New Crossbow

[DanD]

Starting to look at entering the field of crossbow hunting. I've done a little research, but I figured I would ask the masses for their opinion. I was looking at something middle of the road and a recurve for easy of maintenance. Crossbow will be primarily used out of a treestand as well. The Excalibur Grizzly has been on my radar. Anyone have any thoughts on this bow or something similar? Not looking to break the bank, and I'm not set on the recurve just seemed like an easy entry point for someone like myself.

[InkedLilPiggy]

There seem to be so many more options out there with compound crossbows than recurve.  I personally like recurves because there is few parts to worry about.  The Grizzly is an excellent choice from what I can see, I personally have no experience with them however.  When I first got into crossbow hunting I purchased a very inexpensive Barnett Recruit Recurve and it has served me well for the most part.  Lower speed so shot distance and placement are very crucial.  But I believe that has made me a better hunter.  I am looking to upgrade after this season so if you go with the Grizzly please let me know what you think.  Good luck and sorry I wasn't much help.

[Buckmaster7600]

I bought one from a guy at work who got it and never took it out of the box and needed money. I didn't give much money for it and just wanted it as a spare and something my brother could use.

It's slow, if that matters to you I don't know. I only got about 275fps out of it with factory bolts.

It's been finicky to tune.

Everything on it needed to be taken apart and reapplied with lock tight, I'm assuming this is from the vibration.

The scope is terrible.

I only gave 300$ for it and the tinkering that needed to be done didn't bother me at all. It's a bottom end crossbow so I think it's to be expected. I shoot a crossbow that cost more than twice the msrp of the Griz and I don't think mine is twice the crossbow, it's about 100fps faster and is about half as loud with a way better scope and trigger but I absolutely don't think you need to spend 1200$ on one to kill a deer.


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[bugsNbows]

Another very good recurve is Kodabow. They aren't cheap though. 

[Water Rat]

I've always been intrigued with Scorpd crossbows......but the ain't cheap either.

[92onCaliHollow]

Since you aren't opposed to compound x-bows, take a very good look at the PSE Fang. Excellent product, even better company and u definitely can't go wrong with it when you're on a budget

[wolc123]

If I were in the market today, I would take a good look at the Centerpoint Sniper 370.   I see Amazon has them for $300, and I have not read any bad reviews on them.   They are a compound, but that seems like a great price for a 370 fps crossbow package which includes a decent scope, quiver and 3 bolts.    If NY state gives us "full inclusion" prior to next season, I will be buying one.  Otherwise I am sticking with my $250, 300 fps Barnett recruit for at least one more year.   I was able to kill the only deer I shot at with it, at a range of 59 yards (heart shot), with that but penetration was marginal at only 8".    That extra 70 fps should provide plenty of energy for a pass thru at 60 yards.  I will not be taking any shots with my current crossbow over 50 yards, and I bought a laser range-finder to help be sure of that.         

[greg54]

I had to ship my Barnett Jackal back to them and replace the trigger mechanism. A few weeks ago I brought it out to do some target practice and after cocking it the darn thing wouldn't come off safety. So I took it into the bow shop and it took the shop owner and his son to safely get uncocked. They had bad dealing with Barnett crossbows and don't even sell them any more. They said they are so many problems with them and Barnett has several lawsuits pending against them. They had no good things to say about Barnett. I'm waiting for my crossbow to be fixed and returned by Nov 5, and will probably take the archery shop owners advice and look for a different bow next year.

[nyslowhand]

This is exactly why I splurged on a more expensive Xbow. Made in Ohio and it seemed like if I needed it serviced, shipping it from NY to OH would be relatively easy & painless. Also one of the benefits of buying things from Cabelas, a great return policy. Which BTW I used on the 1st Xbow I bought several years ago for an OH hunt, a Barnett Predator. String broke after only 8-10 shots, launching a bolt to who knows where.

Not to sound like a broken record, but low end $$ Xbows inherently have crappy scopes to keep the MSRP cost down. Which IMHO, can make you an unhappy camper from the beginning. Like Buckmaster7600 eluded to, if a $300 & &1000 Xbow had the same scope on them, it'd be a no-brainer! One of my pet-peeves is the lack of service available after the sale of most Xbows in NYS since we're still in our Xbow infancy stage.

