Hunt coming up. I have a really frugal hunting buddy that bought one of the $200 set ups and he said it shoots just fine. I was wanting to spend a little more than that. I've seen some Barrett's and PSE's in the $300 to $400 range. Anyone have a req that stands out in that price range?

Much appreciated

In.

Is that a bad subject here? Like hunting high fenced with an AR?

Well, it's a hunting trip on a crop ground farm in Missouri. They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows. Especially for the Youth Season. And btw, I've killed plenty deer with a compound bow.

Rusty_Shakleford said:

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Is that a bad subject here? Like hunting high fenced with an AR?

Well, it's a hunting trip on a crop ground farm in Missouri. They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows. Especially for the Youth Season. And btw, I've killed plenty deer with a compound bow.

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Always an interesting topic ranks with others like:

Ford/Chevy/Tundra
Crossbow/Compound/Slingshot
Foxes/Cats
Dicks/Academy

and surprised no one has responded with real knowledge yet.

I actually have a crossbow that I bought for the hell of it, but it is at the farm so I cannot tell you the model. It is fun to shoot off the back porch and as an added bonus I can hunt "bow season" if I wanted to (too hot/early for me).

Rusty_Shakleford said:

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They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows.

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Really says it all, doesn't it?

This statement is simply not true beyond that it is legal.

But to the op, if you're near Springfield on your trip swing into the Basspro outlet store next to the big one. They had piles of tenpoints, horton, and wickedridge bows, reconditioned at less than half price.

GIF of the week right there. Perfect for the OP. I laughed out loud. Been having a tough week so thanks for the pick me up!

Obligatory. Spend twice your budget and get an Excalibur. Lifetime purchase.

AggieChemist said:

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Rusty_Shakleford said:

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They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows.

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Really says it all, doesn't it?

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yup. you and i had some very spirited debates about crossbows in general. but, the one thing we've always agreed on is that they have no place in archery season.

Furlock Bones said:

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yup. you and i had some very spirited debates about crossbows in general. but, the one thing we've always agreed on is that they have no place in archery season.

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Neither do modern compounds.

tamc93 said:

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Rusty_Shakleford said:

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Is that a bad subject here? Like hunting high fenced with an AR?

Well, it's a hunting trip on a crop ground farm in Missouri. They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows. Especially for the Youth Season. And btw, I've killed plenty deer with a compound bow.

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Always an interesting topic ranks with others like:

Ford/Chevy/Tundra
Crossbow/Compound/Slingshot
Foxes/Cats
Dicks/Academy

and surprised no one has responded with real knowledge yet.

I actually have a crossbow that I bought for the hell of it, but it is at the farm so I cannot tell you the model. It is fun to shoot off the back porch and as an added bonus I can hunt "bow season" if I wanted to (too hot/early for me).

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DIcks and Academy is a real topic of concern around here?? Please inform me on what I'm missing??

people here don't like Dick's because of their virtue signaling after one of the mass shootings.

i don't really care that much as Dick's has never had much of anything that i liked for hunting.

I needed to get a crossbow for a hunt las fall in WV. I ended up with the Barnett TS 390. I let my then 10yo hunt with it. With 2 months of shooting in the backyard, he was very accurate to 45yds. We were shooting off a tripod. I hit the vitals on a deer target from 62yds with ease, but wouldn't actually take that long of a shot.

All in all, I'm very happy with the crossbow. It requires practice but you can make repeated shots on target pretty quickly.

I've got nothing against the crossbow per se. I have a shoulder that is starting to give me fits and there is likely to come a time in the next decade or two that I just can't shoot a bow anymore. When that time comes I will happily pick up a crossbow and keep going to the woods. I have never given anyone grief that had a physical disability and needed to shoot a crossbow. Nor have I ever had any issue with someone that really enjoyed the crossbow for its own merits picking one up and substituting it for a rifle or muzzleloader.

My issue is those that want to pick it up and use it in archery season as a shortcut to learning the discipline of archery... which even with a compound requires a lot of practice to master. With my longbow, I'm good to 20 yards. My compound stretches that to 30. Ravin has been running ads for years advertising MOA accuracy to 100 yards with their crossbows. That's better than my Kentucky longrifle.

Archery seasons tend to start early and run long just because it's a low percentage game. Lifetime success rate for me is probably less than 5%. I may kill a deer for every 10-20 days I spend on stand. Over the years, that's nearly 40 deer with a bow, but I have hunted 50 days a year for 20 years. The concern is not that crossbow hunters are going to steal "my" season or kill "my deer". It's that by skewing the odds in favor of the hunter, if you have more crossbow hunters and more deer killed, management objectives are easier to hit and maybe the season gets shortened or there's fewer tags available. That means LESS opportunity for everybody else to be afield with a bow in their hand. Archery season isn't exclusive. Wanna take part? Pick up a bow and develop the skill of archery... just like everyone else.

