ss3 Tips Before You Start Crossbow Hunting

Riley Derrick
3 min readDec 28, 2020

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Hello hunters! Here are some tips to help you choose a crossbow if you want to enjoy the outdoors and get into crossbow hunting. Not all crossbows work for all people but we offer you some suggestions and some tips on choosing a crossbow that’s right for the job.

If you’re already into crossbow hunting and already got a crossbow and set up, you may find our tips useful as we discuss different crossbow models and talk about the best ones on the market.

The Price

There are crossbows out there that shoot a lot higher feet per second (speed). These crossbows have all kinds of other features that are fantastic so do your research.

If you are looking for a cheap crossbow that is more than capable of doing the job for all of the big game in northeastern Pennsylvania and that can happily take a shot at any deer that walks in front of you, a regular $300-$600 crossbow will do.

You don’t have to break the bank in order to get into crossbow hunting. There are a variety of models out there for almost every budget. While there is nothing cheap about hunting that doesn’t mean you have to spend $1,500 or more on a crossbow.

You should rather spend $600 on a crossbow and have $1,400 sitting around in order to use for the accessories or maybe go on a trip rather than spend $2,000 on a crossbow and have it sitting around in your backyard.

The Scope

Most modern crossbows come with a scope. The scope is very important when you are looking at crossbows as you need to make sure that you get a crossbow with a scope as it is a mandatory piece of equipment.

But we don’t think you have to have the most expensive scope on the market. First thing you remember is, crossbow hunting isn’t rifle hunting. You are not looking through a scope at a target at 300 yards away.

You are only looking at 10,20 or 30 yard shots with a regular crossbow and for that reason you only need a scope that’s a very clear crystal and low light setting.

We say stick with whatever your manufacturer recommends but a 4x magnification is perfect for a crossbow scope. Another reason to get a scope is to be able to hunt in low lights. It is very important that you have a red dot scope or a green dot scope.

When you’re looking through a crossbow scope, make sure it puts a dot where you would be aiming as it helps you see the reticle a little bit better. Sometimes a reticle becomes too bright and because that reticle is too bright that dot is so bright that it actually obscures the view of what you’re looking at.

So just take that into account when you try out your crossbow before you buy one.

The Draw Weight

The draw weight or the poundage for crossbow is extremely important to get right. Crossbow hunting can get technical when we talk about poundage or draw weight.

A 150 pounds crossbow is enough but a 170 pounds one is better. Anything up to 200 pounds is going to be adequate on tight tail deer. You might be able to get away with less than 150 pounds but we don’t think you want to look towards that as at least 175 pound draw weight (as most modern crossbows are)on a crossbow would shoot an arrow on a good day at about 305 feet per second.

That’s good enough range for beginners and it sure gets the job done because accuracy is everything in crossbow hunting. To make sure that your crossbow is accurate, you have to pin a point of impact exactly where we want as accuracy is more important than fast arrow speeds or a high draw weight.

Most recurve crossbows have a reputation for being high maintenance as well as being weightier than compound bows. If you are looking for accuracy though, you need a recurve crossbow but make sure that you are hunting in an open space as these crossbows have longer limbs that might get stuck and hinder maneuverability.

Here were out three top tips to get started with crossbow hunting. Hope you found the information useful.

Read Also: 3 Ways To Turn Walking Sticks Into A Combat Weapon

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