Article

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:27 pm

Good crossbow article in this month's Field & Stream . . .you could almost say it's "Pro-Crossbow" . . .however, the author stops short of saying it should be legal in "archery season" because of the draw arguement. Personally, I have never had the drawing of the bow/string interfer with my taking of a deer. If your set-up is correct, the deer isn't likely to see you draw the bow anyway. No big deal, right? He does say the crossbow should be legal and to shoot one before you oppose one. Also, he agrees that they are a short range weapon.

The Exomax is shown . . .

flbuckmaster · Post by **flbuckmaster** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 9:30 pm

its about time!!!

jay

JackJack · Post by **JackJack** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:13 pm

Great news! I used to shoot compounds for years, but as my father got older he was struggling to pull back his bow. He decided it was time to try out a crossbow...we do everything together; therefore, I bought one too! I soon found out that once you go xbow you never go back!

DropTine · Post by **DropTine** » Sat Jul 14, 2007 10:37 pm

Finally, something positive towards crossbows!

Woody Williams · Post by **Woody Williams** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 7:40 am

That "drawing" is all they can hang onto. Anyone who has bowhunted very long knows that is a non-starter..

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 minutes before making the shot. That bow was a 85% let off. There is a bow on the market that is 99% let off where one can draw the bow as soon as game is spotted and they can wait for however long it takes for that animal to approach the shooting area.

3) A number of hunters that use ground blinds are using a blind called Double Bull, “Doghouse”, etc 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. That draw should be straight back and covered somewhat by the bow and bow quiver (if one is on the bow). That is unless the person drawing the bow seriously over-bowed and has to horse it back with great exaggerated movements..

Regardless of the perceived advantage of “not having to draw back a crossbow” the kill percentages are identical for compounds and crossbows. THAT is where the rubber meets the road.

BigBird-VA · Post by **BigBird-VA** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 8:35 am

When you watch the TV shows you don't see that many spooked by the draw. Usually it's well before that point they sense you or something isn't right. While starting the process of drawing (standing up, moving around) they get to the point they see enough movement and it's over. But in reality it was over well before the draw process began. Makes for a great excuse to fool one's self. But as we all know if it's going to happen drawing isn't the deciding point in the process. You can get away with a lot on a deer that isn't already alerted by something. Same thing happens raising the xbow or moving into a shooting position. Movement is movement to a alert deer. He doesn't care what you're shooting.

Woody I got the numbers for VA last year and there was less than 1% difference in success rates of xbows vs other bows. And stick bows are in with compounds. I would dare say their success rates are less than compounds so if stick and compound together equaled xbows, compounds might have done slightly better. Still we're talking a percent or 2 at best. But if you've got to split hairs what better to go after? LOL

John Wade · Post by **John Wade** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:02 am

I don't understand what is meant by draw, at least not what I thought it meant in conjunction with this thread. Will some explain it to me?

John Wade · Post by **John Wade** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 9:45 am

That's what I thought was meant by draw so I'm mixed up elsewhere. It's considered a bad thing to not have to draw or it's felt that should disqualify the xbow for hunting during archery?

sumner4991 · Post by **sumner4991** » Sun Jul 15, 2007 10:09 pm

The author should have said the "crawl" instead of the draw . . .because last season I crawled 30 yards in an open field to get close enough to a nice doe so I could make a 20 yard shot while laying on my stomach. I guess I couldn't have done that with a compound.

flbuckmaster · Post by **flbuckmaster** » Mon Jul 16, 2007 10:01 am

dont forget there are devices like the "drawloc" that attach to a compound bow that holds it at full draw untill you pull the trigger to release the arrow. does that sound familiar?

jay