Crossbows

shrpshtrjoe · Posted: Sun Feb 27, 2005 2:22 pm Post subject: Crossbows

Howdy. Anybody out there hunt with a crossbow. Here in MD they have a limited season for crossbow only, or you can use it in the firearms season. I use a horton legend shoots bolts at 300fps with a 4 power scope. The scope has one vertical cross hair and five horizontal cross hairs for 20-30-40-50-60 yrds its calibrated for the speed of the bow so once you sight the top one in for 20 your good to 60. I have taken several deer with it (it hammers them). Its also very accurate. I won't take a shot at a deer over 40 yards with it i believe it has the power too just anything over 40 is a long way to loft an arrow in my oppinion. Anybody else out there shoot crossbows Question

Rick_Teal · Member Joined: Apr 02, 2005 Posts: 29

I hunt Ontario where both crossbows and vertical bows have been used in archery hunting since we had our first bow season in the '60s.

On friday I'm leaving for my archery bow hunt for moose. Four of the five of us use crossbows. We have tags for both bull and cow moose.

I use an Excalibur Exomag 200 lb bow. Its supposed to get about 320 fps, but for moose I use heavier bolts and heads than what they test with. I may put it over my graph to see what I'm actually getting.

RPM1031 · Posted: Sat Oct 08, 2005 3:06 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

I don't have one but my brother on the eastern shore and his buddy both have the exemption to hunt with a crossbow in MD. In fact so do I for MD, just NJ won't accept what the MD gave me to send in.

Both of them have an Excalibur Exomag and LOVE it. They told me to see if I could get an exemption so I could get an Excalibur. With Excalibur's scope you adjust to the marked distance you intend to shoot, walk over, shoot. Smack! it's on. 200#, over 300fps. Awesome.

He has taken deer in MD, a small black bear last May in Quebec and is hoping for a moose hunt with it.

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

I've always wanted one but with no season to use it in, I cant justify the cost atm for what my wife would call a stoy.

Now in the true toy category, I did buy one of those 50lb handheld ones that shoot the plastic bolts... fun for shooting popcans in the back yard. I accidently shot a 4x4 post close range with one and it buried the bolt over an inch into it! Pretty fun toy for the $10 or whatever it was I paid for it.

I've looked into the Barrett's and they look really nice.

-DallanC

Flint54 · Posted: Mon Oct 10, 2005 9:25 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

I don't have a Crossbow in the strict term but I do have an Airrow conversion for my 10/22. It would be a very effective weapon for big game if regulations would allow it but alass they don't. I have used it on non-game, non-protected creatures and it is very effective.

www.swivelmachine.com/...imfire.htm

I get @ 420 fps with my arrows so it does shoot a little flatter than a standard Crossbow and the nice thing about it is that there is no effort to reload Shocked

Almost got a chance to use it to cull a few deer is a residential area a few years back but couldn't make the trip Crying or Very sad

the F&G Officers that I let use it went and persuaded their Office to get one and now they have 4. They say that it is the most effective took that they have ever used. Shocked

I wonder why???

Crackshot · Posted: Sun Jun 18, 2006 7:36 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

In Michigan you have to get a medical certificate to get the permit to use one. They are trying to get a season for just cross bows but they have failed so far.

Gigmaster · Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 6:39 am Post subject: Re: Crossbows

I bough a Horton Yukon crossbow a few years back and hunted with it a few times. Then, I sold it on EBay. I learned to hate crossbows real quick.

The thing weighed a ton compared to my Hickory flatbow and I haven't seen any crossbow performance that comes even close to either my longbow or compounds.

