Crossing Over

When I took up bowhunting 30 years ago, I was looking for a way to spend more quality time in the woods. I bought a good compound bow and all the associated gear, and as summer waned, I spent hours practicing so I could place an arrow in the pie plate-sized area required to kill a deer quickly and cleanly.

Over the following years, I logged hundreds of hours in tree stands and learned more about deer, nature, and myself than I'd dreamed possible. I was never a great bowhunter, but I treasured misty mornings and frosty afternoons observing the workings of nature with the bow in hand. It was a source of real grief when a wrist injury forced me to give up bowhunting. I could no longer do the target practice necessary to maintain strength and proficiency with a bow, and I would rather not bowhunt at all than do it badly.

I considered switching to a crossbow. I qualified for a medical exemption that would permit me to use one during archery season. However, at that time, work and volunteer commitments left little enough time for duck hunting, firearms deer hunting, and other outdoor pursuits, so I reluctantly hung up my bow. Still, I missed the relaxed pace and contemplative feel of the fourmonth long archery season.

All that changed in 2016. For one thing, I retired, freeing up more time for hunting. Then, as if to remind me of my earlier interest in crossbows, the Conservation Commission voted to let hunters use crossbows during archery season.

Bows

Like vertical bows, crossbows come in compound and recurve varieties. Recurves generally are bulkier, harder to cock, and louder than compounds. On the plus side, they are lighter and simpler mechanically, so there is less to go wrong with them. Most hunters choose compound bows because they offer significantly faster arrow speed. But recurves can be just as effective at normal archery hunting ranges, and they are much easier on the wallet.

I mail-ordered my first crossbow, so when it arrived, it required some assembly. This went smoothly, and I was shooting within 30 minutes of opening the box. My only slip-up was not heeding the instruction to check all the screws – even those installed at the factory – for tightness periodically during the breaking-in period. During my first shooting session I couldn't get consistent accuracy. As I put the bow away, I noticed that two screws on the scope mount were loose, allowing the scope to audibly rattle. Tightening them solved the accuracy issue.

One of the safety features built into my crossbow is a device that prevents firing without a bolt loaded. This paid off immediately, preventing me from dry-firing my bow twice in the first half-hour of use.

Another important safety feature was a front handle that placed my thumb and fingers well below the bowstring's travel path. Without this, you could easily forget the danger and injure yourself in the excitement leading up to shooting a deer. I don't know what safety features other crossbows might have or not. Keep these features in mind when shopping for a crossbow.

Scopes

Most crossbows are sold with telescopic sights. I upgraded mine from a standard 3X scope to a 3X with an illuminated reticle. This is different than a laser sight, which projects a beam of light onto the target. That isn't legal in Missouri.

SAFETY

In many ways, hunting with a crossbow is similar to hunting with a firearm. But, because they have exposed moving parts, crossbows are subject to additional safety considerations that firearms hunters aren't accustomed to thinking about.

Crossbows come from the factory with detailed safety instructions. Be sure to read these precautions carefully before using your crossbow. Here are a few of the high points:

• Load bolts only when you are ready to shoot.

• Never carry a crossbow with a bolt loaded.

• Keep hands, fingers, clothing, and other objects clear of crossbow strings and limbs.

• Pay close attention to the sequence of cocking, loading, and shooting. Carelessness or distractions can lead to serious injury.

• Check each bolt carefully before and after shooting by inspecting the nock, point, and inserts and by flexing it in different directions to detect cracks. A damaged bolt can shatter on firing, damaging the bow and causing serious injury.

• Never "dry fire" a crossbow by discharging it without a bolt of appropriate weight loaded.

• Never leave a cocked crossbow unattended.

Someone unfamiliar with crossbows might cause it to fire, resulting in serious injury.

• Keep broadheads that are not in use inside a hard quiver. Razor-sharp edges can cause severe or fatal injury if handled carelessly.

Instead, a light inside the scope highlights circular aiming points graduated for ranges from 20 to 50 yards. The illumination doesn't have to be turned on during daylight hours, but it is extremely helpful early and late in the day, when low light can make it hard to see ordinary crosshair reticles. The illumination has five levels and two colors – red and green – allowing hunters to adjust for changing light conditions.

Not all lighted reticles are created equal. Before buying, test your chosen scope in light conditions. The reticles on some scopes I tested were nearly impossible to see in full daylight. Also, consider which scope's type of aiming point – crosshairs, dot, rangefinder, etc., suits you best. At the very least, you will change the point of impact of your arrows. That's fixable. But an unbalanced bolt also can cause erratic flight, ruining accuracy.

Other Gear

I always thought the projectiles fired from crossbows were called bolts, but apparently the distinction between arrows and bolts is blurring. I still call crossbow arrows bolts, but don't be surprised to find them going by both names among bowhunters. Much more important than what we call them is how we choose them. The second consideration involves mechanical broadheads. These increase cutting diameter, making them more lethal. Wide-bladed broadheads tend to catch the air and "steer" bolts from the front end. This interferes with the plastic vanes at the rear of the bolt, whose job it is to keep bolts flying straight. You can only make a broadhead so broad without risking this windplaning effect.

