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Using the wrong nock could cause a drop in accuracy or a dry fire which may ruin your crossbow. Similar to bolt weight, however, it’s smart to go with the nock type that your manufacturer recommends. You can get either half moon or flat nocks for your crossbow. Crossbow nocks are short, stubby little things that come in one of two main flavors Stick to this bolt weight as lighter ones may damage your bow and heavier ones may fly too slowly.įor crossbow bolts your nocks look quite a bit different than the large nocks on compound bow arrows. Generally speaking, manufacturers will recommend a bolt weight to be used with your crossbow. There are really no reasons for most hunters to be buying aluminum bolts as carbon tend to be higher quality and just as affordable as aluminum. The best bolts are usually composite made from aluminum and carbon fiber but they’re expensive and most users will see diminishing returns on their investment in these. Today it’s cheap to buy good carbon bolts – just make sure they have a nock and fletchings that are compatible with your bow. Broadheads have weights usually of either 100 grains or 125 grains so your choices are pretty limited anyways.
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I’d advise you not to get too caught up in the weight of your bolt. If you’re comparing a very high end bolt to a cheap bolt you may find large variations. In general most crossbow bolts and broadheads are very similar in weight at equal price points. I still call crossbow “arrows” bolts even though most people fail to distinguish the difference. You’ll have to forgive me, I’m old school. Some crossbows today have assisted cranks and some are pulled back by hand.Īdvanced crossbows can actually re-cock themselves using a disposable gas supply! This might be a good choice if you’re unable to otherwise crank or pull back a bow string of this weight. Anything around 150 pounds should be plenty adequate for bagging game.īe careful about going too high on draw weight as they can become difficult to draw back. While many compounds, recurves, and longbows average around 50-70 pounds (for a normal user) crossbows can push all the way up to 200 pounds. The State will most likely have predefined minum draw weights for hunting so make sure to double check before you buy! In many states you’ll have to keep up with regulations. Hunting small game or at closer distances means you can probably get away with lower draw weights. When hunting large, big bone animals you’ll want enough power to punch through hide and ribs. Let do this!įor hunting you’ll need the correct draw weight for your quarry. I’m also going to review a handful of the best and most affordable hunting crossbows for the money. We’ll go over the criteria you should keep in mind when buying a new hunting crossbow. To make sure you get more time in the field hunting and less time online shopping I’m going to break it down for you. Fortunately, they’re not that much different from compounds and their heritage is almost as old as the longbow and recurve. Getting started hunting with a crossbow can be a new and overwhelming experience for those of us coming from other backgrounds. No matter which camp you’re in it’s hard to deny that crossbow hunting is more accessible for those who can’t pull or use a traditional bow be it disability, age, or other reasons. That’s why many states now afford crossbows the same treatment as compounds, recurves, and pistol crossbows.
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Some of us love and embrace crossbows, others condemn them as “too easy”. A silenced bow helps reduce this chance.īest for a narrower bow at a great price that is a bit quiet when fired to improve your chances!
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Believe it or not whitetail deer can actually react fast enough sometimes to “jump the bolt” or cause you to miss because they move when they hear the sound of the bow fire. The unique factor here is primarily the silencing system which emits less noise when fired. If you’re hunting from a blind consider this! It’s just 14” axle to axle when cocked which is narrower than the previous CenterPoint that was 18” when cocked. Crossbows without this can be fired immediately once cocked and are very dangerous!Īt 380 fps this bow is pushing the top speed of most crossbow limits. However, I wanted to point it out on this one because it’s important to remember. Let me be clear – most or all crossbows these days have an anti-dry fire mechanism which auto safeties when the bow is cocked.
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