Fifty odd years ago I shot a couple deer with a bow and while I enjoyed shooting the bow, I didn't care for shooting deer with a bow as compared to a rifle. This year I decided to try it again because I have an overpopulation of deer in my neighborhood, too many houses too close together to suit me and a general aversion to making a lot of noise with neighbors so close. And, Minnesota says since I am over 60 I can use a crossbow.

I decided on an Excaliber 330 because the Excaliburs have an excellent reputation for reliability as opposed to compound crossbows. The bow came with a scope. First focal plane with the magnification adjustment calibrated to arrow speed. The scope adjusted easily to zero and the calibration to arrow speed was flawless and allowed easy hits at 20 yards out to fifty yards. For a competent rifleman the bow and scope were easy to adjust to thanks to a decent trigger.

With minimal practice, it was easy to put an arrow within an inch of where I wanted it at 20 yards offhand, and a piece of cake to place it exactly from any kind of rest.

I have a place to shoot deer where they basically walk right straight up to me. Just a little obvious movement on my part will stop them in their tracks while they try to figure out what I am. The zone I live in allows me one buck and one/two antlerless. The first one I stopped at 20 yards and I put the arrow in about mid-neck because that's where it lined up with the heart they way she stood. I got a little too close to the cervical spine and the Rage 2 inch shaved bone all the way down the neck and then went on down to the top of the heart where it stopped. Two little crow hops and she flopped on her side six feet from where she stood at the shot. The second deer offered a little better angle in And the Muzzy 100 grain went through the heart on out at about the belly button. She ran about 70 yards and dropped. The third, a smallish six was hit identically with another Rage 2 inch and made it about 100 yards.

They all bled very well. Easy blood trails to follow on the latter two even in the dark using a flashlight. They died as quickly as can be expected when there is a little functional lung and heart left as opposed to what happens when you do the same shot with a rifle and completely destroy both heart and lung. None of the three really bled much from the entry wounds. The blood trails were the result of blood filling the lungs and being sprayed out of the mouth and nose. As a result, the blood trail in the first 20-30 yards was much less than that of the last 30 yards. A lateral or quartering away shot would have obviously been much different.

The accuracy of the bow combined with the speed makes it easy to place a shot at 20 yards EXACTLY where you want it. The speed makes it virtually impossible at that range for Bambi to jump the string. By the time the deer realized that they'd been shot at it was all over. None so much as twitched before the arrow was in and had done it's work.

The parts I didn't like... The bow makes enough noise that somewhere out past 30 yards string jump may be a problem. The scope is pee poor in low light, the light performance is awful and the reticle is too fine. It's usable, but when you get to last light under heavy canopy it just doesn't help old eyes. Broad-heads are not cheap like bullets. People who flinch at 60 cents for a Barnes/ETip/GMX would probably wet themselves over a $10-$15 broad-head that's done after one shot much less a like cost for the shaft and another $10 for lighted nocks. IMO the lighted nocks are very much worth the price because you get instant confirmation of where that arrow hit, and a little better chance of finding the arrow afterwards. Even with that confirmation though, you still have the little nag in the back of your head that maybe something wasn't perfect. It'd be nice if it was a little faster and a lot quieter. How fast? I don't know. Speed like with a rifle comes at a price. Lighter arrows go faster and penetrate less, break/cut less bone. Cocking a much stronger recurve crossbow could well get to be a problem without a cocking winch. Arrow stiffness required to handle much more powerful limbs means more weight.

Basically, it does exactly what I want it to, it's a short range accurate rifle that's very quiet for the neighbors. It's not bow hunting in a more classical sense.