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I have wondered for years. At the end of my bow hunts i always decock bow and encase before end of legal.
Now, am i required to decock it? Or can i just unload arrow and encase. Then when i get home.... decock.
The reason im asking, is that decocking bow in stand is superloud. Not very good for sneaking out of stand after hunt. Im sure this has been asked before, but i couldnt find it.
Thanks in advance
You don’t need to release your string. You only are required to encase it. I do the same. I kock my bow at home and encase it. After the hunt When I leave, I encase my bow and release it when I’m home. A crossbow is only loaded when a bolt is ready to go.
What are You using?-my Excalibur goes into the case unloaded,without uncocking,then at home i uncock it.Always sits on its left tip in my car,forever..........Never an issue with losing accuracy ,or such.
Thanks for reply. Just wanted to be sure i was legal. Im shooting micro 335
I will uncock when I get back to truck. Not sure if you put in searing area . I do. So dont like the idea of the bow being cocked going from cold to hot ..when I go hinting I throw in the back of truck so its climateized before cocking. No idea if the hot cold maters
hockeymjt-i hunt from small cars,do not have and so far never had a truck or an SUV.In the trunk i fit all recovery equipment(deer cart or sled-whatever the snow situation is)Quote:
Originally Posted by hockeymjt
Have no other choice but to place my crossbow on the rear seat.Mostly cocked-but many times not ,when going for an afternoon hunt.Just cocked when coming home.As stated above.So to say-on the edge(stock end and left tip sitting on the seat-right limb leaning on the backrest of the seat )Always have,for maybe 20 years by now.I place my stuff beside,in between seats and on the front seat .Do not place anything on the crossbow though ,ever.I have been hunting in any weather ,thus the crossbow was exposed to any weather condition(like from -20 C to like +20 C)
Snow,sleet ,ice sitting on the crossbow(i just wipe off what i can ,before placing it in the car).
I had pants frozen on me-going in the car,with all my gear seeing same weather.
Long story short-the crossbow being cocked and going thru all this climate change showed no ill consequences.In accuracy or durability.........the very tip on the left side limb's mag Tip of the crossbow by now has no paint left,due of that area rubbing on the cotton case while sitting in my car)
For a while i thought i may start to shoot left-or right due of cocked limb receiving extra stress from the weight of the crossbow(or such)about 20 years,about 12 times x 2 a year........for about 1 hr each time.
I do not see issues so far,so i think the acclimatization and this small stress does not really matters.
But this is just my experience,and yes-i do not like hot cars,so the air in my car is never "crazy"hot inside, while i am in it........
Cheers
To the OP-your question was legality and practicality while hunting.
For having fun,practicing or sighting in ,mostly in hot summer days,i transport the same way as for hunting,except do not transport it to the range, or home ,cocked.
I never leave it in in a HOT car,ever ,for anything.Drive there(15 min)use AC(for me ,not for the crossbow......:silly:)use it,back to the car ,back to the house.
Scorching heat in the car with sun effects can and will damage limbs in short order.
No offense to you guys, but transporting a cocked bow in a car or anything else is a bad idea. If that thing goes off in an enclosed space, that would be a dangerous situation and would damage your bow. I always uncock my crossbow. With an excalibur it is very easy and quiet to do using the cocking aid.
Most have dry fire prevention. Mine has. No way it can go off without a bolt seated.....Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
rf2 is correct about the ease of uncocking an Excalibur. I personally let mine down at the truck due to the rope from Excalibur. But as Rick mentioned dry firing the new Excalibur bows is not an issue
Appreciate Your concern rf2-hovewer as mentioned,my X bow is encased.Even in a highly unlikely scenario if it will go off,the canvas(cotton)case wraps around it tight enough to act as a protection of some sort.As far as damaging the Xbow-yep,that may happen if it discharges while encased,but what is my option?Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
If I uncock the Xbow at my stand-i will be noisy.If i uncock it at the truck- i have to leave way early,to be legal.
Plus,to my amazement,two months ago i dropped my Xbow cocked and loaded from 15 feet high (see in the the Thread - Do not buy Excalibur ,or something,my post about this mishap....),even the bolt stayed in the groove of the Xbow,never mind discharging itself.To be honest-to my great surprise and satisfaction! Even the scope was intact- i was verifying it next week ,with ZERO adjustments needed.
The OP has to make some decisions though........
Cheers
Ahhhhhh, the good old exocet, grab the string and squeeze the trigger. Uncocking is done in less than 2 seconds. You guys can keep your 800lb draw weight.
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Exactly! I was just about to post the same thing. Grab hold and pull the trigger with your thumb. The draw weights on these newer crossbows have made uncocking them a daunting task... to the point where people would rather leave them cocked all the time.Quote:
Originally Posted by oaknut
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Too much ---- talk in this post.
Actually to my surprise they are every easy to uncock with the new draw string
That's what I do. I was unaware of another way or any need for another way. Mind you I only have a Phoenix.Quote:
Originally Posted by GW11
If the issue with people wanting to carry around a cocked bow all the time because of heavy draw weight - well the biggest issue isn't whether or not it's a good idea and/or legal to do that.
There's an Excalibur recommended method of using the rope cocking aid to decock the bow. My brother has limited use of his thumb now thanks to using that method and trying to let the string down with the rope cocking aid with cold hands. I assume that's the way most people with higher poundage crossbows are doing it.Quote:
Originally Posted by werner.reiche
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I have an Exomax and used to do it manually. I was worried about trying it using the cocking aid, but then I tried it and now that's all I use. Very simple and safe.Quote:
Originally Posted by GW11
To the guys with more modern crossbows with higher draw weights, what's the issue with decocking them? One guy mentioned noise?
I would never drive around with a cocked crossbow in my vehicle. Too many things can go wrong.
My brother is one of those guys that is ambidextrous, but master of neither...haha. He still doesn't know what went wrong or how it happened. Either one of the hooks sling shot back and shattered the end of his thumb, or he didn't have enough tension on it and when he released the string his hand got pulled into the back of the crossbow. To me, it's just one of those things that I cringe to watch. Like you say though, probably only a matter of getting used to it.Quote:
Originally Posted by rf2
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I used my Scorpyd for one hunt this season. I uncocked it on a doe.. Lol
I used to unload using the two hands on the string and punch the trigger with the thumb until my thumb hit the trigger just a little early. I didnt quite have my fingers over the string so I got wacked by the string. Thank God for the snow. I just plunged my hand into the snow and waited for the finger tips to nearly freeze. I could handle the pain that way!
I'll take the new way with the cocking aid !!!