range of crossbows
 

iam shooting at deer this year at 0 to 25 yards. Because i was unable to get my 30 an d40 yard pin set because all the local pro shops only go out to 25. And i can not shoot at my house i live in town and the max i could shoot would be 25 yards and i do not wont my neighboors getingmadat me for shooting in such a confind area

i am thinking about getting a cross bow for next year

can i shoot father with a cross bow. And what is the max distance i can shoot. Keep in mind i will be buying a cross bow. so i will more then likly get one that will let me shoot the farthes andhas the most weight . What brands do you guys recommend

My raesonis i live in indiana and the area i hunt has a soybean field 60yards or so away. and i could easyly feel my tags if i could get out that far from my current stand site. i do plan to putup a few more stands next year if everything works out with the land owner.but the one i have now is in the middle of a low spot that is clear for 15 yards out.and has about 10 trails through it .and i do not wont two stands 40 yards from one another

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I will be honest with you! Arrows from CB for all their power they fall fast. They're at their best out to 30 yds. It always depends on the deer. Are they calm and feeding, if so and you have the right CB scope 35 maybe 40 yds. is max! Heavy as in arrow or CB? Weight or power pounds? What type of CB do you want? How heavy in weight do you want to tote? Excals recurvesare lighter than compounds. Prices from el cheapo's up to couple of grand. Lets talk!;)

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the custom bubinator crossbow with a nuclear tip will take a deer at a thosand yards thats the one i use and highly recommendfor you can get one at bass pro shops or dealer direct then you dont have to worry if they are to far but use caution make sure there is at least 6 feet on concrete between you and your target or deer thats all i got ta say for now happy hunting this fall jaime

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lol nucleartip hunting arrows now i have hured it all i gusses that arrow butcher cooks and gives the meat a nice green tint to it

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good luck to everyone

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Lol!!!

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I try to always do the twenty yard game, deer does not stand a chance. But would do thirty with confidence on calm deer, 35 yards would make me uneasy, but guys do it alot. Anything past 35 and I just get to worried about all the problems that can come up. Like smoke said, CB's are big and bad, but they run out of gas real fast compared to regular compounds. Sixty yards or even fifty is just a big no no to me, if that is the closest you can get, wait til gun season IMO.

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I'll have to respectfully disagree. I have a stryker. I'm new to xbows and am not an expert but, this thing came with a three dot scope. They are for 20 - 40 - 60 yards. At 60 yards my arrow is still a challenge to pull out of my Target and I can consistently hit the kill zone. Still enough KE to make the kill. I believe it's a 400 or 425 grain arrow w/100 grain broadhead. It's clocked at just over 405 fps. I haven't had a chance to shoot a dear/deer yet but with my laser rangefinder for a confident distance and my confidence that I can hit a static target at 60 yards and I'd fill my freezer.[&o]

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What's a static target? That's been my problem w/ Stryker since they brought it out, 20-40-60 on the sights. The 60 is not realistic for white tail deer, imho. Moose, Elk, antelope, turkey, bear, yes, but so are many others.

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Gimp, Have you ever bow hunted deer before? Saying that nice, not being rude, just curious. Said you where new to CB's was wandering if you are new to close range deer hunting? Most CB's have been around the 330 mark for a while, Having a CB that goes 20 to 25% faster does not increase the range of it by 75% Comparing 330 to 405 and 35 to 60.

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Stand off to the side of someone making a 50 yard shot at a static target and you will note rather quicklythat it's like an artillary round. If you want more than bow range get a rifle with a nice scope.
As a side note I don't have a shooting lane over 30 yards at any of my stands and my goal is 20 yards and under.
Rather than defend my use of a Xbow I now just tell people to go &*^%&^

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Hotburn76,

Yes I'm new to bow hunting. I didn't take your words as nasty or rude. New to close range deer hunting? Well, yes and no. I come from a lifetime of gun hunting. With the exception of one at just over 400 yards, all my deer have been taken from about 15 to maybe 50 yards. Rifles and pistols. The best being what most call a 10 pointer at 35 yards. I hunt in CA where we don't normally get long range shots. At least that's my experience in the places I hunt. I have no doubt that just about any deer (minus the 400 yard shot) I've shot with my gun I would probably have been able to take with this bow. I hope to get a chance to prove it to myself.

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Gimphunter, You have to ask yourself exactly what are you trying to achieve? last year my son shot a nice Pope and Young buck at all of 6yds out from the treestand we put there to do just that, Our objective is to get a shot at 20 yds or less and you can bet most bow hunters will agree, the challenge is real, you must know all the variables about the animal you hunt,guys on this site will help you. I bought my first crossbow a couple of months ago, and guys on this site have been very helpful. Good luck

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I have no doubt I could lay the smack down on a deer at 30 - 35 yards with my itty bitty Xbow, but the first think I figure up when I get into my stand now is my 20 yard mark from my seat. I mentally make note of this for all my shooting lanesfor several different stands. I just know when a deer walks into that 20 yard zone the lights are about to go out.

Hope to pick me up or have Santa bring me a range finder with ARC or TBR so make this a lot easier for me and at all yardage from my stand.

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fishead,

Remember that I'm a gimp in a wheelchair. I'm looking into how I can get up into a treestand. That would/could change everything. But for now, I'm on the ground and have a bit more challenging issues to deal with.

