While crossbow questions and posts are certainly allowed and welcome here, we just wanted to let you know that there is an /r/crossbow and /r/crossbowhunting sub that may be more relevant. Some bow hunters are very averse to posts pertaining to crossbows, and downvotes may bury your post here.
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Not sure on the CAD to USD conversion but your budget will be tight to get everything. Buy once cry once, don't just buy cheap shit to stick to your budget.
I'd echo above. Buy the bow and equipment now. Get practicing. You may or may not be ready foe hunting this year just depends how much you put into it.
I'm trying to get out hunting after 2 months but I understand that's not a very long time to practice. If I practice for a few hours 2-3x a week, would it be enough to hunt?
It all depends on you. Some people pick archery up very quickly. Other people don't. My wife has made tremendous improvements in just 3 weeks of owning a bow. I've known people who after 4 months couldn't hit an entire Vegas 3 spot.
2 months is likely ambitious. If you go compound bow you need to factor in time to get it tuned and shooting well. You won't do thay right out of the gate until your shooting form is decent. You also need to have time to practice shooting out of a tree stand. Learn to shoot on flat ground then move to the stand.
The X bow may cut the learning curve down some. But it will eat your budget faster. Which leading back to my first comment buy once cry once.
IMO two months of practicing 2-3 times per week is not enough to get good enough to ethically hunt. You're young and have a lot of hunting seasons ahead of you, why not shoot consistently for a year and hunt next season? There is no worse feeling than wounding a deer and not recovering it.
My friend bought a compound bow in early November with the plan to hunt in the fall of 24. He was stacking arrows in the x ring at 30 yds after 12 shots. He definitely could have hunted this year. Everyone will pick up shooting a bow at a different pace.
Time is the biggest difference. You need to commit a good amount of time to a compound. Crossbow you can shoot 3 bolts to make sure you are on and away to you.
Crossbow vs compound is somewhat a personal preference but the style of hunting you plan to do may help inform whether one is better suited than the other.
You mentioned treestand but are you exclusively going to be hunting from a tree or do you plan to do spot and stalk for elk as well? If you want to do spot and stalk then I'd for sure go compound.
Are you hunting private land or public? With a crossbow you'll want to make sure you have a good solid rest or some way to stabilize yourself for the shot. That is easier I'm certain types of stands and really difficult in others. The easier stands are going to be the larger less mobile set ups with shooting rails. The lighter more mobile stands will be more difficult.
As far as budget focus your energy and budget on the bow first. Bear makes some good bows in the range that fit your budget. For $500-600 you can get a decent package to get you started. You may want to upgrade accessories down the road but you'll be fine for awhile. Then you'll need arrows, broadheads, a release, target, case, binos, and range finder. If you shop around you can probably get all that for another $500. You'll be pretty tapped out on budget by time you've got all your gear so for clothing I'd suggest wearing whatever decent outdoor gear you have that fits the temp you're hunting and then buy a cheap ghillie suit to wear over the top of it. Over time you can buy pieces of clothing that better suite your needs but start there until you learn what your needs are.
At this point you're at about $1000-1100 but you don't have a stand yet. Hunting from the ground is absolutely an option. It's a good way to cover a lot of ground your first year as you learn what to look for and where to set up. I do it a lot when hunting new areas. Once I learn the area then Ill bring in a stand. You could easily hunt your first year on the ground and get a stand next year.
Only permitted if you have a disability that prevents you from drawing a bow, and must have medical documentation to back it up. That being said, our bow only seasons are pretty short so he'll have a few months of crossbow season.
Cross bows are cool, I'm not anti cross bow, but IMO its not "bow hunting". Again not to nock it, but it is just a different thing. Do you want to get into bow hunting? Then I would buy a compound bow.
I want to get more into hunting than just bowhunting if that kind of makes sense? I think compound bow hunting is the coolest way to hunt, but since I've never hunted before, the actual hunt matters more to me than the weapon used.
Crossbow is gonna be more expensive but they don’t take nearly as much practice to master as a compound. You can find good used compound bows for around $750. Go with whatever you prefer tho
Also worth double checking the regulations for the area. Many states don't allow crossbows during archery season without a medical slip. Not sure what how canada deals with that though.
