Anyone use a red dot?

[BravoKilo]

Curious if anybody here uses a single red dot on their crossbow? Just picked up a Phoenix Red Dot package (out of stock on the bare bow or varizone package) and am wondering how useful a single POA would be for hunting (mainly whitetail)?

I picked up a spare set of the fiber optic sights which I have installed on it currently. Should I keep the fiber optics? Put on the red dot? Sell the red dot and buy a scope? New to crossbows so I could definitely use suggestions from those with experience.

Thanks!

[Kelley]

My Grandson has a red dot on my old Devastator. He really likes it and shoots very tight groups.
Kelley

[Cossack]

"Very tight groups" is only meaningful when you describe same: Distance, no of arrows, size in inches. Ten to one I can shoot tighter groups with a scope.

[w8cop]

I have had both on my Phoenix...I like crosshairs much better !!!!

[birddog10]

I have a red dot on my Phoenix and I like it a lot. Keep it simple. I'm scoped in at 25 yards. Raise dot for further and lower dot for closer. I don't have to sit and think about which dot I'm supposed to use.
One problem though: Don't leave the light on and drain the battery or you're screwed

[GaryDowdy]

I use a red dot sight for gator hunting at night, but prefer a scope like the Max Zone or Vari-Zone.

[BravoKilo]

I don't doubt that a red dot can shoot tight groups, but rather the issue I'm concerned with is when I'm in the field hunting, specifically with targets at different distances. Red dots do allow for quick target acquisition, but do leave quite a bit of guess work when it comes to hold-over when the target is closer/further than your zero mark...

Have yet to get mine out on the range to test -- how much rise/drop can I expect from shooting at 20 or 40 yards when I'm zeroed at 30 yards?

[curtisgreen110683]

Keep that red dot on the turkey gun and get a vari-zone, I love mine on my phoenix...no doubts or guess work out to 50 yds. Just my opinion...

[vixenmaster]

I have a red dot on my phoenix sighted in at 30 yds. It shoots 3"+ at 20 yds & i haven't tried it at 40. It will fall off real fast the sight-in yardage drop 8-10" that next 10 yds

[DEPUTY]

One came with with my Barnett, I took it off and I just bought the 4x32 multi reticle instead. When you look through the scope on the red/green dot scope the dots are blurry. Looks like I might be selling mine. It has the twist knob for red or green dots.

[GaryDowdy]

With my compound bow, while shooting 3-D archery, I encountered a target once at 5 yards. Holding low wouldn't have worked. I used my forty yard pin! Shot the twelve ring, too. At that distance you can use all of your pins! Found that out on a boar hunt.

[Old Exocet]

I use one. Biggest issue I find is lack of low light ability, cuts about 15mins off legal time to my mind. As to distance, I dont worry, IF you know the bow, ballistics are in your head, just as with a rifle. Take the time to shoot your ranges

The quick sight target is a bonus with red-dot, but I DO agree that normal scopes perform better overall. Found that yesterday when siting bow with co-worker. I shot1.5 @ 25, he shot 1. Red-dot vs scope.

[wabi]

I've used scopes, red dot sights, and the factory peep sight over the years and with 3 different Excaliburs.
As far as accuracy, any of the methods are fine for hunting accuracy. I could easily get groups under 2" @ 25 yards with any of them (from a bench in good light).
For hunting I prefer the scope. Not because of accuracy, but simplicity and a good sight picture under the not-so-perfect light conditions we encounter when hunting.

Let me say that as far as hunting I PREFER a single reticule sight! I sight in at 25 yards, and any deer inside 30 yards is easily killed with a "center of the kill zone" hold using my Phoenix and a 375 (+/- 10 gr) arrow.

My likes/(and mostly)dislikes of all 3:

The factory sight is good, but the front sight has a few faults in my opinion. It provides 3 aiming points, but they are enclosed and can be hard to see at times.
From inside a ground blind in dim light the fiber optics do not pick up enough light to be visible. It is durable, but I did have a problem with my newer Phoenix in the fit of the front sight dovetail attachment. The set screw put enough pressure on the aluminum dovetail machined in the riser to allow the dovetail to bend or compress and the sight would move/lean to the left over time (pivot like a lever with the dovetail as the fulcrum). If I were to go back to using it I would replace the set screw and drill & tap a hole in the riser to mount the front sight permanently and replace the rear sight with an adjustable "peep" which mounts on the scope base.
My other complaint with the factory sight is that the fiber optics are not durable. I've had 2 or 3 of the fiber optics break or fall out.

Red dot sights are good for most hunting conditions, but all I've used (Tru-Glo, Tasco, BSA, Hammers) do not have good light gathering capability. In dim light the reticule is easily visible, but the target is not. Depending on the sight itself the reticule can be great or terrible. Dot size and brilliance can vary a lot between manufacturers. A 5 minute dot can look like 3 minutes in one brand and 8 minutes in another (I think illumination intensity affects this quite a bit).
The other problem is that if you leave it on while in the stand the battery will loose power. If you turn it on & off you have to move your arm & hand and that movement can be seen in some situations. On most you also have to adjust illumination intensity, and that level can change quickly in morning or evening light conditions. A dot that is visible at daybreak might be too dim if the deer hangs around for 15 minutes before it offers a shot.

The scope is my favorite sighting method for hunting, but it has weaknesses, too.
The illuminated reticule models I've owned (several brands) all ended up with problems in the circuitry. Different problems cropped up (for example I had a TenPoint that got so bright with the green option you couldn't see the target), but all the problems ranged from very annoying to disabling.
The standard (non-illuminated) reticules can be hard to see in dim light, but the heavy duplex I use now (Leupold) helps.
My big rant with scopes is the failures I've had. Still trying to figure it out (the Leupold is my last hope for scopes ), but all I've had on the Phoenix for any length of time over the few years I've owned it have failed! A couple at the worst possible moment!
Go to the range and the bow is sighted perfectly, take a shot before the hunt to confirm sight-in and all is fine, shoot at a deer and miss the aiming point by several inches (and in at least one case a wounded & lost deer ). In all cases of a missed/wounded deer a quick walk to the range (on the same farm I hunt on) confirmed that POI HAD shifted!
I have no idea if the problem was limited to the scope quality, or if there is something in the Phoenix that is causing scope failures (I have checked the mounting base repeatedly and even removed and reinstalled it and also changed to top quality steel rings, but never found any problems with the base or rings), but if the new Leupold fails it's either going to be factory sights back on the bow - or a new bow!

[Deaf jeff]

a red dot is alot easier to see and no confusion as with multi line/dot scopes , and i have tried several brands/types of scopes(hawke,excal,parker). my vortex shoots any distance from 10-30 yards and holes can be covered with a tennis or baseball ball without any hold over. im sighted dead on at 24. my arrows are gold tip lazer ll's with brass inserts and blazer vanes. i will try longer ranges when weather and time permit. but where i am hunting my shots will not be over 30 so i am confident my red dot will fill the freeze.r imo groups do not matter to much since its more then likely a one shot deal at whitetail and when target shooting groups tend to damage arrows. i have a leopold gilmore red dot

[catcher]

My son has a red dot on his phoenix and he loves it. It is easy for him to put the red dot on his target rather than the crosshairs from a scope. This was his first time shooting the red dot free handed at 20 yards.