Best Crossbow out there
 

I was considering getting a crossbow, but don't know a lot about them. Can anyone give me some help as to what they think is the best one to purchase and why?

Excalibur is number 2. Super tuff. Reliable.
Barnett Is number 1. Not as wide and alot quieter and faster. My opinion anyway.

I saw the barnet buck commander raptor, is it a good model? I think they said around 330 fps and its got the limbs reversed. Very compact as well from what I could see.

Horizontal bows like vertical bows you need to go out and hold it, shoulder it etc
It has to fit and feel right in your hands.
Excalibre is hard to beat but...

Look at the Stryker line if you can find a dealer, the Katana is supposed to be a good one.

LC

I got an Excal 380 and it is amazing. First time I shot it I was amazed at the accuracy. Unbelievable. But the biggest thing is the warrenty and staff at Excal. I messed up putting on these air brakes and over torqued it. Called them and they where unbelievable in helping me out. I sent it in to them, the fixed that, even gave me a new scope cause just to make sure. Came back pretty much brand new with a call from Peter asking me how it's shooting and explaining exactly what he did to it. It's my first X-bow, wanted to get into a vertical bow but my shoulder is to mucked up. Barnett looks great to, never tried one. Just make sure about the warrenty and remember if you blow a string while out hunting in a cam drivin bow it's down till you can get it to an archery shop. Advantage to the Excal is you can change the string in 2 mins in the field. But ya they are quieter. If you want the best of the best, look at scorpyd. That's my limited take on it.

:D I would say Excalibur if it was still Canadian, they really were/are a quality bow...cons were price, bulky and weight...

With crossbows like anything else you get what you pay for and its generally best to pay the couple extra for good quality

Neil

Excalibur Micro is a hot crossbow shooting up to 355 with a draw weight of 280 pounds....16.5 " bolt

Excalibur Crossbows are still solely produced in Canada. Only thing that changed was the "ownership" of the company. Quality, customer service, and the best warranty in the business remain the same.

As for the "cons" you listed:

Yup. The higher end Excalibur bows are a little pricey. For a reason. In your own words, you basically get what you pay for and with Excalibur that means Quality.

You're thinking of the older wide versions in terms of "bulky". The new (few years now) Matrix series certainly are anything but. And their latest Micro series are even smaller. These two lines directly challenge the thought that recurve crossbows had to be wide and bulky. In fact today, they are quite streamlined and narrow.

As far as weight goes, the Matrix series weigh in damn near the same as anyone else's compound bows do. And of course the Micro's are even lighter - in fact lighter than most compounds on the market today.

I am biased, and will openly admit that. I've owned two of the older wide versions (Ibex and Exomax) and for the past couple of years a tricked out Matrix 380. Very fast (mine throws 400 grain arrows at 370 fps), incredible accuracy (3" groups at 100 yards is not uncommon), damn tough, reasonable width and weight, excellent balance, best warranty bar none and adheres strongly to the KISS rule. I can change out a string on the go in the field in a matter of minutes. In fact I can do anything that could ever need to be done with a crossbow by myself, and reasonably quickly. That is something no compound can ever hope to achieve.

This said, I have shot and have buddies that run Compound crossbows. Of those, I'd suggest Ten Point and the reverse draw Scorpyd bows to be the Leaders of The Pack. Not for me though, I'll take my Excalibur 380 over all.

And in fact will be doing that again in Alberta this fall. Although I drew a Muley Buck tag (rifle) I will once again be wandering over early with the crossbow to hunt that same area. Quite a bit more challenge equates to quite a bit more FUN!

Many Thanks once again to those here who talked me into applying and receiving my Crossbow Hunting Permit in Alberta! I'll be putting that to good use for as long as I am able to hunt... :sHa_shakeshout:

Cheers,
Nog

Quite impressed with the Micro 355,excellent accuracy. Air brakes and the crank are must haves.

Excalibur all the way. Just my opinion

Field and stream just released there top ten crossbows


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When you talk about having your licence in AB, what exactly do you mean? Just wondering if it's a license to hunt with your crossbow during Bow season. Cause I got a messed up shoulder, tried using a bow but after 2 weeks my shoulder couldn't take it. Fish and Wildlife told me I could apply for a license that lets me hunt the Bow season with a Crossbow. They gave me a couple of forms to give to the Doc. Just wondering if that's what you have, and how the process goes? If that's not it, well best of luck to you on your Mulie Buck!