Don't waste time fretting over whether to use aluminum or carbon-fiber bolts. Experts say that both are fine. However, selecting the right bolt is critical to accuracy. The rigidity (known as "spine") of the shaft must be properly matched to the draw weight of your bow. Follow the manufacturer's recommendations or consult an archery pro shop to be sure you have the right bolts.

The same is mostly true for broadheads. I say "mostly" because hunters are much more likely to experiment with broadhead options than with bolt shafts. If you are going to fiddle with broadheads, keep two things in mind.

First, be sure the weight of whatever broadhead you choose matches the manufacturer's recommendation and is the same as the weight of the field points you use to practice. Otherwise, you will unbalance the critical equation of draw weight, arrow weight, and spine. The broad cutting blades of mechanical broadheads remain folded close to the shaft in flight to avoid this. They deploy when the arrow strikes the target. Unfortunately, some mechanical broadheads are prone to open prematurely, or "flash," when fired at speeds of 300 feet per second (fps) or faster. Since many modern crossbows exceed this velocity, tinkerers need to be aware that problems with inaccuracy might be due to premature blade deployment.

The fact is that huge cutting diameters aren't necessary. Any broadhead with a cutting diameter over 1 inch will do the job. If you have a fast crossbow, stick to fixedblade broadheads.

Besides broadheads and field points, it's useful to keep one arrow in your quiver with a blunt tip. These inexpensive tips can be used to hunt small game, but they also are handy for unloading your bow after a hunt.

Letting down a crossbow string by hand is dangerous, and arrows with pointed tips can disappear into soft soil or leaf litter. A blunt-tipped arrow fired into the ground is much easier to find. You can also solve the problem of unloading a crossbow with a "discharge target" that will stop field-pointed bolts.

You can hand-cock a crossbow, but doing so has several disadvantages. The most serious is the potential for losing control of the string in mid-pull, causing the functional equivalent of a dry fire. You also risk injury to your fingers – not to mention your elbow, shoulder, and back joints – trying to cock a bow with a draw weight of 150 pounds or more. Finally, cocking a bow by hand almost always results in the string being twisted or shifted slightly left or right. A shift of 1/8 inch can change the arrow's point of impact by several inches.

It's far better to use a mechanical cocking aid. The simplest of these is a rope with two sets of hooks and pulleys. The hooks engage the bowstring, sliding equally on either side of the barrel to prevent misalignment. The pulleys reduce the stress of pulling back the bowstring by half, sparing fingers and joints. These factors also dramatically reduce the chance of losing control of the string, making it a smart move all around.

Cranks and other mechanical cocking aids reduce the strength needed to cock crossbows even more. However, a cocking rope is less expensive, quieter, quicker, and easy enough for most archers to use. There is a widespread misconception that crossbows will kill deer at longer distances than vertical bows. Don't believe it.

Crossbows have no greater range than vertical compound bows. Arrows and bolts both travel at roughly one-tenth the speed of bullets. Because of this, a walking deer 40 yards from the shooter can move several inches between pulling the trigger and when the bolt reaches the target. Furthermore, bolts start losing speed the moment they leave the bow, and that means that they are falling faster, relative to their forward motion, the farther they travel. A miscalculation of 5 yards in target distance can result in a serious difference in the bolt's point of impact. This is true for both crossbows and vertical bows.

The bottom line for crossbow users is the same as for vertical bow: to ensure clean kills, keep your shots inside 30 yards. The number of archers using crossbows has increased steadily since legalization. If you decide to take up crossbow hunting, start now researching equipment options so you have plenty of time to sharpen your skills before archery season. Sept. 15 will be here before you know it!

Jim Low

(Top) Scopes with illuminated reticles help when hunting in low-light conditions. (Photo: Jim Low)

(Left) Fixed-blade broadheads have wide enough cutting diameters to produce quick kills. Keep them safely inside a hard quiver when not in use. (Photo: Jim Low)

BOWHUNTER EDUCATION

After deciding to take up crossbow hunting, the first thing I did was to take a free bowhunter education course offered by the Conservation Department. I had been away from the sport for several years and figured a refresher course it couldn't hurt.

It turned out to be a great idea. In addition to bowhunting basics, the instructors had a wealth of personal experience to draw on and were up to date on the latest innovations in equipment. I was especially glad for tips on crossbow safety, and the field exercise in blood trailing allowed me to watch and learn from other participants, who ranged from inexperienced but eager youngsters to old hands.

One of the latter was an archery pro-shop owner. During breaks and after class, I picked his brain about crossbow features and performance. Bowhunter Education isn't mandatory in Missouri, but I can't imagine a better way to start a bow/crossbow hunting career.