Realize also that I have the perspective of a hunter in a very different state than Texas. Many of you (most of you) hunt managed properties behind fences with limited deer taken off each every year. If you have a group of guys taking X deer off of y acres every year it doesn't matter what you kill them with, or when. In most of the rest of the US it's a different story.

well said, all the way around. most on this board will come at it from the Texas point of view which is unlike probably any other state.

also, i was going to add the caveat about disabilities.

Rusty, where are you located?

I'm interested in this thread from the perspective of a dad that wants to get their kids out and hunting. In Kansas our rifle season is 1-2 weeks and isn't really worth the headache that comes with it most of the time. Deer are skiddish and every Tom, Dick, and Harry is out hunting.

I only bow hunt but using a compound bow isn't in the cards for my 8 year old. She practices with her bow but at 10-15 lbs of draw weight she is 8+ years off of being able to pull a lethal amount of weight back. Crossbow hunting is really her and her siblings only shot of killing at deer pre-adulthood. I'll probably be picking up a crossbow at the end of the season so they can practice all of next year leading up to bow season.

Rusty_Shakleford said:

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Is that a bad subject here? Like hunting high fenced with an AR?

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i feel personally attacked

woods&water said:

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DIcks and Academy is a real topic of concern around here?? Please inform me on what I'm missing??

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Also, Academy sometimes gives out free shotgun shells and people like to get upset about it.

The farms about an hour Northwest of Columbia. Higbee area.

Dicks is a dumpster fire of an organization that's ran by snowflake commies. Fixed it for you

yaterag said:

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I'm interested in this thread from the perspective of a dad that wants to get their kids out and hunting. In Kansas our rifle season is 1-2 weeks and isn't really worth the headache that comes with it most of the time. Deer are skiddish and every Tom, Dick, and Harry is out hunting.

I only bow hunt but using a compound bow isn't in the cards for my 8 year old. She practices with her bow but at 10-15 lbs of draw weight she is 8+ years off of being able to pull a lethal amount of weight back. Crossbow hunting is really her and her siblings only shot of killing at deer pre-adulthood. I'll probably be picking up a crossbow at the end of the season so they can practice all of next year leading up to bow season.

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That's the biggest reason everyone I know in MO got a crossbow. It's easier for the kids to learn and get involved in hunting.

Rusty_Shakleford said:

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yaterag said:

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I'm interested in this thread from the perspective of a dad that wants to get their kids out and hunting. In Kansas our rifle season is 1-2 weeks and isn't really worth the headache that comes with it most of the time. Deer are skiddish and every Tom, Dick, and Harry is out hunting.

I only bow hunt but using a compound bow isn't in the cards for my 8 year old. She practices with her bow but at 10-15 lbs of draw weight she is 8+ years off of being able to pull a lethal amount of weight back. Crossbow hunting is really her and her siblings only shot of killing at deer pre-adulthood. I'll probably be picking up a crossbow at the end of the season so they can practice all of next year leading up to bow season.

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That's the biggest reason everyone I know in MO got a crossbow. It's easier for the kids to learn and get involved in hunting.

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And this warrants further discussion. Very few children in the woods chasing squirrels and rabbits these days. Everybody is trying to get kids to kill deer. Hell, I didn't kill a deer until I was 20 years old. But I shot the absolute **** out of squirrels and rabbits and quail and pheasants as a kid.

The big picture shift of hunters to DEER HUNTERS has done more to harm our long term traditions than video games. Everybody farms deer and argues about what does it score. Very few kids and dads jumping up and down on brush piles these days.

AggieChemist said:

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Rusty_Shakleford said:

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That's the biggest reason everyone I know in MO got a crossbow. It's easier for the kids to learn and get involved in hunting.

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And this warrants further discussion. Very few children in the woods chasing squirrels and rabbits these days. Everybody is trying to get kids to kill deer. Hell, I didn't kill a deer until I was 20 years old. But I shot the absolute **** out of squirrels and rabbits and quail and pheasants as a kid.

The big picture shift of hunters to DEER HUNTERS has done more to harm our long term traditions than video games. Everybody farms deer and argues about what does it score. Very few kids and dads jumping up and down on brush piles these days.

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i honestly wish my dang hunting lease had some cottontails on it. all jacks. been so long since i had good rabbit in the pot.

I think more people should be involved in hunting. Who's to say the Crossbow doesn't get someone to started in Archery that might not otherwise get involved?

That said, I would support giving the bowhunters a week or two head start before the crossbow hunting can begin.

