Posted: 3/13/2010 4:07:20 PM EDT
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Should a crossbow be part of our SHTF preps?
1. Quiet 2. Reusable ammo 3. Powerful enough to drop medium size game What do you guys think? I think it could be good to hunt with and not alert the world that you are out bringing down food. Anyone have any suggestions as to brands and types? |
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I tried a ~decent crossbow 10 yrs ago $450 price range back then. I'll take a decent/good compound bow any day over a crossbow. ETA IMO bow hunting isn't cost effective incredible fun yes quite yes but cost effective no quality broadheads and arrows are not cheap. |
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I'll chime in. I'm a firearms owner, bow hunter, and cross bow owner.
Cross bows are quieter. They are not quiet. A decent bow is quiet. There is a substantial sorta "TTTTTtttttuuuuuuuungggg" sound with a crossbow. It is, however, far quieter than any non-supressed centerfire rifle... The 'reuseable ammo" this is by and large VASTLY over rated. Those bolts really aren't all that re-usable when actually hunting. They are easily lost and can be VERY hard to find. Flethcing gets stripped. And perhaps most importantly the broadheads get nicked, dulled, and otherwise seriously messed up in very short order. You might reuse a bolt/broadhead once, but I'd not recommend it. A third use with that same broadhead and it's really a substantially degraded tool. Broadheads are not cheap. Regulat ammunition is cheap by comparison. Yes. The can be surprisingly powerful. I cannot offer a rational reason for this, but large northern deer hit with the crossbow drop substantially faster than when harvested with a bow. Most will drop within 15 yards of the hit. Some other observations: A decent crossbow is easier to use (from a hardware standpoint) than a bow. You need less physical strength since you do not need to hold a full draw, in an awkward position, for any length of time. Crossbows can be lethally accurate too. I have not practiced with mine in 16 months (didn't hunt Canada last Fall) and I am still 99>5% certain that after three or four shafts to check zero I could put ten shafts on ten 3" targets anywhere out to 50 yards. No bull. Its not me, its the quality of the crossbow. Now for negatives: A decent crossbow with this level of accuracy and power isn't cheap. The bow, accessories, bolts, broadheads, etc can easily run $600+. The group I hunt with have tried all makes of bows at one time or another. You name it, we've used it. Horton, barnett, tenpoint, browning, whatever. We ALL use Excalibur crossbows now. I'm not really big on brand loyality, but they are incredible. One of our bow shops up there sells all lines since crossbows are big in Ontario, with a deer season spanning months. We have been able to fire all brands, back to back, on the same range and one the same afternoon. The excaliburs are far smoother than the others... Poundage: We run 200 and 225 lb crossbows. I don't much like the 225 lbs. THere are only two ways to fuck up the accuracy on a cross bow. One is obviously jerking the trigger, which messes up any firearm or crossbow. The other is misaligning the string when cocking. You can use a string cocking device, which is easy to use and relatively fool proof. However, I find manual cocking faster, easier, and simplier. I simply grab the string and cock. HOWEVER (capitals intended) if your string isn't dead nuts centered left to right on that shelf, you'll pull the bolt to one side or another. You can help eliminate this by grasping teh string very close to the shelf, running thumb nails along the rail, and pulling back with care, keeping the string centered. A 200 lber is relativley easy for me, and offers a lot of performance. I'm easily good on whitetails to 40 yards. A 225 lber, when you are cold, tired, bulked up in those hunting clothes, in a tree stand etc can be cocked manually but teh additional effort makes it tougher to cock properly. For what its worth I'm a well developed fellow who stands 6 foot, runs 230 lbs and am 42. The 225 lbers give me no additional advantage. Range: The cross bow, even a 225 lber, is still a 40 yard weapon. Yup. I can hit targets much farther out. However, the crossbows are noisy. That "TTTTttttuuuuuunngggg" sound is substantial. At any distance much beyond 40 yards the time in flight of even a fast bolt is such that Bambi will either drop or jump at anything beyond 40 yards. You won't get any substantial USEABLE range beyond 40 in my opinion. Other might shoot deer farther. Bully for them. If these bows were quieter we'd be able to shoot em at deer farther, but they aren't. Hunting: The major problem with crossbows and hunting for food has little to do with crossbows. I have very valid and real doubts about large game being plentiful in any extended and substantial SHTF situation. I know that during the Depression deer were all but extinct (figuratively speaking) in the area (Adirondacks). Small game would be more likely but even that would get scarce fast. I own a top-shelf crossbow. Its highly capable and a good deer hunting tool. Based on my experiences and by assumptions about game levels during a crisis, I really don't consider this tool a part of my SHTF survival preps. If your state permits supressor ownership, I would be looking really closely at firearms supressor, particularly in .300 whisper. |
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I would vote no on the crossbow. They arent quiet, bolts arent cheap and they get lost or banged up pretty easy. I am basing this on my bowhunting as I dont own a crossbow but have played with them in the past. I would spend the money on snares or traps and learning how to use them. They hunt 24/7 are cheap and easily made. You also arent wasting time in a stand when there are a million other jobs that need to get done. Note that snaring big game is illegal.
. I also think that large game in most areas of the US will be gone in 6 months of TSHTF. I think small game will be drastically reduced as well. I have 3 deer that I see quite frequently in my backyard. SHTF and they are done. I wont wait until we run out of regular food. I want to get them before someone else does. I will then process and can them for later. The squirrels will be eaten as needed until they are gone. |
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VERY NICE!!!
Quoted:
I put this together a few months ago. It's the PSE TAC-15 upper for a AR15 lower. I've got the Eotech 552 on it with a PVS-14 behind it for night time. On the front lower rail is a IR light. 396 fps with a broadhead. http://i49.tinypic.com/33mpdmh.jpg |
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Quoted:
I put this together a few months ago. It's the PSE TAC-15 upper for a AR15 lower. I've got the Eotech 552 on it with a PVS-14 behind it for night time. On the front lower rail is a IR light. 396 fps with a broadhead. http://i49.tinypic.com/33mpdmh.jpg I don't know how effective it is, but that hing is Wicked Cool!!!!!! |
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Quoted:
Quoted:
I put this together a few months ago. It's the PSE TAC-15 upper for a AR15 lower. I've got the Eotech 552 on it with a PVS-14 behind it for night time. On the front lower rail is a IR light. 396 fps with a broadhead. http://i49.tinypic.com/33mpdmh.jpg I don't know how effective it is, but that hing is Wicked Cool!!!!!! The Hoyt XterraXL compound I have is flat and fast. The 3/4" rubber mat I have hanging up stops field points from the Hoyt. The PSE crossbow upper shoots bolts thru the mat and go another 40 yards. |