A First Time Bow hunter is looking for tips.i

[WulffMaster]

hello folk's, I am now the proud owner of a Eastman Outfitters X-Force 300 DX Compound Crossbow. which is my first crossbow.

I am looking for tip's on bow hunting. I am in the Armstrong BC area, I plan on joining the Armstrong fish and game club. but I want to get a head start on learning about hunting with a crossbow. so if any one can help, it would be appreciated. please either post or PM me . thank you in advance.

[BiG Boar]

fire one or two shots to see if you're sighted in and you're pretty much good to go.

Buying a range finder is a good idea.

Keep your shot under 45 yards

Know the areas on an animal to aim at, (not the neck or head)

[hunterdon]

I've been hunting for a number of years with archery equipment. Both compound and crossbows. There are differences between the 2. The main differences are.
1-A compound needs more attention to tuning and attachments, while a crossbow needs very little of both.
2-A compound is easier to carry through the thicker bush, while a crossbow gets hung up on branches quite easily.
3-A compound requires more practice shooting to become accurate, while a crossbow shoots very similar to a rifle. Once you have the crossbow site/scope adjusted for different yardage, if you can shoot a rifle accurately, you should be accurate with a crossbow. You just need to pay close attention to judging distances in the field, since a bolt drops dramatically in comparison to a bullet.
4-A compound bow is generally much quieter on release than a crossbow. Even with a silencing kit on a crossbow, (highly recommended), they are still noisy beasts.
5-In the late season, when weather conditions are cold, a compound bow can be challenging to shoot accurately. If sitting on stand for a lengthy time, the body temperature drops, and it becomes more difficult to draw that bow as the body muscles are cold. In addition, the shooter likely has bulky clothing on, in order to stay warm which can interfere with the shot. These things can certainly make a accurate shot more difficult. A shooter with a crossbow, will not be affected by these conditions.

However, I find the greatest, mistake new archery buffs make is thinking they can take much longer shots in the field under many different hunting conditions than what they actually should take. Shooting a motionless target IS NOT the same as a deer in the woods. So here's an important point to remember. With a crossbow, when hunting DEER, do not take long shots! A cross bow makes so much noise, that to a spooky deer, when the woods are peacefully silent, I mean when you can hear a mouse running through the underbrush sounding like a moose, that loud thud of your crossbow will likely cause that deer to jump into action, and there's a very good chance you will have a wounded deer. Not what you want, I hope. So, when it comes to deer, keep your shots to 20 yards or less. Moose or bear are not that spooky. Out to 30 yards is reasonable with good equipment.

If you are to be a CONSISTENTLY successful archer, besides target shooting concentrate perhaps more on improving other important hunting skills, such as tracking, learning about what the animal feeds on, (that's where you will find them) habits of the animal, how they behave before the rut, during the rut, and after the rut. Pay great attention to camouflaging yourself, (visual, smell, and sound). Identifying animal sign, such as rubs, scrapes and trails, and how to interpret them. Find yourself a good book or two on hunting to educate yourself. Knowledge is power. There seems to be a lot of emphasis from many on practicing shooting, but very little emphasis on the many other skills the successful archer requires. And finally, be patient AND persistent, and best of luck!!!

[WulffMaster]

thank you for the advice HunterDon, sorry it took so long to respond. I have asked one of my co-workers if he will mentor me next year when I go out for my first few hunt's. also, I am ( as stated ) going to be joining the local Fish and Game club and make use of the 3D targets that they have.

[boing-whap]

archers need more intelligence on their prey because they need to be so close when they shoot. you need to collect intelligence, deer cam,strung threads, bait. match your camo to your surrounds, many commercial camo is eastern in its design, i make my own, we have huge ferns here so thats what i look like. you also need to place your shot, nothing better than a double lung, i only take a full side shot, never a frontal. study deer anatomy, get to know where the bones, heart,lungs are. also you may find it an asset to learn to judge distance, ingraining what 20yards looks like will train your senses on hold over with your scope. take along look at broadheads, fixed are best and ones you can sharpen,,,,even better, i like g5 montec, but thats me.

[NovemberBravo]

archers need more intelligence on their prey because they need to be so close when they shoot. you need to collect intelligence, deer cam,strung threads, bait. match your camo to your surrounds, many commercial camo is eastern in its design, i make my own, we have huge ferns here so thats what i look like. you also need to place your shot, nothing better than a double lung, i only take a full side shot, never a frontal. study deer anatomy, get to know where the bones, heart,lungs are. also you may find it an asset to learn to judge distance, ingraining what 20yards looks like will train your senses on hold over with your scope. take along look at broadheads, fixed are best and ones you can sharpen,,,,even better, i like g5 montec, but thats me.


