i want to get a jump on the bigboys this year and thinking about buying a crossbow..my arthritis too hard for me to reg bowhunt..old age...any suggestions?..thanks

If I were to buy one today it would be the Darton Viper or Serpent, those are also so on closeout sale at Cabela's on line. They are the ones that actually have letoff making them easier to draw as well as being the quietest I have shot.

i'll be honest I have yet to purchase a crossbow but I was fortunate to win one at a work function. It was noting high end but its Barnett's JACKAL it came with a cheapo scope and I just swapped it out for a eotech that I had in the safe. It shoots accurate and quite fast. I normally shoot my Bowtech Destroyer 350 but I will have to give this crossbow a try this year on a deer. It has stuck and hog and my archery target 100's of times. I usually set the target inside the garage's back wall which is about 22' to the driveway, then the drive way is 30' and then I usually sit on the curb across the street which is about another 30' so my 26yrd shot are grouping very tight.

I have a Barnett Buck Commander xbow that I have had for a while. I have mainly shot it in a buddy's back yard and it is insane how quite, accurate and fast these things are. I can consistently put 3 bolts in the same hole at 30 yards. Mine came with a cocking sting that make cocking the xbow extremely easy. I am actually looking to sell mine as the lease that I am on does not allow archery hunting. Here a link to my post that I have on another section of the THF...

http://www.texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5205258/FS:_Barnett_Crossbow,_Hoyt_Rec#Post5205258

Let me know if you have any interest.

Thanks and good luck!

Nate

That stinks. Mine allows only archery hunting.

Confused as this makes no sense.

I own a Parker which I bought to use for one season after I had rotator cuff surgery. Now I am back to my compound. "IF" I were to ever buy another cross bow (knowing what I know know) I would probably buy Excalibur's recurve hunting crossbow. They are the most reliable, durable, and trouble-free hunting crossbows on the market and all you need to worry about is replacing the string. They are also VERY quiet and accurate.

agree on Excalibur, except I have yet to see a quiet crossbow. They are accurate and fun to shoot, but quiet they aren't. Sent you a pm.

Quite is relative term for crossbows. Some are a lot louder than others. The newer Excaliburs Matrix line has improved in the noise department a lot from the previous models. They did this by adding good string stops and changing the end of the limbs so there is much less string slap on the recurve portion of the limbs from previous models like the Axiom or Ibex.

IMO the Matrix are a big improvement but to my ears they are still louder than any Darton, Parker Tornado F4, or upper Tenpoint with all their vibration damping additions.

If looking for a crossbow I would go to somewhere like Cabela's where I could try several and let the bow talk to you, whether you buy from there is up to you but handling and shooting them yourself is a good way to find out what you like.

I would go shoot a couple at Cabelas and see which you like. Then I would probably order from wyverns on line, as he is cheaper. With that said, I have the Matrix 380 and it appears to me noisy to me, but a couple of guys standing 20 yards away said they could barely hear it.

Mow, I did the same as your are considering. I purchased a Kodabow and love it. Kodabows are built on a high end machined AR15 platform. Very nice crossbow, google Kodabow. Good luck!

Another thing I want to mention is that the recurve style crossbow are simple to work on, that is, in changing the string in case you need to do so. It takes me about 2 minutes to change a string, whereas on my compound, if I needed to do so, I would have to buy a press, or worse, take it to a shop and have them do it. That would run you about 100 to change out cables and strings, with the purchase of the cables and strings.

I was saying it stinks his lease doesn't allow bowhunting. I wouldn't be on a lease that didn't allow archery hunting. I'm primarily a bowhunter. I can shoot a rifle and handgun well. I just prefer to bowhunt.