# Beginner Crossbow recommendations



## rugerfan (Dec 3, 2019)

So I gave up Archery hunting several years ago for a couple of reasons, one of those being a shoulder injury that prevented me holding a compound bow at full draw for any length of time, the other was me thinking Archery season was much to hot to hunt here in Georgia.  Recently I  been doing some searching around for other hunting opportunities on some WMA's and some of those areas are open longer for Archery Season and was thinking about a crossbow.  

Well there are tons of them, and I have no idea where to start. I see prices ranges from under $200 dollars up to $2500 dollars. I see speeds from 315 to 400 fps. 

So I am looking to some experienced crossbow shooters/hunters for some information. 

Thank you in advance for your time.


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## Buckman18 (Dec 4, 2019)

I bought the Bear Vanish from Midwayusa earlier this year when it was on sale for $189... first time ever shooting a crossbow so I started cheap to make sure I enjoyed it. I bought it to bear hunt on the ground. I was impressed how good it shot. It put this bear down with no problem.


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## transfixer (Dec 4, 2019)

Archerytalk forum has a crossbow section,   Crossbowtalk,  probably more experienced crossbow users and hunters over there than you'll find here,    there are many setups out there for beginning crossbow users,  I'm still one myself,  although I've had mine for 3 yrs,   I picked up one of the Centerpoint Sniper 370's,  mostly because of the design,  using an AR15 style buttstock and grip, makes it adjustable and very ergonomic,  but also because of the speed,  they are one of the best deals for the money out there,  only drawback to them is the trigger usually has a long pull,  but that can be easily remedied,  I sent mine to a guy on Crossbow talk to put a trigger kit in he designed, and now I have a 3.5# trigger that rivals my bolt guns.  

What ever you end up buying you'll probably want to upgrade the bolts that come with it after you get used to using it,  good quality bolts make a world of difference in consistent accuracy,  and the ones they ship with crossbows are seldom top quality.


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## BDD (Dec 4, 2019)

There are usual a few for sale on The Outdoor Trader site, the everything else section either outdoor gear or the misc forum.   A lot of folks

Buy them and hardly use them.  You can also find deals with upgraded scopes,

Bolts and broad heads.  Some of the less expensive CB are good but come

 With poor quality scopes. An upgraded scope is a big plus , about $175 alone, broad heads another $40 per 3.


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## shdw633 (Dec 4, 2019)

The biggest advice I can give is go light.  Find a crossbow in the 6 to 7 pound range in weight for the bare xbow because you will add on from there.  Get a better scope than what the combos offer, it will pay off in the future.  Don't spend a ton on your first one, they are addictive to own, I now have 3 and want to get another one.  The cam xbows are great but if your string or cable breaks your hunt is over.  Non-cam xbows if the string breaks your restring and are up and running, which might be important if you don't have a back-up bow and are hunting far from home.  If I had to recommend some xbows it would be the Killer Instinct Ripper, Barnett Raptor and Centerpoint Xbows for a good entry level bow and then go from there.  That being said if you are going to crossbow hunt and only crossbow hunt all year long or money is not object, then I would put more into it and look at a Ten Point NXT or the new Ravin that's out there, that thing is small, light and really fast!!


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## formula1 (Dec 5, 2019)

I recently bought my first, a Wicked Ridge RDX 400. It's been a real nice experience. Already have 4 deer taken with and it's less than a year old. I own a chrono and I'm getting 370 fps from a nearly 500 grain bolt. I highly recommend it even though it's a little more than your basic entry level crossbow.


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## rugerfan (Dec 5, 2019)

Thanks to you all. Looks like I have some decisions to make.


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## splatek (Dec 5, 2019)

I like bear archery, but the one I have weighs nearly 11 pounds!
I've shot the BRUIN crossbows and they are great. The 370 is on sale, or was on sale for 180$ last week. Good made in the usa too I think! That's important to me.


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## shdw633 (Dec 5, 2019)

splatek said:


> I like bear archery, but the one I have weighs nearly 11 pounds!
> I've shot the BRUIN crossbows and they are great. The 370 is on sale, or was on sale for 180$ last week. Good made in the usa too I think! That's important to me.



That's one of the Xbows that I own.  The company is great and back their product as well.  I owned the 370 and the 410 but used the 370 in Illinois this year due to it being lighter to carry around than the 410 but love shooting both of them.


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## splatek (Dec 5, 2019)

shdw633 said:


> That's one of the Xbows that I owned.  The company is great and back their product as well.  I owned the 370 and the 410 but used the 370 in Illinois this year due to it being lighter to carry around than the 410 but love shooting both of them.



yeah my main hunting mentor swears by them and he’sa big bucks worst nightmare


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## rugerfan (Dec 26, 2019)

Update 12/26/19: 

I just purchased a Killer Instinct Hero 380 package on Ebay. Should have it in a few days.  Hope I made a good choice, for the money I could not pass it up.


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## Dewayne w (Dec 28, 2019)

rugerfan said:


> Update 12/26/19:
> 
> I just purchased a Killer Instinct Hero 380 package on Ebay. Should have it in a few days.  Hope I made a good choice, for the money I could not pass it up.


You done good,I have it light,deadly.fast.


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## oldfella1962 (Jan 7, 2020)

I bought a Centerpoint 330 recurve for about 200 dollars from Walmart online about a month ago - I love it! I only got to hunt with it a few times (and rain coming all weekend so I guess the season is over for me) and I can't wait for September 2020.
I bought a thick foam block target which works great, and I use my trad archery bag target for a discharge target. Using the bolts that came with the kit and G5 Montec three blade heads it's insane accurate at 25 yards - which is the furthest I will ever shoot anyway.


