Thinking about a Crossbow....

[llkoolkeg]

I decided on an Excalibur Vortex (I like the thumbhole stock). I'll have it Friday. I'm psyched to try it out!!

Congratulations and just be sure to get a QUALITY bag target for fieldpoints and/or block target for broadheads to go with your new Excalibur or you'll zip on through 'em. Mine buries crossbow arrows up so deep that you can only get a couple fingers in front of the fletchings come removal time!

 

[lawrencewendall]

Targets

Any recommendations? Waiting on the brown truck to deliver my Excalibur Axiom.

 

[llkoolkeg]

I use the 400fps American Whitetail bag target and the Rinehart Cube but there are certainly other good ones out there besides these.

 

[Vic]

I think you will like your Excaliburs. They are nice. One person mentioned them surviving a dry fire. A buddy who has a 175 like mine dry fired his. The limbs shattered. He talked to Danny at Horizontal Archery in OH about it. Danny said send him the limbs. 3 weeks later new limbs showed up at no charge. My buddy was quite happy.

Customer service is good. I also contacted Horizontal Archery about getting another mount for my quiver. Danny sent me one for free or almost nothing. I put the mount on my treestand so I could pull it off the bow and attach it while hunting. Makes it easier to maneuver the bow in the tree.

Hope you enjoy the bow! Just don't shoot too many arrows at the same spot, you will bust them!

Vic

 

[Screwtop.243]

Congratulations and just be sure to get a QUALITY bag target for fieldpoints and/or block target for broadheads to go with your new Excalibur or you'll zip on through 'em. Mine buries crossbow arrows up so deep that you can only get a couple fingers in front of the fletchings come removal time!

Thanks for the advice and your input on this thread. I'm really excited to hunt with my Vortex this season!!

 

[BRONZ]

Not as quiet as i thought they were.

 

[lawrencewendall]

My Excalibur Axiom came in and my Son put it together last night. Cocks fairly easy when you finally figure out the right way to use the rope cocking aid.

 

[llkoolkeg]

Speaking of 'em, the last thing you should do before cocking with the rope cocker is triple check that the rope has not slipped out of the cocking notch and come to rest on the back of the trigger/scope mount housing. Sometimes while hooking the cocker hooks onto the bowstring, a moment's slack will cause the middle of the rope to slip up out of the cocking notch and onto the back of the trigger/scope mount housing. Simply replace the rope back in the notch while resetting the 2nd cocker hook so you do not inadvertently place a heck of a lot of torque where it shouldn't be, possibly damaging your rope or even worse, your Xbow. I've caught myself almost doing this a few times, kinda like forgetting to flip the safety to "off" before cocking.

 

[BlackBart]

What would one recommend for a first crossbow? No, not a top of the line but something that will suffice for deer. 200 - 250 FPS is adequate I think for short distances.

Call it a Savage 110E or Marlin 60 of crossbows.

 

[Screwtop.243]

Speaking of 'em, the last thing you should do before cocking with the rope cocker is triple check that the rope has not slipped out of the cocking notch and come to rest on the back of the trigger/scope mount housing. Sometimes while hooking the cocker hooks onto the bowstring, a moment's slack will cause the middle of the rope to slip up out of the cocking notch and onto the back of the trigger/scope mount housing. Simply replace the rope back in the notch while resetting the 2nd cocker hook so you do not inadvertently place a heck of a lot of torque where it shouldn't be, possibly damaging your rope or even worse, your Xbow. I've caught myself almost doing this a few times, kinda like forgetting to flip the safety to "off" before cocking.

I got my Vortex yesterday and put it together. It is quite beautiful. I have practiced cocking and de-cocking it, following along with the videos on the Excalibur web site which, I might add are quite helpful. You are right about making sure the rope is in the proper groove. Someone had written a review on Amazon complaining about how difficult the cocking aid was to use and they were obviously not paying attention to the instructions. I'm really pleased with my purchase. I can't wait to quickly and humanely dispatch an unsuspecting, love-struck rutting buck with this implement.

