DoctorDeath

Due to a bad sholder from years of football (and not to mention age) I am considering the purchase of a crossbow. I want to get the most for the money and one that is not real complicated. I know there are a ton of makers out there now but I would like to hear from some actual crossbow owners ..please tell me what kind you have and what you think of it performance wise and an idea of what it sells for... also I know they are loud so how much does the noise it makes affect the shot...thanks guys

Doc

Wiccrman13

Well I havea Barnett Recurve style Crossbow,And it's great,150# Draw weight,Very Accurate,And smoother than you would think,

My Dad hunts with a Norton Nitro Hunter compound style crossbow and he loves it,He's killed sevrel deer with it and even killed a 250# wild hog with it the first season he had the crossbow,At 50 yards either one is deadly,

My advise would be to go to a proshop and hold the different styles of crossbows,Find one that's the right weight for you,Carring a crossbow through the woods is a lot like carring a gun,The heavier the bow,the more you tire out,Try finding one that is not only powerful,But is lighter weight,My Barnett weights less than 3.5 pounds,My dads Horton weights over 4.5 pounds,And that extra pound make a big difference when you are carring it through the woods or holding your aim for a few mins,So find one that is comfortable for,

My only other advise is,Don't use a red dot sight,With a crossbow they tend to get off target every other shot,I have a 30-06 rifle scope on my Barnett and it's dead on at 15-20-25-to 65 yards,My dad uses a crossbow scope,And Like I said before he's taken sevrel deer and a wild hog with it.so stick with the scope,and find a crossbow that's the right weight and poundage for you.Good luck.

bowhunterslim

crossbows will be the downfall of bowhunting as we know it

Wiccrman13

Oh yeah,Mine cost less than $150,My dads HORTON.not a norton.lol.Cost like $375 and was like $500 when set up at the proshop,But don't worry about getting the biggest name or most expensive crossbow,Just find one you are comfortable with,

And as for noise,Well they do make some,It's like a thud sound,Not much more than that of a compound bow,But you can use the string Silancers to reduce that noise a lot.But the noise is not as bad as you might think.I mean my dad only has two silancers on his,and (See afor mentioned kills)lol.so it's not that much to worry about,

Now as for the complicated,They're all simple as a gun,Pull back the string lock it down(You'll hear it click)Put the arrow in take aim and fire,That simple,Now here is a tip,Get the rope cocking mechonisem,The mechinical ones mess up to much,My dad tried 3 of the mechanical ones,And they all wore out after 5 turns,I have the rope for mine and his,They haven't faild yet.And remember Befor going into the woods,Cock and load the bow,

This saves time,As it takes a few seconds to cock the crossbow,and you don't want to cock it when that 12 point buck is 20 yards from you,As he will hear the click trust me on that Wiccrman<<<<<Made a foolish boo boo his first time out with a crossbow.lol.Good luck,Have fun.

Jeepnut

Attitudes like those of bowhunterslim will be the end of ALL hunting as we know it. We're all in this sport together. As long as it is legal, why care what someone else is hunting with? Know your limitations with your weapon of choice, hunt within those limitations, and enjoy.

PABowhntr

From my limited experience in the market the following four brands tend to receive the most sales and comments....
1. Tenpoint
2. Excalibur
3. Horton
4. Barnett
It would also seem that most folks would rate them in that order. I only own an inexpensive Barnett model that went for about $200. For the limited amount of hunting I do with it it is fine. Most folks that want to spend a bit more money end up with a full setup for around $300-$350 from either Horton or Barnett (Explorer 150, Rhino Sport Mag). For those folks who are even a bit more discriminating they might go with an Excalibur Exocet 200 or similar Tenpoint model.
Hope this helps somewhat.

life_is_short_hunt_hard

i am also looking for a crossbow. im 16 right now, so i figure ill wait until i stop growing to get a compound bow. i was looking at, and like the barnett rhino sport. but now i cant seem to find it at any stores near us.

MasterBlaster

why wait?.. there are many new bows out there with adjustable cam for draw lengths. I see no reason for someone to get a xbow unless they are disabled or to week to draw a real bow other than lazyness.

bigbulls

I do not own one but I have sold, set up, and shot a bunch. Only two crossbows would make my list if I were to buy one and they are Ten Point and Excalibur. Horton would be a matter of settling instead of getting what I wanted but I would be somewhat happy with a Horton. The rest are not worthy of my consideration IMHO.

You may as well not worry about the noise cause you aint gonna be able to do anything about it. Regardless of what silencers you add to the bow it will still sound like a .22 being fired compared to a compound.

nubo

Doctor Death!

Most of the guy's in my area use the Tenpoint crossbow's ,they tell me that they're the best .

nubo