Well I got another deer weapon for next season

[stoneam2006]

Barnett quad 400...came with everything broadheads too can't wait to shoot it....traded a shotgun for it hope I get t use it.......full inclusion be nice but I'm also looking to upgrade my compound bow also as I enjoy that too....

[grampy]

Due to some shoulder problems that make holding my compound at full draw for even 30 seconds painful. I got a Barnett Raptor at the end of last summer. It's a lot of fun to shoot and for 2 weeks had fun hunting with it as well. Like you said, just another tool to hunt deer with. And I too hope for full inclusion this fall, as I will most likely have surgery on one or both shoulders before this fall. Have fun with your new crossbow!

[stoneam2006]

Due to some shoulder problems that make holding my compound at full draw for even 30 seconds painful. I got a Barnett Raptor at the end of last summer. It's a lot of fun to shoot and for 2 weeks had fun hunting with it as well. Like you said, just another tool to hunt deer with. And I too hope for full inclusion this fall, as I will most likely have surgery on one or both shoulders before this fall. Have fun with your new crossbow!

Well I hope for full inclusion for you..and good luck with the surgery hope a speedy recovery

[wolc123]

Congrats on the purchase. After one season, my crossbow has greatly exceeded my expectations, both on the range and in the field. Too bad it took so long for NY to let us use them. Hopefully we will soon get the rest of archery season, as that would help me a ton in filling some doe tags, none of which I was able to last season. Thanks to tons of acorns last year, the does had gone nocturnal for the most part once crossbow finally opened. I only saw two all season, which were just out of range.

Eliminating the need to draw, with the deer in close, should make the crossbow a super effective doe-killer. I always see does in groups, and getting a compound drawn with that many eyes that close is always difficult. We would have had to eat chicken, rather than venison tacos for dinner tonight, had I not been able to take a nice young buck with my crossbow last season. At almost 60 yards, he was way out of my compound bow range, but not too much of a stretch for my little 300 fps crossbow. That's probably right in the "sweet-spot" for your 400 fps model. My arrow penetration (8") was a little marginal at that range, but did get it all the way thru the heart.

[stoneam2006]

Congrats on the purchase. After one season, my crossbow has greatly exceeded my expectations, both on the range and in the field. Too bad it took so long for NY to let us use them. Hopefully we will soon get the rest of archery season, as that would help me a ton in filling some doe tags, none of which I was able to last season. Thanks to tons of acorns last year, the does had gone nocturnal for the most part once crossbow finally opened. I only saw two all season, which were just out of range.

Eliminating the need to draw, with the deer in close, should make the crossbow a super effective doe-killer. I always see does in groups, and getting a compound drawn with that many eyes that close is always difficult. We would have had to eat chicken, rather than venison tacos for dinner tonight, had I not been able to take a nice young buck with my crossbow last season. At almost 60 yards, he was way out of my compound bow range, but not too much of a stretch for my little 300 fps crossbow. That's probably right in the "sweet-spot" for your 400 fps model. My arrow penetration (8") was a little marginal at that range, but did get it all the way thru the heart.

Yea the guy said he was hitting the bull at 75 yards and still blowing thru the target....personally I will be limiting myself to normal archery range as part of the thrill of archery season for me is seeing them and getting them that close 40 yrds and less for me. I'm looking forward to being able to hunt from the ground more. I never got good at shooting my compound from a seated position and that always kept me in the trees. Don't have that problem with a xbow. Can't wait to get it out to practice here pretty quick.

What target set ups are you guys with xbows using? I know my current compound set up won't hold up as my compound almost leaves the backside already...thanks in advance

[wolc123]

I use a foam "block" target and my 300 fps model drives the arrows about 3/4 thru.   I have heard that a canvas bag full of rags makes a good crossbow target, and I will try that after my block gets a little more worn out and the arrows start going thru. I have a friend with a 380 fps crossbow who says the "bag of rags" works very well. 

 

Close shots are great, but last season I only had one deer under 40 yards during the short crossbow season. That was a little 4-point who snuck up within 15 yards while I was sound asleep in my blind (I had stayed out too late the night before).  I was awakened by the sound of his footsteps and I managed to slowly lift the x-bow, but he caught the motion and took off without offering a shot.  The significantly larger-bodied 6-point I took a few days later, on the last few minutes of the last day I could hunt, teased me with that long shot.   He turned out to be about 9 yards further than I estimated, but the little 300 fps crossbow still got the job done.  The arrow struck him about 10" below my point of aim, but I had picked the right "hair" to aim at, up high behind his shoulder.  I hunt for meat not thrill, but the thrill was there when I heard that arrow "thump" and saw the big, bright red blotch on his armpit, indicating a heart hit, then heard him pile up a short ways into the brush.   Even more when I walked up and saw him laying there, eyes wide open and tongue hanging out.  More yet a few days later sinking my teeth into them tenderloins cooked medium rare.

 

 All of us in NY are "newbies" with the crossbow, but I have more confidence in that weapon than almost anything else I have hunted with.   I cant wait to use it this season.  Good luck with yours.  There is absolutely no comparison on the effectiveness of these compared to conventional archery equipment.  I would put mine at about 10 times more effective on live deer than my compound, and 5 times more effective on targets.   Best of all is the time required for practice is about 1/100 of that I need with a compound.  Truly the crossbow is a "wonder weapon" that has more than lived up to it's hype in my hands at least.           

Edited February 1, 2015 by wolc123

[stoneam2006]

Yea I can't wait to try it....archery season for me is just one where I like to get deer as close as possible as not many bow hunt the properties I hunt so deer have very little pressure so it's fun to have them walk in close....the 2 I shot with my compound last year walked right out to me one was at 10 yrds when I shot other came out at 10 yrds but couldn't get a shot till about 20 or so....pretty cool....had few others come close but either missed or just plain couldn't get a shot....including th e 10 pt I saw first weekend of Nov while walking to my afternoon spot...we both froze 15 yrds from each other but when I drew he ran about 20 yrds and stopped but that wouldn't have happened with a xbow imo....could have pulled up and stuck him....i really look forward to sitting on the ground durring archery season...

[wolc123]

I was up a tree when I got that buck last year, but I did modify all of my tree stands with shooting rails, about 3 feet high. It is great to lay that x-bow on that rail, totally supported up front, and let them crosshairs (or red-dot in my case), settle in for a nice steady shot at longer range. I honestly feel a little sorry for them deer now, as they don't seem to have much chance against such a "lethal" weapon.

The older I get (just turned 50), the less I like climbing trees. I also like hunting from ground blinds and have made 3 permanent ones on two different farms that I hunt. Anytime the weather is bad, that's where I hunt. None are high enough to stand up in with a regular bow, but all work great with a crossbow or gun. One of my blinds has a second "open" level, with a 3-ft high rail around, and I plan to add an "upper deck" to another one this year.

[stoneam2006]

Yea.....i hunt a ton if different state land so unless I haul a climber in I'm limited to the ground and I actually avoid state land durring archery normally for just that reason....hoping to get into some untouched public land for xbow this year