Not your average new Excalibur cross bow

[MihajloSimsic]

Well, excuse all of us for not meeting your high standards, dedication and commitment.
It does not matter what you have in hand as a tool to take game. It is how one goes about doing it ethically with patience and knowledge.
I am just as proficient taking deer with my tool of choice and does not matter if it is a rifle, shotgun, crossbow, ML or my cellphone camera. I have taken deer with all of them. I have no problem stalking deer to within 30 yards or waiting for them to show up if I'm on stand. All within range of the tools listed above and all equally effective. Decades of experience has taught me well and laws dictate which tool I have in hand.

Good for you to enjoy a recurve bow but as a purist, you are only inserting division in the hunting community in which we should be united.

Exactly my point. It doesn't matter what you're using. If you don't know how to get yourself within range of that animal then you're not shooting anything. Someone with a rifle and no woodsmanship has less chance than someone with a recurve and has been hunting their whole life.

Shooting is such a tiny fraction of hunting, to say someone shouldn't be able to hunt because of some miniscule details in what they're shooting is absolutely ridiculous.

[Jeff Kavanagh]

Exactly my point. It doesn't matter what you're using. If you don't know how to get yourself within range of that animal then you're not shooting anything. Someone with a rifle and no woodsmanship has less chance than someone with a recurve and has been hunting their whole life.

Shooting is such a tiny fraction of hunting, to say someone shouldn't be able to hunt because of some miniscule details in what they're shooting is absolutely ridiculous.

First of all, undoubtedly there is a huge difference between bow hunting and rifle hunting. Fred Bear use to say that a guy will learn more about deer hunting in a week with a bow than a rifle hunter will their entire life. That is entirely true. It's fair to state that in most cases the guy buying a crossbow and listening to all the promotional material, watching the stupid hunting shows on TV, etc., that they're not going to understand the limitations of the crossbow in bow hunting. It's not just about hitting a bullseye. So out there they go, out there taking stupid long shots because they think they know the limitations of their equipment, but they don't. Most guys don't even shoot a dozen bolts out of their crossbows a year. Again, there's no dedication there to mastering their craft. Being new bow hunters they aren't good at reading a deers behavious either. Hard to when all you've done is shoot at them from 200 yards away. That's one of the things Fred Bear was referring to.
Now you have these new crossbows being manufactured and touted as 40, 50, 60, 70 yard plus weapons for deer hunting. Now anyone who has bow hunted for years knows that's just rediculous. So.many new hunter don't. Bow hunting you have a very, very limited shot placement and opportunity. I constantly hear about guys trying to shoot at deer which are facing them, bad angles, running, etc.
It's not the bow which is the problem, as I've said earlier, we have two crossbows ourselves. It's the inexperience, the advertising, the hunting forums and social media which keeps saying, it's okay to take a 60 yard shot. That's sheer stupidity.
People don't want to spend the time anymore to learn, regardless if it's shooting, or tracking, or hunting. They want instant success and satisfaction. That's where much of the problem lays and crossbows now advertising 480 fps, 100 yard accuracy, even a backup shot only promotes worse and worse shot attempts.
It's disgusting!!

[Jeff Kavanagh]

Also there are a lot of rifle hunters who take stupid shots on a constant basis as well.
There are two types of hunters out there.
The first one will ask, "how far was the shot?"
The second one will ask, "how close were you?"
The way crossbows are being promoted right now, how they're making them, they are trying purposely to tout crossbows as a distance weapon to make sales and to attract the first group of peoplr who aren't bow hunters.
That's the problem right there.
And if you say I'm being an elitist, you're darn right I am. The deer we hunt deserve that kind of respect from us.

[fratri]

Found this on the net....
No thanks... Not what I think of when I think of bow hunting... Just seems silly...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US...libur+crossbow

[warpipe]

Found this on the net....
No thanks... Not what I think of when I think of bow hunting... Just seems silly...

https://patents.google.com/patent/US...libur+crossbow

That looks scary in so many ways. I'm thinking of all the finger slaps and dry fires observed with a single string. We all know how the reliability of Excalibur has taken a hit, how the hell will this contraption be a hit.