That is exactly what I mean. My left shoulder is seriously buggered up - too many accidents / breaks / dislocations over my life. I used to hunt a lot with my compound bow, but due to those injuries, today I cannot even draw it any more. Thought the stick & string hunting was over for good for me, quite distressing. Then a good buddy here in BC introduced me to a crossbow. Here, anyone can hunt with them during the regular archery season, something I got into with relish. Back in The Game as it were.

It was actually on this forum that a few mentioned there was a possible route to doing the same in Alberta. Controversial topic here it seems, for many certainly voiced dismay or concern over doing this. Nonetheless, I decided to investigate. Fish & Wildlife provided the forms (probably the same you received) which I handed over to the SawBones. Over a dozen X-rays followed, along with a lot of manual tests. Pretty much determined that yeah, that shoulder is right hooped, and no, it ain't going to get any better as long as I might live. So the forms were filled out and sent back to Fish & Wildlife stating that. Didn't much care for the "Disabled" label, but whatever, the Permit was eventually approved. And I went on a hell of a fine hunt there last year, taking the nice buck pictured below at 66 yards with my crossbow - in the regular archery season:

http://gallery.fishbc.com/albums/alb...rta_Buck_1.jpg

This year I re-applied for the crossbow permit even before the draws were conducted over there. F & W can issue the permit for one, or multiple years. Last year I received the single year version, and am hoping for the multiple year permit this year. Good likelihood as my SawBones indicated in exact wording that my shoulder will not be getting any "better" on it's own - ever.

Kind of figured I'd draw the muley rifle tag, but the moose was a bit of a pleasant surprise. Since we have the moose draw during the calling season, I've decided to do that and stay over to hunt the muley with the bow again. Sort of seems like a bit of a waste of a draw tag if I am successful in that pursuit. But I gotta admit, hunting them with the bow certainly is a LOT of Fun!!

So, I guess that rather long-winded reply is just may way of saying Yes to your questions. And to suggest you look into the possibilities with your Doc. Might be hope for you too to get back into the Stick & String Game after all... http://bigshotsbc.ca/images/smilies/Pozitive.gif

Cheers,
Nog

Want to talk TOUGH?

Check this out: http://excaliburcrossbow.com/destructionchallenge/

:)
Nog

Right on, ya I talked to my Dr, she's sending me to a specialist to see if It can be repaired through surgery so we shall see. That's one hell of a nice buck there! Thanks for the info!

Beautiful buck! I used to shoot an Excalibur back in Ontario, but that was many moons ago and the original Exocet model. Excellent bow, but I haven't kept up with the technology so can't say how they stack up now. I'd hate to give up my compound but if I had an injury that made me do it I'd go to a crossbow without hesitation.

Thursday my Grandfather will turn 82. He was a farmer and never had time for bowhunting. When he quit farming he took up crossbow hunting when he got his hands on an old Horton back in 2007. He killed the heck out of the local deer herd with that thing and has used it for 10 years. Every year he says "this is my last year hunting" and yet each fall he he buys a tag and goes out during the rut. He is unable to cock his crossbow so my father or my uncles cock it and verify its sighted in for him and it stays cocked until he shoots something.

My father and I want to replace that worn out old Horton with something with a hand crank so he can cock it himself and since he may actually stop hunting in a year or two, we dont want to invest a great deal but anything would be an upgrade from what he has now.

We are looking at the Killer Instinct 350 which seems like a good price point for what will get very limited use but offers the hand crank option.

Any opinions?

Vertical crossbows just make more sense to me...

http://www.drawloc.com/content/line-vertical-crossbows

My kid wanted a crossbow, I got a bonus cheque at work so we started looking. We set a price point and started looking. After reading quite a few reviews, and going to hold them, we got the CenterPoint Stryker. All of the reviews say it's equivalent to most $800-900 crossbows. I don't know how much of that I believe but I don't mind it, even with the pretty not ok trigger.
$500, the bolts that come with it are junk so replace those. The Cabelas branded bolts have great reviews and I have tried them first hand as well. They are tough and consistent.

Crossbow for me will be a "toy". I might get to try it once during hunting season. They are fun to shoot but I still like my compound.

PSE Fang or an Excalibur would be my recommendations. Have use multiple Excals over the years & got to use a PSE Fang this summer, was really impressed with the Fang.

That's like asking what is the best real bow or rifle lol no real answer till you pick one up and hold it

Never seen those before. Anyone selling them around these parts?

Got to order up direct from Hickory Creek in Mississippi...real nice folk down there to deal with too.