This is Hueyjazz and you hit the nail on the head Wolc. It was an Allen 125 grain fixed broadheads on a Jackal crossbow with Allen bolts. And I would say the difference was 10" low from the field point of same weight at 30 yards. First year with crossbow I missed a buck at 25 yards. By miss I mean I got hair and fat on what I thought was going to be a well placed lung shot. Ended up being a low glancing belly shot.
I've killed a lot of deer with shotgun. I'm a patience, meat hunter, one shot, one kill kind of guy. If I can't get the shot I want, on the deer I want, they walk. The fact I missed at this distance after much practice with field points really POed me and I just couldn't out what I did wrong. Buck fever left me in my teens. Now I just a mild sweat watching deer while I wait for shot.
For year two, I shot the same broadheads into my target. Real low At first I figure I must of whacked the scope unknowingly for the bolts to be this far off. I switched back to field points which turned out to be dead on.
I talked to my buddy whom also does crossbow and he only used mechanicals and has had good success. I got some 125 grain Swhackers. They came with their own practice tips. I re-sighted in scope and upgraded my bolts to Carbon Express. I was staying on a half dollar at 30 yards and a orange at 50 yards with either tip. (Destroyed target) At same time I also moved to a CenterPoint Whisper 380 that I put a decent scope on. The Jackal was fairly accurate but sounded like a bat hitting a wet sack when it went off. Plus it was bulky in ladder tree stand.
I'm very happy with present setup. I own my own land and know it well. I starting to like the early crossbow season better than gun. But as long as there's an ethical deer in freezer each season, I'm good