Few Questions..Newbie

[brushbustin]

I am an avid deer hunter and have been for many years,but in order to lengthen my hunting season i took up x-bow hunting.I bought the Horton Explorer HD 150 with the 3-red dot scope.First time i had it out it was shooting pretty good.I think.Was putting all 3 arrows in a 3 inch circle at 30yds and all 3 arrows in a 4 or 5 inch circle t 40yds..I took it out today and it wasn't shooting so hot.Could it be because i am not holding my face in the same spot on the stock every time?Do i need to put line my eye up the same way every time with the scope,like you have to have a refrence point when you draw back a compound bow?Another question,Could the arrows be causing it?There seems to be nothing wrong with them.They have the feather fletching.I did notice that the quiver mount was loose,i mean real loose.Could that been causing the accuracy problems?I just want to be as accurate as possible with this bow,because im leery of bow hunting anyway(don't want to wound a deer and not find it).When you sight your crossbow scope in do you shoot off of a bench or off hand?When adjusting the scope is it the same as a rifle scope(if it shoots low give it a few clicks up)?Sorry for such a long post,just looking for some advice.Any other suggestions would be appricated.Note i do not know much about crossbows.

[awshucks]

I'll share whatI know. First off, degrease and blue loc-tite everything w/ threads on your bow. Benching is my favorite test method, remove all the human error you can then practice and practice some more.I shoot carbons as they are either straight or broken. others prefer aluminums. Are you using a rope cocker? If not, mark your serving w/ white out w/ bow uncocked at the edges of the rail, then when [if] hand cocking, check to see if the marks are even. They won't be quite in the same place as uncocked, but should be even w/ both sides of the rail.A rope cocker does this automatically for you. The common lawn mower handle type rope cockers work great, but on most Hortons you have to put the hooks on the string upside down so they don't engage the safety prematurely. You can make an arrow spinner for virtually nothing by epoxying two marbles next to each other at the ends of about a 14" 1x4. This will help you see if alums are bent and is a handy tool for removing run-out in bheads, another whole chapter in misery at times, lol. there's a start for ya!! good luck and welcome to the forum, great buinch here!!

[brushbustin]

I don't use a rope cocker,and i am very careful to make sure i don't cock it uneven.I am shooting aluminum arrows.Im gonna order some carbons and see what it does with them.I'm gonna give it another try tomorrow and see if tightening every thing up has helped anything.Thanks.

[909bowsniper]

Process of elimination: 1st. I would start using a rope cocker... if you are even off 1/8" of a inch your shot will be affected... Rope cockers will fix that. $24/$26 for Excals...don't know about Horton.