How many came over to excal from compound x-bows?

[xbowholic]

I have never owned a compound crossbow and have always shot excalibur; just wondering how many of you started with the "other" crossbows?

[OneShot]

Shot a PSE - the cheapest most dependable bow - you could walk into most any store to buy parts if you had a breakdown !

It never happened ; but we knew if it did everyone carried replacement parts.

Then one day i woke up and dang I was old and couldn't draw the thing enough to practice anymore .

That's when my love affair begain, with the excaliburs !

No need to try another make; they are by far the best equipment on the market.

My U.S. friends swore by horton - but then came all the recalls and broken limbs and many other parts..

oneshot...........

[bucknbill]

I have had 4 compound crossbows, 3 hortons and 1 10pt..still have the 10pt but it,s in the case for sale locally..I went with excal because of the simplicity and reliability and lighter too..i just love not having to use a press or go the the bow shop

[Farmer]

Started out with a PSE Firefox or Starfire aluminum bullpup style frame and an air deck . A mistake from square one .

Being all aluminum it was noisy ( touch a branch --- ting . button from coat touchs stock ---ting .Metal is also cold to the touch Try hanging on to this xbow in sub zero weather for 4 hours . Could not hang it up the arrow would fall off the lizard tongue arrow rest , you could not cant the bow at all either or the arrow would fall off the rest . Worst trigger of any cross bow I have ever shot PERIOD !!! I had looked at an Excalibur but thought it was too old fashion and that a compound would be faster . Used ole POS for 2 seasons and went an bought Excaliburs big gun , a 165 # carved limb tip model with the safety on the side .

Have not owned another brand since nor do I think I ever will . You can 't fixed something that is not broke.
ole pos looked something like this old bow

http://forum.gon.com/showthread.php?t=243179

and another
http://archerybowshop.com/pse-starfire-crossbow

[theoldarcher]

After a tree stand accident in Early September 2007, I was down for a few days and unable to hunt with my bow due to a shoulder injury caused by the fall. A neighbor of mine had a PSE cooperhead and graciously offered it to me to use so that I wouldn’t have to go the rest of the season on the bench. The first time out with it I took a doe. Not wanting to take a chance of tearing up his crossbow I ended up buying a used Barnett wildcat C5 and used it the rest of the 2007 season and took a couple of deer with it as well. Summer of 2008 I bought a Horton Yukon and kept it until getting on the Excalibur bus in September of 2008. After reading about the Excalibur Phoenix and the simplicity of the recurves style crossbow I ended up buying one off EBay and then I got hooked up on the Excalibur Forum, I haven’t looked back since.

[MarkMarine]

Started with homemade recurve and then bought a Jayhawk kit. First mass production bow I bought was a Horton and when Ten Point came out I bought one of those. Kept them for awhile but the speed and, more importantly, accuracy wasn't there. When I chanced Horizontal Bowhunter began, I read a story about Excalibur...the rest is history.

[Dereck]

Started with a Barnett Rhino.
Then have been through a couple of Excal's Paradox, Vortex and settled on a Phoenix. I also have pieced together Vixen so I my kids can go shooting with me.

[novacam]

I started with a compound bow but as soon as DNR in NS woke up and made xbows legal I got one. I've only ever shot Excalibur, it's Canadian made and we can't say that very much!

[GaryM]

My first bow was a Ben Pearson 35 lb fiberglas recurve. That was 1963 and I was 9. (I still have it) Next bow was a Bear Kodiak 55 lb that I could never shoot good. That was 1974. Next bow was a PSE Laser Magnum compound I bought in 1979. Never could shoot that one either due to shoulder and back injuries. Gave up on bowhunting until 1997 when I got a crossbow permit and bought my Exocet. Finally, a bow I can shoot. Gary

[j.krug]

I have only ever owned Excaliburs.
First was a carved tip Exocet and now a Vortex.

[agingcrossbower]

I started in the 1965 or 66 with a Bear recurve and then a pse compound and several compouds after that. In 2004 I bounghe a Q4 10point. And then a vortex and now I have two vixens, one ibex and one 10 point. Like them all. Don't think the deer can tell the difference.

[stumpy53]

Hi........New here but not really. My old computer took a dump and I lost my ID. I was mostly a reader so I just reregistered after several attempts at finding my original ID

I started with a Shakespeare recurve in the early 70's. When the PGC legalized compound bows I graduated to a PSE. Soon I had 2 PSEs, one set-up for target and one for hunting. After several "high dives" out of trees I gave up on bow hunting in the early 80's. Yep...the fall didn't hurt but the sudden stop when the ground hit me did! My last dive was over backwards from around 8 foot and I landed on my neck and shoulder. As I lay on the ground with one side of my body numb and tingling I made a pact with the Man upstairs. If I could walk away from this I would never climb a tree again. After 45 minutes the numbness cleared and I walked away.

I have never lost that bow hunting bug for 20 some years but several spinal surgeries kept me from scratching the itch. Three years ago PA made it legal to use a Xbow during the archery season. I often wondered about the effectiveness of hunting from a ground blind. Well I committed to an Excalibur Exomax and invested in 2 Double Bull blinds. Last year I stuck a 10 pt out of a ground blind and I have had a heck of a good time. Properly set-up a ground blind can be effective. Fall is a special time in the wood, falling in the woods can really mess up your life.

P.S. I leave the trees for the birds and the squirrels........It can be done from eye level.

[wabi]

When my shoulder first prevented me from shooting my recurves & longbows I bought a Horton 150# (Hunter?) crossbow.
After a few months of target shooting & "roving" I decided my bowhunting days were over. I was lucky to hit a 5 gallon bucket lid at 30 yards with that thing!

I sold it and gave up on bowhunting, then one day I happened to see a TV show with some guy and his wife (Bill & Kath) hunting with recurve crossbows and making it tough on pigs.

Hmmmmmm..........
Never heard of Excalibur before that show, but I did some research and found there was a dealer in my small hometown. Called him and arranged to test shoot a Vixen. Three shots and I bought the bow!!!!!

Been bowhunting with Excalibur ever since, and don't plan on changing!

[deerhunter0430]

i started out with a vbow than after getting hit by a tractor trailer back in 1998 and really screwing up both my shoulders i was given a permit form the pennsylvania game commission to use a crossbow.I first got a 10 point but didnt really care for it to much so i switched to Excalibur and haven't looked back.a true killing machine .....

[vh64]

Been shooting verticals since the 70's, beginning of this year decided to start using crossbows so I ended up buying a tenpoint carbon fusion in April....shot it and found out that I really love shooting crossbows but I found out that crossbows don't like string servings very well for the amount of shooting I want to do. Well after learning that, I found that compound crossbows are not the best choice to have to deal with this situation. So by the end of June this year I bought a Vortex. Now I don't need to tell you good people how easy Excaliburs are but what a pleasure it is to own one and a lot less trouble to deal with in my case. One last thought after using both I have a lot more confidence in the recurve design and I'll put my vortex up against any bow in any category too.