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Crossbow recommendations #8782681 01/18/23 12:46 AM
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Our lease is going strictly to bow hunting only next season but kids will be able to shoot crossbows. My daughter is 10 and shot a pig and buck this season with her riffle, both shots around 100 yards. I’m looking for a crossbow that accurate out to 50-60 yards, I want to set her blind up around that far away so she can still move around a bit and not have to be as stealthy as being 20 yards away. Is raven really the best from that distance or is there something else y’all recommend?

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782686 01/18/23 12:56 AM
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50-60 yds is a stretch for even a seasoned bow hunter.

Last edited by JimBridger; 01/18/23 01:02 AM.

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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: JimBridger] #8782698 01/18/23 01:18 AM
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Originally Posted by JimBridger
50-60 yds is a stretch for even a seasoned bow hunter.

It may be…Iv never crossbow hunted, I know everything would have to line up perfect for me to attempt a shot that far with my compound bow but after seeing the commercial of the raven shooting groups at a 100 yards I was think 50-60 would be a chip shot for modern day crossbow. Like I said Iv never hunted with one but if she can’t shoot that far with one I might have come up with something different.

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782704 01/18/23 01:24 AM
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For me it would depend on how the deer react as far as ducking the arrow for archery hunting on the place you hunt. I have a 10 yr old Excalibur that is loud compared to todays crossbows. I would not even attempt a shot over 30 yards at a Texas deer. I had buck that I new was going to jump the string by his action in trail cam pics at feeders. I told myself I would not shoot at him unless he was 25 yards or less with my crossbow. I watched him for almost 4 weeks till he stepped inside of 25 yards. I aimed top of the heart and he still ducked 3" on impact. I am sure that the Raven is much faster and quieter but still 50-60 yards might be pushing it on Texas deer IME. You might have to teach aim lower than normal if your deer jump the string.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: stxranchman] #8782707 01/18/23 01:31 AM
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Originally Posted by stxranchman
For me it would depend on how the deer react as far as ducking the arrow for archery hunting on the place you hunt. I have a 10 yr old Excalibur that is loud compared to todays crossbows. I would not even attempt a shot over 30 yards at a Texas deer. I had buck that I new was going to jump the string by his action in trail cam pics at feeders. I told myself I would not shoot at him unless he was 25 yards or less with my crossbow. I watched him for almost 4 weeks till he stepped inside of 25 yards. I aimed top of the heart and he still ducked 3" on impact. I am sure that the Raven is much faster and quieter but still 50-60 yards might be pushing it on Texas deer IME. You might have to teach aim lower than normal if your deer jump the string.

Good advice, thanks!

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782717 01/18/23 01:39 AM
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A lot can happen in the second it takes for a bolt to travel 50-60 yds. Sound travels faster than any arrow shot by a bow or crossbow, Deer jump the string at 20 and 30 yards.
Wind has a big effect on arrow flight.
While a bow may be capable of accurately shooting that distance, stationary targets don't move, animals do.
In my opinion, you are setting up your young hunter for failure.

Last edited by JimBridger; 01/18/23 01:45 AM.

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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782721 01/18/23 01:46 AM
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If going with a crossbow I would look at a well built and sealed blind designed for archery. To keep your scent and sounds inside as much as possible. Then concentrate on feeding the deer in close as possible but still far enough to keep the noise issue to a minimum. Putting that new blind now would be the best so it becomes part of the surroundings immediately. Training deer to a new blind in the worst time of the year for food is right now IME. Lack of rain and hard freeze has left pasture groceries pretty slim. Also like at crossbow weights and widths when limbs are relaxed. I would invest in something like a Caldwell Dead Shot shooting rest to put the crossbow in when hunting. It will take a lot of movement out of the equation and steady any shot taken. Not sure about new crossbow weights but the older one were bulky and heavy.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782724 01/18/23 01:53 AM
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I won't shoot over 40 yards with my crossbow. That's only if the stars are aligned and everything is perfect.
Last I checked, a Raven crossbow was $1500.00+. I've never been around one, but for that kinda money, it better be really nice.

Last edited by angus1956; 01/18/23 01:55 AM.
Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782727 01/18/23 02:04 AM
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A new top of the line raven or ten point will shoot fast and hard, but even then i wouod not take a shot on most deer past 35 yards, and prefer 20-25.