The problem with crossbows (other than the weight, the bulk and general clunkiness) is that the power stroke is only around 15-18", compared to an average bows power stroke of 30". The bolt (which is also much shorter than a arrow) leaves the shelf at a high energy rate, but bleeds off very rapidly, so after a short flight, it is out of inertia. At distances over 30 yards, almost any bow can outperform a crossbow. I had my arrow choronagraphed (or whatever they call that thing) from my longbow at 100 yards still traveling over 175 fsp. My compound shot one at 220 fsp at 100 yards. So my arrows only lost about 30% of speed and power at that range. My crossbow bolt couldn't even make it to the target at that range with out a massive hold-over, and then, just barely. We weren't able to measure it at all.

I will admit that crossbows are fun to shoot, if very tiring. I may get another one just for fun, but I believe I want a Horton Steel Force recurve crossbow. They weigh about half as much as the others.

Other things I don't like about crossbows:

They shoot very noisy.
They are difficult to repair in the field.
They are expensive to get worked on.
If you have one over about 6 years old, you can't get parts or bolts that will fit it (same problem with compound bows).
They are MURDER to cock!
They have a very slow rate of fire.

But if you like them, by all means, indulge yourself. Everyone has different likes and dislikes. That's why Baskin-Robbins has 32 flavors!

Semper Fi!

Crackshot · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 12:20 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

I have a Barnett 150# cross bow thats 18 years old. I have just replaced the bolts and the string.........Not a problem one doing it.

whittling · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 1:49 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

it stinks . in mass. they are ''dangerous weapons ''. can't use them

hunterjoe21 · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 2:43 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

whittling wrote:

it stinks . in mass. they are ''dangerous weapons ''. can't use them

Aren't all "weapons" dangerous?

If not, they wouldn't be very good weapons would they?

"I'm going hunting with nice safe dull knife and safe empty gun"...

PaulS · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

Washington doesn't allow hunting with cross bows either but that doesn't mean you can't own them and practice shooting them.
I have built a few and bought a couple but They lose their glam after a very short time for me. I still have one but rarely shoot it any more. Even with the cocking handle it is hard to get cocked. I have to use steel tubular bolts for it because nothing else will withstand the acceleration. I've thought of making a compound cross bow but haven't gotten around to it with all the other things in my life.

Crackshot · Posted: Thu May 22, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

A buddy of mine has informed me that YES we can hunt with cross bows during gun season and ML season. So I am going to give it a try this year maybe!

Gigmaster · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 8:55 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

whittling wrote:

it stinks . in mass. they are ''dangerous weapons ''. can't use them

Soooooo......what would constitute a NON-Dangerous weapon??????

And what good would a Non-Dangerous weapon be? Do you have to hunt rabbits with Nerf Balls?

Gigmaster · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 9:11 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

Well, all this talk got me curious again. I just went out and got a good deal on a 175 lb Horton Yukon SL. They have improved them greatly since my last one. This one is about 2/3 the weight of the old ones, has a real scope, a range dial, and a great trigger pull. It came with a string assist cocking device, which makes cocking it childs play. I can even cock it sitting down. It has as good a trigger pull as any rifle I've ever shot.

After sighting it in, I can shoot 3" groups at 50 yards, and 4-1/2 groups at 100 yards. I think that's about the max range on this one. It's pretty much ballistic at that point, but the bolt still flies straight. I feel confident that in an emergency, I could hit a man-sized target somewhere on the torso at 125-150 yards. My longbow and flatbow are still superior, and my compounds are awesome, but the Yukon is a nice addition to my toy collection.

hunterjoe21 · Posted: Mon May 26, 2008 10:35 pm Post subject: Re: Crossbows

I feel like I'm trying to argue with a Priest....

KOOL...

Your Yukon is not meant to kill at the ranges you seem to want it to perform at. It's a close range weapon. If you want something to KILL reliably at 100 yards, get a gun.

If you bought it as a toy. treat it as a toy.

My nephews have air guns that are lethal to small birds at under 20 yards. Does that mean I should shoot at small birds at 75 yards and report on the guns efficiency? There's a lotta stuff I CAN'T kill with the guns I have. It wouldn't make much sense to go "Can't Kill'en" now would it?,,,,