i have questions for you crossbow shooters!
10-15-2012, 06:26 AM
#1
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Muskegon, MI
Posts: 123
i have questions for you crossbow shooters!
My dad has recently gotten shoulder surgeory and cannot use his compound bow anymore. He misses the woods and expecially bowhunting. His birthday was october 7th and I am thinking about getting him a crossbow. From the research i have done and many trips to local sport shops my understanding is that Ten Point crossbow is the Cadillac of crossbows. But they are a little outside of my budget. But i found a bow by Ten Point which i can afford. It is called the wicked ridge warrior by Ten Point. All the reviews i have read have nothing but good things to say. Now my question is, what do all you huntingnet users use and what is your favorite.
-Thanks
-Thanks
10-15-2012, 07:20 AM
#2
Fork Horn
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Frederick, Maryland
Posts: 197
Ten Point does make a nice product and several of my hunting buddies use them. I personally am not a fan of the cam driven xbows. I shoot an Excalibur and to me they are the best. I can take the entire thing apart in 20 minutes and assemble in the same time. It allows you to change your own string in less than 5 minutes and the fact that it will shoot as well or better than any Ten point is what sold me. I have shot against friends who have the same bow as you are speaking of and it is a nice product but 2 of them have had problems with them. One problem was the cam and the other was the trigger locking mechanism that holds the string back wouldn't lock anymore. It really comes down to personal preference but I just don't like the cam driven bows myself. The other thing is the weight. The Wicked Ridge line isn't quite as bad as some of the Ten Point models but they do weigh more than your recurves by quite a bit. If your Dad is up there in years he may prefer the lighter bow for sure. Anyways hope this helps even a little bit for you and either way you go your getting a quality product.
10-15-2012, 09:16 AM
#3
Fork Horn
Thread Starter
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Muskegon, MI
Posts: 123
Ten Point does make a nice product and several of my hunting buddies use them. I personally am not a fan of the cam driven xbows. I shoot an Excalibur and to me they are the best. I can take the entire thing apart in 20 minutes and assemble in the same time. It allows you to change your own string in less than 5 minutes and the fact that it will shoot as well or better than any Ten point is what sold me. I have shot against friends who have the same bow as you are speaking of and it is a nice product but 2 of them have had problems with them. One problem was the cam and the other was the trigger locking mechanism that holds the string back wouldn't lock anymore. It really comes down to personal preference but I just don't like the cam driven bows myself. The other thing is the weight. The Wicked Ridge line isn't quite as bad as some of the Ten Point models but they do weigh more than your recurves by quite a bit. If your Dad is up there in years he may prefer the lighter bow for sure. Anyways hope this helps even a little bit for you and either way you go your getting a quality product.
10-15-2012, 05:17 PM
#5
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location:
Posts: 2,186
I have owned a 2008 vintage, top of the line, Ten Point and now use a 2010 Parker Tornado. Frankly I was a complete novice to cross bows when I was more or less left with no other archery season hunting option after blowing out my left shoulder. I am 64 and recovery has been painfully slow. I am still not there after almost 3 full years. Enough with the whining !
The Ten Point was a great shooter, but it's safety failed on me which resulted in significant damage to the bow and nearly caught my thumb in the wrong place !?! Ten Point was great about the whole thing, but I lost confidence (right or wrong) in that particular X-Bow ... sold it .... and bought the Parker.
I had not heard much about Excaliber at the time. One of the guys that I hunt with bought one before the 2011-12 season. It is one that was near or at the top of their line in fall of 2011. I like it a lot. It seems simpler, and is definitely quieter than either my Ten Point or the Parker. But it is not as compact. I do a lot of hunting from a tree stand and "compact" is important to me. All three of these shot lights out as far as on target and maintaining great groups. All three are plenty fast. So to me between these 3, it would be a matter of choice.
As a 4+ decade "verticle" archery hunter prior to switching to a cross bow here are some of my personal observations/opinions comparing the cross bow to a modern compound: (1) The cross bow is must louder upon release. I have yet to be able to get a second shot opportunity. I have not needed a second shot, but in every case the deer scatter at the sound of the cross bow. Besides I doubt that I could get away with recocking the cross bow any way ... just too much movement associated with recocking and reloading. (2) I can see no appreciable increase in effective "kill" distance. The advantage for long shots seems to me to be in the fact that if I can "rest" the cross bow, it is a snap to hold steady on target. (By long I am referring to 40 yards plus). (3) I use a 3-blade (fixed), 125 gr. broadhead and have had no issues with bolt flight, tight groups, penetration on the deer or good blood trails. I did try a couple of expandables at first at the range but neither were consistent in flight, which, though I cannot prove it, I attribute to the broadhead "deploying" at lease in part prior to reaching the target. (4) And of course there is no requirement to break or "hold" a draw weight. That is why I am albe to manage a cross bow.
