I shoot a $600 ember for hunting and, until recently I just used a 30 inch stabilizer for competition. Spot hog fast eddie xl sight, 2 power lense. As most have said, there is a difference. My target bow is top line and will throw an arrow 20 fps faster. For hunting it's NBD. Not worth the cost for hunting in my opinion. I put about 2500 arrows a month through that hunting bow and have no problems.

$300

All in all, I probably have $700 in my bow setup. That includes the bow, arrows, release, case, arm guard, and maintenance supplies. It was all purchased brand new too.

Just bought a new PSE set up. Got about 450 in it right now , but fixing to drop another 100.

I dropped bow hunting entirely back in 2001. Starting back from scratch this year so I had to buy EVERYTHING.
$1700 in the bow with sights, rest, etc., and another $650 on quality arrows, broadheads, case, a couple targets, etc.

Depends who's asking...if it's my wife, "bow hunting is so much cheaper because you can reuse your arrows!"

With that being said, I bought a mathews switchback XT off of ebay for less that $400...

Classic answer, who's askin lol

I have a bearx and wife has spent fang these were discounted when buying hunting license at academy a couple 2or3 years ago maybe $200 ish
Wife is on w hers at 70 yards but no good energy at that distance( my opinion)
She is gonna try it out in the morning if weather cooperates

what poundage is she pulling?

With most set ups, if you can hit it at 70 you can kill with it at 70

I have killed hogs at 70 yards and a little over with the crossbow that shoots 330fps with 435gr bolts

Would I take that shot on a deer? NO but on a hog any day

I can’t shoot a bow any more due to a shoulder injury but a good friend works for Barnett and I got 2 new Barnett Ghost’s 425 for $500. I’m planning on killing a lot of pigs with them this year..

It’s a 350 there was so much stability loss at 70, could need to find better bolt/fletch set up. It had decent penetration in the target. I would just say questionable shot, is it worth the risk.

My old Parker with the Parker redhot bolts and 125gr heads hitting the small dots that are just over 2 inches on the Rhinehart 18-1 target is no problem at 70 yards. Shoot 5 bolts hit 5 dots is good enough for me for shooting hogs. With their standard bolt it is more like 5 to 6 inch groups at 70 yards. Bolts do make a difference. You will get better accuracy shooting a little heavier bolt and head but will sacrifice a little speed which is ok to me.

I have killed deer with cut on contact broadheads with arrows going well under 200 fps from a 4lb recurve.

Just switching from the light weight bolts crossbows come with to a heavier/better bolt even such as a pile driver and a 125 or 150gr head will usually improve accuracy on about all crossbows. Manufactures bolts packaged with the crossbows generally are right at the minimum bolt weight for the bow in order to get more speed. added bonus of heavier bolts is a slightly quieter bow along with better accuracy

Best bow is the one you shoot the best. Dont focus on cost. You may be able to shoot a cheap used bow a lot better than a premium bow. More money isnt necessary the best option for you

Bow hunting is very expensive. Bow, all the accessories for the bow. All the support gear that goes with it. Plus you need to maintain the bow by waxing strings, keeping everything clean, etc.