Intrested in Bowhunting

[kshort]

Hey guys,
Im looking into getting into bow hunting, it would mainly be for deer and bear but i cant decide what would be the better choice cross or compound? i will be staying on the island for the bow hunting

Thanks,
Kyle

[Bow Walker]

Hard question to answer Kyle. Answering objectively is amost impossible. Best advice I can offer is to go out and handle or shoot both types of archery equipment and take it from there.

Where are you from? I might be able to point you in the direction of a retailer or two.

[kshort]

Im from Victoria, so the best place I know about would be Island Outfitters, I was all set for trying out compound bow hunting but I was in the store yesterday and handled a couple of the Crossbows and that defintly tickled some intrest

[4blade]

kyle it would depend how much effort you would commit,compound would take more time to shoot consistently accurately.bow shop is your best bet and like you said try both if you can before you purchase WELCOME TO THE DARKSIDE

[Grantmac]

Don't skip looking at traditional archery. You will find that there is a lot more to do with a bowthan a crossbow as lots of states/provinces don't include them in the archery season. Also with a bow there are lots of fun competitions such as 3D that usually aren't open to crossbows.
Cheers,
Grant

[brotherjack]

My thoughts are thus:

A compound bow is more fun and more work.

A crossbow is less fun and less work.

The cost is about the same to get into a decent setup of either.


So, what do you want?

If you want a utilitarian piece of equipment for hunting purposes that collects dust most of the year, and have no interest in archery clubs or that sort of thing, a crossbow is your best bet.

If you want to meet some great people who share your passion for archery and have many hours of year-round fun flinging arrows with the same equipment you take hunting in the fall - get a compound bow.

[tomahawk]

My thoughts are thus:

A compound bow is more fun and more work.

A crossbow is less fun and less work.

The cost is about the same to get into a decent setup of either.


So, what do you want?

If you want a utilitarian piece of equipment for hunting purposes that collects dust most of the year, and have no interest in archery clubs or that sort of thing, a crossbow is your best bet.

If you want to meet some great people who share your passion for archery and have many hours of year-round fun flinging arrows with the same equipment you take hunting in the fall - get a compound bow.


I agree as well as you have to decide how much you want to challenge your self and your skills when bowhunting with Traditional being the greatest challenge, Compound next and Crossbow the easiest. The greater the degree of challenge the great the reward with a harvest!!

[Avalanche123]

I shoot a recurve and one of the perks for me was the fact there is very little that go wrong with it..(no sight pins, levels etc..) quite simplistic and much lighter too.

However my brother loves all his 'bling" on his compound and could careless about the weight.....so depends on your preference.

Correct if I am wrong, but stump shooting is much friendlier with a trad set up too. Brother Jack seemed to sum it up pretty well.

Good luck with whatever you decide to go with.

I have no experience with cross bows so I can't give any feedback there.

[The Hermit]

I'm in Victoria too and if you would like to try shooting a recurve you can try mine.

I started last year with a compound, killed a bear and deer with it, awesome machines! Very easy to shoot if you have any experience with a sight picture like the open sites on a gun.

I found it pretty heavy to carry all day, and the damn fiber optics kept breaking off while out hunting... not good for confidence. So I switched to the recurve... way more challenge and fun to shoot IMHO.

Only shot a cross bow a couple times. Again cool technology, scoped out wicked accuracy... heavier again, less challenge.

Of course the REAL challenge in bow hunting is getting up close and personal with your quarry... keep it to 25 yards max with any archery tackle to increase the odds of getting a clean kill.

BTW - I think that many of the 3-D shoots now allow crossbows so you can still come out and have a great time with the other archers!

[brotherjack]

Note on degree of difficulty in crossbow vs compound bow.

A pre-tuned compound bow with peep-sights and a release will take you about an hour under competent instruction before you can shoot fairly accurately with it.

A crossbow will take you more like 20 minutes.

In summary - neither one are all that hard. :)

Traditional on the other hand, I shot for years, and never got all that incredibly good at it (though I didn't totally suck either). I would say it's pretty challenging.

[Avalanche123]

Hmmm getting close is definitely important shooting trad. I also believe more patience is required to learn to shoot and and even more patience yet for getting in close....(I passed up on my first stone sheep last summer because he was outside my comfort zone as he was at 30 yards...It was still a very cool hunt.)
I think you have to take a real hard look at just why you want to get into archery and be honest with yourself. If you are looking for a longer hunting reason only, then perhaps an x-bow makes the most sense.) Even if you do go to a compound or trad, you can still go back to a rifle for the GOS. (This is what I did for my first three years until I went exclusively with a recuvre.)

Back to the distance issue again.....I limit myself to about 25 yards and even then I better be feeling really good about it otherwise my preference is under 20 yards with a recurve. I also shoot instinctive.

Hope this all helps!

[brotherjack]

Yup, 25 yards is my 'line in the sand' too. My crossbow could plant a bolt more/less where I aimed it from 60 yards out, and my compound from 40. But will that critter still be where I was aiming at when the arrow finally gets there after that long 'lag time' you get on longer shots - that's what keeps me careful and close. :)

[Avalanche123]

Lag time is one issue, confidence is another. Admittedly I am no Howard Hill and I would hate to wound an animal because I lacked confidence in the shot. I find this really affects me when I hunt out of a tree stand as I am not used to it so I really restrict my distance further. If I feel that the animal has no idea of my presence then I tend to be way more comfortable with my shot so I then will shoot out to 25 yards.

