crossbow rant

[Bojohunter]

when i was bow hunting i saw 2 deers that swear if i had at least a crossbow i would had meat in my freezer! Now here i am hunting with a crossbow i watched  2 deers on 2 separate occasions that i could have shot with rifle coz its beyond reach of my xbow! im hoping next weekend at opening day of rifle i wouldnt need something to shoot a deer thats a mile away.  This is no joke man. what a series of misfortunes. i can only laugh. The good consolation i know now is that there are deers waiting next saturday for my Browning!  Hapoy hunting guys, 

[nyslowhand]

If I'm reading your post correctly, you're frustrated with the un-cooperating deer and not so much what weapon you've been using!??! They don't like to play the game by our rules, in general! If you're persistent, something good usually happens, eventually! Go get 'em!!!!

[wolc123]

I will counter with a "crossbow rave".  I can hardly exaggerate how much my cheap, entry level crossbow has exceeded my expectations as a deer-killing machine.   This season was the best yet, from that $ 250 Barnett Recruit.  It accounted for its (5th) buck last Saturday, after (5) years of wear and tear.  

I really tapped into the crossbow's superiority, over a vertical bow, this year.   In that situation, there is no way I would have been able to make the draw with a vertical, without being noticed by the fine 8-pointer.   He locked eye contact on me for a long time, from 50 yards away.   I patiently waited him out, and only moved in "super slow motion" when he finally started moving closer.  He was across an open field, and there was zero cover between him and me, nor was there anything behind me to break up my outline (I was only 7 feet up in a stand).  The best part, was watching him walk slowly into the veiwing range of the telescopic sight, as my crossbow was up on a rest and pointed in his direction.  When he reached 20 yards broadside, and extended a front leg, the illuminated green "dot" was centered right on the mark.  The only move I needed to make then was with my trigger finger.   Of the (5), that was my easiest shot.  

This baby got it done across an open field at 59 yards on it's first year.  I will make sure to not shoot it that far again, since penetration was only 8" (fortunately that was enough to get it all the way thru the heart).  My new self-imposed range limit is 40 yards.  I sprung for a laser range finder a few years ago to make sure of that.   My toughest shot with it was a fast walking buck (probably my largest bodied one ever, with a 43" chest girth), at about 25 yards, in fading light thru the woods.  

I like this weapon so much now, that I am seriously considering using it this year during our late ML season.  

[Bojohunter]

19 hours ago, nyslowhand said:

If I'm reading your post correctly, you're frustrated with the un-cooperating deer and not so much what weapon you've been using!??! They don't like to play the game by our rules, in general! If you're persistent, something good usually happens, eventually! Go get 'em!!!!

I'm frustrated with the circumstances and not at the deer not cooperating I love it that they're smart and a challenge to hunt. Anyway I got a spike this morning at 6:45am 22 yards from where I'm seated. Meat is meat