Are we nuts?

[janesy]

I have enjoyed shooting faster xbows but have no great desire to own one.

I use my xbows for 3 things:
Competition
Hunting
Mentoring

Faster xbows shoot flatter however they also magnify any slight error, especially at longer distances. I'm more interested in accuracy and reliability than speed.

Consider that speed will drop off significantly after 35 yds so that speed rating can be misunderstood by newbies who assume that an arrow maintains velocity... the faster something goes the faster it decelerates. Excalibur used to have a graph illustrating this on their old website - i miss it.

My wide-limbed Vixen is my bow of choice for competition and it does just fine. Those wide limbs are beautiful stabilizers and also make me aware of possible canting. The long rail and limbs make for gentler cocking which becomes important by the time I'm on my 35th target.

Those qualities also make it a good bow for mentoring. Countless first-time shooters have shot my beautiful old Vixen.

For hunting I now carry my new Micro 315. (With deepest heartfelt thanks to the still-anonymous individual here who purchased the ticket in my name! ) It was originally a 335, however as we also intend to use it to introduce xbows to new shooters I swapped it for a 315 because those few lbs of draw weight can make all the difference between "can" and "can't".

Our family of wide limbed xbows are looking forward to seeing everyone again at BooFest!

Good choice swapping for a 315. Just a phenomenal little bow those 315's

[agingcrossbower]

[OhioXBowhunter]

Great thread I will have to admit I like speed though I switched from a Horton Hunter that I used for many many years and took many a deer with, but with the 405 there is no comparison. I could shoot both bows at the same time go to my target remove my bolt from the 405 get back to my bow before the bolt from the Horton would hit the target. So yes speed is nice. I do agree with Peter though I am afraid that the market could one day affect our seasons. In Ohio we have a very liberal bow season with few restrictions and I would never want to see that disappear. I fear that unethical hunters or inexperienced hunters that have the 400 + FPS bows will try to take those 75 - 100 yard shots wound the deer and then the deer are running around injured who’s going to get blamed the crossbow hunters then the public outcry is going to be limiting our seasons or putting unwanted restrictions on us. I’ll stay with the 350 - 400 FPS bows and no more then 40 yard shots. I think Excalibur has everyone’s needs currently met with the additions of the new line the Assassin has the built in crank with speed and the 308 short covers the compact size we’re looking for both of which I am still waiting to shoot. If they were going to add anything else how about a bowfishing set up built into a crossbow and maybe different camo options on bows.

[SEW]

I realize that the 405’/sec of the advertised speed of the M405 is with a 350g arrow with which I know of no one using for either target nor hunting. If Excaliburs were advertised with 380 or 390g arrows setting their speeds and nomenclature, wouldn’t that help the speed issue, at least, a little?

[otisbrazwell]

I realize that the 405’/sec of the advertised speed of the M405 is with a 350g arrow with which I know of no one using for either target nor hunting. If Excaliburs were advertised with 380 or 390g arrows setting their speeds and nomenclature, wouldn’t that help the speed issue, at least, a little?

at least a 400 gr arrow shooting advertised speed. bulldog 400 i have has been in for repair and it still only shoots 373fps and thats with a 356gr diablo with no sound deading. nice bow but if i want to use a 400gr arrow it is real sloooooow.

[Bullzeye]

Here is a little twist on all this speed and power. I'm willing to bet, that in Quebec, in the near future, we will be have to register our crossbows, just like our firearms.

[Tangle Eye]

Here is a little twist on all this speed and power. I'm willing to bet, that in Quebec, in the near future, we will be have to register our crossbows, just like our firearms.

You may be right Bullzeye but I hope not. To me, the fact that a crossbow is so very slow to reload makes all the difference in the world. This is truely a single shot.