Im looking for my first crossbow. Does anyone have any suggestions on a good package? Retailer? Any advice would be welcome.

Bearkat - I was in your shoes last year. It was the best decsision I ever made. Here is how my story went, which is why I am absolutely addicted. I (like you) had always rifle hunted for lat 30 years - never really got tired of rifle hunting. Compound Bow hunting never really appealed to me but I always envied the guys that go to start a month before me So last year I got on a lease very close to home in September two weeks before opening weekend of archery season. Returned following weekend to put up stands and bought my crossbow. Opening weekend finished putting up stands and feeders and checked game cams. Next weekend hunted first time with crossbow. First shot at 30yds, first doe. Was the coolest thing I had ever experienced. Dreaded tracking but turned out to be fun - blood trail was like a massacre She ran maybe 25yds in the woodsIt was awesome. I assure you - you will be hooked when you get your first shot and kill. There is no other sound like a bolt hitting a deer broadside.

Here is my advice on crossbows - shoot as many as you can get your hands on. As you will see you can spend anywhere from $450 - $2000 on them. I am lucky enough to live 10 miles from cabelas so I spent three trips shooting everything they had. Each croosbow has a different feel (much more diverse than rifle). Trigger pull is also much different with each. I ended up buying a Ten Point XLT Turbo. Just felt really good and had confidence when shooting it. That is the true key to the crossbows - the feeling you get from it (comfort) and confidence when pulling the trigger (like a rifle but a bit more involved). Another brand I was considering is Excalibur due to the fact they are a recurve and if a string ever needs replacing you can do it in the field in about two minutes - the compund crossbows require a press that (unless you ahve about $600 for press) generally means a trip to a bow shop. Since I live so close to cabelas i had the luxury of not having to sweat this (until it ruins a hunt for me). Even though I shopped them at Cabelas I ended up buying my xbow from Wyvern Creations (look them up online - he is like "THE" man to buy xbows from. Knows his stuff and does his people right). He knows which bows shoot which arrows with which broadhead combos the best. AT TIMES (not always) Cabelas is into their "pitches" for whatever they have highest profit margin on or overstocked in. If the Ten Point is out of your range take a look at the Wicked Rideg. Also check out the excalibur equinox and vortex - I just didnt like the width of the recurve but could have gotten used to it.

I also spared no money on optics. Even though some think its not a sport to use a crossbow - much less with a scope - I disagree. Where I hunt the sport is actually getting a shot at a deer all season. So when I do finally get that shot _ i want it to be the best I can put on the deer and make it as humane a kill as possible. I got a Hawke xbow scope - about $250. Leupold and some of the others are putting out some nice glass as well. Dont skimp on any of it.

Next - broadheads. The same argument follows xbows like it does with regular compounds. I use the fixed blade 100gr slick tricks. The deer i shot had an exit wound that looked like she had been shot with a slug - blood trail was massive. I have no reason to try something different. With fixed you just dont have to worry about any problems that may happen with mechanicals. Just my two cents.

lastly - you will see bows that shoot in excess of 400fps. DO NOT GET SUCKED INTO THAT HYPE. That is way overkill. At that speed you start running into target issues etc. Its just too much. Stick with the 315 - 350 range. Pass thrus are a given at this speed and (JUST MY OPINION) no need to be taking shots at over 35 yds as well. Just too much room for a an errored shot at a deer at that range. Again - where I hunt I cant afford to wound a deer with a bad shot and never find him or her. Again just my two cents.

Good luck. I personally cant wait for the first weekend in October way more than opening weekend of rifle season. It is that addictive.

PS - I also picked up black powder hunting last season as well to get an extra three weeks of hunting in January

I agree with Bonner and cannot emphasize enough - shoot as many as you can before buying.

I shoot a Mathews Z7 compound bow. I love it. My son shoots a Hoyt Maxxis bow. It is a LH bow like mine, the same draw weight and length. Basically identiticle bows on paper except for one thing - I can't stand the feel of his Hoyt and I hate the way it shoots. He loves it and never misses with it. On paper they are both the same but in reality it comes down to what you are comfortable with.

Good luck and have fun with your crossbow. I have shot a crossbow and couple of times at a 3D range and they seem like a good weapon. They definitley are heavy though - wow, I was surprised at that.

Ditto to what the others said. I just purchased my 1st crossbow this past weekend. Asked a ton of questions and picked up/handled at least a dozen before I decided.

Went with a Parker Enforcer and absolutely love it.

I'm also looking into getting my first crossbow! Shot a couple at Cabelas yesterday. One that I really liked was the Horton Vision which goes for about $800. This bow is pretty quite and smooth. However I'm not really wanting to spend that much on one so I am really looking at the Horton Bone Collector. To me this Bow feels and shoots really nice and is a little faster than the Vision. Comparing the two I just can't justify spending double the money just to get the same result.

Bonner, great feedback on your crossbow experience.

On the Excalibur, was it pretty light? I was curious on going recurve and heard it was really light weight.