Can you post pics of your camo please? Also how do you do it? My dad spray painted his carharts with some fern leaves. That kind like what you do?
Thanks
NB

[springpin]

Keep your thumb out of the way of your string.

[boing-whap]

Yeah, thats the idea, i took samples off my woodlot of the ground cover, and sprayed over them on a cheap walmart green tee,+ green pants, + face mask helps and keeps you warm. Really good gloves are so important, I can be tucked in for hours it seems, i wear a pair of easton gloves but my bow can be so cold that it freezes my hand, i ve found that when i get to cold i start to think about quitting for the day, so keeping warm helps keep your spirits up. also after your shot ,you have to wait for 15 min,,this hard but you do not want to push them, practice a double lung shot over and over, they will only go 50 yards before they drop with good placement,,good luck!

[WulffMaster]

was finally able to get to Kelowna Yesterday, Dec 26, got some carbon express aluminum crossbolts ( 6 crossbolts) a package of field points for target practice , and a 3 pack of Montec CS G5 100gr broadheads. got back to Armstrong and shot at a "The BLOCK Classic Archery Target" that was picked up on the trip. after about 15-20 shots ( lost 2 of the bolts completely and have 2 more that are un-useable at this time due to one of the bolts having the aluminum insert pop out and one that has damage to the fletching) , we had the sight more or less centered so that all of my shots were hitting in what would be the kill spot on a muley / white tail. now I need to get a 3D target system so that I can get my aim in for next year's hunting season. I truly enjoyed firing the crossbow yesterday. can't wait to get out and get my first muley / white tail .

I do plan on having all of the tags that I can for the armstrong/spallumcheen area. This DOES include Bear.

[bochunk2000]

Some great advice here Wulff. One thing id like to add is that with archery your aftershot followthrough it that much more important than with a rifle. The arrow/bolt is in contact with the bow for that much longer so it is easy to affect the shot after you have taken it. When you start shootting for practice and several times throughout the practice season video yourself shooting from a 90 deg angle. (looking at you across the firing line. This will show you if you are pulling off the shot or dropping you hand. This happens as your natural response is to want to move it out of the way to see the arrow flight. This movement is inconsistant and incresases with live targets.
My 2c
Steve

[J_T]

I've been hunting for a number of years with archery equipment. Both compound and crossbows. There are differences between the 2. The main differences are.
1-A compound needs more attention to tuning and attachments, while a crossbow needs very little of both.
2-A compound is easier to carry through the thicker bush, while a crossbow gets hung up on branches quite easily.
3-A compound requires more practice shooting to become accurate, while a crossbow shoots very similar to a rifle. Once you have the crossbow site/scope adjusted for different yardage, if you can shoot a rifle accurately, you should be accurate with a crossbow. You just need to pay close attention to judging distances in the field, since a bolt drops dramatically in comparison to a bullet.
4-A compound bow is generally much quieter on release than a crossbow. Even with a silencing kit on a crossbow, (highly recommended), they are still noisy beasts.
5-In the late season, when weather conditions are cold, a compound bow can be challenging to shoot accurately. If sitting on stand for a lengthy time, the body temperature drops, and it becomes more difficult to draw that bow as the body muscles are cold. In addition, the shooter likely has bulky clothing on, in order to stay warm which can interfere with the shot. These things can certainly make a accurate shot more difficult. A shooter with a crossbow, will not be affected by these conditions.

However, I find the greatest, mistake new archery buffs make is thinking they can take much longer shots in the field under many different hunting conditions than what they actually should take. Shooting a motionless target IS NOT the same as a deer in the woods. So here's an important point to remember. With a crossbow, when hunting DEER, do not take long shots! A cross bow makes so much noise, that to a spooky deer, when the woods are peacefully silent, I mean when you can hear a mouse running through the underbrush sounding like a moose, that loud thud of your crossbow will likely cause that deer to jump into action, and there's a very good chance you will have a wounded deer. Not what you want, I hope. So, when it comes to deer, keep your shots to 20 yards or less. Moose or bear are not that spooky. Out to 30 yards is reasonable with good equipment.

If you are to be a CONSISTENTLY successful archer, besides target shooting concentrate perhaps more on improving other important hunting skills, such as tracking, learning about what the animal feeds on, (that's where you will find them) habits of the animal, how they behave before the rut, during the rut, and after the rut. Pay great attention to camouflaging yourself, (visual, smell, and sound). Identifying animal sign, such as rubs, scrapes and trails, and how to interpret them. Find yourself a good book or two on hunting to educate yourself. Knowledge is power. There seems to be a lot of emphasis from many on practicing shooting, but very little emphasis on the many other skills the successful archer requires. And finally, be patient AND persistent, and best of luck!!!
Very nicely said, accurately stated. Knowing when 'not' to shoot is the best skill to have. Shooting skill is but a small component.