 

[possumman]

Get one of the Hortons they always have for cheap on Sportsmans Guide- less than $300 bucks - they work great -I have shot mine 4 times in the woods and 4 deer down. No need to pay almost $1000 for a crossbow, they can be awfully spendy.Most of your shots will be less than 20 yards- you dont need 400 fps for that - I have killed a bunch of deer with traditional bows shooting less than 200fps,never chroneyd my Horton but its in that 250-300 fps range. I use a single fiber optic pin/peep combination- no optics, no batteries, and have used the same broadhead multiple times. It is a very efficient hunting weapon,and is as rugged as a rock.

 

[lawrencewendall]

Get one of the Hortons they always have for cheap on Sportsmans Guide- less than $300 bucks - they work great -I have shot mine 4 times in the woods and 4 deer down. No need to pay almost $1000 for a crossbow, they can be awfully spendy.Most of your shots will be less than 20 yards- you dont need 400 fps for that - I have killed a bunch of deer with traditional bows shooting less than 200fps,never chroneyd my Horton but its in that 250-300 fps range. I use a single fiber optic pin/peep combination- no optics, no batteries, and have used the same broadhead multiple times. It is a very efficient hunting weapon,and is as rugged as a rock.

Agree. more expensive does not always mean better. Buy what your wallet can afford and learn how to use it. The flip side is, don't get discouraged if the quality is what is hurting your accuracy/enjoyment. Sometimes, you get what you pay for. It's a personal decision.

 

[Rockerspsl]

lawrencewendall,
So your gimp ass finally got a crossbow? And you made Josh put it together. I think you still owe me a bow since you pulled all the parts off mine for Josh's bow, then we'll have to find a range to go to.

 

[keith hart]

Right choice

Screwtop.243 u made the right choice,I own a excal Vortex and just love it.Lets see I think between my son and I we have taken 7 or 8 deer this year so far.One thing I will caution u, when shooting at a target DO NOT shoot 2 arrows at the same spot.You will Robinhood more times then think ,I have wasted more good arrows that way. Ha ha..Good luck Nighthawk.

 

[Sideways]

Congrats on the new crossbows, I bought a Ten Point Ultra XLT ll just before Christmas and love it!
One problem I have encountered is the spring broke in the Accudraw 50 that is mounted on the stock.

 

[xonid]

My Excalibur Axiom came in and my Son put it together last night. Cocks fairly easy when you finally figure out the right way to use the rope cocking aid.

I have an Xcal Axiom... I know what you mean... First time trying to pull that string back, I didn't wrap the cocking aid over the stock, and I was going, "wtf, this can't be this hard... I saw a teenage girl do this on youtube".. then realized.. oh.. dummy..

You gotta love the simplicity of a recurve.. It may be wider, but if you ever need to replace the string, it's DIY. For compounds, it's money at the shop.
Kinda a wished I would've waited and gotten the Eclipse... the Matrix Blackout look great too..but $$$

 

[ThePhantomPatriot]

I've got an Excalibur Vixen II (150lb pull) and I Robin-Hooded and arrow at 50yards with it. Thing is dead accurate! Plus it's a light enough draw that I don't have to use the pulley mechanism.

 

[vballbach]

tenpoint is a great bow as well.

 

[6Den]

I've got an Excalibur Vixen II (150lb pull) and I Robin-Hooded and arrow at 50yards with it. Thing is dead accurate! Plus it's a light enough draw that I don't have to use the pulley mechanism.

+1
I bought a VixenII for my 12yo but find myself "borrowing" it often! Light, handy, and capable. The Flemish string is a worthwhile upgrade also.

 

[Gunlawyer]

If you want trouble free and effective, man, make it simple!

No cams, no pulleys, nothing to go out of tune, no delicate limbs, nothing to vibrate loose. Just pure rugged simplicity is what you want. Get yourself an Excalibur recurve and call it done. I have had an Equinox for a few years and it has killed a great big pile of deer and been dropped out of trees onto rocks, stuffed through branches and thorns and bushes and dragged and dropped and tossed into trucks and used hard like a hardcore hunting tool and it always hits where it is supposed to. From hot/humid summer hunts in August to well below freezing frigid vigils in the stand in January, it has always worked as it should as there is really nothing that can go wrong with it because there is nothing fancy about it. It just launches bolts reliably, quickly and loudly.

Just hit the easy button and go recurve. Simple is better.

Chris