Way too many variables. And noise with a crossbow is going to he present with an 11yo kid. They are not strong enough to move the crossbow for various angles and it will make movement and noise.

A good strong tripod with a bog pod clamp will hold any crossbow well and then make the process of shooting easier and less noisy. But still wont make it much easier.

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782734 01/18/23 02:17 AM
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Looks like everyone so far has said not to shoot that far and I would agree. Ravin I know is fast but I have heard a lot of stories about them breaking or having issues. I shoot Mission Sub1 XR and really like it. Its not as fast as Ravin but its fast and Ive heard and experienced good things about dependability. I would make sure whatever you buy that you have a dealer close by to be able to go back to.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782740 01/18/23 02:26 AM
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Keep in mind that even though a crossbow is easier than a vertical bow to learn how to shoot and shoot accurately there is still a huge difference between hunting/shooting a crossbow and a rifle. I suggest you read the thread in this section "Shot Placement-Anatomy-Tracking". For any bow shot compared to rifle its more important to understand anatomy, shot placement, how to read a shot deers reaction along with blood and then the tracking itself. This is all compounded when you are talking about a youngster.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782744 01/18/23 02:38 AM
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So the plan is to move the tank blind we been hunting out of up to 50-60 yards from the feeder and hand feed corn 25-40 yard in front of the blind. I’m hoping she doesn’t have to make many shots that far but if we need to I want to make sure we have the crossbow that’s capable of doing so. Thanks for all the good info

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782988 01/18/23 04:05 PM
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I had my 8 year old son shoot a spike with an Excalibur last year at 20 yards. This year, my 9 year old shot an 8 point with the same bow at 30. Work on your daughter on the importance of staying as still as possible. (I know that is much easier said than done). I think this would pay off much more down the road than planning on 60 yard shots. Both of the deer my kids shot with the Excalibur ran about 20 yards and dropped. The 8 point didnt know what hit hit. Just stood there for a minute with blood gushing out of him.

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8782997 01/18/23 04:15 PM
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Another Excalibur fan here. I had a Parker compound, and it was accurate and had a great trigger, but the convenient maintenance, and the ability to replace a string in the field are a huge plus for the Excalibur.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783389 01/19/23 12:51 AM
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I knew nothing about a crossbow until I bought an Excalibur. I first noticed how heavy it was...so I built a rest out of pvc 3/4 " pipe and mounted a rail around the windows. When hunting I rest the bow on the pipe and on my chair in my lap. I also found how different the arrows shoot. I sighted in my bow at 40yds. I shot an eight point at that distance and he ran 30 yds. and dropped. I still don't feel good about hunting with a bow. I had to hot glue my scope so that the eyepiece cannot move...as my scope would move after I sighted in. I check to make sure my bow was sighted in the night before I hunted. I put a green dot of paint on the scope and then on the mount. I spent a lot of money on the bow after owning it two years. Maybe I would feel better if I used it more...I just don't feel good using a cross bow.

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783410 01/19/23 01:09 AM
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I have 3 Barnetts, Penetrator (350 fps, 116 lbs. KE), Hellcat (same specs as Penetrator) and my newest addition, Stalker 380 (380 fps, 125 lbs. KE). Have had the Penetrator and Hellcat for 10 years and Stalker is brand new. Have hunted very rarely with the 2 but intend to more with the Stalker. Stalker is barely over 6.5lbs. with the other two pushing 10lbs. My understanding is that Kinetic Energy is critical when bow hunting. Have added limb Twistlox suppressors to the 2 and will to my Stalker and retention string dampeners too. Plan to add screw on string dampener to the Stalker. Though I've not shot at a deer yet, I can group inside an 1" at 20, 1.5" at 35 and 2.5" at 50 yards which would be my max comfortable distance. I hunt my place nearly exclusively out of tripods so I've gotten very adept at controlling movements and regularly have deer inside of 50 yards of me. Plan to have a x bow success story this next season.

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783549 01/19/23 08:52 AM
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Crossbows are a very mechanical thing.

Raven are fast small bows but only offering a 5 year limited warranty throws me off from them more so than some of the others. Many crossbow makers only have 5 year as well. Centerpoint (which owns Ravin), Barnett and most others not listed below. Of course lifetime warranty means nothing if the company goes out of business like Parker. I have a parker that I bought when crossbows became legal in Texas so it has been a while, good bow not fast by todays standards but never had a hick up with it.