To be honest I cant recall what the weight differences were like. Check out the excaliber site for specs on them. I liked them - the main downside for me was the width of the recurve limbs. Just didnt feel right to me. But I probably could have gotten used to it. I just fell in love with the Turbo XLT. Very narrow limbs and the weight seemed a bit more distributed than other (some seem really end heavy). The Ten Point isnt light by any stretch but it isnt as bulky as some of the others. I didnt like Parker because of the forend grip and the Horton Vision is the only one that fely decent to me. The Wicked Ridge was one that also fely pretty good.

If you are having to buy site unseen and cant shoot any- hard to wrong with an Excalibur. Again, check out Wyvern Creations. Knowing David he will take back anything you dont like. Great guy and customer service is second to none.

Thanks Bonner!

Tenpoint's are pretty good

Ten point or Excalibur--- I got a Excal Phoenix . I had another brand that I bought before I did allot of research then sold it and got an Excalibur- Best thing I ever did. Still on the first factory string with atleast 500 shots with it. extremely accurate, reliable and easy to do any maintanance or string changes myself. I cant say enough great things about excal. Any model would last forever.

md2tx, what you stated is what I have heard from lots of hunters. It just might have to be my first crossbow.

x10 on Dave @ Wyverns Creations! I bought a StrykeZone 380 and am very happy with it. 2.5 lb trigger, under 7 lbs. I would recommend the StrykeZone 350 @ 350 fps, all the above and its easier to [censored]. Check out www.crossbownation.com and talk to Dave. Welcome to the world of crossbows, you're gonna love it! One thing to remember, just like all outdoor pursuits, you will probably encounter folks who will call you an idiot for whatever you buy!

I bought a Tenpoint Titan HLX with the accudraw crank. Best bow I have personally shot. Its relatively quiet, great trigger, very accurate, and I dont find it to feel heavier than any of the other bows I tried (excaliburs excepted). And the crank lets me reload in the stand without having to stand up, bend down, and pull using a cocking device. That may seem lazy, but when you are 25 feet off the ground in a stand and you have to stand up and bend over forward off the edge of your stand to draw your bow, You will quickly appreciate being able to reload from a seated position with the crank. I did like the excaliburs alot as well for their light weight, quiet operation, and accuracy. But the crank cocking system is what got me convinced to go Tenpoint.

Try as many as you can. I would say dont worry as much about weight, cuz unlike a regular bow you dont tend to have to support the weight of a crossbow with just your upper body for any extended period. I typically shoot seated from a stand or kneeling from the ground with my elbows on my knees. But even standing I can get an accurate shot off before the weight would become a factor.

I buy decent carbon bolts, but that does not mean the most expensive. I have found that carbon breaks when it comes tearing out the other side of a 150 plus pound hog and they fall on it. So I personally dont buy into the compaines that sell 6 packs of bolts for $80+.

I have tried a few different broadheads. I bought some cheap 12 pack 3 blades from sportsmans guide. They work pretty well actually, but their blade retention is bad. I really like Muzzy MX3 100gr. They devastated anything I hit with them. But the drawback was that they fly nothing like my field points of the same weight, litterally 6 or more inches of difference in their point of impact. So it required alot of scope adjustments to go between practice and hunting. I am now on Slick trick crossbow broadheads 175gr weight. They fly nearly identical to my 175 grain practice tips. I havent gotten to hunt with them yet. But it is great to not have to make any adjustments to my scope to go from practice tips to braodheads. Im sure they will do great in a hunting situation and I think I have found my go to broadhead, at least for now.

Mike what made you leave 100gr and jump up to 175gr if the 100gr were doing the trick? Just curious. I am shooting the 100gr slicks and they did great but this year have seen the the broadhead companies getting into the 175gr crossbow mkt. I understand the kinetic energy thing with heavier grain but was afraid of losing speed. However i guess with the bows shooting 350 -400fps plus the 175gr work like the 100gr does in mine i reckon. Your thoughts?

I didnt have any problem with the hunting performance on the 100gr Muzzy MX3 broadheads. I had them literally drop hogs right where they stood without a single step. The furthest a hog ever went when I hit them with the MX3 was 20 feet.

The problem with MX3 heads is that they fly completely different than any of my 100gr field tips. There was as much as 6 inches of vertical difference and 3 inches of horizontal difference in the point of impact between the two. That meant that I had to set my scope one way for broadheads, and a completely different way for my practice tips. That was just too much hassle for me.

With the Slick Trick 175gr broadheads and field tips I havent had more than about an inch of difference between the two with regards to point of impact. So I can leave my scope alone no matter what type of tip I have on my bolts.

I guess the 175gr would add more kinetic energy even with a slower bolt speed, which might be useful since my crossbow shoots short 20" bolts. I think that the short (hence lighter) bolt of a crossbow is why more companies are coming out with heavier broadheads geared toward crossbow users. But like I said the 100gr broadheads absolutely did the trick as well. I havent gotten to hunt with the slick tricks yet. But we have recently developed a coyote problem in my neighborhood, so I may get the chance sooner than I thought. If I do ill let you know how they perform.

I dont know if you have access to a chrono but would be curious to see how much speed you lose going from 100 to 175? I use Golt Tip bolts with the 100gr regular slick tricks and they hit same holes as target tips so i have been really happy. I may be switching the the new wider 100gr Griz Tricks this season if they shoot as accurate as the reg slicks do. Pleas keep me posted on experiences - thanks.

What price are you wanting to hit?


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