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Small game with crossbow possible, I miss my high dollar air rifles.

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5.9K views 4 replies 5 participants last post by  buildingandrenovations  
J
#1 ·
Ok well i sold my high dollar PCP air rifles because hunting with them was limited. love the non gunpowder and noise but i could not hunt turkey legally with them. I am curious if anybody has a good idea for a low powered accurate xbow for hunting squirrels rabbits, quail and other small items. My xb360 seems like over kill. I shot at a pheasant this fall with a broadhead and lost the entire arrow in the process which cost me like $30 per that shot. OUCH !!!! I really wanted my airguns for this reason, I really do not want to go back and buy the gear if there is some xbow that I can use to get the job done. I kind of wanted to switch over to bow hunting completely versus swapping from small game to big game using a rifle then a bow. The thought of using a crossbow for everything seems nice but the reality of loosing expensive arrows ruins the experience.

One thought for squirrel hunting is to try to get them on the ground with and electronic caller and movable automated rabbit or fake squirrel tail mover. How are you guys small game hunting if at all?

In the end I want to use an xbow for all types of hunting and year around fun. Heck even ground squirrels would be fun but then again the cost of loosing an arrow kills the enjoyment.
 
U
#2 ·
There are lots of cheap, low poundage bows that you can buy, but you might not actually need a different bow.

One thing that springs to mind - do you use lit nocks? If not, that might be something worth considering to assist in finding arrows. The downside is that they are quite expensive, so if you did still loose an arrow, it would be even more frustrating!

Are you aware that Mission are one of the few manufacturers who's bows can be safely adjusted for weight? Your bow has a peak weight of 160lbs, but it can be adjusted down to 100lbs - at that point, the velocity is only 271fps (using the same arrow weight that achieves 360fps at 160lbs). Your arrows won't penetrate as much, and won't fly so far. Mission suggest that the best weight settings for the bow are 160lbs (limb bolts all the way in), 125lbs (unscrew the limb bolts five turns from all the way in) and 100lbs (unscrew 8.5 turns from all the way in).

There are some small game points available - working more from shock than penetration - that will also assist in stopping your arrows from going too far.

I would try something like the G5 small game head.....

Image


.....with your bow turned down to 100lbs.
 
#3 ·
#5 ·
i and others i know have been useing cheep mk 150 3a crossbow for small game with juido points and 0ne guy uses wood arrows made from 5/16 hardwood dowels he has ever killed a deer with one with a home made steel broadhead i have used them for squrrels they very cheep to make i use two 5/16 nuts screwed on the shaft and glued in place for a point wood is not super acurete the wood tends to vary in weaght about 50 - 75 cents each you can also use old or broken carbon v bow arrows cut down
 
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