Tenpoint, Excalibur and Mathews/Mission have lifetime warranties. Toughest xbows out there are the Excalibur, being a recurve it will take more draw weight to reach speeds that the compounds do and unless you are quite strong forget the 400fps ones from them or expect to use their cocking device. Recurve bow you are all the way back before reaching peak draw. Their Micro series are more forgiving in that since they have a shorter draw so better mechanics for most when drawing. Reduced size and weight are handy as well.

Accuracy they can be pretty dang good. You will find though different bolts from the some package might just have different points of impact than others. I will mark my most accurate bolts for hunting use for the best shot possible.

With my 330fps Parker arrows it likes hitting 2.5 inch dots at 70 yards from a rest is no problem. I have killed hogs that far and a few yards beyond but they do not tend to react to the noise like most deer seem to. Deer after shooting a few I will not shoot one with my bow beyond 30 yards. Had a nice 10pt drop down and the arrow sai right over him at 40 yards and that was aiming for the heart. Had a doe take one step at 40 yards that went from being a good looking lung shot to getting the back of one lung and a bit of liver and she went well over 350 yards.

I bought the Wife a crossbow a few years ago Wicked Ridge RDX. The RDX design the bow is mounted reverse from most and puts the balance point between the hands like s rifle and she handles it much better than the weight being out front.

Rests, like others have said for a small person one of the clamp in tripods or I sold a Parker youth Challenger back when they were made with a cauldwell chair with the rest built on and swiveled to go in the ground blind to a couple kids Grandpa along with a popup blind. About a month later he came by with pics of the kids with their deer they had taken. Kids were 6 and 7 years old.

Go to some of the places you can handle and shoot crossbows to make your decision on the bow and somewhere the kids could also shoot it.

Just be sure to always keep your fingers down on the stock and not let them get in the string path the the string can cut the end of a finger off. Make sure the kids do as well

Excalibur has gone a long way in reducing noise of their bows with limb dampening devices which gets them down to about the same as many compound crossbows, but it does come at the cost of higher price.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: kmon11] #8783614 01/19/23 02:27 PM
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Originally Posted by kmon11
Crossbows are a very mechanical thing.

Raven are fast small bows but only offering a 5 year limited warranty throws me off from them more so than some of the others. Many crossbow makers only have 5 year as well. Centerpoint (which owns Ravin), Barnett and most others not listed below. Of course lifetime warranty means nothing if the company goes out of business like Parker. I have a parker that I bought when crossbows became legal in Texas so it has been a while, good bow not fast by todays standards but never had a hick up with it.

Tenpoint, Excalibur and Mathews/Mission have lifetime warranties. Toughest xbows out there are the Excalibur, being a recurve it will take more draw weight to reach speeds that the compounds do and unless you are quite strong forget the 400fps ones from them or expect to use their cocking device. Recurve bow you are all the way back before reaching peak draw. Their Micro series are more forgiving in that since they have a shorter draw so better mechanics for most when drawing. Reduced size and weight are handy as well.

Accuracy they can be pretty dang good. You will find though different bolts from the some package might just have different points of impact than others. I will mark my most accurate bolts for hunting use for the best shot possible.

With my 330fps Parker arrows it likes hitting 2.5 inch dots at 70 yards from a rest is no problem. I have killed hogs that far and a few yards beyond but they do not tend to react to the noise like most deer seem to. Deer after shooting a few I will not shoot one with my bow beyond 30 yards. Had a nice 10pt drop down and the arrow sai right over him at 40 yards and that was aiming for the heart. Had a doe take one step at 40 yards that went from being a good looking lung shot to getting the back of one lung and a bit of liver and she went well over 350 yards.

I bought the Wife a crossbow a few years ago Wicked Ridge RDX. The RDX design the bow is mounted reverse from most and puts the balance point between the hands like s rifle and she handles it much better than the weight being out front.

Rests, like others have said for a small person one of the clamp in tripods or I sold a Parker youth Challenger back when they were made with a cauldwell chair with the rest built on and swiveled to go in the ground blind to a couple kids Grandpa along with a popup blind. About a month later he came by with pics of the kids with their deer they had taken. Kids were 6 and 7 years old.

Go to some of the places you can handle and shoot crossbows to make your decision on the bow and somewhere the kids could also shoot it.

