Cross bow?

How useful would a cross bow be? I passed on one because I didn’t know if I would use it enough. How much do the bolts cost? Are they easily broken or lost? Just trying to justify the cost of owning one,

 

The bolts are just as expensive as arrows.
The cool nightmare on elm street tips will run you $20 to $40 for a pack of 4 or less tips. Best bet is don't get the Uber expensive ones and just get what goes on clearance at walmart.

 

Some states cross bows are allowed for hunting during archery season. But check your states regulations first.

 

Iowa allows the use of crossbows if the individual has a handicap that prevents the use of a long bow.

 

You can use it for hunting season...they have shorter range than bows, but you can put a scope on them, and get them in high poundages that will through a bolt really fast.
They are also cumbersome, often hard to carry, and slow to load.

 

Slow to reload, not any heavier than a lightweight rifle and highly accurate to 100 yards. At 25 yards I can not aim at the same point on the target or else I'll split the first bolt. If you don't want to make noise with your gun, this could be a very useful tool, but that's all it is, a tool. It's not the be all and end all

 

Page 44
442018-2019 Louisiana Hunting RegulationsDEER HUNTINGLICENSE REQUIREMENTS–Bow License is required of all persons hunting deer with archery gear during Archery Seasons. See page 10 for exceptions and exemptions.PROHIBITED ACTIVITIES–Possession or use any poisoned or drugged arrow or arrows with explosive tips. –Hunting deer with a bow having a draw weight less than 30 lbs. –Hunting with a bow or crossbow fitted with an infrared, laser sight, electrically operated sight or device specifically designed to enhance vision at night (does NOT include non-projecting red dot sights; RS 56:116.1.(b)(4)). –Hunting with dogs (All Archery Seasons are still hunt only). ARCHERY SEASONLEGAL GEARLegal Gear for Archery Season includes: –Traditional bow, compound bow, cross-bow, or any bow drawn, held or released by mechanical means.Either-sex deer may be taken in all areas open for deer hunting EXCEPT when a Bucks Only season is in progress. In such cases, archers must conform to the bucks only.
http://www.wlf.louisiana.gov/sites/default/files/pdf/page/42170-sample/18lahdlr.pdf

 

I always look at can I make replacement parts string or bolts it's hard to make both for a cross bow the string not as hard the bolt is harder but still possible but most will not have that skill.

 

Yes do that.
Back in the 1990s it was highly illegal to cross bow hunt in Virginia. You had to be seriously disabled to get a crossbow license, like require a wheel chair disabled. It made no sense.

 

Here is the trick to Cross Bows, get one with a long flight and long draw length with lots of draw weight!
The reason? Hold on to something, this is really really earth shattering, and the politicians and anti bow technology folks don't want you to know about it, and the ATF prolly has rules against it, and its prolly still Area 15 Level top secret, space level shit!



Ready!!!!!
Use regular friggin Arrows! Yup, I cut my compound bow arrows to the exact same length, 36 inches, and cut a set for my cross bow at the same time! Perfection! Hot tip, cross bows don't care any more then a regular bow about arrow length, only weight, and the longer the arrow, the straighter they fly! My Cross bow will throw a Arrow at about 340 FPS, that's a 600 Gr arrow, and I can consistently hit a standard paper plate with it at 100 yards. My Martian Compound Bow runs at 280 FPS @70 pound draw and will damn near match the range and accuracy, but here's the catch, the bow also has an over draw that boosts the poundage to 90 pounds, and will smoke an arrow at over 320 fps, and with the 36 inch length and a goodly amount of angle, will send it over 300 yards and hit a hay bail every time!
Cross bows are almost as old as conventional archery, yet most states "experts" equate them to a center fire rifle, and even say "Extra Deadly" because they are so quick and quiet! All the more reason to have one, some one say I shouldn't, so now I want two!

