crossbow will generate approximately the same feet per second and kinetic energy. Downrange the compound will win hands down as the shorter arrow of a crossbow does not stabilize as well and will lose feet per second in speed and KE faster than a compound bow shot (longer) arrow as it attempts to correct itself in flight.
Weight
Most crossbows weigh in at right around 6 pounds. That is close to the weight of a lot of rifles and shotguns. The compound bows weigh in much less at 3 to 3 ½ pounds. Not a big deal unless one is also packing in a stand, ladder or other equipment. Or hot footing it up and down mountains chasing elk/mule deer out West.
Clearances
Because of the horizontal limbs a crossbow is much harder to pack into the woods on the way to the stand or still hunting. When hunting from a treestand the horizontal limbs have a major conflict with the vertical tree we are in. It is extremely difficult to shoot behind the treestand as the limbs and string will not allow the crossbow to be up against the tree like a compound bow would.
Drawing/Shooting in the Presence of Game
The crossbow has a slight advantage in this area. The string is back in a firing position before game is approaching. How much of an advantage is debatable as several things come into play.
1) Being 20 to 25 foot up a tree when attempting to draw a compound bow will lessen a deer’s ability to see you.
2) Bows are usually 75 to 90 percent let off so one can draw on a deer much sooner and hold longer to make a killing shot with less worry about the deer seeing you. Mike Beatty drew and held on the new world record non-typical buck for a full 3 minute before making the shot. That bow was a 85% let off.
3) A number of hunters that use ground blinds are using a new blind called Double Bull that allows one to draw and shoot through a curtain and never be seen by the animal.
4) Most bowhunters learn when and when not to draw on a deer. IE – when it’s head is behind a bush or tree or allowing the deer to walk past them and shoot them quartering away.
Both pieces of equipment have to be raised into a shooting position. Only the compound has to be drawn.
Ease of Mastery
The crossbow would have an edge here. More so if the individual had some previous rifle shooting experience. Irregardless, a “newbie” just starting out with either piece of equipment can be shooting hunting accuracy (all arrows in a 6 inch circle) within two hours *IF* properly instructed. Maintaining proficiency would also go to the crossbow.
Ease of mastery is irrelevant to the hunting aspect. Being a master of your equipment has nothing to do with how good a hunter you are. It only has to do with what kind of shot you are with the equipment at hand should that shot present itself.
There is very little difference in mastering a crossbow and a compound. There is a MAJOR difference in mastering a stickbow as opposed to either a crossbow or a compound. If the difficulty mastering the hunting tool is used a yardstick for archery hunting then the season would have to be limited to traditional only.
Crossbows VS Compound Bows Hunting
There are numerous pros and cons for any type of archery equipment.
Accuracy
Shooting off hand the compound wins hands down. That is proven out at any archery event where the compounds and crossbows shoot the same targets. If the crossbower can use a rest (not always possible in a deer hunting situation) then the tables are reversed.
Although a hunting tool’s good accuracy is a positive and not a negative desire.
Trajectory
In most bow hunting conditions (less than 25 yards) there is no difference as both the compound bow and crossbow will generate approximately the same feet per second and kinetic energy. Downrange the compound will win hands down as the shorter arrow of a crossbow does not stabilize as well and will lose feet per second in speed and KE faster than a compound bow shot (longer) arrow as it attempts to correct itself in flight.
Weight
Most crossbows weigh in at right around 6 pounds. That is close to the weight of a lot of rifles and shotguns. The compound bows weigh in much less at 3 to 3 ½ pounds. Not a big deal unless one is also packing in a stand, ladder or other equipment. Or hot footing it up and down mountains chasing elk/mule deer out West.
Clearances
Because of the horizontal limbs a crossbow is much harder to pack into the woods on the way to the stand or still hunting. When hunting from a treestand the horizontal limbs have a major conflict with the vertical tree we are in. It is extremely difficult to shoot behind the treestand as the limbs and string will not allow the crossbow to be up against the tree like a compound bow would.
Drawing/Shooting in the Presence of Game
The crossbow has a slight advantage in this area. The string is back in a firing position before game is approaching. How much of an advantage is debatable as several things come into play.
1) Being 20 to 25 foot up a tree when attempting to draw a compound bow will lessen a deer’s ability to see you.
2) Bows are usually 75 to 90 percent let off so one can draw on a deer much sooner and hold longer to make a killing shot with less worry about the deer seeing you. Mike Beatty drew and held on the new world record non-typical buck for a full 3 minute before making the shot. That bow was a 85% let off.
3) A number of hunters that use ground blinds are using a new blind called Double Bull that allows one to draw and shoot through a curtain and never be seen by the animal.
4) Most bowhunters learn when and when not to draw on a deer. IE – when it’s head is behind a bush or tree or allowing the deer to walk past them and shoot them quartering away.
Both pieces of equipment have to be raised into a shooting position. Only the compound has to be drawn.
Ease of Mastery
The crossbow would have an edge here. More so if the individual had some previous rifle shooting experience. Irregardless, a “newbie” just starting out with either piece of equipment can be shooting hunting accuracy (all arrows in a 6 inch circle) within two hours *IF* properly instructed. Maintaining proficiency would also go to the crossbow.
Ease of mastery is irrelevant to the hunting aspect. Being a master of your equipment has nothing to do with how good a hunter you are. It only has to do with what kind of shot you are with the equipment at hand should that shot present itself.
There is very little difference in mastering a crossbow and a compound. There is a MAJOR difference in mastering a stickbow as opposed to either a crossbow or a compound. If the difficulty mastering the hunting tool is used a yardstick for archery hunting then the season would have to be limited to traditional only.
Woody Williams
We have met the enemy and he is us - Pogo Possum
Hunting in Indiana at [size=84][color=Red][b][url=http://huntingindiana.proboards52.com]HUNT-INDIANA[/url][/b][/color][/size]
We have met the enemy and he is us - Pogo Possum
Hunting in Indiana at [size=84][color=Red][b][url=http://huntingindiana.proboards52.com]HUNT-INDIANA[/url][/b][/color][/size]