Just be sure to always keep your fingers down on the stock and not let them get in the string path the the string can cut the end of a finger off. Make sure the kids do as well

Excalibur has gone a long way in reducing noise of their bows with limb dampening devices which gets them down to about the same as many compound crossbows, but it does come at the cost of higher price.




Good info! Thanks!

Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783632 01/19/23 02:59 PM
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Originally Posted by kmon11
Crossbows are a very mechanical thing.
Accuracy they can be pretty dang good. You will find though different bolts from the some package might just have different points of impact than others. I will mark my most accurate bolts for hunting use for the best shot possible.


I found this to be true with most of my bolts also. I shoot all of my bolts and mark them. Then I only take the most accurate and place them in my quiver accordingly. I`ve noticed that if the veins are not 100 % perfect it will make them group differently. They may still be accurate, but 1-1.5 inches somewhere else on the target.

I bought a PSE Fang HD 2 years ago and very happy with it. Very fast and accurate enough that you better not shoot 2 arrows at the same spot on a target.


Last edited by TPACK; 01/19/23 03:10 PM.
Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783659 01/19/23 03:51 PM
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I echo what the others said about some arrows/bolts being more accurate than others. I definitely mark all mine and shoot each for accuracy/group. Likely none of them will be so inaccurate you cant use them for practice or less important shots. I just save the real accurate ones for the important shots. At 25 yards from a solid rest almost all will shoot close to a 2" group but some will shoot under an inch. Also, more than one may shoot very tight groups but will shoot to different points of impact so you have to factor that in.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783746 01/19/23 05:55 PM
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I have a raven R500. I will promise you a deer is not ducking it at 80 yards. Wind isn't effecting it either.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: pokerj2] #8783776 01/19/23 06:39 PM
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Originally Posted by pokerj2
I have a raven R500. I will promise you a deer is not ducking it at 80 yards. Wind isn't effecting it either.

Poker, I dont know you and dont aim to offend you, but a PROMISE is a strong word. Can you offer an explanation of what information you used to make that claim? The only thing I can think of that would come close to convincing me would be a large sample size of video shots that clearly showed the deer not ducking. I assume at great enough distances there comes a point where they cannot hear the shot, so theres that.


At some point in life its time to quit chasing the pot of gold and just enjoy the rainbow. FR
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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783860 01/19/23 08:09 PM
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Originally Posted by freerange
Originally Posted by pokerj2
I have a raven R500. I will promise you a deer is not ducking it at 80 yards. Wind isn't effecting it either.

Poker, I dont know you and dont aim to offend you, but a PROMISE is a strong word. Can you offer an explanation of what information you used to make that claim? The only thing I can think of that would come close to convincing me would be a large sample size of video shots that clearly showed the deer not ducking. I assume at great enough distances there comes a point where they cannot hear the shot, so theres that.



The first 400fps crossbows were from Ruger TAC15 and they were large heavy and shot 28 inch arrows. I know a couple people that used those shooting deer out to 100 yards. they said at that distance the deer usually looked at where the noise came from then got hit by the arrow. I think there can come a point where deer are far enough away they do not perceive the noise as a threat but look to see what it is. Now is that 70 yards, 80, 100 who knows and I bet also it depends on the deer and it's state of alertness and comfort in the area.

Early on with the crossbow I took a shot on mature buck that was walking at 50 yards at that distance it takes about a half second for the bolt to get there. Instead of keeping walking that deer stopped and looked.


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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783872 01/19/23 08:39 PM
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^^^100% kmon. Close enough and they have no time to react, far enough and they can’t hear or aren’t worried, somewhere in between and they may want to duck and have time to do so. I’m curious if anyone has figured out that distance. I’ll just limit my shots to 30 until it’s figured out.

Last edited by freerange; 01/19/23 09:14 PM.

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Re: Crossbow recommendations [Re: b weezy] #8783979 01/19/23 10:52 PM
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I always heard when I started bow hunting years ago shoot 20 yards are less or 60 yards are more and you want have problems . It’s not solid but pretty close to being correct. My compound is a older Mathews and is very quite, especially with heavy arrows. Has worked well for me . I have a ten point cross bow I picked up last year and don’t think it would be a problem shooting a deer at 65 yards . Not sure I would try any further. Bow hunting just takes lots of practice . Don’t be afraid to use heavier bolts or arrows it’s a good thing especially with modern equipment.

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