[ninepointer]

I have no interest in this latest offering, but I did take a 2nd shot once. My 1st shot went under the deer. Because I shoot an old Exocet 165 I was able to re-c0ck it by hand up in my stand. I killed the deer, field dressed it, and waiting until end of legal time for my buddy who was on a stand 150 yards away. We dragged the deer, loaded it in the truck and started driving home when he said to me, "So you gonna tell me why I heard you shoot twice?"

[LowbanksArcher]

Gotta admit, i'm looking forward to this. I'm sure it'll be a big flop and it's going to be pretty entertaining, and kinda sad, watching the sponsored hunting celebs try to push it.
Maybe xbow deer drives will become a big thing? They can advertise it as "the buckshot of bow season." Maybe demonstrate shooting a cow and calf in record speed?
One thing's for sure, the internet memes are going to be hilarious. Not that I ever make fun of xbows...
Ok fine, just a couple to get warmed up

[MihajloSimsic]

First of all, undoubtedly there is a huge difference between bow hunting and rifle hunting. Fred Bear use to say that a guy will learn more about deer hunting in a week with a bow than a rifle hunter will their entire life. That is entirely true. It's fair to state that in most cases the guy buying a crossbow and listening to all the promotional material, watching the stupid hunting shows on TV, etc., that they're not going to understand the limitations of the crossbow in bow hunting. It's not just about hitting a bullseye. So out there they go, out there taking stupid long shots because they think they know the limitations of their equipment, but they don't. Most guys don't even shoot a dozen bolts out of their crossbows a year. Again, there's no dedication there to mastering their craft. Being new bow hunters they aren't good at reading a deers behavious either. Hard to when all you've done is shoot at them from 200 yards away. That's one of the things Fred Bear was referring to.

Of course there's a huge difference between a rifle and bow, my point was that woodsmanship is way more important than the weapon you have in your hand. I also agree that many guys come from rifle hunting into crossbows and think it's a "rifle" and take no time to learn their weapon or the basics of archery.

Now you have these new crossbows being manufactured and touted as 40, 50, 60, 70 yard plus weapons for deer hunting. Now anyone who has bow hunted for years knows that's just rediculous. So.many new hunter don't. Bow hunting you have a very, very limited shot placement and opportunity. I constantly hear about guys trying to shoot at deer which are facing them, bad angles, running, etc.
It's not the bow which is the problem, as I've said earlier, we have two crossbows ourselves. It's the inexperience, the advertising, the hunting forums and social media which keeps saying, it's okay to take a 60 yard shot. That's sheer stupidity.
People don't want to spend the time anymore to learn, regardless if it's shooting, or tracking, or hunting. They want instant success and satisfaction. That's where much of the problem lays and crossbows now advertising 480 fps, 100 yard accuracy, even a backup shot only promotes worse and worse shot attempts.
It's disgusting!!

urv
Now this I completely disagree with. To hold a high power modern crossbow to the same limitations as a recurve is ridiculous. High powered crossbows aren't limited by penetration and string jumping. You can shove all the pseudoscience charts in my face all you want, I've disproven it both theoretically and practically. It's not even a discussion, you're just 100% wrong beyond a shadow of doubt. Any deer past 40 yards doesn't even hear the crossbow go off, let alone react. I've taken deer above 60 yards, even some that were alert, and not ONCE has a bolt landed an inch off where I've aimed. Does this mean I purposefully take shots far away? No, most of the deer I've taken were inside of 30 yards, I've spot and stalked deer to under 5 yards. So saying "I don't know how to read deer behaviour because of it" is laughable. Keep saying "hail mary shot" and "wont happen again", meanwhile I'll keep having success and my deer will keep taking dirt naps within ear shot.

[Jeff Kavanagh]

If you're promoting taking 60 + yard shots on deer with a crossbow then you're part of the problem.

[MihajloSimsic]

If you're promoting taking 60 + yard shots on deer with a crossbow then you're part of the problem.

If you and your equipment are capable for the job then there is absolutely nothing wrong with it. I'm going to keep taking those shots, my bolt is going to land where it always does, and those deer are going to die within 30 seconds the same way they all do time and time again. My crossbow goes through a deer like butter at that range, I can hit a quarter with it at that range, and the deer doesn't jump the string. There is absolutely nothing to suggest that the shot is risky and every argument against it I've disproven theoretically and in real life.

Unless you're going to provide a valid counter arguement, then this conversation is done.