advice with bow/crossbow

RPM1031 · Posted: Thu Jul 20, 2006 4:15 pm Post subject: advice with bow/crossbow

Here's the situation. I'm 53, never used either, found out I've got arthritis in both shoulders and worse in my neck. I've had tendonitis in my right arm and I'm starting to get twinges in the left. On top of that I'm right handed, left eye dominant. I don't want what happened to my brother to happen to me. Some years back he dropped $600+ to get set up with a bow but the more he practiced the worse the tendonitis got that he had in both arms. He finally gave the bow to a son, got a special permit and drop as much for a crossbow set up in his state of MD.

I live in NJ and won't qualify for a crossbow here but would qualify in MD where I do most of the little bit of deer hunting I do. I would rather get a crossbow, an Excaliber with a scope, but if I got a bow I wonder if I would be better off trying a lefthand. All my shooting has been righthanded. I don't have the money for either right now but can't see wasting money on a bow I may not be able to shoot properly because of pain.

Any thoughts?

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

RPM1031 wrote:

Here's the situation. I'm 53, never used either, found out I've got arthritis in both shoulders and worse in my neck. I've had tendonitis in my right arm and I'm starting to get twinges in the left. On top of that I'm right handed, left eye dominant. I don't want what happened to my brother to happen to me. Some years back he dropped $600+ to get set up with a bow but the more he practiced the worse the tendonitis got that he had in both arms. He finally gave the bow to a son, got a special permit and drop as much for a crossbow set up in his state of MD.

I live in NJ and won't qualify for a crossbow here but would qualify in MD where I do most of the little bit of deer hunting I do. I would rather get a crossbow, an Excaliber with a scope, but if I got a bow I wonder if I would be better off trying a lefthand. All my shooting has been righthanded. I don't have the money for either right now but can't see wasting money on a bow I may not be able to shoot properly because of pain.

Any thoughts?

Head on down to your local friendly archery range and have them let you shoot some lefty bows to see if you like it or not. I dont know about your neck of the woods but around here every archery shop has an indoor range of sorts and you can test shoot all kinds of bows.

I am a left and I have shot my wifes bow right handed while we were setting the pins and whatnot... overall i didnt find it a terribly hard thing to do, just uncomfortable and a tad un-natural having shot bows left handed for a long time. i dont doubt you can make the change to a left handed shooting position, it will just take some dicipline and a little practice to overcome the "familiarness" your traditional shooting has given you.

-DallanC

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5944

Excalibers are nice, they are HEAVY to pull though because they dont rely on a compond system. No one in my hunting party could cock the bow without using the supplied cords that releave some of the pressure to get it at ready. Shocked

There little device or similar is absolutly needed. Trying to pull up on a 225lb string is a pain. Mad

Quote::

Our ROPE COCKING AID will allow you to comfortably load and unload any Excalibur crossbow by reducing the felt draw weight by 50% as well as guarantee perfect string alignment for optimum accuracy. Made from highest quality components. It uses comfortable "T" handles and easily slips into a pocket when not in use.

They are pretty accurate and shoot quite stright with there graphite arrows though Smile

I am thinking about getting one of their lighter crossbows myself or maybe a Fred Bear like the one I borrowed from a friend to hunt with last fall it was one of there compound 175lb ones but was easy enough to pull. Smile

Dimitri

RPM1031 · Posted: Fri Jul 21, 2006 3:20 pm Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Thanks for the good advice Dallan.

Dimitri, My brother and his friend have and love Excalibers and yes you definitely need that device/cord to string and unstring them. They are however extremely accurate. At the start of the season they just reapply tension to the mark indicated for the range they intend to shoot and it's dead on. Besides Dimitri it's a Canadian company. Very Happy

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5944

RPM1031,

Yup they are like a laser, when I was playing with it getting used to it before hunting with bows at both 30/40yards it surprised me on how accurate it was. Smile

Dimitri

scratcherky · Posted: Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:49 am Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Get a Phoenix or Vixen Excalibur bow. Both are more than enough for deer. Excaliber bows can be used right or left handed--no difference except for quiver mount and that can be mounted right or left.
Don

Gigmaster · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:15 am Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Just a question....If you can't pull a bow, how are you going to cock a crossbow?

Have you considered using an altatl? It's performance is similar to a bows and it would be much easier on your tendons and joints, with no string to pull.

I had a Horton Yukon crossbow and sold it after a few hunts. Too much work involved and crossbow performance is dismal compared to almost any bow. It didn't take me long to learn to hate crossbows.

Anyway, good luck to you.

RPM1031 · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:20 am Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Thanks for the advice guys. I did get the Excalibur Pheonix from Cabela's this past year. Used credit card points, store promotion, returned some stuff and called it an early birthday present so the cost wasn't too painful. Very Happy

I got it put together but haven't used it yet. We'll see how it goes. Can't use it here in NJ but the little I deer hunt is done in MD and I have a medical to use it there.
Thanks again.

RPM1031 · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:57 am Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Gigmaster,

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate it

The Excalibur is a great bow. It's very accurate and dependable. My brother got his some years back because of tendonitis. He swares by it (not at it) and has been recommending that I get one. He got his on the advice of a friend who switched to the Excalibur for the same reason and loves it as well.

My concern was taking ethical shots. I could pull a bow but worried that all the money, time spent practicing, scouting, preparing for a hunt would be wasted because I either missed or worse yet wounded and not recovered an aminal because the tendonitis, etc flared up while I was taking a shot.

There are cocking devices that make it much easier to cock the crossbow and there are different body mechanics involved. I'd rather deal with an ache in my back cocking the crossbow than pain in the arm drawing the bow. The crossbow can be steadied or rested on something if needed because of aches and pains as compared to a bow.

Time will tell.

Thanks again.

Gigmaster · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:55 pm Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Oh, I didn't realize they had pulleys available. Then a crossbow might be a workable proposition.

Good Luck!

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5944

Crossbows have pulley's, cranking units etc to help.

But with my 150 pound Barnet I just cock it by hand. And you know what I can cock my crossbow no problem, but cocking a bow of 75 pounds requires me to use double the effort.

Don't ask me why but it just seems that way when I've tried out compond bows. Confused

Dimitri

keetoowah · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

Dimitri I bet its from the different muscles used and position of your body and is why its probably easier doing a cross bow.
Have always wanted a crossbow thats the next on the list of weapons

regards

Dimitri · Super Member Joined: Nov 25, 2005 Posts: 5944

Keetoowah,

A crossbow like a rifle or a hand gun or a baseball bat is not a weapon. Wink

And perhaps your right about the muscles, all I can pull without too much effort I found is 65 pounds. I find wearing gloves helps for cocking both a crossbow and a bow. Smile

Dimitri

Gigmaster · Posted: Fri Jan 25, 2008 7:27 am Post subject: Re: advice with bow/crossbow

I never had a problem cocking the crossbow. It was just soooo heavy and cumbersome to walk through the woods with, and had dismal performance compared to almost any decent bow.

One of my longbows I made is a 'Seige-Bow, with a 'War-Weight' of 110 pounds at 29" draw, and it's not that bad to shoot. I found very quickly that if you miss with this bow, you can kiss that arrow 'goodbye'. It will land somewhere in the next county! But it only weighs 4-1/2 pounds.

Different strokes for different folks.