Range of a crossbow?

[Bulls eye]

I have shot 10 deer with my crossbow in 3 years of hunting. Under IDEAL conditions I might go 40 yards. After about 30 that bolt starts to drop quick. Most my deer have been shot at a average of 15-20 yards. Longest was around thirty. Way less room for error at those ranges.

 

[AllOut]

Well didnt u pick a lucky year to move to Ok if u shoot an Xbow

 

[Bulls eye]

Well didnt u pick a lucky year to move to Ok if u shoot an Xbow

Yeah, that was cool. I was prepared to go back to my Hoyt if neccesary. Only advantage I can see to the crossbow is you dont have to move to draw like a conventional bow. Although I admit that is a big advantage

 

[AllOut]

Yeah, that was cool. I was prepared to go back to my Hoyt if neccesary. Only advantage I can see to the crossbow is you dont have to move to draw like a conventional bow. Although I admit that is a big advantage

Definatly.... i dont know how many times i couldnt draw or got busted trying

 

[Danny]

Definatly.... i dont know how many times i couldnt draw or got busted trying

That's part of the "hunt".

 

[Bulls eye]

That's part of the "hunt".

Not the crossbow hunt.

 

[Sniper John]

Not the crossbow hunt.

It was for me last year. I hunt with both and on this day I had the crossbow.
In my tripod I normally have my bow hanging or fixed in the upright position so all I have to do is draw and shoot with very little lifting of the bow to get in postion. But the crossbow was layed down on the rail of the stand. Lifting it as a deer approached created enough movement that the deer saw something even though it was through the brush. It put me in a position to hold that heavy crossbow in position for a long time without moving. My position blown, the deer was not moving on up the trail any time soon. I had to give in eventually and drop the crossbow back down comletely blowing my position at that point. If I had my compound instead on that hunt, it would already have been in position and I would have had an opportunity to pull and release my arrow (created the movement) at a more chosen time. Again, I hunt with both, and more times than not bringing my crossbow into position creates more movement than does grabbing my compound and pulling it. But of course that is due to the way I normally hunt. An exception would be the guys that hunt from pop ups with shoot through windows. But then with those guys, drawing a bow or pulling a crossbow from their lap to their shoulder is never seen by the deer anyway. The one way I do see a big advantage with the crossbow though is with the box blinds used by rifle hunters. They can shoot through their fixed horizontal blind window same as they do with their rifle, provided the game is within bow range. Very difficult to do with a compound.

A fun test you should try if you have both a compound and crossbow hunter in your camp. Set up a 30 yard target. Have the bow shooter draw his bow with arrow and have the crossbow shooter bring his crossbow to shoulder ready to shoot. But tell them they are only allowed to release at the moment you say. Give it say a minute, but try different times. I know with me, my crossbow is front heavy and I have serious accuracy problems in short time. I can hold my compound bow "with let off" at draw and shoot more accurately in the same given time than I can with my crossbow. After and up to a reasonable amount of time of course.

 

[AllOut]

intersting little test... but your probably right

 

[Dr. Tad Hussein Winslow]

Interesting, yes. But all solved with a collapsible bipod, which I always have with a rifle, and will now always have with my xbow. A Stoney Point polecat bipod is some of the best $$ I ever spent on hunting gear.

 

[Sniper John]

A bipod does me no good in a tree stand or tripod or any kind of portable stand one might use on public land. Private land off a bench such as with your bipod or rested in window of a permanent box stand is where a crossbow would shine. A tripod with an adjustable or low rail perhaps would work well, but mine has the rail too high to effectively shoot my crossbow. I almost have to stand up to pivot it on the rail for shooting down in crossbow range. You may not have to draw a crossbow, but it is still used in similar situations as compounds for most people on public land. You still have movement bringing to shoulder and you still have to hold it steady without a rest. Sometimes for an extended time same as a compound bow. For public land I personally feel I have an advantage with my compound for hunting. On private land where I am hunting from permanent box type stands with a feeder under 50 yards away I have a great advantage using a crossbow.
It's like fly fishing. On a mountain stream with a fly rod I can usually outfish a spinning rod fisherman two trout to one. On a lake the spinning rod guy can outfish me 3 to one or more up against my fly rod on most days.