Wanted: Crossbow for my pop

[2BHNTN]

My Dad had shoulder surgery this year and is unable to pull a bow back. He is considering a crossbow. I have seen a few come across the buy-sell-trade forum in the past but none recently. Anybody have one for sale ?

[coyotewhacker]

2B...if you can get to Springfield and the BPS return store, they had a big stack of them, mostly Hortons. I believe they were in the $200 - $250 range. You can't do much better than that on a used crossbow, and these are factory refurbished with a full warranty. They also had three or four behind the first glass counter as you walk in. I didn't recognize what they were, but most likely were also Hortons. I shoot a Legend II with a 175 lb compound prod, and it is deadly out past 40 yards with the pin sight. Add a crossbow scope (they have a bunch of them in the front counter, too) and you can shoot accurately out to almost 60 yards with some practice. The one drawback I have found with the crossbow is the amount of noise it make when shooting, but the arrow is so fast it almost doesn't matter.
Hope your dad finds one that will suit him. It is not easy to pull a 175 lb bow to the cocked position, but with the right "timing" it can be done, even with recent shoulder surgery. There are also a couple of aids to help cock the bow if you can't do it without assistance. One is a small pulley deal that doesn't cost much. The other is a crank that attaches to the stock and uses leverage to pull back the bow string. Those are not cheap! The return store has some of them on a shelf across from the game calls.

[2BHNTN]

Good information CW, your alright sir. Dad lives in Florida and this will a sight unseen deal. I may make the the trip to springfield for over the next couple weeks and have it here when he arrives sometime in October. Thanks

[coyotewhacker]

I don't know your dad's age, but if he is in the "thinking about retirement" bracket, his eyes are probably starting to be less than 20/20. I would highly recommend putting a scope on the crossbow just to let him have a good sight picture. I used the original single pin sight that came with it, then went to a red dot that was good, but was a bit of a hassle to turn it on when a deer approached, and finally settled on a Horton 4x32 scope with the ranging reticle built in. It had a problem over the winter, Horton sent me a new one, no questions asked. They make a good product and back it up. Oh yeah....a crossbow needs a couple of things a compound bow does not. Make sure you get some type of "rail lube"....the factory stuff is a thick, clear gel that is spread along the top of the rail that the bolt rests on. Not only does it lubricate and protect the string from friction, but gives you the full potential speed of the bolt. A crossbolt quiver is optional. I have one on mine, but usually remove it at the stand. If your dad will be shooting out of a stand with some type of rail, the quiver would probably get in his way. Finally....you may have to do some extensive testing to find the right broadhead. The bolts are shorter than a regular arrow and big blade broadheads often don't fly straight. I settled on PSE Brute mechanicals and 100 grain low profile fixed blades. If you have any more questions, just shoot me a PM.
Be glad to try to help if I can. The main thing to remember is that once that crossbow is cocked and has an arrow in the track, it is just as deadly as any rifle made. Trigger sears have been known to fail, safties get nudged to "off", etc. It's not like sitting up in the stand with an arrow resting in your compound. Make sure your dad keeps that arrow pointed away from any part of his body (or yours).
Whatever you do, don't be tempted to buy some no name crossbow from Taiwan or China. They are cheap, and you get less than you pay for. Horton, Barnett,Excalibur,Parker...
all are good solid bows built to last and to perform like a quality product should perform. Good luck.

[2BHNTN]

CW, your the best. This will save me alot of time in the learning curve.

[Bandito]

And since your learning curve is longer than most...
it should save you a whole lot of time, ya short bus riding sissy-boy!

[2BHNTN]

I am not sure if what your describing in reference to learning curve. Sounds like you might want to stroke it a bit. Bend over that bus seat and flip your skirt and you will get all the curve you can handle.

[coyotewhacker]

2B....I was BPS return store this morning and helped a guy buy a Horton crossbow. It had been returned by a man who had a permanent injury on one hand, bought the Xbow last week, and had a wreck this weekend and messed up his other hand. The wife brought the bow back. It was in mint condition, had a quiver and three carbon bolts and had a Horton factory 4x32 crossbow scope mounted on it. Three hundred bucks for the package. I don't know if they have any more crossbows out, but probably do. They do have several in-the-box crossbow scopes in the big glass case up front...sixty bucks, which is about half of retail. They are Barnett brand, but are probably made by the same people that make Horton brand. Back in the archery section, I saw several Horton Xbow quivers, complete with either 4 aluminum bolts or 3 carbon fiber bolts for twenty-five bucks. That is a very good price. The quivers alone normally run close to fifty bucks.

Anyway, hope you can find something that will suit your dad. You're fortunate that he hunts. I got to fish a lot with my old man, but he never hunted. Enjoy this time together while you can. Sounds like you already have a pretty good handle on that department.

While he was trying to decide if he wanted it or not (he was from Virginia) one of the clerks was standing about five feet away with a phone in her ear telling another customer about the bow. Didn't take Virginia guy long to make up his mind after that.

[DuckyDave]

Just be sure he has the proper paperwork to use that thing
Mr Greenjeans gits upset if'n ya aint legal

[2BHNTN]

Got the afidavit for him last night from the MDC and mailing to him for his dr. to approve. Not sure if he will make it for sure. I hope so.

[coyotewhacker]

The rules changed last year on the affidavit...once the Dr. signs off on it, he can carry the signed original in his wallet and show it if a game warden asks for it. Before that you had to send the signed form in and MDC would return a card with your name on it for a "hunting method exemption".

[2BHNTN]

Yep, thanks again CW. You have been very informative. You are a great asset to the team here.