Crossbow Hunting: Regulations, Safety, How To Shoot & Beginner Models

Crossbow hunting is very easy, extremely fast, and fatally effective!

Professional hunters also prefer crossbow as it requires less energy for shooting and your complete focus remains towards the Aim.

Also, if you are a new hunter and you only know the basics of archery it’s easier to shoot accurately using a crossbow.

So, if you want to get started with the crossbow, it’s a perfect choice…

Why Crossbow Hunting Over Other Bows?

Shooting with a crossbow requires less strength and energy to shoot the projectiles (called bolts or quarrels) with the trigger. Loading the bolts can still require some effort, but many modern designs include mechanism to reduce the draw weight. We discussed the best cheap crossbow options here.

It’s just like shooting with a long gun where the trigger is built into the bow frame (tiller).

And using the trigger for shooting also helps reduce inaccuracy, relative to drawing and holding a bowstring, which can have an impact on your focus and shooting point.

With telescopic sight attached to crossbow, even beginners can shoot a bull’s eye in their first attempt.

The biggest advantage is that you don’t have to pull the arrow or bolt when you are sighting your target, you usually pre-load the bolt and then simply take aim and pull the trigger once your target has been spotted.

This contrasts with other recurve bows which required you to draw and hold the arrow using your raw strength. Compound bows require a similar application of force when preparing to shoot, but do include let-off mechanisms to reduce the draw weight burden.

This is a big reason that crossbows are preferred by a significant part of the community.

The design of the crossbow also allows for massive speed and kinetic energy to be applied to the bolt whilst still retaining a high degree of accuracy. It’s not uncommon for crossbows to shoot bolts in excess of 400FPS. That’s serious firepower! Check out some of the incredibly fast crossbows from Excalibur.

2 Disadvantages of Using A Crossbow:

1: Slow Reloading

The first problem with crossbows is that they reload very slow and you can’t shoot another bolt quickly like a compound bow or recurve bow.

In reality, this doesn’t make a massive difference on a hunt. Unless you are incredibly talented or incredibly lucky, its very difficult to get a second shot off at your target with any degree of accuracy before they have bolted to safety.

If you are willing to invest a reasonably substantial sum, there are crossbow models that have designed ways around this problem. Repeating crossbows can shoot multiple shots in rapid succession, but are notoriously inaccurate.

Excalibur Crossbows have also come up with the Twinstrike crossbow. This bad boy features four limbs, two strings, two rails and two triggers, allowing you to shoot a second shot milliseconds after the first, with only a slight reduction in accuracy from your first shot as a result of the recoil. It’s basically two crossbows in one!

2: Weight

Compared to recurve bows in particular, but also compound bows, crossbows are reasonably heavy.

Recurve bows set up as a bare bow can be as lights as 2 pounds and compound bows, which are typically kitted out with more tech, usually weigh between 3 to 5 pounds. Crossbows usually weigh 6-7 pounds without any attachments and can be 8 to even 10 pounds when fully accessorized. This can make all the difference on a long hunting trip in the field.

Especially if you’ve been using lightweight compound bows or recurve bows then it can feel like a lot at the start. But with some training and practice, you’ll get used to the weight differential and come to love the serious power that crossbows offer!

3: Lacks A Traditional Feel

Many bowhunters love the traditional feel of a using a bow to stalk their prey. Hunter against prey. Man vs nature on an even playing field.

Although the goal is to hunt and kill the target, there is often a high degree of respect held by the hunter towards their prey. Meeting them in a battle of wits and physical prowess can be extremely exhilarating and makes a successful hunt all the more rewarding.

This has lead to large community of traditional bow and bare bow hunters that typically use recurve bows with little or no accessories, meaning the hunt comes down to raw skill, strength and capability.

Relative to recurve bows, crossbows don’t have that same appeal and are much more like shooting a rifle than shooting a bow.

If you’re really looking for that traditional feel, I’d suggest you look for a quality recurve bow for hunting.

If you’re experience with firearms and looking to try out bow hunting, then crossbows are the perfect entry point. They are also fantastic if you are just beginning with hunting and still learning to track your prey, move with a high degree of stealth, find great vantage points and become more adept at general hunting skills, then crossbows are also a great starting point as they can be much more forgiving than other bow types.

Crossbow Hunting Regulations For All US States

Within every state the regulations of hunting with a crossbow are different and you can get yourself into trouble if you are not following the laws of the state.

In the beginning, crossbows were only allowed to disabled people but now many state regulations have allowed the majority of people to use it.

Find your State and Click on it for Viewing the Crossbow Regulations.

Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maine Maryland MASSACHUSETTS Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota OHIO Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

 

7 Common Crossbow Regulations You Should Know

1: You should only use the crossbow with licenses and a minimum age of 14 years.

2: You should not travel with a cocked crossbow in a vehicle.

