Mag 340 Deer for Dad

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XB I GO
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Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by XB I GO »

My Dad actually got a deer! He used my Mag 340 with a Quill and 150 grain Sonic Bolt. At 20 yards this should be easy. He hit it right behind the shoulder and it exited in the middle of the opposite shoulder. Still, the deer went almost 200 yards. Dad looked last night for a little and spent this morning on his hands and knees for a little over 2 hours. He is a good tracker, but he really needs to learn how to shoot! It is unbranched antler season for the rest of this week, so this buck was perfect.

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Driftless hunter
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by Driftless hunter »

Congrats to your Dad! I am always thrilled when my Dad has success, but he's never been into archery. His success comes with Browning A-bolt .270 Win. My Dad is also 80 years old. My brother & I are just happy he still goes out with us!

I appreciate your post, because I have been researching crossbows for a couple months now. An Excalibur dealer that is also a G5 Prime dealer has my free replacement cables/string (lifetime free cables/string every two years is a nice perk) for Prime Impact compound. He's planning to contact me as soon as he gets restocked with Excalibur crossbows. He's a bit of a drive away, & I would like to look at crossbows while my compound bow is getting set up with new cables/string.

I sometimes drift to looking at the Ravin R10 and the Ten Point Viper S400. I could never justify paying over $3000 for Ravin R500E (500 fps), but it did get me looking at other Ravin options. Looking at the Ravin sort of led me to the TP Viper S400. Their new cocking/decocking system is quite slick & much safer than the Ravin's system. I am not sure I want to pay $1,200-1,600 for my first crossbow, however. I've been an avid compound hunter for 34 years, but crossbows are new to me.

I keep coming back to the Mag 340 as being a first good crossbow for the money. Eventually, I hope to see/shoot one in person. In the meantime, I was wondering if you (or other Mag 340 owners) could answer a couple questions.

Are you cocking/decocking your Mag 340 with a rope cocker? If possible, I would like the simplicity of that.

You can correct me if I am wrong, but your Mag 340 looks the one without the extra noise reduction features. I question if the extra cost of the extra features are worth it? Especially, if they slow down your arrow. Once again, I prefer simple. Sometimes, less is more.

I would appreciate your thoughts on the Mag 340 now that you have had it for some time. If it was stolen, would you replace it with another one or look at something else?

My thought is a Mag 340 may be a good place to start. It could always become my backup crossbow some day, but I may just like it enough to use it for a long, long time. I don't have any plans to replace my 2014 Prime Impact compound any time soon. I think compound bows have sort of peaked a few years ago. Crossbows have more potential for improvement. For example - a $3,000+ 500 fps Ravin has an electric motor option to cock/decock it. That's taking things a bit too far in my mind.

Congrats again to your Dad! His shot looked good to me. Deer can be tough sometimes!
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by xcaliber »

Congrats! Glad he stuck to the tracking, I have lost a few, and that hurts! Anyway, good job. :thumbup:
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by Bcxbow »

Congrats to dad XB :thumbup:
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by wheelsquad »

Looks to me like Dad made a great shot. Sometimes the difference between a 50 yd run and a 200 yd run is 1/8". And unfortunately we can't see exact artery location from our stands. That Mag 340 will get one for you also, no doubt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_Uf2XllI4Y
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by Boo »

Congrats Dad! It is odd to me that the deer went so far because I've shot 3 deer where the arrow exited the off-side shoulder and they both dropped. Still, in archery, the shots are not always predictable.
Where you there when he took the shot?
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XB I GO
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by XB I GO »

I didn't see the shot, only the video of it. The "hole" in the picture is the entry, right behind the shoulder. The exit hole is right smack in the middle of the shoulder. The entry shoulder had a V notch cut out of it on the back edge and the exit shoulder had a triangle cut out of the middle of it. I can't believe it went so far. I saw where it was and even out little dog would have a hard time getting through there. Dad went to the store to buy new pants, he shredded the pair he had on.

The Mag 340 has been awesome. I can cock it with the rope cocker, but I like the DR Stirrup 4X4 cocker to make it easier. I use 150 grain heads even though the Quills are set up for 100 grain and the book refers to 100 grain. The 50 grain difference ended being only like 12 to 17 FPS less than using 100 gain. We have had a ton of luck with the Ibex and Matrix 380. This Mag 340 is a lot smaller and just as quiet with only the REDS and two little fluffs on my Halloween string. The scope that comes with it has a speed dial thingy. Set at 300 the marks work out with 150 tips. With 100 grain tips the dial needs to be set on the outside edge of the 330 mark. If something happened to this Mag 340 I'd definitely get another one, not a different one. As far as hunting, that is actually the first animal killed with that crossbow. I've taken it on a bunch of hunts and 3 different States but I never shot anything with it. Dad broke it in for me.
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by mr meat »

Congrats to your dad
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by DuckHunt »

Congrats to your dad XB for a great job tracking after what looked like a good hit. Sometimes they just refuse to die. As other's mentioned, sometimes 1/2" difference on the hit can make the difference in them falling in site and running 200 yards.

Unbranched antler season? That sounds different and probably necessary for some areas. Where I hunt in Virginia they have almost 5 months of antlerless only season (September, then January-April). It sounds easy and it would be if not for all of the small bucks. I don't hunt the last 30 minutes of light during the doe season because its practically impossible to see short spikes at 30 yards in low light. If they had their own season or were lumped in with the doe, I'm sure plenty of us would be willing to fill some tags.
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by AJ01 »

Congrats to your Dad XB!! Great job on following up on the tracking job!! :thumbup:
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by Riflemanz »

Congrats! :thumbup:
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Re: Mag 340 Deer for Dad

Post by longbow joe »

Congratulations...honestly dosnt look like a bad shot at all. Nothing wrong with a sonic either awsome broadhead as you already know.
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