HiddenCountry

Hello everybody, I haven't had a chance to really search around on herea whole lot yet but I have a very important question but let me begin by explaining my situation. I bowhunt with a compound bow and I love the sport very much. I have a son who has Cerebral Palsy that affects his left arm limiting him from shooting acompound style bow. He wants to join me in bowhunting very badly or even just shoot out in the backyard with me and I want him to as well. He cannot stand completely alone but can stand with assistance and he has full use of his right arm. His only affected limb is his left arm and he is 10 years old. I do take him hunting with me and he has his own calls and stuff that he uses while we are hunting together. I have explained crossbows to him to the extent of my knowledge about them and he is very interested. We have looked at numerous cataloges and he has a pretty nice wish list.
Now my question is; What is an appropriate crossbow for him or am I trying to get him into one a little to early? I really like the looks of Excalibur but afraid to spend too much in case the whole attempt doesn't work out for him. He has the $1600 Tenpoint package from Cabela's picked out but we all have wish lists!! There is a store going out of business in my area and they have a Barnett RC-150 for $180. I am concerned about safety though. Just from pictures, it appears that the trigger is quite abit forward up under the string at full draw compared to other brands and have read about injuries involving contact with the string during release.I am completely stumped on which way to go. My wife thinks we maybe need togive it another year or so but he and I really want to hunt. I urgently need some advice, don't hold backtrying not to offend me because there is a ten year old boy whose safety comes first.

smokepolehall

With his limits addressed are you going to be with him in the stand or is he going to be by himself ? I wouldn't throw my money away on that going out of business sale as it maynot turn out cheap after all. He is going to need a bipod or unipod, tripod on swivel to take the weight I have an Excal Phoenix and its a great Bow, recurve type CB. Get a good one first and you won't ever regret spending the money. Ten Pt. Pro-Fusion would be my choice in the compound type CB. There it is my advice the Excal Phoenix or Pro-Fusion!

smokepolehall

Personally i would hunt with him as young as he is and a good ground blind to hide both of you. The rest of the outfit can picked out as to what you really need to hunt with vs. wants to hunt with! Good rope or crank cocker is needed, arrows a dz. cause him and you will mess up a few before its all said and done. B'Heads and a quiver of sorts to keep him safe from the B'Heads or bring B'Heads in safe box and wrench to put on at blind.

awshucks

HC: welcome to the forum!! sounds like a great kid, and I don't think he's too young. I'm sure you will get lots of advice, my 2 cents worth is you would want either an Excal Vixen or a 10 pt Pro-slider. Those are the two lightest weight bows I know of. The Vixen is prolly a little lighter in the front. I'm an excal type guy, so the Vixen at $275 [bare bow] would be my choice. One thing to consider is the fact that Excals and 10 pts have good re-sale prices. I'd advise a rope cocker [for accuracy] peep sight [standard] to start w/ sighted in at 25 yds. Good luck to both of ya!!

Dnk

shewe

all good advice so far. you can get a crank cocker for the excalibers too. i use one when my back won't let me use a rope cocker. stick with a good brand and it will last for generations or hold it's resale value if you decide to bail. if he has the interest and you will be there to assist....then he's not too young. good luck.

coyote170

Start him now,with your support and guidence he will excel in his sport!
Good hunting to the both of you!

Hotburn76

Well Im glad to see you taking such an interest in your sons passion! Alot of kids even get pushed aside by there own parents sometimes. I have some family that have CP and not sure on your son but I do not even think a rope cocker would work for him at the age of ten. If he was older maybe he would be determined enough to use a rope cocker but at the age of ten I would say it would be hard for him. The ten point profusions have a nice idea but I only struggle with them thinking that when turned all the way down can they be effective enough for shots past twenty yards, could be wrong. But like I said I would think at his age the rope cocker is out and I would suggest you get him a Excal phoenix or Vixen and you be his cocker. I would imagine you would be with him all the time so you could cock the bow for him. Another reason I would say Excal is I own a Horton but they are on the heavy side of the scale. I have held a Excal before and they are the lightest CB i have ever put my hands on! The weight would be a big help to your son also. Will your son be holding the bow with his right and pulling with his left? I also agree with smoke, don't go cheap on this chance with your son, the Excal phoenix is not that high, next to ebay, Bowhunterssuperstore.com is the best place to get one If you look on ebay you will also notice Excal has about the best resale value too! Then if it does not work out you could sell the bow and not be out much. Another thing for you to look into is the knee pods they sell. Not sure who offers them but if you had that it would help your son out alot with holding the bow. They are made to hook onto the front swivel stud and then rest on your knee. I would assume he would be in a ground blind and not in a stand, butI suppose the two man stands could work for ya both. Good luck and keep us up to date!

Dnk

You know guys, it just occured to me that many guys only take one arrow when they hunt so HC you don't really need to cocker. One shot, one deer! If he takes a shot with just one arrow at hand, he's not likely to miss!

smokepolehall

My advice on rest is a good adjustable tripod with swivel top to use in ground blind. If your up in a 2 man ladder stand then use the top rail.