Thread: Crossbows and Hunting with them

I know there is an archery thread, but I couldn't find any threads on crossbows. I am about to take the plunge into the crossbows and of course have a LOT to learn. I bow hunted for quite a few years, but got out of it when I injured my shoulder...so deer hunting has been limited to just muzzle loading and rifle.

I'm sure there are plenty of crossbow users out there, educate me please! As of now, I'm considering a Barnett BCE as it's absolutely all I can afford...then I still need more arrows and another target as I let mine go with my bow.

Did you mean BCX? I can't find a review on BCE.

I have been wanting one for a while but high price, noisy, and high maintenance has kept me from them.

I have thought that the recurve style limbs would be the way to go so I could work on them easier and trust myself to make my own strings.

Cock, aim, shoot. It's super easy. I'd recommend finding a high quality used one on craigslist, as they don't hold their value much, but the quality is pretty high on all the modern name brands. I had a parker when they first came out some years ago, my uncle has it now and swears by it. I would have to aim at different sections of targets because if I aimed at the same spot I would hit the bolt already in the target. The newer ones are a lot lighter and slimmer, and it's not that much louder than a bow IME. Every deer I ever shot with one never made it farther than one step.

http://excaliburcrossbow.org/

These are the ticket....don't go compound, go recurve.

I got a Barnett BCX about three weeks ago. A lot simpler than I though. Good grief, I've spent a chunk getting going though! I didn't realize how noisy they are either. From my understanding though, the arrow is faster than the deer can "jump the string". Time will tell...

A faster arrow helps. But don't try shooting over 40 yards either.