 

If you are handy in the shop Popular Mechanics and Mother Earth News have plans for making crossbows and bolts. The plans are for both wooden and metal (leaf springs) crossbows. Crossbows have always gotten a bad rap, at one time the Pope outlawed their use, but only against Christians

 

I bet I can launch 10 arrows with reasonable accuracy faster than you can with a crossbow.
I don't hunt with a single shot , IMO, it is arrogant and an unreasonable gamble , unless I am at a point blank range.
Rarely has a bear been dropped with one shot on a charge.
Cross bow ,especially the newer ones are intriguing , my dear brother has one he loves , but it is time consuming to load..

 

Crossbows feel more like guns. I like that part a lot more. I'm fairly good with a recurve or compound bow but there's no excitement.

I'm in the market for one so I can hunt Axis deer in the city limits year round.

 

Silent and have their uses, slow to reload and a decent bolt is about $6 a round as near as I can get it, buying all the ones I can when on sale after the season. As a survival tool, no noise to speak of, no flash to expose you position, but bolts are expensive, hard to carry more than a dozen or so, I have to at least get on my knees and go through quite a set of movements to reload it and can not observe the area while doing so. As a toy now I enjoy it now, like my muzzle loaders, and 5 years after everything falls apart it would still work and the bolts are re usable, but if you are trying to defend your self, the ability to use a firearm to fire multiple shots quickly, limits its use. A silencer on a low velocity rifle round would be a lot more effective and easier to conceal. Given that they do not require registration and you can still get them in most states,that they and the bolts and points can be stored for many years if disassembled, are quiet and no flash, and do not require that you be both trained and in physical condition to shoot as does a bow, it would I think be worth while to have one.
I do think that a good cache with $500 worth of LDS type long term staples, beans, rice, wheat, dried potatoes, dried apple bits, etc, would be a lot more useful if you are limited in your finances.

 

In the woods you get stuck much as the bow is wide.Silent no way the snap is loud,but not as loud as a gunshot.
You need to wax the guide rails regular else it will eat bowstrings as candy.Replace the bowstring regularly getting a snapping string in you face is no fun.Remember that the original arrow (bolt) for a crossbow is a short fat one like a minimac light not the arrow size the use with the broadhead on it.The advantage of the bolts is the do not break fast Do i have one yes ,the are cheap to shoot and learn you to watch the wind even more.

 

I'm a history buff and I have studied the Battle of Agincourt. English bowmen using 150-175 lb. long-bows could fire 12 arrows a minute, and as the last arrow was leaving the bow the first was finding its mark. That is what they mean by "arrow storm". In five minutes they fired over 100,000 arrows, and a whole generation of French noblemen died that day. One historian theorized that the long-bow could have remained the principle weapon of the English/ British armies until the early 1800s. But bowmen aren't trained, but raised. It takes 20 years of daily practice to produce a bowman, the common people made their own weapons, and that caused the nobles to worry. Enter the crossbow, they are made in the castle, stored in the castle, and only issued to commoners for practice or in time of war...then they are returned to the castle.

 

I remember reading somewhere that the English wished to re stage the battle at some time later, 100 or 200 years later, and couldn't find any really well trained long bow archers in the country, by the 1500's they dropped them from the army. Can train for good shot placement with a lighter pull, but full military long bow men were in a very excellent condition and had over developed muscles to pull the full weight, had to practice and maintain condition, and had to eat well. While cross bow or matchlock was not nearly as effective, a farmer with a couple weeks practice could use it effectively, and if killed could be replaced in another couple weeks.
Also by the 1500's the higher end armor gave fairly good protection against the arrows and while its use was limited to the upper classes, those in power really didn't care about the losses in the lower classes, which would in a later time be termed cannon fodder, and focused their weapons that could penetrate the new armor, big bore guns with heavy balls that would penetrate any armor. Saw a breastplate in a museum in a Michigan at one of the old forts that had been buried with its owner after one of the early battles, It had about a 1 inch hole thru both the front and back plates. Guess it hadn't really worked out all that well.

 

If it was in Michigan, then it was most likely English, French or Spanish and from the 1700s. By that time armor was ceremonial and offered as much protection as a tin can, hence the holes. The Kings of Scotland tried to ban the game of golf because the men were neglecting their archery practice.

 

I have played goof . but it is more fun if you don't keep score .
If you think about it, archery played like golf might just be fun.