Now I am purplexed on which crossbow brand

[Aero320]

I stopped by BPS tonight to look at crossbows, specifically to decide if I liked thumbhole handle of the Ibex or the standard stock on the Phoenix (definitely like the feel of the Phoenix). Asked the archery guys and they recommended Excaliber, Ten Point, and Wicked Ridge. When we started talking about bow noise, they said by far the Excal's were the loudest and that the Ten Points were very quiet. Have not shot any of the crossbows ... Stopped at the closest Excal in the area and he did not have any in stock. Now am going to research the Ten Points. Anyone with experience on both brands? The Horton Vision is interesting but service and support may be questionable. My compound bow is a Matthews Switchback purchased when they first came out.

[one shot scott]

Which ten point is quiet? For it to be a fair comparison you must compare recurve to recurve, compound to compound!!!

The selling features of the excalibur(recurve) is this: simplicity, lack of mainenance, and warranty/support that excal gives each of their customers. 5 minutes and youve just changed your string. Noise? yep, but its not going to effect your harvest numbers. The only one its going to bother is you and it wont mean a thing to the deer you've just shot. Even then there are ways to bring the noise down by using a string stopper, different string, etc.. but dont let noise be your primary concern when buying a bow. They are close range tools.

[georgiaboy]

When you find a quite x-bow please let me know!!!
Please understand...I'm not trying to be a smart a**,but they ALL make noise!!! I have owned two horton's, and a good friend of mine owns a 10pt, all good bows but all make noise!
In my opinion the pro's far out weigh the con's when it comes to recurve vs compound. Biggest selling point for me is not being at the mercy of a pro shop!! Local pro shop in my area is very anti x-bow,and would only work on my horton when he didn't have any "real bows" to work on.
Good luck on your search!

[strum]

Same here the biggest sell for me is being able to do all the mantainece myself..watched a friend with a horton miss the whole season waiting on his bow to be fixed and when he got it back he had to send it back again because it still wasnt right..youll never have that prob with an excal..
all my friends frowned and made offhand remarks about the noise my exomax makes but they dont out shoot me and as it stands this year their bellys are making the noise(hunger from no deer)
I think all of us who have shot verticals have at one time or another gotten caught up in the quiet shooting bow sell..and i know that switchback is sweet and smooth and quiet but whoever said it has to be quiet??..you dont try to silence your rifle..just remember it apples to oranges when you go from verticals to crossbows..i think it was Vixenmaster who said the deer dont complain about the noise..its the bigole holes in its lungs
let us know what you choose and how it works for ya,,

[Mister B]

Don't be afraid of the sound of a crossbow. You will know what I mean once you start shooting an Excal. I also own a TP HLX. It might be a little quieter but not much. Besides, the TP is much much heavier. Both brands are good bows, but after having shot both, a lot, I favor my Excals. In regards to noise, I shot two deer this year, one with my TP and one with my Vixen II, both were less than 20 yards and the arrow was sticking in the ground on the other side of the deer before either reacted. I too shoot a Matthews compound. I can't explain why crossbows intrigue me so. It is still close range hunting, but there is just something cool about the feel of an Excal, it's lighter, deadly accurate, and just plumb da...ed fun to shoot.

[strum]

Don't be afraid of the sound of a crossbow. You will know what I mean once you start shooting an Excal. I also own a TP HLX. It might be a little quieter but not much. Besides, the TP is much much heavier. Both brands are good bows, but after having shot both, a lot, I favor my Excals. In regards to noise, I shot two deer this year, one with my TP and one with my Vixen II, both were less than 20 yards and the arrow was sticking in the ground on the other side of the deer before either reacted. I too shoot a Matthews compound. I can't explain why crossbows intrigue me so. It is still close range hunting, but there is just something cool about the feel of an Excal, it's lighter, deadly accurate, and just plumb da...ed fun to shoot.

now that should be Excals new moto "Just plumb Da..ed fun to shoot" love it

[bob1961]

none of the deer i have shot has jumped any strings before dieing ....use a heavier arrow and have at it with an excalibur .........bob

....

[cevans]

Shoot a Excal before you buy,,and I really think you will be sold..and amen to everything above that has already been commented on..

[secret]

just go to ten points ,wicked ridge, or hortons forum and ask the same question?..........Then buy a Excalibur!

[Aero320]

Thanks for all the input. I am not concerned about the maintenance because I have a bow press and have been doing my own bow setups for 15 years, that is part of the fun. Once you get a Matthews setup, it is a very quiet killing machine. I do like the simplicity of the excal. The compound guys always worry about string jump, that is why I use heavier arrows, quiet is more important than speed because arrows travel way below the speed of sound.

They had a Ten Point Turbo model that was much narrower and also a bow for $1,699.00 which is a lot more than I want to spend. That amount will buy a Lowrance HDS unit for the boat (I already have an HDS 5x with Structure Scan). The Horton Vision has a really good feel but am afraid of the company and it is a bit unusual in the design area.

I am excited about the upcoming hunting season because of the crossbow and told my wife tonight dinner that it was time for me to get back in shape before season starts ... She liked that part of it.

[wheelie]

[Joystyx]

For the moment, no matter the brand, all compound crossbows suck and are a waste of time and money. Period.
I'll reconsider them when something accurate and reliable will be put on the market.

[awshucks]

Get the one you can shave a few bucks off new price and if needs be, get your loot back, then try the other. No bow monkey where I live, that self tune feature was a biggie for me.

[Doe Master]

I think what sells Excaliburs is the service if required . Anybody can make a good bow but to able to contact the manufacturer or his rep. with what may be a stupid . But it is answered in a polite way because the customer obviously thought it was a question to be asked .
You don`t say where you are from . But if below the border then you would deal with the imfamous DAN MILLER .
If above then you deal right with the people who make and love their product .

[Cossack]

I own and shoot both. A 'fast' compound (just cause i thought I had to have one) and two Excals. The compound is like a trophy wife, lots of maintenance required and being afraid of doing something wrong that will set her off every time I pick her up.
The Excals are there every time I need them. Never a disappointment or hitch. I can do all the maintenance myself (like change a sting in under 2 minutes-without needing a press0, and are accurate to a fault. Can't tell any difference is noise level, certainly not that would matter to a deer. But you'll have to decide which is more important to you: dependability or allegedly less noise.