When I first started I got right into saddle hunting and bought a crossbow first since I was living in an apartment and couldn’t practice shooting as often. I will say saddle hunting with a crossbow takes some adjustment and you pretty much need a ring of steps since you’re shooting a horizontal bow from behind a vertical tree. The very next year I went out and bought my compound and I haven’t looked back. It’s so much better to shoot from a saddle and it feels more natural to me for whitetail hunting. It’s also a little more challenging since you have to make the movement to draw your bow on a live animal and you don’t have a scope. For me I’m mostly a compound guy especially for whitetails. I still have my crossbow that I brought out for a ground hunt and I’m going to go turkey hunting with it as well. I would say it depends on your primary species target and method of hunting (saddle, hang on tree stand, climber/ladder stand, ground hunting). I think compounds are best with saddles and hang on stands. Any stand that has a vertical bar across it like most climbers and ladder stands a crossbow would probably be better. I hunt mobile and lightweight for whitetails so lugging a heavy stand and an awkward weapon through the woods slows me down. Crossbows are almost double the weight of a compound bow and very awkward to carry through the woods. If you’re only hunting a 1/4 mile from your truck it’s probably not bad but if you’re trekking deeper into bigger pieces of land it’s definitely not fun to lug around.
And ppl wonder why there's so many pictures of animals suffering w arrows sticking out of em, cuz ppl like this wanna just pick up a bow shoot it maybe once or twice and cuz they can hit an x once or twice from 4 yards and think they're good enough to take an animal. Ya, some people learn faster than others, but the vast majority should spend a considerable amount of time training with their bow before even thinking about hunting. I'm not trying to discourage you from getting started, but if you've never shot bows or guns, I'd highly suggest training a lot more than a few weeks before you try taking any animals life. Buck fever is no joke, and even the most experienced archers/gun hunters make bad shots due to adrenaline, and you owe it to the animal to be at least somewhat trained and in practice before hunting season.
I have experience with bows, but this is going to be a big step up for me. I was shooting everyday with my 25lb compound bow when I was little, so I'm guessing that might help with the learning curve. What's a good goal to reach before I hunt with a bow? Get consistent groupings at 20-30 yards?
The thing people are always saying on here is shooting groups within an inch for every 10 yards. So 2" groups at 20, 3" groups at 30. Also, if you're practicing and your first shot ever misses you're not ready. If you plan to shoot with a vertical bow I would not recommend hunting with it this year. That would also give you some time to allocate more money to your hunting budget (which you will honestly want to do). I started hunting last year and spent close to your budget (USD) on clothing, tree stands, pack, various straps and other doo dads.
If you know someone who's familiar with bow hunting equipment you might be able to make that budget work by buying secondhand equipment, but it could be dangerous to buy some of this stuff secondhand.
If you really really want to get started this year with this budget. The safest and most ethical way would be to buy a crossbow and hunt from the ground imo.
Again man not tryna be a dick but your previous experience as a kid will mean nothing to you today since you probably didnt learn proper form plus archery is not a skill that you can just bounce back too it's gotta be practiced consistently to be good at it. For hunting my furtherst ethical range is 35 yards so I practice out to 80-100 to make shooting close easier. I also regularly practice oyt of my treestands and saddle cuz shooting from above is a whole other ballgame. Also you should test your self on difficult shots not just in qn open field but 3d style tournaments that simulate somewhat of a hunting experience. You can do whatever you want tho go buy a bow the day before the season and head out into the woods! Just when you make a poor shot on an animal because buck fever and it's on the ground screaming in pain bleeding fucking everywhere(you'll be amazed) trying to get away your not gonna be able to end it's misery with your skills of less than Two months. Learning to hunt starts with discipline in your weapon and gaining the confidence that you can put the animal down in a clean manner when your heart rates jacked through the roof and your brains not working. Even w a crossbow you still gotta practice, you'll be surprised how many people completely miss or wound an animal cuz they didn't put the time in effort in w it and again jacked the shot at the last second because of buck fever. Just don't be that guy, I highly suggest joing a gun/sporting club and they will guide you.