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First off Ed it's seems harsh calling yourself a gimp wheel chair or not. Of course it's your business alone.

Anyway, I love my ground blinds and they sure can get you into spots where treestands won't do the trick. Get them set up a few days in advance and the deer don't even seem to see them. I hope you got a hunting bud to lend a little assistance when needed. I sure would if I was local. Good luck and keep hunting.see you in the woods...

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Gimphunter, first of all, let me congratulate you on still getting out there hunting and enjoying the outdoors, even with you in a wheelchair. BUt I do have a little to disagree with your above statement.

Yes todays crossbows (most of them) can hit very accurately out to 60-65 yards. Actually my crossbow (Excalibur Relayer @ over 25 years old) was hitting 1 inch targets at 65 yards at new and still today. BUt the time for the arrow to travel from the bow to the target at 60 - 65 yards is alot more then you realize. What I will usually advise people to do is to (if you can safely do so) go stand down range at the longer distances and listen to the bow firing and then the arrow hitting the target. You will find it very noticable, actually enough that you will probually flinch the first time before the arrow hits the target. IF you can flinch, the deer can do more then that.

Even if the deer does not react to the sound of the bow firing, the normal actions of just walking could move the deer far enough that it will create a bad hit. 30 - 35 yards is about max distance for a safe clean kill for deer and a little longer distance for the larger slower reaction animals like moose.

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Grumpy,

This is exactly why I'm here. I have such a great wealth of knowledge available to fix some of my potential screw-ups before they occur. I'm seeing the error of my ways. It's always easier to extend a shot when you've learned enough to know what will and won't work. I'm a virgin again and must remember I'm in an entirely new ballgame here.

I appreciate this forum more than you know. Thanks again to all.

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Gimphunter no problem. We all had to learn the ins and outs of the crossbows, just some of us have had many of years in this learning curve. The major problem with crossbows is the MISINFORMATION that the anti-crossbow people spread about the crossbow. THey tell people that they are like guns and are flat shooting. PEople will believe this because they do not know any better and it is easy to believe. Even some of the crossbows companies try to stretch the truth and blow up their abilities just for sales.

Good luck and enjoy your bow.

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I'm one of the craziest gimps you'll ever meet. Gimp in my community isn't a slur by any means. I also refer to myself as "the poor little crippled boy" when it'll get a laugh. Not bad for a 200# 5'10" white boy with a beard and a hole in my ear an arrow will pass through. While I do have particular challenges in going hunting and fishing, I'm still out there enjoying every minute. I just wish I could get out of this state and hunt one of 'dem 'dar whitetails you guys keep referring to. It isn't a racial slur is it?

When I'm not enjoying myself outdoors, I'm a private Civil Rights Worker. I am a Disabled Access Specialist and I spend my time teaching attorneys and judges what the various disabled access laws say and mean. I help create access and standards in the outdoors for my disabled community. Lately I'm spending a significant amount of time just gaining access to our Fish and Game offices. Trust me, no need to worry. But I appreciate the thought.

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I shoot all kinds of bows, what you can predict the range by is the feet per second.A modern compound that shoots 300 fps will have the same trajectory as a xbow that shoots 300fps and thats what most of the high quality brands of both are right around now,you may hear of a few hot shot off brands that do quite a bit better on the advertising any how, maybe some of them will last and work out maybe not. Lee

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Gimp, I am glad you took my post correctly! I have a hard time asking simple questions, and the keyboard and Computer screen make emotions and points seem different. I think Grumpy said it, but there is alot of misinformation out there, and there is alot of facts that apply to the Compound just like the CB, but if used wrong can mislead. As said, you can hit long range with no problem with a CB, but it is the game animal that is the problem. I have never hunted anything besides Whitetail Deer, but have heard guys say a moose would let a guy pick up a big rock and throw at it if the guy had the ability. If you said you had the Stryker bow and you where doing good out to sixty yards. Hadpracticed with it and then made a post about going moose or elk hunting I am sure most of the guys would say go get one, no problem. But it is the alertness of the whitetail that is the problem, not you, or your weapon, but the deer. I always like to look back at a real tree outdoors show once with Michael Waddle, (sp) he took a 25 to 30 yard shot on a nice buck, he missed! They showed it in slow mode and you could see the arrow leave the bow, then as the arrow is about half way there you see the buck start to lower and load up, but you see his arrow going right for the boiler room. Then as the arrow is almost there you see deer start to go down as he continues to load up more and faster getting ready to launch. Right as the arrow got there the deer was low enough to be below the arrow. I always remember that show when I think of longer shots and string jump, it is and was amazing. One thing that just came to mind, are you hunting Blacktail Deer? Not sure if they are just as skittish as Whitetail or not, maybe some one knows and can give us the info if the same rules apply. Good luck and keep us up to date on you progress!! It is open to talk, level headed people like you that help make this place a success!!

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Great post, Jason!! We're rootin for ya Ed, it's just that some believers in the hype won't get a rf and not understand that 55 yds and 65 yds are way different than 60 yds. Then you have the ones that will think if they say 60, can't I stretch that to 70? I've no doubt that w/ that bows fps, and trajectory, and a rf, a concerned ethical hunter such as yourself may be able to take a white tail at 60. The point is, it won't happen on a regular basis like it will at 35 and under.