Oldtimr

Picked it up today. Carbon express 390. Sighted in the scope at the shop and got used to it. It came with a crank cocking device as well as the rope cocker, quiver, three Carbon express bolts with target tips. Shot it through the chronograph and got 368 fps.

JW

Awesome!
I've been tinkering the past few years with my xbow. I've been trying to whack the head of a turkey with no success.

And I do deer hunt. I have just acquired my disabled permit for upper Michigan as to use a xbow it is required. Only in upper and only late season.
I've had shots at does. But have been waiting for a buck.

I use Schwacker mechanical s. And have found a three bladed guillotine broadhead that flies just like my Schwackers. Can't recall the manufacturer but I'll post when I get back north.

One thing I would suggest OT is a Bednar arrow puller. I don't have the grip strength to pull bolts out of my Block any longer. AND those bolts are in there tight. The Bednar puller was a godsend. Allows me to pull straight back. Just google Bednar arrow puller.

And watch your thumbs and fingers. I have an older 10 point to which I added a finger guard. Have seen many posts of people taking fingers off as they have held the xbow incorrectly

JW

Oldtimr

Thanks JW, I bought a target bag that allows the cross bolts to be pulled out with little or no effort. I bought it instead of a block because a friend of mine who has been hunting with a crossbow for years has to spray silicone on his shafts and then use a special contraption to pull the bolts from the block. I have not hunted archery for over 40 years and when I did it was with a Bear Grizzly re-curve, so I bought my crossbow from a well known archery shop, Lancaster Archery Supply, in my county that sells nation wide. I asked for advise on what to buy and they recommended the target I bought and it works as advertised. I will have to remind myself of where not to put my fingers until I get used to this new addition to my arsenal. I would really hate to see my fingers flying down range.

SoloCamper

While I can't speak for your xbow, on mine there's really no way to shoulder the crossbow and have your finger(s) on the rail without it feeling extremely awkward.

I bought a crossbow in June (Wicked Ridge Warrior G3) for the exact same reason you did, a longer season (and less hunting pressure). It's been awesome having public land mostly to myself. I've got 2 deer with the xbow so far, a very small 8 point and an adult does.

Bocajnala

I think you'll enjoy it OT. It's nice to have that long of a season. Especially in the early season before the weather is nasty.

-Jake

rockport

Oh you're gonna like that, its a lot of fun. I bought one last year and Ive shot a hog and a nice buck with it.

The bag target is the way to go for sure. You'll just have to figure out something else to shoot broadheads at and make sure they fly like the field points. Some of them will plane at those speeds. You will want your arrow to be front heavy. That will help them fly right. Do some research on arrow F.O.C. you will probably want around 20% more weight on the front half of your arrow. That will give you extreme accuracy and make a solid fixed broadhead fly right.

Oldtimr

I have a target broad head that doesn't open when it hits the target, The pro where I bought the crossbow recommended rage mechanical and they come with a target head. I also bought three more cross bolts so I have a target set and a hunting set. I wanted to get out in our late archery season which is almost over now but with the weather we have had, below zero and high winds I didn't believe I had practiced enough to hunt with it so I will have to wait. I will have plenty of time to practice before next season and If I go to SC again this year for hogs, it will be going with me.

rockport

You know how I feel about those mechanicals

Oldtimr

Well the problem is, I have friends who swear by them and some who hate them, the pro at the archery shop recommended them said it is what he uses and never had one fail him so I bought them. I reckon I will find out. I have seen the wounds on some of my friends deer with them and they were impressive. Since I have not picked up a bow since 1976 and was using bear razor heads with the insert, I am pretty far out of the archery loop so I figured I would listen to the pro at the shop.

rockport

They actually should do fine with a crossbow. The biggest problem is a lot of bows just don't have the power to push a 2 inch broadhead through any bones. They just don't penetrate very well which won't be near as much of a problem with a crossbow that shoots 368 fps. It might still be something to think about with big hogs but just for the record they still havn't really made anything much better than an old bear razorhead. Hit through the ribs and you will be fine but if you hit that shoulder you really would literally still be very hard pressed to find anything that would out perform an old bear razorhead.