Considering the switch

[LowbanksArcher]

Haha Classic
LBA - you went the other way didn't you? Compound to Re-Curve?

haha. Ya. But I get where you're coming from. If you only get couple opportunities on an animal in a season, you want the most effective tool to capitalize on that. Not everyone is as accustomed to the taste of tag soup as I am :-)

[trigger02]

I also switched after a few years. Stopped practicing in the summer so went with a excalibur. No regrets, I love the confidence I have when I pull the trigger. Mind you I never became great with the compound or I'm sure I could have had the same confidence..

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[MihajloSimsic]

I mostly hunt crossbow out of necessity, certainly not physical, I could pull a 70lb compound no problem. But living in the most southern portion of Ontario where I'd have to drive at least 1.5 hours just for a week of ML made gun hunting seem unreasonable for me. This also means I have to drive at least 40 minutes to even think about shooting a bow or crossbow. Even opportunities to zero in a crossbow is far and few between. I've never hunted any animal with anything other than a crossbow (apart from small game with recurve on outback trips for sustenance). I've shot both recurve and a compound at targets and it just never appealed to me. When I get the chance to shoot I'd rather not be caught on the draw, wound it because I couldn't practice enough, or have it out of range from me.

[Species8472]

If you plan on having an advantage over your compound. I would go for one of the faster models of xbow, if cost isn't too much of an issue. Scorpyd has the fastest crossbows in the market and (imho) the most reliable, never heard of a single complaint about them on any forums, no limb breaks, misfires, nothing. Some other good options are tenpoint (preferably) and ravin. Excal makes great crossbows but there are plenty of other xbows that are much cheaper, faster, and equally reliable. If you're insistant on getting an Excal, the micro series are great, because their fastest models are super expensive, have limb breaking/safety issues and are as wide as an umbrella.

Always been an Excal guy (but not the new 300 lb+ suckers, scary and not into a crank) - but those Scorpyds do look pretty nice. Only issue i have heard of is the odd case of pre-mature serving wear but those seem very isolated.

[jamesb]

I bought a excal micro and havent looked back.

Hitting a dime at 40. Cant get much better than that. Not to mention lifetime warrenty.

[jamesb]

Ok.... maybe a quarter lol

[MihajloSimsic]

Always been an Excal guy (but not the new 300 lb+ suckers, scary and not into a crank) - but those Scorpyds do look pretty nice. Only issue i have heard of is the odd case of pre-mature serving wear but those seem very isolated.

I completely agree. What gives any piece of archery speed is power stroke (draw length - brace height) with recurve limbs it's hard to get a long power stroke without making the limbs unreasonably wide. So excal packs on draw weight instead. However I like their micro series, it takes full advantage of the recurve design. Not super fast but light weight, compact, and reliable. I agree that the serving on the scorpyd strings wear down faster. My dad has had a excal paradox for 20 years and taken 60+ animals with it, only ever changed the string twice. I change my string out every two seasons or so, super easy, cheap, and quicker than any compound xbow. I spend more time and money rebuilding a mechanical BH than I would replacing the string. The limb cables are just fine however. But even if I had to replace the string every time I shot I would still go for it. The extra power, accuracy, and flat shooting has made a world's difference for me.

[Jeff Kavanagh]

If that's what will work for you, then have at it.
Everyone has their different reasons for being out there.
On a second note, bow hunting was never meant to be easy. Rifle hunting is easy and I think the people making the transition over to bowhunting get frustrated because it isn't easy. Bow hunting is hard, but that's when the rewards can be the greatest.
Bow hunting is also how you'll learn the most about deer hunting. Paraphrasing Fred Bear, "a guy will learn more about deer hunting in a week with a bow than they will hunting with a rifle their entire life." Such a true statement!
One of the mistakes I think people make in transitioning from rifle hunting to bow hunting is they don't change their tactics. They hunt from the same box stand they do in the rifle season and over the same pile of apples and corn. That's why there's so much failure and why the majority of people want a crossbow. They are much, much easier to use, shoot, become proficient with and hunt with than a verticle bow.

[ninepointer]

If that's what will work for you, then have at it.
Everyone has their different reasons for being out there.
On a second note, bow hunting was never meant to be easy. Rifle hunting is easy and I think the people making the transition over to bowhunting get frustrated because it isn't easy. Bow hunting is hard, but that's when the rewards can be the greatest.
Bow hunting is also how you'll learn the most about deer hunting. Paraphrasing Fred Bear, "a guy will learn more about deer hunting in a week with a bow than they will hunting with a rifle their entire life." Such a true statement!
One of the mistakes I think people make in transitioning from rifle hunting to bow hunting is they don't change their tactics. They hunt from the same box stand they do in the rifle season and over the same pile of apples and corn. That's why there's so much failure and why the majority of people want a crossbow. They are much, much easier to use, shoot, become proficient with and hunt with than a verticle bow.

True words for sure.

I hunt with rifle and crossbow (gave up the vertical compound). I was a rifle hunter first. With a rifle, if you can see the deer you can kill it for the most part. Then when I added archery I spent a heck of A LOT of time observing deer that I could not shoot. As you said Jeff, the learning curve shot right up! That knowledge became very valuable for all forms of deer hunting.

Something I started this season was re-teaching myself at age 50 the way I had shot my deer in my early 20's: still-hunting, stalking and tracking. I'm doing that with a rifle/muzzleloader . How you do it with a traditional bow Jeff blows my mind!

[Birdbuff]

haha. Ya. But I get where you're coming from. If you only get couple opportunities on an animal in a season, you want the most effective tool to capitalize on that. Not everyone is as accustomed to the taste of tag soup as I am :-)

Not to derail, but funniest comment I’ve read in awhile. Thanks for that.