Whats an affective range for a crossbow?
 

I have been hunting for over 25 years both bow and rifle ...Ive taken a good number of deer with both but never took one with a crossbow ...I am 58 years old and will be C/B hunting this year and was wondering what you guy's who have been doing it awhile consider an effective and responsible yardage to take a shot ...considering its a clear shot ... I own a 10pt Phantom and it is very accurate out to 50 yards but Im not real sure I would want to take a 50 yard shot ..I do know that at 50 yards the bolt sinks up to with in an inch of the fletching when shooting into "The Block" ...whats are ya'lls opinion ?

dd

35 yards is my max,can group out to 55 yards but feel
my best is at 35 with my Defender CLS and would be
the same with my Ten Point Curve.

40 is max for me. I can hit a tennis ball at 50 no sweat...but the tennis ball will be there when the arrow gets there.

Accuracy is not the main issue - the main issue is arrow flight time. Even if you are accurate at 50 yards, a deer can move quite a bit in the time it takes the arrow to get there. Crossbows are pretty loud, and deer have a tendency to jump the string.

For me, the closer the better. If you are accurate at 50 yards and under, you know the range, and the deer is relaxed - i.e. head down, feeding, then a 40 yard shot isn't out of the question. But for me, I limit my shots to 30 yards max- preferably closer, especially if they are on edge.

variables
 

Alot of variables, starting with the hunters abilities and ending with the body language of the deer. A totally calm deer with no wind and a rest allows a longer shot. I took a crossbow deer this year at 43 yards, my longest vertical about 35 or so. The deer was calm, no wind and looked relaxed feeding in a wheat field. It also had no pressure from hunting this year so wasnt on edge. If it was a 3D shoot the shot would have been in the 10 ring and it didnt go 20 yards. I have let deer half that distance walk because of one or more of the conditions. Buckeyefootball

What I fail to understand is this twit who has only owned one crossbow and for only a short period of time. Has little experience hunting with a crossbow. Chose a crossbow brand that is well below standard from all other crossbow brands, who now he thinks he is an expert and qualified to give people good advice??
Something is definitley out of whack with that!

lol!!!

I have a Parker Buck Buster 175... This bow shoots GREAT!!! Will keep 2" groups at 40 yards...

I shot the biggest buck of my life last year with it... It was last few minutes of light and the deer was in the wide open woods at about 40 yards... I shot him and heard the arrow hit... The arrow passed threw the 130lb field dressed buck and stuck in the ground... The bleade were bent on my Muzzy 100gr...

That arrow still had some thump behind it at 40 yards...

I would think with a GOOD xbow you could safly take 40 yard shots at a calm deer...

I will...

Oh by the way... I am by no means a expert with any bow

Grizz just curious who your referring to?

dd

I am new to the crossbow and own a relatively unknown model. I have hunted for a long time with several types of vertical bows and rifles. From my very limited experience with the crossbow they in my hands will be used very much as a traditional bow would. The crossbow does put a lot more push to an arrow than a reg bow but the length of push is much shorter and the arrow is much lighter. This is why I am limiting my shots to around 30 yds depending on the state of the deers alertness. Of course the bow noise has a lot to do with my shot consideration also.

Why are you on this guy's ass so bad. This is the 2nd trhead where you have posted the same thing. Both times you call him a twit and inexperianced but offer nothing in regards to the thread topic.

I keep it to 25 yards because I use a single pin and peep sight. Its dead on out to 20 yards and I'll hold a hair high at 25. Thats the same set up as my regular bow so I'm pretty comfortable with that. Tried using scopes and red dots and had 4 break in one year but thats a different story. When I used a 3 red dot scope I was very comfortable out to 40 yards on targets but I kept hunting shots to 30 yards because of the noise and time it took the arrow to get there. Seemed like it asking for a deer to jump the string. Just my opinion.

I've taken over 40 animals with my xbow, not that that makes me an expert, and all but 2 of those kill shots were under 25 yards. One was 27 and the longest was 37. I took the 37 yard shot because the conditions were IDEAL. There was a crusty snow on the ground, the deer had no clue I was in my blind and by chance I had practiced that 37 yard shot, I just happen to have had a target set up in my back yard and for whatever reason it was exactly 37 yards from my carport, I knew exactly where to aim and sent the bolt square thru his heart.
Without the snow I would not have taken that shot, the snow is a great help when it comes to a marginal hit.
All that being said ETHICS and MORALS should be an equal if not greater deciding factor on your max shooting range that the effectiveness of your weapon.
Good luck,
xbowbarry

Range
 

I can shoot my bow fairly accurately to 60 yards or so, but I am pretty sure I will limit my shots to 35 yards or less, depending on the target.

Thats my limit also,can keep it contolled out to there.

shooting distance
 

i dont hunt with crossbow but i do shoot a lot with mine.any bow i would not shoot over 30 yds in brush.if you have nice clear shot at calm deer feeding ,i would take a 35 yd shot.i had chance at big buck last year at 33 yds.he smelled my code blue and was very excited.all i had was a back and neck shot.rain was coming at 7 pm and this was 30 minutes before dark.

i only take a clear shot behind shoulder at calm deer.so 30 yds is max i will shoot a buck,crossbow or my black widow bow.