The advantage of the crossbow

[BT]

I don't see crossbows as having any advantage at all and personally I wouldn't want to be limited to having to use one.

Think about this...

If you miss , what are the chances of re-loading and getting off a second shot ;D

If you have to walk it to a stand you are lugging something that is about as awkward as a Iron lawn chair

Still hunting ...best of luck to you ....refer to the above

Sitting on a stand...where do you put this thing?
I like to have my bow in hand at all times and for me to try and imagine having the equivalent of a small child sitting across my leg all day is burdensome at best.

Oh...I almost forgot ...I have to cock this rig
That pulley rope all balled up in my coat pocket doesn't seem the most practical thing since there are two big solid rubber handles and two solid hooks with which to make me aware of their presents

I never have figured out a great place for these things cause you know how rope is...ball it up and it is re-turned from the pocket with a knot or ten

A cocker might be the solution if I wanted to add another 1 - 1 1/2# to the rig that already outweighs my tool box back home but I think not

Well , at least once it is cocked , I can have the fun of trying to find a broadhead to shoot out of this rig right?!

I could make it real easy and go with an expandable but for some states that isn't legal so here I go , in search of a head that will fly well @ 320+fps from a rig that has about 85% less tuning options than my recurve

Does it get any better than this !!! ;D

Hmmmm.....Maybe we should out law these things since they have so many un-fair advantages ;D ;D

[shaman]

Crossbows are Single Shot Firearms using Stored Energy Limbs instead of gunpowder.

Want me to list the advantages?
or I did a fun presentation one time in powerpoint if you want me to link it.
CrossGun vs Bow

[BT]

Sure !......I love this stuff.

[shaman]

See the links.
Comments welcome.
Not trying to stir debate, I did it for someone else.

[BT]

First of all....

ALWAYS stir debate !

Debate is how we learn ... but only if we listen as well as talk and are willing to conceed if proven wrong.

Debate is useless when you are hot headed or closed minded.
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Lets start here :

- Many people will state, and perhaps some today will as well, that the Compound bow is no different than a stick bow. But I would argue that the compound is the evolution of the traditional bow. Designed to maximize technology, but staying true to all the aspects that make a bow, a ‘bow’.

I couldn't disagree more and I am sure my two traditional Moderators would love to jump in on this one

I will just speak for myself in saying that the Compound has nothing at all in common with the Original Long bow and in fact is far closer to being a close relative to the Modern Crossbow.

The compound and crossbow both aid the archer who uses it in the fact that draw can be held by the mechanics of the bow.

It is the Mechanics that you are arguing here or only diffrent in as much as one performs it's feat by reducing held weight to 99% (or less) and the Crossbow that holds 100%

The only diffrence at this point is that the compound has the ability to be drawn without aid and the crossbow requires aid.
( for most people anyway )

This fact alone make the Compound a far easier to use tool.

-If gunpowder was in use as a weapon propellant at the time the crossbow was designed, I believe it would have been put to use and the cross *BOW* would never have existed. The crossbow exist now as a re-invention having been out of favor with hunters for centuries as the firearm did the bulk of its work. It has come back more recently as an ‘alternative’ to the firearm, and as something that adds novelty to the use of a shoulder mounted weapon.

In fact , the cross bow and long bow never went out of style in europe.
It was in the united states that the bow was re-visited.

In France the crossbow was dropped as a weapon after the Longbow prevailed as the defender of england but it still remained a hunting tool at that time.

Even after the advent of gun powder both bows were used in sport and continue to be till this day.

Keep in mind that America is at the bottom of the food chain in it's use of archery in any form and it is necessary to go abroad in your search for the real answers to these type of questions.

-I ask you, lets not allow the crossbow.. What is essentially a reflex technology firearm with all its advantages take away from the exclusivity of the modern archery season. Crossbow hunting is not archery. Allow for crossbow hunting, no one here is against that. But lets instead suggest it be allowed during firearm season, where perhaps it rightfully belong.

Undoubtedly you were not yet born or were not hunting with a bow (no disrespect intended...just trying to pre-explain) when the compound was introduced.

There was a bigger uproar over the compound than anything concerning the crossbow today

The compound offered none of the challenges of the long bow/Recurve and extended ranges to double that of the true bows.

I can easily prove this fact out today by taking someone who has never shot a bow and introducing them to both.

Within 30 mins to an hour I can generally get that person to hit the 8" plate 6 for 6 arrows @ 30 yards.

With the recurve I can generally get a person to hit 1 or 2 of 6 @ 10 yrds.

I am a teacher so I know how to instruct....yet I would never be able to teach a person to shoot 30 yards with a recurve in the same month , much less a day.

There are exceptions (I am told) but I haven't met them.

To suggest that a crossbow which might have a top effective range of 50 yards (might) compete with guns at 500 + yrds. is a bit much IMO

[vonottoexperience]

www.thebeckoning.com/medieval/crossbow/cross_l_v_c.html I dont see a problem with them, both have there +'s and -'s.

[shaman]

admin said:

Undoubtedly you were not yet born or were not hunting with a bow (no disrespect intended...just trying to pre-explain) when the compound was introduced.

Everything else aside, I hate Age-ism.
Is a mechanic for a modern car less capable or knowledgable about automobile discussions than someone born in the 1800s who saw Henry Fords first car?

[shaman]

admin said:

To suggest that a crossbow which might have a top effective range of 50 yards (might) compete with guns at 500 + yrds. is a bit much IMO

Reread my presentation.
I never suggested that crossbows compete with guns.
I did not discuss the physical limitations of any of the items in terms of range or effectiveness.

What I said was that biomechanically the crossbow is utilized by the shooter in many ways more similar with a firearm than a bow. And as such, the proper place for Crossbows are in the firearm season.

[BT]

shaman said:

admin said:

Undoubtedly you were not yet born or were not hunting with a bow (no disrespect intended...just trying to pre-explain) when the compound was introduced.

Everything else aside, I hate Age-ism.
Is a mechanic for a modern car less capable or knowledgeable about automobile discussions than someone born in the 1800s who saw Henry Fords first car?

YES !....when speaking of Model T's

I deal with it all the time in as much as people who do not know how to fix something because they have never seen it.

Same thing happens to me.

That is where the saying came from....listen to your elders

Doesn't mean they are always right...just means that they have seen alot more and by listening , perhaps you/I/anyone can learn faster by their mistakes or successes.

As I said....no disrespect intended but in reading your observation it seemed to me that you were unaware or forgot about the wars that took place over the compound bow.

My pointing this possible fact out (as it pertains to youth/inexsperience ) is so that , if indeed you were too young or not involved at that time , you would have the advantage of looking into something that you may not have known.

I am not a punch you in the face kind of guy my friend so don't look for a whole lot of it from me

If I say something that seems questionable pertaining to self , you can be assured that I did not mean it the way you are taking it.

If I do mean it , there will be no doubt about it

[BT]

shaman said:

admin said:

To suggest that a crossbow which might have a top effective range of 50 yards (might) compete with guns at 500 + yrds. is a bit much IMO

Reread my presentation.
I never suggested that crossbows compete with guns.
I did not discuss the physical limitations of any of the items in terms of range or effectiveness.

What I said was that biomechanically the crossbow is utilized by the shooter in many ways more similar with a firearm than a bow. And as such, the proper place for Crossbows are in the firearm season.

I read it fine the first time and was suggesting that it would be no more fair to put a crossbow hunter among gun hunters than some would see it to be unfair to put those same crossbowyers among traditional bowyers.