Pamela74

Hi Everybody!
I just got a crossbow permit and my first time hunting license. Here in Massachusetts a person must have a disability and get a special permit to be allowed to hunt with a crossbow. I am a fairly petite woman who has a reconstructed, very weak left elbow (I'm right handed). I've been slowly saving my pennies to buy a crossbow but as I start looking its all very confusing. There are so many brands and options I don't know where to begin. I'm very interested in Tenpoint because it has the Acudraw, the hand crank cocking device built in. I know I can get other brands and buy a hand crank separately but to me it sounds more convenient to have one built in. Right or wrong? Also I know Tenpoint is one of the more expensive brands. I don't want to buy a piece of junk that will fall apart after one season but don't want to spend $1000 either. Also I would prefer a lighter crossbow but it seems the lighter it is the more expensive it is. Anybody have any advice or recommendations? I have been out hunting with friends in the past but have never actually hunted. I know what it's all about and I know I will enjoy it. I just don't have any friends that have crossbows or who know anything about them. I have been to some sporting goods stores like Bass Pro Shops and the man was nice enough to teach me a little about crossbows and allowed me to shoot one but I still have so many unanswered questions. Any advice please? Thank you

Mojotex

The hand crank for cocking a cross bow has been around from the earliest days of the development of this as a weapon of war ... 100's of years ago. Indeed it does ease cocking, but in my opinion as a cost ... I don't mean in $$$. The hand crank is slow. It is cumbersome. It adds a certain complication to the process. (I like simple. ) If it were to break, and the one on my Ten Point did just that, then what? You can cock the cross bow by hand, but it takes a certain level of strenth .... from your description of yourself may not be capable of pulling to full deaw a 150-175 pound draw weight cross bow.

I suggest using a cocking rope. Lot simpler and faster than a crank. And there is a mechanical advantage, making it easier than pulling by hand by a factor of 2. You should be able to cock a 150# draw weight cross bow with relative ease once you get the hang of it.

As far as brand, that is a tough call. I have had a top of the line Ten Point. It shot great. However it failed on me and after factory repairs I sold it. I lost trust in it. As far as I know it has done great since the repairs. So ... ??? I have sot a Parker Tornado for 3 seasons. I shoots great as well. Lots of folks like the Excaliber line. I have no expereince with Excaliber.

I suggest that you stay away from any sight system that relies upon batteries, such as most of the "3-dot" types. I like a "standard" cross hair scope as aiming system.

Try a Montec 125 gr., fixed blade broadhead. Again, it is simple .... and very effective. These fly great on the "Red Hot" bolts that I use.

Shoot as much as you can. I have used archery gear to hunt deer since 1962. No doubt it took me far, far less time to become accurate with the cross bow than it did with the bow. That is one advantage. But it is not a slam-dunk. You still have to practice.

You will probably find that you will become able to tear up a bull's eye at 50-60-70 yards at the range. My experience is that the truly effective range in the field is going to be more like 35-45 yards max. Cross bows make a rather loud "slap" when fired. Deer will react to this noise and most of the flee . The trick is for the bolt (arrow) to push the broadhead through a vital area before the deer "jump the string".

My experience has been that from about 25 yards in the velocity of the bolt is so fast that the deer have little chance to move more than 2-4 inches. Most of the time, not enough time to react at all. But at 40-50 yards, they can turn completley out of the way before the bolt reaches them.

You have to cut a vital organ .... making it bleed profusely frm the boradhead blade slicing through. There is no shock wave as with high velocity, mush rooming rifle ammo. So yun have to cut though something vital ... heat, lungs, liver, sever a major artery, etc. Aiming for a lung pass through is aboutt as good a shot as you can prepare to make. Largest target and I have never known a double lung shot to not be quickly fatal.

So as you practice, I say get to where you can hit a 2" circle at 30 yards on in and you will be good to go.

Good luck.

OneBear

Don't be misled by the self proclaimed experts here First of all, Making a phone call to Wyvern Creations at 603-659-0575 would be the best phone call you can ever make. All the honest info with no pressure that you could possibly need to help you make the right decision. Then you may want to go to a good archery shop and try different crossbows from TenPoint, Excalibur and possibly Bowtec. They are three of the best companies. See what fits you and which one you shoot well. Lighted scopes are a very good value in the low light in the early morning and dusk!
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Wilcam47

We have a Parker bushwhacker 150lb draw and its done good for what we use it for...we are going on our 3rd season with the bow. and have killed 6 deer in the past 2 seasons.. My wife has a hand crank for it. It takes a little to get it placed right but once you get it installed and crank it...its a shoulder/arm saver! We also have the cocking rope which is also easier than just pulling it.

This will kill deer all day out to 40yds no problem...it might kill further out but I don't take shots with any bow or crossbow past 45yds...that's just me.

also I bought string suppressors for the bow as it was a little loud but once they were installed it was a lot quieter!

