Newbie question?

[Shardd]

My father and I have been avid hunters since I was 14 [i'm 26 now], and 2 years ago he had to move to Turkey [great place btw!] for business. Hunting there is pretty fun, lots of small game, boars/wild pigs, deers and such - it is however real hard for a foreigner to get a legal rifle, and we won't go down the illegal path of course. I have discovered that i can send crossbows over w/just paying the custom's tax, and wanted to introduce my father to xbow hunting as a birthday gift. I'll be leaving the US in about 6 months, and live with him, and hopefully start hunting once again.

I know he had dabbled in bow hunting before - although not for a long time - and I have never in fact. My quest is this: buy two nice crossbows [max 150$ per xbow maybe], buy whatever parts that will need replacing over the course of a couple of years: last time I was over there, I have not seen a demand for xbows and consequently their parts, and few, very few hooby shops carry few xbows and parts [if at all]. I have no idea about xbows right now, and I unfortunately do not know anyone around me to give me hand on them. I want to make the correct choice of a xbow the first time, and I'll need your help for it I did a search on ebay, saw 180 lbs. xbows for fair prices, would those be a good place to start, or just like in archery, i need to get something according to my/our body size?

[long question i know, but i need guidance ]

[Hotburn76]

Well if you are wanting to spend 150 bucks on a CB then you are SOL! A good CB will cost you at least three hundred bucks. I like Horton and Excal. Excal would be your way to go since you can take the string off and do repairs yourself. If you buy a compound CB then you will need a dealer or a bow press close by.

[awshucks]

ORIGINAL: Hotburn76

Well if you are wanting to spend 150 bucks on a CB then you are SOL! A good CB will cost you at least three hundred bucks. I like Horton and Excal. Excal would be your way to go since you can take the string off and do repairs yourself. If you buy a compound CB then you will need a dealer or a bow press close by.

Good advice, you can get the Vixen for about $275 off of Flea-Bay, maybe less if you look hard. great trigger, maintenace nearly free, just get lots of arrown and several strings or learn how to re-serve them. The strings will last a real long time, but the servings will wear out and can be cheaply replaced. I believe Excal has dealers in Europe, but don't know about Turkey. Can you hunt turkey in Turkey?? lol.

[Shardd]

Thanks for the advice - yeah you can hunt turkey in Turkey. They be huge

You guys basically are advising to get compound crossbows, and ignore the cheaper string ones if I got that correctly, right?

I'll be doing more research, but let me ask you: for example, would Horton Legend HD 175 be a good pick? Bow Configuration: Draw Weight:175 lbs. Power Stroke: 12 in. Speed: 305 fps Mass:7.2 lbs

I'll look into Excal too, it would seem that all repairs and replacement will have to be done by me

[Rebel Hog]

ORIGINAL: awshucks

Can you hunt turkey in Turkey?? lol.

Yeah! You can fry Turkey in Greece to feed Hungry!

[htoler]

I do not think you will find a quality crossbow for $150.00 and with the info you have given and where you are going I would advise checking into the Excaliburs,and as stated buy plenty of spare arrows and strings..
JMO

[Shardd]

Yeah, just took a moment to enjoy the joke, and then realized that Excal stands for Excalibur [I tole you, i know nuthin'! ] Excalibur doesn't have any compound xbows, so i retract my assessment about staying away from non-compound crossbows [the train of thought is all distraught ]

[htoler]

auctually Exccalibur does have a compound crossbow they just no longer produce them in the US they are known as Maxpoints and in Canada they are know as Paradox, do a internet serch and you can find them sometimes still new in the box..

[Hotburn76]

No, we are advising you to get an Excalibur. They are the re-curve design and only have the one string. On these you can take the string off yourself and do your own repairs. You could also take it apart and ship it better too! The Horton you mentioned is a good one but what we are saying is if you get a compound style you will have to have a press or a shop close by to do work for you since with a compound you can not take the string off yourself.

[htoler]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA% 3AVRI&viewitem=&item=220039194142&rd=1 &rd=1

this is a link to a Maxpoint listed on Ebay for sale.

but think you would be better off going with the recurve style crossbow for the before mentioned reasons.. jmo