Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire New bow hunter advice please!

Ill be using a barnett vengeance crossbow this weekend. Ive done plenty of hunting with a muzzleloader and rifle and am wanting to get in to bow hunting. I planned on buying a new bowtech compund bow this summer but didn't get a chance to. I am going to bass pro friday morning and want to know what is a good brand of arrows and broadheads for a crossbow to buy. All help appreciated. thanks

You want the crossbow that fits you the best.

Something that shoots 300-350fps

Any good crossbow bolt and broadhead (Muzzy 100 gr.,4 blade) for instance, will get the job done, just make sure whatever you select reaches the minimum arrow weight established by the manufacturer.

The most important thing is keep the shooting distance reasonable, crossbows are noisy.

Make sure everything is sighted in properly...



This was the first deer my dad killed with an X-bow. Not a fancy bow, a Parker shooting around 285-300fps. He was using Parker X-bow arrows with the Muzzy 100gr 4 blades. Shot was 25-30 yards broadside. Bolt zipped thru that deer, including ribs, and kept going, never found the bolt.

Put the bolt in the vitals and you'll do well...

for what its worth hunting with a crossbow is more like hunting with a handicapped rifle than bowhunting....most that i know that have seriously tried both prefer a normal compound bow because a crossbow is clumsy to use in comparison....

but if you like crossbows by all means have fun, ive always thought they were neat from a phuggin around with perspective but for hunting either a rifle or a compound bow have more pluses geared towards them than the crossbow....atleast to me...but then again unless your handicapped you cant use a crossbow during Montana's bow season and there is no dedicated crossbow season....

What exactly do you mean when you say bolt. (Probably a dumb question)

bolt=arrow.....with a bow its an arrow, with a crossbow its a bolt....

"bolt" is a crossbow's arrow. Why they are not called arrows? Don't know.

i believe it goes back to their first use but not sure....do know ive run across 'bolt' in some fairly old text reprints so im pretty sure its not a new thing....plus it seems that its only fairly recently that crossbow bolts have more than superficially resembled arrows.....crossbows have always seemed to shoot a shorter more thickly constructed projectile

When you talk about the minimum arrow weight. You are talking about what the bows says it'a minimum arrow weight you should be using? I didn't know the weight if the arrow mattered! Thanks for the heads up!

Not sure about your area, up here there are regulations regarding minimum arrow weight for hunting. The bow will also have minimum safe specs. Make sure your getting the right length too.

As for broadheads, there's a ton of good ones out there but whatever you choose, make sure they are hitting where your aiming, they may not be hitting with your field points. Slick Tricks are very popular, Muzzy still has a good following too and there's really few bad choices as long as they fly good. Bolts I really couldn't say, when I was shooting the xbow it was still mostly Easton aluminums. I've shot nothing but carbons in the compound for years now, so i don't know if xbows have also followed suit.

Range is critical, so don't forget your range finder. Pay attention to your limbs and how much clearance you have. Trust me, you do not want a limb hitting a tree when you fire!

For one thing, I would never go buy a crossbow Friday and hunt with it on Saturday..... you owe it to game to practice, zero in etc....

Practice with your bolt/broadhead combo as they may fly very different than your practice bolts. Muzzy's are good and if you can shoot carbons as the fly flatter and penetrate better in my father's crossbow. Tenpoint has great customer service.

Yeah...you're not even CLOSE to being " hunting ready". Archery is not a grab and go sport to take up in one weekend. Stick with your rifle...

I remember when I worked in a bow shop, selling and setting up so many compounds for first time �bow hunters� and the season opening the next morning.

Then there were the ones carrying in their new-in-box bows from the local discount store, asking for help.

My advice is to not go hunting this weekend.



Travis

One thing is for sure, whatever you choose, absolutely make sure you keep your fingers, thumbs, toes, hair, and any other body part below and behind the string. I ate breakfast yesterday with a guy who had his thumb nearly severed by a crossbow. It was his first crossbow, and he was holding it like he did his rifles.

This has got to be a put on.

Stand by for a "i shot it in the liver i think, tracked it for 15 minutes, bushes got thick, had to be a pizza hut to clock in so i said fuggit"

Put in the time to be confident in a clean, quick kill.

In other words, practice, practice, practice!

cross bow = "bow" hunting? ...never looked at that way....and I ain't going to.

That's what I was thinking

"But, But I went back and found her today, smell was really strong when I got out of the truck, I must have walked by here at least 20 times. I hate to lose one but hell I do it so much it doesn't even affect me. I'm just flinging them arrows at anything that moves. Had to get to work, somebody has to scrub the Shiit off the walls at the Sonic"