Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Crossbow Recommendations

I am a long time bow hunter. However I am recovering from a neck surgery and cannot draw a bow for several months. What are your recommendations for a crossbow that I should buy.

ex caliber

I have a Mission ( Made by Mathews) I am very happy with.Mission has a new model which is shorter in length and a wider broadhead window which I really like just can't justify the $1,500 price tag. Really not familiar with other X-bow manufacturers.

Ravin the R-10`s are on sale this fall,its last year`s model

Super happy with my CamX Crossbow would replace it with another if something happened to it tomorrow.

Ravin

I have the R26 after tearing my rotator cuff. Loving it.

Thanks for all of the help

Thanks for all of the help

If you can't draw your bow, you'll likely have trouble cocking a crossbow without a crank. My Excalibur takes 130lbs without a crank, 12 with. Try before you buy. It' a significant investment.

Good luck.

Excalibur fan here. Have a 20+ yr old model that's never given me a problem. Just bought one of the new Micro Axe 340's to have a narrower more compact xbow and am impressed so far but it's much tougher to cock than my old long limbed Exocet. I will say that whatever make and model you decide on, get a crank cocking devise for it. If you're not able to draw a compound bow due to your surgery, cocking one of these high poundage crossbows with a rope type cocker will be hard. Most makers offer an add on crank and some have one built in to the system. Years ago I bought my father a Ten Point with a built in crank and he used it to take a few deer, the last one when he was 91 yrs old!

I am definitely getting a crank

I love my Mission Sniper Lite. It's so smooth I can draw it without a cocking rope. It's not as fast as some others but it is quiet to me for a crossbow.

Plus the Mission has lifetime warranty on limbs.

I have an Excalibur Axiom. Very accurate and simple to use, and I love the fact that I can de-cock it without firing it. A friend of mine had the limbs on his Wicked Ridge blow up in the back seat of his truck when he left it cocked for a couple days.

The only negative with mine is the width which is sometimes an issue in tight quarters. I would look at the Micro models if considering an Excalibur.

Ravin crossbows have a built in wind-up system that works super for loading and unloading the bolt/arrow. i tried many x-bows because of my bad sugery rebuilt shoulders and for the money,accuracy and ease of operation the Ravin x-bow seemed the best to me,tell i heal up again.

I recently went thru this same search.I ended up with a Ten Point Invader X4 as it is the narrowest one I found when cocked for the money .It also weighs only 6.3 pounds and comes with the crank cocker. These retail for about $599.I got mine at Scheels for $499.The $1000+ only gives you more bells and whistles. If this is a short time deal stick with the $500 ones.Look on Ebay.A lot of used ones for sale

The Accudraw 50 is a rope pull type cocker that takes about 1/2 the force of a crossbow's draw weight to cock it.The Accudraw is crank type cocker and takes about 12 pounds to cock it. Plan to spend about $250 for accessories, like bolts, target points, broad heads, target, string wax, rail lube, case. The difference in price between a xbow with a rope cocker and a crank cocker is about $100

I had my rt shoulder replaced in 2018 and drawing conventional bow is not possible. Colorado P&W gave me a life time permit to use a crossbow in regular archery season.

I have two older models Excaliburs (Ibex and Vortex) with the wide limbs. To be honest, I prefer the wider limbs, as while hunting they are wide enough that I can set the bow cocked and it sets perfectly horizontal on the shooting rail of my treestand, leaving me hands free. When getting ready to shoot, it is minimal movement to swing the bow to my shoulder and be dead steady on the rail. I cover the rails with old hose sliced and then taped over the metal rail. Super quiet.

I find the old wide limbs easier to cock than the newer micro models too. And they're a bargain when you find one used as opposed to new.

what Saddlesore said I have killed a bunch of stuff with mine. These guys that shout Raven this Raven that ask them what they actually own. One in 50 owns a Raven because of the cost an you get nothing more out of it as far as killing goes just bells and whistles.

I’ve never visited this forum before but my wife surprised me with a Raven R26 today ( we have a friend with one and she knew I wanted it). I haven’t owned or shot any kind of bow in over 30 years. I’m looking forward to learning a lot from you guys here.

Just curious about something - which states allow crossbows for archery season? I’m lucky to live in Wyoming where we can.

Colorado only permits cross bows in archery season with a disability permit.That can be temporary or life time. scopes must be no more than 1x .Red dots are legal. Crossbows are legal in all rifle seasons.

Here in the East, they came around pretty quickly on crossbows, I suspect because for the most part we have too many deer in most places. Getting tags ain't a problem, but finding a place to hunt other than public land can be. That's not as big a problem as it sounds as long as you can walk a bit or hunt during the week instead of weekdays. The WMA I hunt is very lightly used for the most part, and it's not remote by any means. You're not likely to find trophy bucks there, but there are nice ones on the private land nearby, so I expect they just stay where it's safe. No matter, I've put four deer, three does and a buck, in the freezer in two seasons with the Excalibur, and didn't get cold doing it! In general, hunting early in the season seems to be the ticket.

X cal, so much easier to work on yourself, restring, and they shoot very well

Barnett Recurve Buck Commander.... inexpensive and easy to use. .....Deadly....very much so.....anybody that says otherwise does not know what they are talking about.

no cams, no extra BS.....light as a feather.

pick one and have fun.

YES, you can set it up with a crank to help with cocking. Kids in our camp 9 year old and a 12 year old use them.

150 lb is all you need as it will go clean through.....it does not take much.

kids in our camp use these on hogs and deer........well...you cant argue against it when its laying there dead and its time for skinning.....

I now use one and glad I switched....12 pigs and 3 deer later I am happy.

good shafts and FIXED (i use muzzy 100 grain) heads timed to the vanes with an "o" ring.

your only going to shoot 35 or a hair more yards max anyway most of the time....usually less than that.

Now go have fun.


Best

Heavy

I am very happy with my excalibur. Its powerful and reliable. Definitely get the crank if you can't pull a regular bow.

Crossbow users should be required to hunt during the rifle season....Now cry me a river....Next....what is the best scope for a crossbow....

Excalibur Tact Zone, or Tact -100.

Or, something like it with an adjustable power ring marked in FPS to match your actual bolt speed.

The Hawke crossbow scope is also good, and there other options.

I got a ravin and a kodabow with a custom x caliber micro limb and riser.

I still hunt with the koda bow.

Stand hunt with the raven.

There's a seller on ebay that's selling Redfield Revenge Crossbow scopes for $59. I put one on my Excalibur Axe 340, optics are much improved over the included scope.

That’s another one I’ve used and would recommend - I’ve still got one as a spare.

Want the best Ravin R29, got two when gander outdoors had them at 50% off, they really shoot

Now that was a deal.

Yes is was buy one get one free

I ran across a similar deal on Excalibur Assassins in December on ebay. $1500 retail for $550. Had to buy 2!

There sure is a collection of new crossbows available, makes things confusing. None of the dealers in my area even have them in inventory. I am not going to buy one without handling and shooting it first.

Well that deal would turn my head!

Settling on Ravin , most likely the R20 . Now to find a 1/2 price deal on one

Cam X 330