Need Cross Bow help purchasing adivce

[FrontenacPike]

One of my supervisors friends just had spinal surgery and is in the market for a cross bow (has a Dr note). From what I understand he loves to bow hunt, but because of the injury will not be able to operate a compound anymore. My supervisor was asked by his friend if he could find out what to look for / stay away / or just any insight to buying a cross bow. I told my boss that I personally don't have the slightest, but I know people who do (HSO). I don't fully know the extent of his disability, I was hoping you guys could give me some of your knowledge of cross bows that I could pass on to him.

Thanks in advance

[DonBo]

I've never shot one, but know those who do. Can't give you any brand names (cause I don't know them) but from what I've heard, the ones with the traditional limbs, as opposed to the coumpound limbs, are more reliable, lighter, quieter and accurate.

If he's been a bowhunter he'll HATE shooting a crossbow, but it's still gotta be better than not hunting.

[Cheetah]

A friend of mine shot one for a couple years due to a bad hand injury. It was really loud to shoot, but fairly accurate out to 50 yards. I wouldn't shoot much past that though, he managed to miss a deer in a pasture at 30 yards.

There was a thread I saw on another forum where some guys linked a bunch of Youtube videos that compare the real performance of a crossbow vs a compound for folks who are in states that now allow crossbows. Since a lot of guys are gung-ho about shooting 100+ yards like a gun, it really doesn't work like that and the videos show it pretty well. That was my experience as well.

[Cheetah]

Just a quick thought, but I think Cabelas is carrying them a lot more these days. Maybe they will let him try shooting a couple in their indoor range. I assume they have a range at the stores here in MN. Might want to call them and find out if that is a possibility. Make sure your bosses friend can crank the bow back and everything with his back injury.

[gardn184]

I would steer him towards a ten point with the accudraw system. If he has any back trouble at all he's going to want a cranking system. In my experience tenpoint has the best system for cranking at a reasonable price. GM stocks a lot of crossbows these days, or at least the one up here does. The ten point titan HLX runs 799.99 with the crank. We got one for my grandpa and he loves it. There is no effort to crank it back. As far as the ones with recurve limbs, I've seen more strings pop off of those then I have with the compound ones. They're going to be loud, its the nature of the beast with all crossbows. They make hush kits like they do for your bow and they do help some. There are a ton of options just my two cents if you have more questions you can email me at [email protected] or have him call me at 218-786-9800. Ask for Nick in the archery department

[fivebucks]

Your friend will need to get the form from the DNR and have his doctor fill it out and send back to the DNR for the disability permit - just a note from the doc won't do.

That said I like Horton's cause that's what I have. They are reasonably priced and pretty straight forward. I had a recurve one once for about 2 weeks and I kept have my string pop off as gardn184 said. I feel comfortable shooting out to 30 maybe 35 yards. I feel they have less range than a regular bow because although the bolts fly fast, there is not the kinetic energy behind them compared to a longer arrow.

[Archerysniper]

My uncle shoots the stryker made by bowtech and I shoot it for him every year to make sure it's still zeroed in and it's very accurate out to 60 yards and he told me he had shot it through the cronograph and was getting 405fps I wasn't there though to witness. I know it's fast he has a red dot style optic with three dots inside top one is set at 20 the next one is a bit high at 40 and the third is a little high at 60, he also has to bring his target over my normal bow targets won't stop those bolts. My other friend shoots a ten point crossbow and has very good luck with it.

[big_shooter02]

First you would have to see what his pulling ability was, most anyone who requires a crossbow to hunt, can not cock the bow without some sort of aid. They make a rope cocking mechanism that can work with about any style crossbow that is basically a rope with two handles and 2 pulleys, it reduces the draw weight by fifty percent, but when you are cocking a 150 lb crossbow, that would still require the shooter to be able to pull 75 lbs. For someone who struggles cocking a crossbow with a rope cocking device then you would have to have a crank installed. I feel the best bang for your buck company with a great cocking system is ten point. Horton is also a nice crossbow, but i feel that the tenpoint has a better cocking mechanism. I am not a big fan of bowtech in general and there crossbow is no exception. Now if you want to spend some money PSE makes the Tach 15 which is based off of a AR-15 frame and is pretty B.A. looking. It also ways a bunch. They claim it is the flatest shooting crossbow made, which it may be, but that brings up another point, just because a crossbow may be 175 lb bow it still will only shoot 330 fps(which is very fast,) but the reason you can still get more distance out of a compound bow arrow is the length. The longer the arrow the more stability it has. Long story short, figure out your price range, shoot a few in that price range and then make a decision on which one works best for you. Also stick with compound limbs.

[harvey lee]

I have help guide amny handi-capped archers over the past 10 years. From what they have told me, the Ten Point bows are one of the best out there if one can afford the price.

As far as being able to cock the bow, many bows have cocking devices.

[FrontenacPike]

Great advice so far guys i will be emailing this off to him today. If anyone has anymore to add feel free to, i will keep sending him your guys input. Thank you everyone who posted.