Publics view of Crossbows

[preventec47]

I am a member of the public as I have never shot or been around crossbows and
here is what I think as en engineer who shot bows and arrows as a kid at camp
and having applied some hopefully reasonable logic.
Someday I would like to try them out but here is what I expect.

1.The most powerful  Crossbows must be more powerful than regular bows.  I say this
because there are cranks to pull em back and once back they dont have to be held
by human strength.

2. People using them must be a lot more accurate than the compound guys
as they aim like guns using sights meaning you dont have to preactice like with
regular bows that force you to sort of shoot from the hip without aiming with sights.
Also I figure aiming is much better as you are not straining your guts out while you
are aiming.

3. Since being more powerful and accurate the probability of success is much greater
and the job difficulty being much less.

So If I was going to hunt in a bow only season and they allowed crossbows I would
want to use maximum advantage and use a  crossbow.

I plan to read and learn a lot here but I thought I would pass my  initial perceptions
along in case many oldtimers no longer can understand outsiders thinking.

Is there anything like archery ranges where people can go and shoot crossbows ?
What about crossbow accuracy competitions ?   I'd love to go see one of those.

Thanks,

[rickyp]

Welcome to G.B
I have been shooting vertical bows most of my life and just starting using a crossbow in the past year due to shoulder injures
Let me take some time to correct you post.

1.The most powerful  Crossbows must be more powerful than regular bows.  I say this
because there are cranks to pull em back and once back they dont have to be held
by human strength.

A crossbow is no more powerful then a vertical bow, they use a shorter power stroke (draw) then a vertical bow.  To achieve something close to the same power levels  crossbows have to use a higher pound draw weight. if you take a 150 LB crossbow and divide the draw weight in half you will be around what a 75 Lb vertical bow is performance wise. The cranks make it easy to draw back the higher poundage and are a god sent for people with injuries and smaller people.

2. People using them must be a lot more accurate than the compound guys
as they aim like guns using sights meaning you dont have to preactice like with
regular bows that force you to sort of shoot from the hip without aiming with sights.
Also I figure aiming is much better as you are not straining your guts out while you
are aiming.

The only thing a crossbow and a firearm have in common is that you put both of them to your shoulder. you must practice with them regularly to stay proficient.You still should bend at the hips to aim a crossbow. ALL crossbows are front heavy and you will have to strain to keep it up and steady. BTW the sights are not that much different between a crossbow and a vertical bow. My crossbow has a "scope" on it but still used 3 lines for different distances just as a vertical bow has pins.

3. Since being more powerful and accurate the probability of success is much greater
and the job difficulty being much less.

This is not correct, the crossbows are no more powerful then vertical bows, they shoot to about the same point at the same distance. Going from a 60 LB compound bow to a 175 lb crossbow I only gained about 10 yards of "hunting distance" I would get the same if I shot an high end 80 lb bow.
It is not easy to hunt with a crossbow. If you are hunting from a tree stand you cut your shooting positions in half you are restricted due to the horizontal limbs taking so much space. the wide front makes it easy to an animal to spot you moving into shooting position. you must still judge the distance correctly pick the right  sighting line and hold over or under for the distance.

Crossbows shoot a little faster then vertical bows only because they use a shorter and lighter arrow! I am shooting a 20"2219 arrow weighting 430 grs with 100 gr tip If I was shooting a full arrow I would be well under what most verticals will shoot. It is a trade off we gain some speed but loose energy.

A crossbow is really nothing more then a small bow attached to a shoulder stock.

[awshucks]

Welcome Preventec!  RickyP pretty well said it all.  Actually, the competition scores show an advantage to verticle compounds and in every state that keeps track, the harvest stats for the two choices are nearly identical.

[Cossack2]

In addition to what has already been said, crossbows are much noisier than vertical bows and it takes considerable motion, if not effort, to cock them so chances of a second shot (which happens quite often with verts) is unlikely at best. Some folks accurately shoot verts out to 70 yards.... at game. I wouldn't think of doing so with either of my x bows. Both because of the noise and the 20" bolts tend not to fly as accurately at longer distances as the 30-something inch arrows. I shoot a crossbow becasue it enables me to pursue a passion I was no longer able to due to two compromised shoulders. I practice every day weather permitting and feel confident taking shots out to thirty yards. If that's a perceived  advantage I'm missing it.