(5) The No.1 issue that I first had with the cross bow, and it is still a problem for me, is the fact that the cross bow requires a "horizontal" space .... clear of twigs, branches, limbs, tree trunk, etc. in order for it to be shot safely and effectively. A "bow" requires a "verticle" space. I was used to that consideration! This need for 6-8 foot arc of horizontal clearance has lead to me to not being able to get a shot at deer that happened to be at a severe left side or right side angle, over my shoulder ... more so on the right hand side because I am I right handed. (6) I found the compound easier to master than the recurve. Adding a sight system, superb rest and using a release helped tighten my groups by at least a factor of 2X. The cross bow for me was even easier to master. I think that I was on target within 5-10 shots and have stayed there ever since with minimal practice. For me it is much easier to place a broad head on to the point of aim. Knock on wood, I have not failed to recover yet, and have had only one poorly placed shot out of 23 ... and it was fatal. Maybe that has been in part due to the decades of shooting "verticle". However, do not get lulled into thinking that cross bow hunting does not require practice. In my opinion, mastering the use of a cross bow is similar to mastering the use of a hunting rifle .... takes proper practice and developing nearly automatic loading and shooting techniques so that under pressure, you can make that clean kill everytime.
Good luck and hope you fill the freezer.
The Ten Point was a great shooter, but it's safety failed on me which resulted in significant damage to the bow and nearly caught my thumb in the wrong place !?! Ten Point was great about the whole thing, but I lost confidence (right or wrong) in that particular X-Bow ... sold it .... and bought the Parker.
I had not heard much about Excaliber at the time. One of the guys that I hunt with bought one before the 2011-12 season. It is one that was near or at the top of their line in fall of 2011. I like it a lot. It seems simpler, and is definitely quieter than either my Ten Point or the Parker. But it is not as compact. I do a lot of hunting from a tree stand and "compact" is important to me. All three of these shot lights out as far as on target and maintaining great groups. All three are plenty fast. So to me between these 3, it would be a matter of choice.
As a 4+ decade "verticle" archery hunter prior to switching to a cross bow here are some of my personal observations/opinions comparing the cross bow to a modern compound: (1) The cross bow is must louder upon release. I have yet to be able to get a second shot opportunity. I have not needed a second shot, but in every case the deer scatter at the sound of the cross bow. Besides I doubt that I could get away with recocking the cross bow any way ... just too much movement associated with recocking and reloading. (2) I can see no appreciable increase in effective "kill" distance. The advantage for long shots seems to me to be in the fact that if I can "rest" the cross bow, it is a snap to hold steady on target. (By long I am referring to 40 yards plus). (3) I use a 3-blade (fixed), 125 gr. broadhead and have had no issues with bolt flight, tight groups, penetration on the deer or good blood trails. I did try a couple of expandables at first at the range but neither were consistent in flight, which, though I cannot prove it, I attribute to the broadhead "deploying" at lease in part prior to reaching the target. (4) And of course there is no requirement to break or "hold" a draw weight. That is why I am albe to manage a cross bow.
(5) The No.1 issue that I first had with the cross bow, and it is still a problem for me, is the fact that the cross bow requires a "horizontal" space .... clear of twigs, branches, limbs, tree trunk, etc. in order for it to be shot safely and effectively. A "bow" requires a "verticle" space. I was used to that consideration! This need for 6-8 foot arc of horizontal clearance has lead to me to not being able to get a shot at deer that happened to be at a severe left side or right side angle, over my shoulder ... more so on the right hand side because I am I right handed. (6) I found the compound easier to master than the recurve. Adding a sight system, superb rest and using a release helped tighten my groups by at least a factor of 2X. The cross bow for me was even easier to master. I think that I was on target within 5-10 shots and have stayed there ever since with minimal practice. For me it is much easier to place a broad head on to the point of aim. Knock on wood, I have not failed to recover yet, and have had only one poorly placed shot out of 23 ... and it was fatal. Maybe that has been in part due to the decades of shooting "verticle". However, do not get lulled into thinking that cross bow hunting does not require practice. In my opinion, mastering the use of a cross bow is similar to mastering the use of a hunting rifle .... takes proper practice and developing nearly automatic loading and shooting techniques so that under pressure, you can make that clean kill everytime.
Good luck and hope you fill the freezer.
10-16-2012, 08:21 AM
#10
Typical Buck
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Midlo, Va
Posts: 561
Was going to buy an Excalibur as my first CB just due to its simplicity and ability to work on myself. I was advised by someone very in the know how that the Excalibur had two things I wanted to avoid on my first one. They are :
1: No anti fire mechanism. Glad I bought one with it as I have tried to dry fire mine twice.
2. Must set the safety manually. With my Parker Enforcer and many others the safety is set when the CB is fully cocked.
Just two things to consider when you are considering buying for some one else. I will definitely look at the Excalibur for my 2nd CB in the future.
1: No anti fire mechanism. Glad I bought one with it as I have tried to dry fire mine twice.
2. Must set the safety manually. With my Parker Enforcer and many others the safety is set when the CB is fully cocked.
Just two things to consider when you are considering buying for some one else. I will definitely look at the Excalibur for my 2nd CB in the future.