Pamela74

Thanks to all who have replied so far. Some really good information and all opinions help. I didn't realize I could go to an archery store and try several different bows. At Bass Pro Shops the man only had me try one. To the first reply: I have tried just a cocking rope and it was extremely difficult for me. I really do need a hand crank but I understand your point about if the hand crank breaks. Maybe with a lot of practice I could eventually use a cocking rope. I don't know.
I'm not sure what the people are like at my local sportsman's clubs but maybe somebody there would be willing to help me too. I know I will have to join a club and get in a lot of practice before my first hunt. I did take a basic hunters course and know where to aim to make an efficient kill but I'd hate to go out without enough practice and just injure a deer. Thanks for all the info and opinions. Keep it coming.

robertyb

I shoot an Excalibur Vortex 200 lb. draw weight crossbow. I had rotator cuff surgery last year and was unable to cock my bow using the rope cocker so I bought a crank cocker. I was easily able to cock it using the crank with the arm that had the surgery and killed a doe during the archery season with my bow. I prefer recurve crossbows because they are simple to maintain.

TenPoint is one of the leading Crossbow manufactures in the industry. Their Acudraw system is the top rated crank system in the industry. I would not hesitate to buy one of their bows if I was looking for a Compound. In fact they would be on a very short list of 2. The other I would look at hard is the Bowtec SZ 350. Only problem there is no crank is built for it and one has to be modified to fit it.

OneBear has given you some good advise. Call David at Wyverns. He is one of the top rated crossbow sellers in the USA and will give great advise.

Good luck with your search. Shoot as many bows as possible if you can. If you shoot several you will find that instead of you picking a bow a bow will probably pick you cause it just "feels right".

Mojotex

+1 to contact Wyverns. Helped me figure out and cure a "squeaking problem".

The Ten Point I had was equipped with the "Accu Draw" system. It worked great and is about fool proof. Does take time to get loaded and ready to shoot. But unless I am a loner on this, I have yet to have even the slightest chance for a second shot (knock on wood, have not needed one) ... so time to reload is probably not much of a factor.

I would imagine that there would be plenty of folks at any shooting club that would be willing to help.

Something I had to get used to was coming from a bow huinter to a crossp-bow hunter was being mindful of the horizontal nature of the cross-bow. It takes a whole lot of left-right space to make sure that the limbs are clear of obstructions ... such as a tree branch, sapling, shooting house wall, etc. !!!

yellow River

Luckily it only takes about 30 foot lbs to go right through a deer, and after about 240 FPS at normal hunting ranges trajectory is virtually identical as speed increases. Hey, a little more thump sure doesn't hurt, but most of the time it's expended on trees, 'cause you can only go right through! Your hunting success isn't likely to suffer if you don't shoot the meanest bow on the block. So, with my experience the Excalibur is the easiest to cock just a few brands you could try Equinox, Exocet & Vortex there are others.

craig

Hi Pamala74,

I know I'm a bit late to your thread, but hope I can offer one other potential bows for you to consider.

The Scorpyd Telson 130 crossbow or it's stable mate the Ventilator 125.

Scorpyd only makes what are called reverse draw crossbows. The Telson is a nice bow & has plenty of power for what you wish to do & best of all for someone with a weak arm it's only a 130 lb draw bow.

The reverse draw bows are not built in the traditional "T" type design. The bow limbs are parallel with the shooting rail & stock. The do still have a riser, but it isn't at the front of the bow like in a "T" design, rather it's back near the bows center. Thus these bows are better balanced.

The great advantage of the reverse draw type bow is that it has a much longer power stoke than the T type bows. This longer power stroke is very important. The longer the power stroke the greater the arrow speed for every pound of draw weight. Both the two bows I've named here are capable of arrow speeds of over 350 fps.

The reason I may seem to have pushed the idea of the telson over the Ventilator is price. The Telson is more reasonable.

The only down side to the Scorpyd bows is much like with Ten point, they are a bit pricey. But I think you'd like the Telson due to it's great balance, low draw weight yet with very good speed.

Like yourself I've a weak arm due to a rotator injury in my right shoulder. Even so I shoot and really like the RDT 165 model Scorpyd I bought. But the higher draw weight, along with higher bow's weight in pounds (9) mean I'm not sure you'd like my bow.

Barnett bows also makes a reverse draw bow, but as I've not shot one I don't care to say to much about them, but might also be of interest to you.

I hope I've given you another good option to consider that will be of help to you.

Welcome to our world....the hunters world.

smokepolehall

I think David wilkins of Wyvern Creations is a place to call, i do some business wid him myself. You can have that nice Ten Pt crank setup put on an Excal Recurve if'en you decide to roll that way. I kinda like the simple recurve thata tuff enuff to get the job done!