packing away crossbow

[mike.]

hey i have a barnett quad 400 cross bow that i bought 2-3 years ago at cabelas. I got a free giftcard for 75$ since i spent 400$ in store so i bought a plano crossbow case with it. i was just wondering what you guys do before you store your crossbow until next season? I clean mine, got the mud off the foot thing where you put your foot to cock it (got mud on it from cocking it in the feild). Wiped down the whole crossbow with a wet rag and then waxed the string. Do you guys also wax/lube up the arrow rest?.. also i broke two arrows this season, one by shooting a doe (the doe jumped and i barley cut her, there was like 1 speck of blood on the arrow.) and then the other by discharging the bow by shooting at my foam target thing. (it went through, hit the tree and broke). im using 22 inch carbon express arrows. So my other question is, how do you guys discharge your crossbows after an unsuccessful day hunting? do you shoot the arrow or take the arrow out of the bow, hold onto the string, shoot it with your other hand and slowly lower it? My hunting buddy usually holds onto the string while i shoot and he lowers it, but sometimes hes not with me. Ive tried it once last year by myself but i didnt know how hard to pull up on the string by myself and shot. The arrow smacked against my fingers (bruised them pretty good) and hit my crossbow limbs (luckily didnt crack the limb).. I have another question about my bow but ill post a pic of my question in a new thread later.

[alsaqr]

After breaking three bolts by shooting sand pilesthat had rocksrocks, i now carry a crossbow target in the truck.

[mike.]

isnt it bad to shoot your bow alot? i go out pretty much every day of the season, and heard you haveto replace the string after 100 or so shots, so thats like 1 string every 2 years... anyone else do anything different

[coyote170]

I keep mine very well waxed at all times over 300 shots looks great
am shooting three or four times a week!

[mike.]

so its not bad to shoot an arrow to discharge it?

[coyote170]

Its the most recommended way to safely discharge your cross bow!

[mike.]

i need a new target thing though, some foam came out of mine and now if i hit that part it goes in the tree lol

[coyote170]

I use the Morell crossbow target,stops them good easy to pull the arrows!

[grappledad]

I have a question, maybe I'm not reading thie right. Are you trying to de-cock your bow with an arrow on it?The Excaliber sight has a video showing how to decock a crossbow safely.

[Dnk]

I usually use the rope cocker to decock my bows. I can if I have to decock with my hands, no big deal really.
All of my bows are Excals so I just remove the pads on my Disapator Bars and remove my strings.