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Crossbow

I know a lot of guys love them for their simplicity and maintenance. I have shot them and they are accurate but they do start to lose some a$$ and accuracy out past 35 yards from my experience. So I think it is a tradeoff would you rather have the simplicity and easy maintenance with less power or would you rather have more power but need a press etc. for repairs.
 
I have to use a crossbow only now. Can no longer hold back or on a vertical compound bow. I shot one the other day for the first time in two years. Took about 15 shots and elbows and shoulders hurt all day long afterwards.
 
I have an older Parker compound crossbow that was my Dads but I switched to a Excalibur a few years ago and love it. Easy to handle, shoots great and provides me all that I need.
 
I got an Excalibur for the wife/daughter to use purely for the simplicity. I bought a couple of extra strings and an extra set of limbs (~$130) and I can change it all out myself in a matter of minutes. Mine shoots ~345fps but some of the newer models are much faster. They are a little wider and clumsier going thru the woods, but I like the simplicity.
 
Currently shooting an Excalibur Mag340 and really like it. The ease of maintenance is was a big selling point for me. I can have the string changed out in 5-10 minutes if needed. Speed wise, it's more than adequate. It's shooting a 460 gr arrow/bolt at 302 fps through my chrono. If I dropped arrow weight down to 400 gr, it's shooting in the 325-330 fps range. Excalibur does make a few models shooting 400 fps+ now but you're also going to pay a good bit more for those. Accuracy wise, grouping out to 40 yards is really good especially considering that I'm currently using they're Dead-zone scope that came as part of a package deal. Not the best scope on the market and it will be replaced before next season.
 
I own and hunted with them both.
Excalibur:
Pro: light, easy to shoot and can decock it and do all the maintenance myself.
Con: loud and wide, made it hard to move through the thicket easy.
Compound crossbow PSE:
Pro: shoot great and quiet and able to move through the thicket easy.
Con: heavy, can't decock it with out shooting it, and can't do work on it myself.

So ask yourself this: How are you going to hunt? Ground blind and tree stand or on the ground and walking some. My two cents is, compound crossbow for tree stand and blind are easier to move with and be able to chocolate chip cookie easily. That is not saying that you can't do it with a recurve crossbow, I just found it easier.
 
I have an Excalibur matrix 355 with Hawke scope, also I put a single stage Trigger Tech trigger in it. Absolutely love the setup. Probably had this setup for 7-10yrs. Cant remember when I bought the crossbow got it from Wyvern Creations.
 

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