Killer Instinct is another budget brand that can help you get started with crossbows without draining your bank account. Their products are highly rated, especially by beginners, who find that the range of accessories they usually include with their models help start you off on the right foot and learn bowhunting faster.
FAQs
What is the best crossbow speed for hunting?
The best crossbow speed for hunting varies widely by purpose and personal preference, but 300-400 fps should work well for most game over standard ranges and give you a nice balance between power and control. Higher speeds over 400 fps will give you a longer range and more penetration for big game like deer, elk and bear, but it may be harder to manage if you don’t have a lot of experience. Plus, it will be too much power for smaller game.
What is the best crossbow speed for deer?
We usually recommend at least 250 fps to hunt whitetail deer with a crossbow. However, 250 fps will considerably limit your range, so if you’re not a very experienced hunter, we suggest getting between 300 and 400 fps. On the other end, much higher than 400 fps, you may have trouble managing the shot.
How far can you shoot a deer with a 400 fps crossbow?
The recommended ethical range for bowhunting, including with a crossbow, is 40 yards, but since crossbows tend to shoot faster than vertical bows, you can extend this to 50 or even 60 yards if you have experience with your crossbow and know how to shoot it accurately.
In fact, 400 fps is starting to get into high-performance territory, and with a crossbow this powerful, you can theoretically reach a range of 70-80 yards. However, before hunting at this distance, you should definitely hit the range and make sure you can consistently hit the mark that far away.
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How accurate is a crossbow at 100 yards?
Few production crossbows are accurate at 100 yards, at least without considerable practice. If you want to just buy a crossbow, sight in the scope, and start hunting, you should not plan on hitting quarries 100 yards away. 80 yards is already considered an upper limit for high-speed crossbows, even if you have experience, so for your average bowhunter and crossbow, expect accuracy to drop off after 50 yards.
What is the most accurate crossbow at 50 yards?
How accurate a given crossbow is at exactly 50 yards depends on a lot of factors, but we consider the most consistently accurate to be the Ravin R500 and TenPoint Nitro 505. Their bolt speeds over 500 fps give them especially flat trajectories, so they’re easy to aim. That said, many other models included on our list are similarly accurate.
What is the advantage of hunting with a crossbow?
The main advantage of hunting with a crossbow is that you get the easy accuracy of a firearm while being able to hunt the longer archery season that exists in most states. Vertical bows like recurve bows and even compound bows usually require a lot of practice on the range to hunt with successfully, but you can often hunt successfully with a crossbow after a single session sighting in the scope.
Crossbows are also much quieter than firearms. This is part of the reason many states allow their use over longer seasons than firearms, since they disturb local wildlife and residents a lot less. Plus, they don’t scare away game as easily, allowing you to hunt the same area more frequently.
How many lbs is the most powerful crossbow?
The highest draw weight we’ve found on a crossbow is the Excalibur Suppressor 400 TD, which has a whopping 325 pounds of draw weight. As recurve crossbows that still produce blistering bolt speeds, many Excalibur crossbows have high draw weights that sometimes break 300 pounds.
Otherwise, it’s rare to find draw weights over 300 pounds except on especially powerful models like the Ravin R500 and TenPoint Nitro 505. In fact, the Nitro 505 is currently the most powerful crossbow in terms of bolt speed.
Final Thoughts
A crossbow is a great way to hunt effectively over a long season without needing too much practice or expertise.
We credit the use of crossbows with the increase in the number of hunters participating in the archery season.
There are a lot of quality manufacturers continuously upgrading and innovating their products, so we make it a point to keep an eye on the market and test the newest models. Here at DeerHuntingGuide.net, our favorite crossbow this year is the Ravin R500, but we found that all the models on our list stood out in some way. From beginners to experts, from big game hunters to casual stand hunters, there’s a crossbow for everyone to add to their gear.
