RE: newbie needs advice on cocking
Butwhat, you need to go to your crossbow dealer and find something you can cock and go from there. Excalibur has a bow the Vixen ( a recurve)which weighs around 6 lbs, that is good to hunt with. They have a cocker (crankaroo) but the pressure to wind it might be to much. Ten Point has a cocker (accudraw ) which I think winds with the lowest pressure of any cockerwhich you can have installed on the Vixen.
Martin