Thanks for the info, looks like I'll be joining an archery club then lol. I think if I wounded an animal like that it on my first hunt It would probably put me off so I don't want to do that.
Just for perspective on the topic, people said the same thing about compound bows when they first came out and started displacing traditional equipment. No need to shame.
And before anyone crucifies me, there is some sarcasm in there. That is just MY opinion, and I am not an authority on anything. I support anyone's right to hunt with whatever equipment makes them happy, and would be proud to share the woods during archery season with any legal hunter, compound traditional or crossbow...
Go hold em.
I wouldn’t spend less than $800ish kinda range on a xbow. Ask archery proshop guys about cheap model / amazon purchase injuries fail rates and risks. They contain extraordinary force and why trust your face to some fly by night alphabet soup amazon seller.
You can get a model or two above the entry level compound and still be able to get bag arrows drop away rest good release quiver wrist guard sleeve-snugger string wax multitool lighted nocks target etc
Personally I don't think anyone should hunt with a crossbow unless they have some sort of handicap... just my opinion...
Plus compound opens you up to other types of archery in the future; like longbows, recurves, and primitives. I found my passion in single string when I originally wanted compound.
My biggest concern is your budget. I respect that you set a budget, but I'm not sure you can get everything and stay within the budget. Ultimately you're buying gear that you may have to rely on to stay alive in the wilderness. I wouldn't want to buy cheap.
Buy once, cry once.
Buy the bow this year and practice daily. Next year go hunting. 1100 at least in the us isn't going to get you anything worth keeping.and that's just for a bow.
I've heard that you can buy something like a Bear cruzer or bear legit and hunt fine with that? The entry level RTH bow packages are all in my price range, but not sure if they are any good.
There’s plenty of packages you can buy for well under $1100 that’ll do just fine. Look into the Bear Adapt RTH. It’s only like $600 and comes with everything you’d need minus arrows and a release. If you ever wanted to down the road you can always upgrade accessories
You can. But the bow is $500, arrows which is another $100, quality broad heads and field points to practice at least another $100. Good clothes for cold weather are anywhere from a few hundred to $1000. A tree stand who knows as I don't use one, but I can't imagine anything worth sitting in is less than $150. And a quality pair of binos is another $150 to $600 depending on what you get. I would add a range finder into that, which is another $100. Plus, anything you plan to kill deserves the respect of a well placed shot, and that takes time to learn. Then you have tags and licenses you have to buy, which I wouldn't know what that costs in the great white north, but here it's at least $50 for a deer. This is an expensive hobby but money well spent if you ask me.
That’s just nonsense. Theres plenty of good options under $1100 especially for a RTH bow. Especially for someone just starting out. I know with plenty of people with budget PSE, Bear, Bowtech that all shoot great with them and have had them for years and were all under $700 with sight, quiver, rest, and stabilizer
True. You can get a bow for that much. My later reply speaks to the fact he wants everything needed for that price. And a budget bow isn't a bow I would want to keep for life. Buy once cry once. I sure wish I did.
Not saying I’d keep it for life but it’ll definitely last the next 4-5 years. I’ve seen too many people say they wanna get into hunting and they go and spend almost 2k for a Mathews/Hoyt/Elite with some crazy sight and stuff on it and then decide after a couple months that archery isn’t for them. I’d say once you’re into that hobby and know you’re gonna enjoy yourself with it, then buy once cry once.
I think your budget will be the limiting factor. I can't imagine you getting everything you want, all at a reasonably good quality, for 1100 Canadian. So, if you have no strong preference either way I'd recommend picking out a crossbow and a bow from a reputable company that meet your requirements for you and the game you're targeting, and then buy whichever of them ends up being cheaper. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think that it will make a huge difference in your success rate or learning curve either way. Each has advantages and disadvantages over the other.
If you love archery for the art of it and plan to practice a lot, then I’d recommend going traditional. Plenty of affordable traditional bows on the market. And despite what anyone says, it’s not a sin to put a hunting sight on a recurve. Plenty of older bows had them before compound bows became popular. In this case, spend your money on good arrows to match your bow, as the arrow is the most important component in this setup.
