Most reliable crossbow on the market under $1000

1919 Views 14 Replies 7 Participants Last post by Josh03, Jan 10, 2020

Josh03

Discussion Starter · Jan 9, 2020

Okay, I’ve been tracking a 180 point buck since I heard him the 2nd to last day of shotgun season. The same day a guy from New York got eyes on him but missed. I found some of his scrapes/tracks and scat and tried tracking down his movements. I’ve found the bedding area’s nearby and there’s food sources all over the place. I then bought a Wicked Ridge Invader x4 to continue hunting him after gun season. I picked up a bunch of arrows, got it sighted in and I was happy with the Evo-X CenterPunch arrows with 150 grain Excalibur Boltcutter broadheads. They was flying perfect up to 45 yards from an elevated position. I took the bow out the first day for 2-3 hours and never found him, the second day I was out the limb splintered on me before 9 am. After being unable to get the bow fixed anytime soon with the season winding down I sent it back. So now I’ve got a bunch of Omni Nock / Alpha Nock arrows with no bow. Down to the point, what is the best bow under a grand that I could use these nocks on? What is the most reliable crossbow out there? I don’t care about having the biggest fastest bow on the market, just something that won’t let me down.

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Firehunter

· #2 · Jan 9, 2020

Josh03 said:
Okay, I’ve been tracking a 180 point buck since I heard him the 2nd to last day of shotgun season. The same day a guy from New York got eyes on him but missed. I found some of his scrapes/tracks and scat and tried tracking down his movements. I’ve found the bedding area’s nearby and there’s food sources all over the place. I then bought a Wicked Ridge Invader x4 to continue hunting him after gun season. I picked up a bunch of arrows, got it sighted in and I was happy with the Evo-X CenterPunch arrows with 150 grain Excalibur Boltcutter broadheads. They was flying perfect up to 45 yards from an elevated position. I took the bow out the first day for 2-3 hours and never found him, the second day I was out the limb splintered on me before 9 am. After being unable to get the bow fixed anytime soon with the season winding down I sent it back. So now I’ve got a bunch of Omni Nock / Alpha Nock arrows with no bow. Down to the point, what is the best bow under a grand that I could use these nocks on? What is the most reliable crossbow out there? I don’t care about having the biggest fastest bow on the market, just something that won’t let me down.

That's a lot of points!!! Good Luck!!

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jan 9, 2020

Firehunter said:
That's a lot of points!!! Good Luck!!

I’m not great with the terminology. Is it a 180 class buck? I only heard him scraping, the New York hunter said how big he actually was. You could hear that big boy thrashing around ontop of the hill though. Once I got up there was trees broke in half and a lot of scrapes.

gingerjake

· #4 · Jan 9, 2020

Josh... You are welcome to borrow my Barnett Wildcat C5. It took the 10 point on the left 9 years ago and is still putting them down fairly regular. Three does and two bucks this season. Quiver bracket broke off years ago, but there are three 19" Spynal Tapps from South Shore Archery armed with 125 gr Ramcats ready to go.

You don't even have to hand-cock it.

Reactions: 4

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jan 9, 2020

gingerjake said:
Josh... You are welcome to borrow my Barnett Wildcat C5. It took the 10 point on the left 9 years ago and is still putting them down fairly regular. Three does and two bucks this season. Quiver bracket broke off years ago, but there are three 19" Spynal Tapps from South Shore Archery armed with 125 gr Ramcats ready to go. You don't even have to hand-cock it.

That’s a good looking buck you got there. I’ve been looking into some Barnett’s, not having to hand cock it is a pretty sweet bonus. I had the Accudraw 50 on mine. I’ve had a tough year, normal hunting spots just aren’t as active.

gingerjake

· #6 · Jan 9, 2020

Josh03 said:
That’s a good looking buck you got there. I’ve been looking into some Barnett’s, not having to hand cock it is a pretty sweet bonus. I had the Accudraw 50 on mine. I’ve had a tough year, normal hunting spots just aren’t as active.

If you are a meat hunter, come down to suburban Maryland and help with the "crowd control". I've been shooting for five years and they still keep coming. Three does and two bucks (one 8-point) out of backyards this season. Going for 1/2 dozen tomorrow. Lots of hungry folks this time of year deciding on "heat" or "meat".

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jan 9, 2020

Yeah where I’m from everybody eats deer meat. People get excited when you talk about bringing them some but the public lands around here get a lot of out of town traffic. I’ve seen plates from about a dozen different states this year alone including a Maryland. I’ve had shots at three doe but they wasn’t clean enough for me to take but as soon as I leave the woods I see 5 or 6 in a field and almost hit a couple more on the drive home. Got to get a new X-bow and get back out in the woods.

rockrollnload

· #8 · Jan 9, 2020

Should be a bunch of good used ones hit the classifieds after today. (ATA)

KX500

· #9 · Jan 9, 2020

I think you'd be going backwards in reliability going from something made by 10 Point to a Barnett.

You bought a really nice crossbow from a well known & respected manufacturer. But stuff still happens. I would think what happened to you would be pretty rare but I also realize that from your perspective, it happened 100% of the time!

If it were me, I'd just get a backup crossbow - I'd say most members here have more than one crossbow, ready to go at any time.

My backup crossbow isn't nearly as nice as my primary bow, but it'll work if something bad really happens.

I know that I could buy the most realiable crossbow in the world & still find a way to break it. The only cure I can think of is a backup bow.

Reactions: 1

robertyb

· #10 · Jan 9, 2020

The new Swat from KI is now out and showing $999 with crank included. I would bet they will be a little less than that online in a few days. Take a look at it.

Reactions: 2

gingerjake

· #11 · Jan 9, 2020

Josh03 said:
I’m not great with the terminology. Is it a 180 class buck?

Class or inch is fine; we all know what you mean.

A 15 foot long WT would be quite a trophy (180"/12")

.

Reactions: 1

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #12 · Jan 9, 2020

Oh I know TenPoint is a great bow and it wasn’t their fault the Wicked Ridge broke so quickly. I am blaming the store I got it from, it was a floor model but I didn’t know it until I picked it up. I’m guessing random people mishandled it before I ever bought it. I ended up buying the new Wicked Ridge Invader 400 from Wyvern Creations. Also, a back up bow would be great but it’ll have to wait, don’t have that kind of money to blow on a second bow this season. I know TenPoint is switching over to the Alpha Nock, anyone know if I could still use my Omni Nocks on this new Invader 400?

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #13 · Jan 9, 2020

gingerjake said:
Class or inch is fine; we all know what you mean. A 15 foot long WT would be quite a trophy (180"/12").

Thank you, Lol that would be hard to mount on the wall. I might have to build the house around that one.

trailcamguy

· #14 · Jan 10, 2020

This might answer your question about the nock requirement.
See Description
https://www.tenpointcrossbows.com/product/alpha-nock/

Josh03

Discussion Starter · #15 · Jan 10, 2020

Yeah I see that now. Thank you. I got replacement Alpha nocks for my Carbons & the Evo-X arrows. I just had a pack of the Easton 2219s with the Omni Nocks but looks like I’ll be giving them away.

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