3: You should not bring the crossbow to a place where it’s clearly not allowed

4: You should not carry the crossbow to a place where deer or bear lives unless it’s packed in a bag.

5: Your crossbow minimum limb width should be 17 inches and should weigh a minimum of 100 pounds.

6: You should only use the crossbow for hunting during open seasons and open season differs from state to state and it’s your duty to confirm the regulations first before hunting.

7: If you are below the age of 16, you can hunt with a crossbow but with a valid junior license in your possession.

 

9 Important Crossbow Safety Rules:

1: Always let your family and friends know about your location, where you are going to hunt.

2: Don’t ever carry a cocked crossbow in your vehicle or possession, always treat it like a loaded gun even if it’s cocked without bolt or arrow in it.

3: Place your arrows, quivers, or bolts in a quiver instead of holding them or putting on the ground.

4: Never do the mistake of dry firing (Without arrow) the crossbow.

5: Don’t un-cock the crossbow using your hand and always shoot it in a safe direction when you are uncocking your crossbow.

6: Always place your fingers below the rail of a cocked crossbow.

7: If you are using the tree stand – cock your crossbow before climbing the tree stand.

8: While shooting, make sure none of your fingers are lying between the bowstring.

9: Never let your crossbow cocked for a long period of time.

If you are a beginner, Make sure that you know the basic archery safety rules.

Top-Rated Crossbows For Beginners:

Based on the user reviews and user experiences, here are the top 3 crossbows you can buy from Amazon if you are looking to buy one for yourself…

Barnett TS380 Package:

The Barnett TS380 is one of the best crossbows for beginners.

The complete package including 1 x 4-bolt quiver, 2 x carbon bolts, a premium 4x zoom 32mm diameter multi-reticle scope, crank cocking device and string wax. It is manufactured by one of the best, Barnett.

It is very easy to assemble and use, even as a new user, just follow the instructions in the manual and you should have no troubles.

What’s awesome about this crossbow is that it comes with a crank cocking device, making the draw much easier for beginners as significantly less pressure needs to be applied.

I really like its design and durable lightweight body, if you are just starting out with crossbow hunting I suggest you go for this package.

Center Point Sniper 370:

Center point sniper is the best crossbow I have used in terms of accuracy and speed.

It requires some experience to make it operate perfectly but if you continue to use this crossbow, you should get the required accuracy for hunting after 100-150 backyard practice shots.

Setting up this crossbow is fairly easy, and the included optic is good as well. To be honest, the included bolts along with this crossbow are not of the best quality for hunting deer but still good for practicing. You will need new bolts before hunting animals.

The price of this crossbow is very good when compared with others in terms of accuracy and speed of shooting, so it’s definitely a steal offer.

Check out our other crossbow reviews: 

• Excalibur crossbows
• Horton Storm RDX
• PSE Fang
• Barnett Predator
• Barnett Wildcat C5
• Barnett Whitetail Pro
• Barnett Ghost

How to Shoot A Crossbow?

1: If you are a beginner at using crossbows, I suggest you read the instructions booklet that came with your crossbow for assembling the bow.

2: Now, You have to cock the crossbow by putting the front side down and place your foot at the front side of the bow. Pull the rope gently until it clicks.

3: After cocking, new crossbows like Barnett will automatically set itself to the safety mode (where it doesn’t shoot bolts).

4: If you are using the Barnett bolts, there will be 2 colors at the back i.e.: green and white, you have to put the white side down in the rail area of the arrow on your crossbow for better accuracy.

5: Now move your favorite broadhead or field tip bolt all the way back to your string for fixing it to make it ready for the shooting.

6: Now your crossbow is ready for shooting the bolt, make sure it’s not facing anyone, and your shooting area is marked. Now you can change its mode from safety to shooting.

7: Aim down the sight or through your scope at your target and get ready to pull the trigger. Depending on the distance you are shooting, you may need to adjust your sight. Learn how to adjust your cross sight here.

8: A last thought for the safety of yourself and others, then pull the trigger and let your bolt fly!

Further reading: You can’t use a crossbow without projectiles! Check out our review of the best crossbow bolts

Final Words on Crossbow Hunting:

To get started with the crossbow hunting, you just need to know the basic rules of archery because operating the crossbow is very easy as it’s like a shotgun or rifle.

Before starting hunting with a crossbow, make sure you are following the area regulations and read the safety rules and precautions mentioned here, it’s very important…

Also, when you are a beginner I suggest using the focus accessories including crossbow scopes, bow stands (monopods) for learning and accuracy.

Last but not least, you should shoot a minimum of 150 practice shots on the target before going out for hunting. It will also help you in understanding the complete operation of your crossbow and definitely will help in improving the accuracy.

What’s your unique technique of hunting with the crossbow? I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!