Hello!

I am not actually a hunter, my dad is. He's been an avid white tail deer hunter (rifle only) for years. He would like to try out hunting with a crossbow so he can extend his hunting season now that he's retired and has more time to devote to hunting. His birthday is coming up and I would love to surprise him with a crossbow. But after visiting a few websites and stores I quickly became overwhelmed by the different types of crossbows, accessories, and the wide variance in price. Can you please offer a suggestion as to what kind of corssbow to get him? I would like for it to be relatively inexpensive (in case he tries it a season and decides it's just not his thing). I'm also pretty sure he's going to need a crank to cock the bow since he had back surgery and his back isn't all that strong anymore. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Thank you so much!

Shae

The single best piece of advice I can give you is to take him some place like Cabelas and have him shoot some to see what suits him the best. Thats what I did with my dad and has soon as he shot the Parker Terminator HP he knew that that was the one he wanted.

You can also try using the search feature here and you will find hours of reading. As long as you stick with a good name brand like Excaliber, Tenpoint, or Parker (listed in no particular order) you will have an excellent xbow that will last a lifetime if cared for.

My dad bought his Parker Terminator HP from Wyvern last year and he is a wealth of information and his customer service is top notch.

Here is his contact info:

Wyvern Creations, LLC
235 North River Road
Lee, NH 03824
603-659-0575
603-502-3404

Bob

X2 on Dave Wyvern. Great guy. Very knowledgeably. Tells it like it is, regardless if he sells it or not. Do yourself a favor and call the man. Other than that, try as many as you can. Fit and trigger are everything. I can put up with an inexpensive bow with a great trigger; no way the most expensive of bows with a poor trigger.

The fit of the bows vary quite a bit, so you got some good tips on taking him to Cabelas to try them on for size. Another benefit is trying a rope cocker there. Many people w/ health issues are able to use that instead of crank cockers.
good luck!

Ditto the advise about heading to a dealer that has several X-Bow set-up to try out. I would think anther biggie right now ... because you mentioned that your dad might "like to try out hunting" with a X-Bow, is that the better ones fully rigged out are fairly expensive. If your dad is an avid hunter, he'll should get a kick out of hunting with a X-Bow, making the $$$ question pretty much moot anyway.

If you can swing it, I have a 3 year old, then top of the line Ten-Point with the hand-crank. It is a fine piece of equipment. I cannot imagine their new model being anything less. Good buddy of mine lost an arm in an industrial accident. He shoots a Horton and likes his. He's an avid archer and has killed many, many deer with his. I have no clue what model. Knowing him it was a top of the line, or nearly so, when he bought it.

I own a 10pt Phantom and really like it ..also had a Parker Magnum which was a fine bow.

dd

Great advice above.
Take him somewhere and let him shoulder and shoot them to see what fits him.

I think what everyone said above is right on target. If you dont have a Cabelas close by, you could take him to a Bass Pro where he could shoot a few. There is such a diferent array of types, sizes and weights that you really need to see what fits him and what he feels comfortable with.

it's all been said in the above posts, take you dad to a dealer and let him try out different ones. He will know which one he likes.