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## goshenmountainman (Jan 7, 2020)

I bought the centerpoint patriot 415 crossbow this year, due to a wrist fracture. I gave 347.00 plus tax for it and it is deadly. Walmart is the only store that carries this particular model, I just bought another one today for my cousin, walmart has them clearanced for 247.00. It comes with everything needed to go hunting. It has a rope cocker, a crank cocker, quiver, three bolts and a scope, very accurate. I shot it this past weekend at 80 yards and I could hit a 4-inch bullseye 4 out of five shots. And I didn't have to pay 2000.00 to get it like you would pay for a raven. I beleive if I had a scope that had a 100 yd. crosshair, it would be just as accurate as the almighty Raven!! It also shoots 415fps.


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## Jim Boyd (Jan 9, 2020)

10 Point or Wicked Ridge if you want to manage costs. 

Ravin otherwise. 

Buy once and cry once. 

Good luck.


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## rugerfan (Jan 11, 2020)

Jim Boyd said:


> 10 Point or Wicked Ridge if you want to manage costs.
> 
> Ravin otherwise.
> 
> ...



I do understand the "buy once , cry once" thing. However I wanted to make sure I liked shooting and hunting with a crossbow. before I pulled the trigger on a really expensive one.   

I never had very good luck when I hunted with a compound bow.  I enjoyed shooting it and going to tournaments, only ever killed one doe with it.  Had 1 bad hit on a buck but it survived and was taken later that year by a neighbor. Had more mishaps than I can even recall.  So we will see.


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## transfixer (Jan 11, 2020)

rugerfan said:


> I do understand the "buy once , cry once" thing. However I wanted to make sure I liked shooting and hunting with a crossbow. before I pulled the trigger on a really expensive one.
> 
> I never had very good luck when I hunted with a compound bow.  I enjoyed shooting it and going to tournaments, only ever killed one doe with it.  Had 1 bad hit on a buck but it survived and was taken later that year by a neighbor. Had more mishaps than I can even recall.  So we will see.



   I approached it the same way,  I didn't want to spend a lot of money until I knew I was going to enjoy it,  then after buying the Centerpoint Sniper I realized I didn't need to buy another xbow,  just do a couple upgrades to it and it would do everything the higher priced ones would.


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## Jim Boyd (Jan 11, 2020)

rugerfan said:


> I do understand the "buy once , cry once" thing. However I wanted to make sure I liked shooting and hunting with a crossbow. before I pulled the trigger on a really expensive one.
> 
> I never had very good luck when I hunted with a compound bow.  I enjoyed shooting it and going to tournaments, only ever killed one doe with it.  Had 1 bad hit on a buck but it survived and was taken later that year by a neighbor. Had more mishaps than I can even recall.  So we will see.



Maybe you could find someone that has a crossbow and they would let you use it to hunt with for a few weeks. 

An excellent arrangement would be to find a rifle hunter that only uses his during archery and then once gun came in, you could hunt with it?

Good luck no matter which way you go!


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## Buckman18 (Jan 11, 2020)

Here's one on midway now for $189. It's a very common brand with a lot of positive reviews. I dont think youre going to find one much cheaper anywhere. And if you dont like it I bet you'll get most of your money back very easily. You can take the other $3-400 you couldve spent on a higher priced brand and put it in your 401k. The deer will be just as dead.

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021677855?pid=277313


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## transfixer (Jan 11, 2020)

Buckman18 said:


> Here's one on midway now for $189. It's a very common brand with a lot of positive reviews. I dont think youre going to find one much cheaper anywhere. And if you dont like it I bet you'll get most of your money back very easily. You can take the other $3-400 you couldve spent on a higher priced brand and put it in your 401k. The deer will be just as dead.
> 
> https://www.midwayusa.com/product/1021677855?pid=277313




 That is a deal that would be hard to pass up if I were wanting one !   its just a different version of the one I have, but still has the adjustable buttstock


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## rugerfan (Jan 11, 2020)

Jim Boyd said:


> Maybe you could find someone that has a crossbow and they would let you use it to hunt with for a few weeks.
> 
> An excellent arrangement would be to find a rifle hunter that only uses his during archery and then once gun came in, you could hunt with it?
> 
> Good luck no matter which way you go!



I ended up buying a Killer Instinct hero 380 for 200 on ebay brand new with free shipping.   So we will see how it works out. I have shot it twice, and it seems to work fine so far. 

Thank you and good luck to you as well.


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## Jim Boyd (Jan 11, 2020)

rugerfan said:


> I ended up buying a Killer Instinct hero 380 for 200 on ebay brand new with free shipping.   So we will see how it works out. I have shot it twice, and it seems to work fine so far.
> 
> Thank you and good luck to you as well.




Awesome!!!

Enjoy - it is a lot of fun!!!!


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## Ronnie1701 (Feb 17, 2020)

The bow Buckman18 put up for Midway, that bow is now $173.33


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## johanettemeakin (Oct 6, 2021)

crossbow One is now available for $189 on Midway. It's a well-known brand with several favourable evaluations. I doubt you'll be able to get one for much less elsewhere. And I'm sure you'll receive most of your money back if you don't like it. You may invest the remaining $3-400 you would have spent on a higher-priced brand in your 401k. The deer will die in the same way Ravin buying guide.


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