Strictly Horizontal!

[saxman]

Welcome Gary
I shot vert bows with no success for years.
I finally found out why,both of my shoulders need to be replaced.
I discovered the crossbow and it changed everything for me.
Not to say it was so easy I just took right to it,not at all but it did change ME and the way I hunt and the prep time I put in
It has made me a more resposable and ethical hunter.
I HATED shooting my vert bow.I LOVE short sessions with my crossbow.
These changes have gone over to my Muzzleloading and centerfire hunting.
I have become more succesful at all of them after 40 years no success.
I'm not saying it is a majic weapon but it has changed me.

[bkisel]

Welcome to the forum Gary!

I shoot both, target shooting only with the compound the last few years. I like the crossbow when the december chill sets in. I dont miss pulling back the compound then

Ah, yes another big plus for the CB especially for those of us now well into or 60s or more. A lot of the cold weather pulling difficulty has to do with all the layered clothing we tend to wear when it is cold.


Take care...

[GaryDowdy]

Yeah, my parka had to be watched closely for stirng contact. I had to use a long armguard most of the time. No longer a worry.

Any of you Far North guys/gals have any problems relating to freezing on your crossbow? Just curious; though I doubt there is. Many of my friends have taken muskox with compounds. Excaliburs have fewer moving pasrts.

[john.torress]

i am glad that i found people here who also like crossbow..but i am a beginner and maybe i can get some tips from you here.

[roly]

i am glad that i found people here who also like crossbow..but i am a beginner and maybe i can get some tips from you here.

Welcome you have come to the right place

Lots of great people here with lots of good advice

[lscha]

WELCOME John! Glad to have you here.

[hetichunter]

i still have to use my matthews compound and not my excalibur cause IL will not allow me to use it unless i am disabled or old. the vertical hunters here continue to keep the horizontal hunters from hunting

[GaryDowdy]

They tried here in GA,(ignorrantly, myself included) but failed to do so. Speaking of hunting with CB's I am hunting gators with mine in a few weeks. Anyone here try the STS on their Excalibur? I'm thinking of trying it to see what kind of noise reduction I get.

[secret]

Archery is the art, practice, or skill of propelling arrows with the use of a bow. So if this makes me a "darkside hunter" ill put my black facemask on and climb in my Double Bull Blind and show you how to kill things with "one shot cause thats really all i get" . oh yeah Welcome!!!

[wheelie]

It is nice to have a choice. I prefer a vertical till it gets cold out. 3D I strickly use a compound and which one depends on class I want to enter. Bow fishing I use a recurve. Do enojoy crossbows but rarely use them but they will always remain with me. One day I will strickly use a crossbow as my Dad uses one of mine every year where as he could never pull a compound bow back at 75 years young. Keeps him young and in the woods. What ever one chooses we must all stay on the same page or we could all lose our hunting rights. That's why I will never understand why vertical bow owners are pitted against us crossbow owners. Crossbows, I let my kids use them also that can't put in the required time to shoot a compound.

[See4miles]

Hi Gary,
Welcome to the "darkside" I grew up much like you, starting with a recurve, migrating to a Bear "Whitetail Hunter" compound, and then upgrading as the years went by. This whole Crossbow issue is laughable to me. I remember the same arguments I'm seeing right now when compound bows first came into the mainstream. Five years from now this will all be a laughable memory to us all.
I really don't care what anyone says about me switching to the crossbow. I paid my dues over the years with the equipment I used and I hunt very hard, harder than anyone else I know. I just tell people that I'm a "results oriented" deer hunter and as such, I made the transition gladly.
By the way, these people who are so vocal against crossbows are shooting 350fps bows with drop-away arrow rests, fiber-optic sights, mechanical releases, and broadheads with carbon arrows. What a bunch of hypocrites!

[GaryDowdy]

See4miles: I hear you loud and clear!!! My Hoyt has a drop-a-way rest, I use carbon arrows, sight pins and 80% let-off, etc. I was one of the "grumblers". I started shooting a Ben Pearson recurve, my first compound was a Pearson Bushmater which came about when the Bear Whitetail 2 did. Me being around 13 years old at the time I went with the Bushmaster because of my short draw length. I was a 3D archer and the bowhunting editor for Boar Hunter Magazine. I get a lot of crap about owning a crossbow, more so when I hunt with it. Frankly, I don't care what they think! I can out shoot them with both! I think choice is great. When one of my rifle hunting buddies want to join me in archery season, I give them a little training and let the use my crossbow. The fellowship and memories are lifelong treasures to me.

P.S. I posted the effects-or lack there of- of crossbows in archery season in Georgia on Bowsite's Michigan page. They deleted it and locked the thread!!!

[Racepy]

Vertical bows these days look less and less like bows. Most crossbows still look very much the same. I like that. You can spend a fortune trying to keep up with the latest gear with vertical compounds.

After all, why fix if it isn't broken? That says a lot of great things about the crossbow.

[See4miles]

Gary,
I'm saddened by your words being suppressed in Georgia. Its amazing to me that this nations's freedom of speech rights are actually controlled everywhere on such a regular basis.
I would tell that story far and wide were I you. You seem to have the name, face, and clout to put this in the spotlight and I wouldn't hesitate for a moment to do so.
Anyways, welcome to the fold. I know we're all tickled to have you with us. Good hunting to you as this season draws near.....

[GaryDowdy]

Thanks, Brother! Kicked off is in just over two weeks! I'm starting off with a gator hunt, too. It just doesn't get any better!