The long and short of it is there are many variables that can come into play when shoot trad, and compound too. For me, its all about getting in real close, making the kill is just a bonus.

[OOBuck]

Im from Victoria, so the best place I know about would be Island Outfitters, I was all set for trying out compound bow hunting but I was in the store yesterday and handled a couple of the Crossbows and that defintly tickled some intrest

I got a couple of different bows and if you can pull 60-70 lbs I could most likely have you shooting a 3" group in a day or so.. I also have a new Horton cross bow you can try. There are some really good clubs in Victoria and South Island if your interested PM me.

[325]

I have both. First I got a crossbow, because I use to shoot a recurve, and found it very difficult to shoot consistantly well, and I wanted to get into bow hunting again. Crossbows are really neat, and quite easy to shoot within normal bow ranges. They are not that fun to practice with. I then purchased a compound bow, which I absolutely love. It's much more enjoyable to practice with.

You will hear some on this forum who feel crossbows offer an unfair advantage and are too easy. That's crap. It took me one evening to group as well with my compound as by crossbow. The modern compound bow is very easy to shoot well.

Anybody who thinks poorly of crossbows has probably never shot one.

[OOBuck]

Anybody who thinks poorly of crossbows has probably never shot one.

Here we go again!:lol:

[oldtimer]

A pre-tuned compound bow
I have never heard of one of these. How can something like a compound bow be pre-tuned when all men , or women , are not built the same. Mike

[brotherjack]

A pre-tuned compound bow
I have never heard of one of these. How can something like a compound bow be pre-tuned when all men , or women , are not built the same. Mike

You go down to your local archery shop, get the knowledgeable bow-guy (or gal) there to sell you a bow + accessories and have them set the bow up for you. I've never had it done, but I'm under the impression that most archery shops which are big enough to have a setup to test-fire bows can/will provide this kind of service (as well as give you an ear-full of useful tips in the process).

Someone will, no doubt, correct me if I'm wrong. :)

[oldtimer]

brotherjack that is exactly how it is done but it is no 5 min. process. When I got my first bow it probably took around 3 hours to get it set just right with the proper arrows and then maybe another 2 hours outside getting the pins set. Then hours of practise to get reasonabley accurate and repeatable. Mike

[greybark]

;-) Hey Brotherjack , Oldtimer is right on this one . The Shops can set up and tune a compound in store . They generaly are close but can`t match lots of the archers personnal quirks. Some of these quirks are-- Different sight picture ,physical strengh ,method of string release ,release , bow arm position and bowhand torqe to name a few .
:D Oldtimer states he takes at least 5 hours to setup and tune his bow . Heck two hours of that time is spent doing up his boot laces . ;)LOL
Cheers Mike .

[brotherjack]

I agree that there are lots of potential hang-ups, but I would contend that if the guy at the pro-shop sets it up to your specs (draw length/weight, etc), tunes it up so it shoots straight, and afterward you're having trouble shooting it - then perhaps it's your shooting form that needs work and not the bow. ;)

Mileage may vary, I suppose. :)

[Bow Walker]

Im from Victoria, so the best place I know about would be Island Outfitters, I was all set for trying out compound bow hunting but I was in the store yesterday and handled a couple of the Crossbows and that defintly tickled some intrest
Give me about 3 weeks to a month (all orders shoud be in by that time) and I'll let you try any of the three major disciplines of archery - Traditional, Compound, and Crossbow. We've got a 20 yard range set up so that you can shoot-before-you-buy.

[jrjonesy]

Take BowWalker up on his offer! It can be tough to find somewhere you can shoot before buying and that is a huge advantage to how much you enjoy your future in the sport, whichever you choose.
I agree with the other guys, as far as difficulty and discipline is concerned it goes trad, compound, crossbow. Learning on a recurve and going to a compound (about 22 years ago) though I disagree with some comments that compound bows are "easy" to shoot. They are definitely a lot easier to shoot and more accurate and reliable than they used to be! Like anything, many people can pick up many sports or hobbies and get good very quickly. However, I've been around enough shooters and 3d ranges to see a LOT of hits in the leg, butt, head and complete misses from lots of hunters. Don't assume that because other people say it is easy or find it easy, that you will be able to become proficient without a lot of continued practice. That practice is more than half the fun though. my 2 cents.

[bowman]

hey kyle, I live in Vic too - I started with Compound and am leaning to stick bows now. I think I would not eliminate any of the bows - I just know I wanted one I am wanting to go shoot.

[kshort]

Hey guys,
Thanks alot for all the feed back i will defintly be sending out some PM's, its defintly a tough choice to make so your all right i just gotta get out there and try and few differnt options out before I buy

Thanks again

[Bow Walker]

PM answered Kyle. Thanks.

[Flingin' Sticks]

I agree with what has been said about the difficulty of the three disciplines to a certain point, but there are defenitely personal issues that play a huge role. I shoot trad. exclusively, but have fired shots out of a compound numerous times. I find that I cannot seem to get the stupid thing to do what it's supposed to for some reason...probably because of how I shoot the stickbow (no thought process involved...up to a point). Also watching all things that can go wrong on them scare the daylights out of me...but it is nice when you can blame a miss on your equipment. When my sites are off, the only way to correct is to smack myself upside the head, and it doesn't often work too well.

Whichever you choose, good luck.