I’ve been a member here since 2009 and I don’t think I have ever clicked on the bow hunting page until today. My wife gave me a Barnett XP 370 for my birthday. I know nothing about archery or crossbows but it’s time to learn! The good news is I have plenty of time to learn for 2023 deer season.

Please educate me on crossbows and hunting with a crossbow. I’ve been a rifle hunter my whole life but have never been around crossbows.

What accessories are must haves?
What accessories are a waste of money?
What do you wish someone would have told you about crossbows when you were learning?

I’ll continue my own research in the meantime. In case geography matters for crossbow advice, I’ll be in hunting in mills county in the oak brush. Tree stands aren’t an option. TIA!

Biggest safety tip is keep your fingers and hands out of the triangle of danger. When that string comes forward it can sever fingers or anything else that gets in the way. You won't need to practice as much with a crossbow as you do with a vertical bow. Know the distance of each hashmark on scope and range find your target. Put correct hashmark on target and pull trigger. Doesn't require near the skillset as a vertical bow. You need a rope cocker if that crossbow doesn't have a crank. You need proper targets that will stop crossbow bolts. If no treestands, ground blinds are helpful but not an absolute requirement. A scope with the hashmarks is helpful. Personally, I use lumenoks because those bolts are expensive and love to tunnel under the grass especially if you're not in a treestand. Hope that helps.

Good advice Huskerron and covered a lot, especially that keep anything out of the string path. Most crossbow makers have scopes that are on at 10 yard increments when the center of the crosshair is dead on at 20 yards but for some reason Barnett does not do that historically. You will need to make sure you are sighted in and know the yardage of the other aiming lines in the scope.

Hunting, remember the bolt path is lower than your sight path starting out, I have seen and did it once myself when I first got a crossbow of clipping the blind with the bolt on a shot.
The limbs stick out on each side, make sure you have clearance for then when you shoot, if a limb touches anything during the shot you will miss your mark. Replaced the cam and string for a customer that shot when too close to wall when practicing. Just saying make sure you have bow clearance for the shot for fingers, bow and bolt.

Decocking bolt is something I added to the quiver, handy to have in the woods.

If you are using one of the cocking ropes set it's length so it can remain on the bow when not in use. Tie a knot in the string so it is a length that allows you have it there with it pulling the string back about a half inch that way it can stored with your bow.

Hunting with a crossbow is much like hunting with a short range scoped muzzle loader, on deer a shorter range device mostly due to the noise they make. I have seen deer that were a little on edge not be there they had dropped below the bolt on a 40 yard shot that had it not moved would have been a good double lung hit. Hogs I have killed at 70+ yards with the crossbow but they generally do not react as much as deer to the noise of the shot in my experience. I keep shots on deer to 30 yards and in.

Hunting locations a good natural blind is IMO best if hunting from the ground. I have killed some from popups but more from a good concealing natural ground blind. Most of my vertical bow kills have been from tree stands, tripods both brushed in well or popups that had been there for months or more.

Mostly have fun with it and be safe.

Never assume that a broadhead will hit the same place as your field tips. Get a broadhead target and practice all distances with your broadheads. Rangefinder is very important. And be sure you know how long to wait for what shot you made. I always recommend one hour before you start tracking. Some shots take longer.

Huskerron gave some good advice. I may chime back in later when I find time but for now I would caution you against thinking it is a long range weapon. Some of them shoot fast so pretty flat but personally I dont like to shoot at a deer any farther than a vertical bow. Shooting off a solid rest and with a scope they can be very accurate. I expect 1" groups at 25 yards. Individual arrows/bolts may or may not be able to hold a tight group or an individual arrow may shoot a tight group but not to the same point of impact as another. I label each arrow and shoot it for a group. Then keep doing that to other arrows till you find the accurate ones and the ones that shoot to the same spot. Maybe more than you needed right off the bat but I wish someone had told me that first off.

Kmon was posting when i was. His advice is always great. Listen to him. The "shooting" of the crossbow is different than a vertical bow but everything else is the same. Im talking about getting close, shot placement, tracking etc. I would really emphasis learning all you can about hunting with any "bow" and then learn the difference in a crossbow and a vertical bow. Everything about hunting with any bow is a lot more difficult than with a rifle.