[LIAF]

I own 2 Excalibur crossbows phoenix(175lbs) and a vortex(200lbs). They are not the newer matrix series which I believe was introduced 3-4 yrs ago but are from the series that Excalibur produced from around 2001 thru 2012 ish. The basic difference is the matrix line has an automatic safety and the limb width is app 30 inches wide whereas mine is a manual safety and 36 inch limb width. I bought these NIB in 2006- 2007 for 325 phoenix and 350 for the vortex, bare bow shipped to my door. When I bought the phoenix I also bought the "right stuff package" which gave me a vari-zone scope, scope mount ,rings, string changer, arrow holder, 4 arrows, wax and a rope cocker for around 175 off ebay. So for 500 I was ready to go. Over the years I bought custom strings, different arrow holders and expensive Zeiss Z-Point red dots(300-400). I have probably put over 1000 shots through each bow and they needed nothing more than a new string. If you know how to re-serve a string then you only need to re-serve the string as that is the part that wears out. You could basically drive a truck over my xbows and they will still keep on shooting. When I went looking for a xbow I first had to decide if I wanted a recurve or a compound. I realized that if I wanted a recurve excalibur was the only bow for me and if I wanted a compound then I was going for a ten point. Remember this was 9-10 yrs ago but I still feel strongly that if you want a recurve than get an Excalibur as they have been in the recurve business since the early 80's. Nowadays you probably have some additional choices when it comes to reasonable priced/quality compound xbows but if I wanted one I would probably get a wicked ridge as they are from the ten point family. Whatever you do DO NOT get a Barnett they were and still are a POS. My friend has the super fast one (Ghost?) which he got at cost(500.) thru his nephew who worked at Dicks. First year he had it the safety started screwing up and he couldn't shoot the bow and went back to his Mathews compound. These are the differences between the xbows- recurve, simple to work on, lighter in weight(all xbows are front heavy) can unload the arrow w/o shooting bow. Most compound xbow have to go back to dealer for a simple string change, heavier than recurves and you must shoot the arrow after a day of hunting to unload the bow. Now a compound is faster pound for pound, is narrower app 20 inches in limb width and I believe makes less noise when shooting although all xbows ae loud compared to vertical bows. If you go with the xcal get the optional SDS(string suppression device) and their base scope vari-zone or drop zone is fine. if you decide on an Excalibur go to their forums as they have members selling used xbows and you can pick up great deals after hunting season. I wouldn't hesitate in buying a used Excalibur as they are virtually indestructible. I rarely post but when I do I have a very strong opinion on the subject. If you take anything away from this post be it. DO NOT buy a BARNETT!!!!!!!!!!!

[grampy]

16 hours ago, 92onCaliHollow said:

Since you aren't opposed to compound x-bows, take a very good look at the PSE Fang. Excellent product, even better company and u definitely can't go wrong with it when you're on a budget

I have the Barnett Raptor and I'd say it's, OK. Shoots a bit over 300fps and I really haven't had many problems, except the bolt retaining spring breaking a couple times. But my buddy bought the PSE Fang this year, and I like that better! Just seems like it is better made and fits better for more comfortable shooting. Both are VERY accurate!

[ApexerER]

30 minutes ago, grampy said:

I have the Barnett Raptor and I'd say it's, OK. Shoots a bit over 300fps and I really haven't had many problems, except the bolt retaining spring breaking a couple times. But my buddy bought the PSE Fang this year, and I like that better! Just seems like it is better made and fits better for more comfortable shooting. Both are VERY accurate!

My wife bought me a PSE Fang for Christmas last year when I mentioned it in a sale flyer. Then I saw the Barnett GameCrusher in another flyer and mentioned that one so my wife went out and purchased that one. (what a great wife) I didn't want to have a lot of $$ invested in a crossbow for a two week season which for me will equate to two days in the woods. I messed with both of them and decided I likeed the GameCrusher better (even though it was cheaper) and returned the Fang. I thought about returning both of them and buying a better crossbow but I couldn't justify the money. I will be hunting with the game crusher for the first time this season. I kept the Game Crusher because it felt a lot more natural to shoulder and because while the scope isn't great...it is 10x better than the one that came on the Fang. The Fang was faster by 20FPS. The scope that came on the Fang seemed like it belonged on a childs toy. I have read a lot of poor reviews on Barnett Crossbows. I hope this one serves me well a couple of times a year. If NY goes full inclusion I am sure I will want an upgrade...

[Skillet]

Excal is a great bow. I have 2 of the Matrix series. Have had them since xbow opened in ny.

You can change a string in 5 minutrs and be back hunting. 

There is a lifetime limb warranty (I never had a break yet)

And Dawn will always help you if you call Excal with a question.

Does the grizzly have a plastic rail tho? Might be worth it to find one with the aluminum rail. More durable.

The matrix 310 is still affordable. Not made anymore, but you can still find them online.

That said, you still can't go wrong if you decide on the grizzly.

Also, I can't stress enough the importance of the ADF. Anti dry-fire system.

If not included with your bow, it is worth the extra $.

[Borngeechee]

For the money the center point 370 is hard to beat. Doing this at 30 yards with a crossbow I paid $200 for and upgraded the scope to the Excalibur tact-100 for $150.

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