First kill with the crossbow

I had a pretty good weekend hunting outside Lometa. Friday evening I had a shooter come in but he had other plans and took off grunting and chasing a doe. Then about a half dozen hogs started to come but slide off before I could pop one.

Saturday morning was beautiful with a cold North wind in my face. Not 5 minutes after the feeder went off I had a deer come in. It was just barely light enough to see but I could make out in the binoculars that he was outside his ears. The ranch manager told me that the bucks did not hang out long so it was time fling a bolt. I reached back to the limb I had set my binoculars on before and snugged them in the fork of the oak tree.....or so I thought. About 10 seconds later they slide out of the tree crashing to the ground.

Fortunately the storm the night before had softened the ground and the binoculars didn't make a ton of noise. It spooked the buck for a minute but he settled back down and started feeding again. I got the xbow up and put the 20 yard line on his shoulder and squeezed off. I saw the luminock disappear and the tell tell mule kick. The shot was slightly high but the grim reaper made quick work of him.

The pics below aren't the greatest but he turned out to be a really nice, mature hill country 8pt. More importantly my empty freezer is not empty anymore.

Had a couple more chances at hogs today but shot just over one and had a safety issue with the crossbow. The safety literally locked up and wouldn't move with a group of pigs 15 yards in front of me. We had to use the [censored] rope to pull back the string and work the safety loose with a stick. Once it was free I shot a bolt into the ground and called it a hunt.

All in all a good weekend.

Congrats!

Congrats, nice looking buck

Nice

Congrats on a great buck and first xbow kill

Seems you really had a nice time with crossbow hunting, good, very good.

Congrats!

Congrats

Congrats!!!

Congrats. Good looking deer

Congratulations on your first deer with the evil crossbow.

Welcome to the brotherhood!

That safety issue is not good though. If you have the reciept from where you bought it take it back and exchange or better yet, get a different brand.
My hunting partner had the same issue with a Xbow he bought at Cabela's and they swapped it out for a better quality XBow.
Usually it's an issue on lower priced bow with plastic safeties. His was a Barnett, and the guy said it was a frequent complaint with that model.
I won't print what was told to him, but a bow that locks up is dangerous and you need to resolve the problem or risk injury to yourself or others. I would not use it!

Hmm, I have a Barnett quad 400, which fits the bill apparently, but I've had no safety issues with mine.

Good to know that if I should, the retailer is aware of the issue...

Great deer with a crossbow, suweeet!

I have a Quad400 as well. I posted the issue on Crossbow Nation and received some good feedback on what it might be. I'm going to check those out when I get back to town.

BTW, if you bought it at Bass Pro and didn't buy their warranty, good luck with a return/exchange.

Nicely done, looks great!

Got mine @ academy,

Do u have the link to your thread over there, I would like to read it.

Academy has a no return policy on crossbows, even if you just open the box and find that parts are missing. Kind of sorry when you pay 600 bucks and it takes 3 weeks to actually use the item after having to send it to the manufacturer to replace. They wouldn't just send me the part that was missing. I'm boycotting Academy

Wow, that's not a good business practice. Why do they do that?

I might be boycotting them as well...

I have the Barnett Penetrator. One thing that I have learned about my crossbow is that you have to make sure the arrow (bolt) is seated all the way to the rear before firing. If the arrow (bolt) is not seated all the way to the rear before firing, then the anti-dry fire system will not allow you to disengage (release) the safety.

Academy has a no return policy on firearms too.

Here's the link to the discussion on Crossbow Nation:


http://www.crossbownation.com/forum/topic/27586-quad400-safety-issue/

Thanks for the link. If that's the whole discussion the I am gonna have to side with what no-guts-no-glory said above.

When bolt slips forward or is not properly seated against the firing pin the safety will not release. That is by design.

I have experienced this and simply pushing the bolt slightly in always fixed it.

If this is the problem, then several things could be causing it.

The plastic spring that holds the bolt down on the rail may be loose or loosing its spring. My Barnett came with a spare, as I guess they wear out. Replacing that could help.

Second if you're using moon or crescent shaped nocks, the slot must be horizontal with the crossbow rail. IOW, that slot must be up against the string and perpendicular to the vein that slips into the rail. If that slot in ur nock is not lined up correctly on your bolt that could be causing the problem as well.

Congrats on the great looking animal. I bought my first crossbow this year and so far havent been able to take the deer I have seen. Maybe this weekend my excalibur will fill the freezer.

Congrats!

Upon further review the issue appears to be a combination of pilot error with not setting the bolt back far enough and a small amount of wax gumming. Fortunately it was only pigs and not a dream buck.

I have a quad 400 as well. It's deadly accurate under 30 yds.

The plastic bolt "tensioner" was broken right out of the box. I called and the company sent me a new one. I reenforced it with duct tape.

Never had a safety sticking issue but I'm always checking the bolt to make sure it's seated against the string and the nock. The bold does slip at times.

Since it's not labelled on the crossbow, I painted the safety fire and safe positions with red and green nail polish.

Only other mod I made was a thumb guard to "idiot proof" my fore grip and keep my fingers away from the rail. The fore grip is designed to keep your fingers away from the rail, but I felt better with a physical barrier.