sproulman

hello all, i am new to crossbows and decided with all the friends wanting be to help them at home with sighting in and advice, i thought i would start this topic..i am not expert on crossbows, recurves i am.. been at this for 45 years,wow ,that long,oh my..well,here we go.things i found out with crossbow is this..they are not light,real heavy in a tree or shooting off hand.the slighest movement and your arrow could be off at least 3 inchs from bullseye.with scope its hard to get center of target unless shooting off of rest ,much harder than recurve or compound..at 30 yards not on rest your arrows could beoff as much as 7 inchs,book says you will have 5 inch drop.this is do to not being able to steady your shots and scope brings bullseye in more than pins or distict shooting with recurve.up to 30 shots a good compound or recurve shooter would and can out shoot a crossbowIF crossbow shooter is not strong in arms and has a lot of practice.rest assured on that.crossbows are noisy.we know that.i took my spitfire 100,s and put as much wobble into the arrow as i could..i wanted to see if the arrows would shoot all over..nope..those spitfires even loose shot the same point as a balanced arrow.i dont think balance with crossbow arrow is that extreme as with recurve or compound..sunlight, you better postion your stand so sun is at your back or to side.any sunlight into scope makes things tough to see and concentrate.this is secret to compound..concentration.you dont get that on compound or recurve, you pull up and let arrow fly.i have not tested yet on pulling up and just shooting compound to see what happens..i did notice in tree that arrows will slide down say about 2 inchs on rail if you bump or move arrow..this is something to watch.also on horton dial- a -range,it moves when the cocking string bumps it. i took white paint and maked the no.2 postion on dial so at glance you can see if you are on no.2..this is bad thing.i more thing to worry about in tree hunting,thats no good.i use 20 yd line in scope only..this is way i always did things. i sight in for 20 dead,no shots over 30 yds or so. 5-7 drop at 30 and dead on at rest 10-20..safety, you betterhave your foot into front when you pull string back, i almost got it in the ,well,you guys know where..man, that would have been a trip to hospital..with gloves some put their fingers up to high..i believe string will take a finger off if not in a glove..well, thats about it for now,.thing i saw most is this, if your arms are weak,THAT is bigtime problem in treestand..i think some kind of tripod rest or walking tripod would be a big help.no way you can shoot these crossbows if you are wandering all over taget..i was surprised how far off a arrow shot because i did not hold the front rail on stock secure while shooting off a sand bag..if you do not hold that crossbow on front good, your arrows will shoot all over..now do that in a treestand with no rest and shooting down hill..oh,forgot this too. on our recurves and componds,shooting out of treestand you usually aim a little lower at 10-20 yds as arrow will be a few inchs high.. i did not notice this with crossbow,it seems you can aim same as shooting off ground on rest..hope this was helpful, most of you already know this.. give your experiences and correct me if i am wrong on my info i tested..take care.sproulman

awshucks

Sproulman: Wow! i gotta tell ya, other than the deal w/ the sun in your eyes/scope, I don't have any of those problems/conditions. There are a few explanations why on part of it, my equipment is different than yours. first off, my recurve xbows are lighter in the front than your compound. I can and do shoot both my recurves much better off-hand than I can my wheel bow. Secondly, my scopes aim points at various yardages are right on the money. Makes getting the arrow where I want it relatively easy, if I do my part. As to my part, I was shooting 40-50 shots a day off-hand. I kinda had to slack off of that due to a brief hospitol stay and the heat here. However, when I was hard at it every day, I was tearing up 2 1/2" snuff can lids at 30 yds. I actually hit a 35 mm film can lid 3 in a row one day!! Not every shot was a hit, but all were close enough for hunting deer. No dial a range to move on my bows, and my arrow retainers work like champs or I tune them to do so. I have some bucks invested in my equipment, but familiarity and practise go along way. I'm really sorry you are having these problems. There are some simple solutions to nearly all of them, lol. Good luck to Ya!!

smokepolehall

Every morning i come in from hunting i shoot my CB with a field pt.. I shoot off hand, 20-30 and 40 yds. So fer i have been able to hit a fist size area every time. Ya got to love it!

Planter

I'm pretty newto to xbows as well sproul but most of the things you discuss can be workedoutwith practice and patient. Most of them apply to all forms of shooting whether it be gun or bow. I shoot my rifles with mid-range leopold scopes. Great scopes but yahstill gotta avoid shooting with the sun in your face. .. I am not a great off hand shot but I do better with a heavy barreled rifle than with a light one. Sure the balance on an Xbow is different. It should be the darn thing have wings.I practice and have to make sure it is level. One other problem I had to work out with the Xbow duethe nature of it's balance is to make sure I pull straight back with the trigger so as to not pull my shot off. It's not a problem with my rifles as the trigger pull is so different. They creep and let off differently. I love my Pheonix but if one of my rifles had a trigger like that I would having it fitted with a Timney. I don't know the mechanics of it, butI thinkthat Xbow trigger is directly holding back alot of poundage. It's just diff. Becomeone with the bow. Better to fire one good arrow using proper form ect than it is to fire 50 out of frustration. Relax, practice and have fun. It's a blast and as an old compound shooter (with pins) I have moved what I feel will be my effective from 20 to 30 yards. Not that I see many 30 yards shots where I hunt and I am talking ranged distances, not guessed. I'm betting your gonna thump one with it this year. I did not take note of what bow you are shooting but I'm not sure it matters. >>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>Whack!!!!

early in

Hey Pat, intresting read, but can I suggest that you break up your LARGE paragraphinto several smaller ones, it's much easier to follow.

Dnk

I second that notion!

Hotburn76

I would have to say most of the things you talk about could happen. If you experianced all of those then you be having a bad time. I never have a problem with my scopes in the tree as I am up high and the deer is down low so I am not looking into the sun, now sitting on the ground is a problem with a scope but I very rarely sit on ground. I also have never had seven inch groups, even free hand in the breeze. But I have been shooting the horton for a while and we mate up good. If a person is new you could have the problems you speak of, but hey thats what we are all here for!

sproulman

sorryon that 7 inchs,did not explain well enough..the book says if you sight in at 20 dead you will be 5 inchs low at 30..if i did not shoot off a steady rest and squeeze trigger, it was hard to get that 5 inch drop,i got as low as 7 inchs.. my point was, if you dont practice and hold steady, your shots will be lower at 30 is what i found.

Planter

Paragraphs would have been much better Mat and there are some gramatical errors as well.
Maybe your just a lousy shot and nothing can save you but if you do miss a shot all your excuses are covered already.Geez, I hope you don't have to carry a sandbag up into the tree with you.
Good luck and bust one thru the lungs. >>>>>>>Whack!

early in

Hey guys, am I missing something? Sproulman's profile reads pat doe, is his name actually Matt? I would assume his last name is not doe.
Oh yea, almost forgot Planter, there's two Ms in grammatical. Your spelling is as good as his grammar!