Well I use a Xbow. First he needs to find out if he can pull one back to cock it. There is only one that has a built in crank in the stock to cock it. That is tenpoint. They make portable cranks for other brands ,but they are heavy and around 140 ,just for the crank.I've shot a horton the past 6 years and shot 14 deer with it,but I cant cock it anymore due to my disability getting worse.I am shopping around and in my situation the tenpoint seems to be the creme of the crop. I shot one and with there limb silencers they are silent. They have a built in crank and they come in a package deal. The TL-4 with acu-draw package incudes bow,scope,quiver,bolts and practice tips. But yes they are around 700 average for the kit. 572 for just the bow itself. I talked to several dealers and the honest ones all told me we dont reccommend shots over 25 yards,cause x-bows just loose energy so fast. I never shoot over 25 yards and only quality shots and they never go over 50 yards. Yes some ar fast ,but their kinetic energy dissappears quickly. Betwen 20 and 30 yards my horton drops 4 inchs at 40 yards 6 inches.