I bought a Ten Point a few years ago, and have been extremely happy with it. Very, very accurate. Highly recommend. Yes, they cost more, but they are worth it. [url]https://www.tenpointcrossbows.com[/url]

I almost started a thread on squirrel hunting yesterday (wrote it and deleted it). I got my start hunting by chasing squirrels, spent time with my dad and a couple other great old guys with amazing stories. Honestly those are some of my favorite memories of my childhood. All my friends who I share my love of squirrel hunting with these days laugh it off as a waste of time. In a couple of weeks I'm taking my son on his first hunting trip and it will be for squirrels, on the same piece of property with two of the same old fellows (now in their early 80s) who introduced me to hunting. We both are excited as can be.

My son will come to the deer stand with me some this year but it'll be 3-4 years before he shoots one on his own I imagine (he is seven now). My plan is to hunt squirrels in the morning and deer in the afternoon with him this season.

My kids are already out hunting squirrels with me but I would say we are the anomaly, especially in our area. I'd be surprised if anyone in my oldest's third grade class has even fired a weapon other than her. That's partly due to living in a suburb of KC and mostly due to the stigma surrounding the outdoors and especially gun culture.

Something needs to change to get more kids involved but I'm afraid it's a losing battle.

Every kid is different, so while I understand where you are coming from, IMO I dont think you can generalize it with such a broad brush.

My son is 7, and has been sitting in a stand with me since he was 3. Everytime I've been to the lease the past two years to check cameras, fill feeders, build pens, hang stands, clear lanes, and shed hunting, he has come along. He has learned about habitat, rubs/scrapes, why dad keeps checking the wind, tracking and cleaning a deer, and pulls out his youth bow every time I practice. I am picking him up a tenpoint crossbow this week (bow only lease). Plan is to let him become proficient and let him try to stick a pig late spring. Next year, if hes still putting in all the work and I get to keep teaching him and spending time in the great outdoors, you better believe it's going to be my mission to put him in position to shoot his first deer.

AggieChemist said:

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I've got nothing against the crossbow per se. I have a shoulder that is starting to give me fits and there is likely to come a time in the next decade or two that I just can't shoot a bow anymore. When that time comes I will happily pick up a crossbow and keep going to the woods. I have never given anyone grief that had a physical disability and needed to shoot a crossbow. Nor have I ever had any issue with someone that really enjoyed the crossbow for its own merits picking one up and substituting it for a rifle or muzzleloader.

My issue is those that want to pick it up and use it in archery season as a shortcut to learning the discipline of archery... which even with a compound requires a lot of practice to master. With my longbow, I'm good to 20 yards. My compound stretches that to 30. Ravin has been running ads for years advertising MOA accuracy to 100 yards with their crossbows. That's better than my Kentucky longrifle.

Archery seasons tend to start early and run long just because it's a low percentage game. Lifetime success rate for me is probably less than 5%. I may kill a deer for every 10-20 days I spend on stand. Over the years, that's nearly 40 deer with a bow, but I have hunted 50 days a year for 20 years. The concern is not that crossbow hunters are going to steal "my" season or kill "my deer". It's that by skewing the odds in favor of the hunter, if you have more crossbow hunters and more deer killed, management objectives are easier to hit and maybe the season gets shortened or there's fewer tags available. That means LESS opportunity for everybody else to be afield with a bow in their hand. Archery season isn't exclusive. Wanna take part? Pick up a bow and develop the skill of archery... just like everyone else.

Realize also that I have the perspective of a hunter in a very different state than Texas. Many of you (most of you) hunt managed properties behind fences with limited deer taken off each every year. If you have a group of guys taking X deer off of y acres every year it doesn't matter what you kill them with, or when. In most of the rest of the US it's a different story.

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I miss these kind of posts from AC. I always used to pay particular attention to AC's comments. A sincere thank you for a well reasoned not too snarky opinion. Sorry for thread derail, just wanted to do more than blue star post.

AggieChemist said:

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Rusty_Shakleford said:

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They recently made crossbows legal for archery so most people are just using crossbows.

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Really says it all, doesn't it?

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Yep. Says that when something is made legal, people get to use it hunting.

So, basically upset that there is technology there that is a BOW that takes less time to become proficient at.

Kind of like how it takes less time to become proficient - at longer ranges - with a compound than it does a recurve or longbow.

FIDO*98* said:

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I think more people should be involved in hunting. Who's to say the Crossbow doesn't get someone to started in Archery that might not otherwise get involved?

That said, I would support giving the bowhunters a week or two head start before the crossbow hunting can begin.

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Well, let's break that down more then.

I'd argue that we need to break the season up into compound versus traditional bows as well. Why not also include things like whether you are stalk hunting from the ground or using a tree stand, or whether you are using camo and scent block or not?

What about muzzle loading - should we have an early-early season for smoothbore traditional muzzles. Flintlocks? Then one for cap and ball, then one for rifled, then one for inline with scopes and pyrodex powder pellets?

One thing you can't argue is that firing a shot from a crossbow is much more similar to firing a shot from a rifle than any draw-and-shoot bow.