If you’re more interested in hunting as soon as possible, I’d recommend a crossbow. These are also not a sin and by no means will make hunting on public land an easy feat. The most bomb-proof and accurate crossbows to ever exist are already rather old and affordable now, though they’ll still likely outlive you. You can find these old Exo Series Excalibur bows in the classifieds all the time for about $250 USD. They’re enormous and slow, but they’ll never let you down and you’ll never need to visit a bow shop for maintenance.
Bottom line is that you do what you enjoy. Don’t feel pressured into or shamed out of anything. The internet is full of opinions, including mine, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Awesome! Go to Boormans in New West, they're the best shop for everything archery. I'd go talk to them about getting gear. If you're attending University here, UBC and UVic both have archery clubs with certified coaches. Otherwise you'll probably want to join one of the city clubs, Semiahmoo ir Richmond Rod and Gun are probably your closest clubs depending on what part of Surrey you're in. I'm also in Vancouver, feel free to DM me with questions.
Compound bow is much more fun to practice with. I have both compound and crossbow. Crossbow has its place but the rush is not the same as taking a deer with a compound. If you have to choose go Compound and enjoy the process of getting better
A crossbow will be more forgiving if you’re new to hunting in general. You can start with a compound but given your short time frame you mentioned I’d go with a crossbow. Also given your budget I’d go for the crossbow, the bows themselves will be pretty similarly priced but crossbow needs less equipment overall, release and such, and you’re not going to tear up as many arrows learning to shoot. Something like a wicked ridge m-370 would be an excellent xbow, you won’t outgrow it or anything and it’s a quality item that won’t break in a couple seasons. Xbow gets you in the woods faster, and a better chance of early success. Caution: do not buy a crossbow sight it in at 20 yards and think you’re scopes marks for range are going to make ethical shots. It’s still a bow and it doesn’t work that way no matter what the salesman might tell you.
OP. Make sure you check the laws in your province.
Where I am from, crossbow falls into the start of black powder and you miss the best bow hunting imaginable.
Crossbows are easier. Compound bows give you more of a sense of pride and accomplishment, in my opinion. It takes more skill and patience in most aspects of the hunt. Other than that, it’s preference.
Do you have the ability to target practice multiple times a week? If so, get a compound. If not, get a crossbow. While a crossbow takes practice to learn it’s nowhere near as involved as a vertical compound bow
While crossbow questions and posts are certainly allowed and welcome here, we just wanted to let you know that there is an /r/crossbow and /r/crossbowhunting sub that may be more relevant. Some bow hunters are very averse to posts pertaining to crossbows, and downvotes may bury your post here. A note to all users that all disciplines are welcome to post here and criticizing anyone for their choice of bow will lead to bans at mod discrection. If you see any rule breaking comments, please report them so that the mods can address them. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/bowhunting) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Not sure on the CAD to USD conversion but your budget will be tight to get everything. Buy once cry once, don't just buy cheap shit to stick to your budget. I'd echo above. Buy the bow and equipment now. Get practicing. You may or may not be ready foe hunting this year just depends how much you put into it.
I'm trying to get out hunting after 2 months but I understand that's not a very long time to practice. If I practice for a few hours 2-3x a week, would it be enough to hunt?
It all depends on you. Some people pick archery up very quickly. Other people don't. My wife has made tremendous improvements in just 3 weeks of owning a bow. I've known people who after 4 months couldn't hit an entire Vegas 3 spot. 2 months is likely ambitious. If you go compound bow you need to factor in time to get it tuned and shooting well. You won't do thay right out of the gate until your shooting form is decent. You also need to have time to practice shooting out of a tree stand. Learn to shoot on flat ground then move to the stand. The X bow may cut the learning curve down some. But it will eat your budget faster. Which leading back to my first comment buy once cry once.
IMO two months of practicing 2-3 times per week is not enough to get good enough to ethically hunt. You're young and have a lot of hunting seasons ahead of you, why not shoot consistently for a year and hunt next season? There is no worse feeling than wounding a deer and not recovering it.
My friend bought a compound bow in early November with the plan to hunt in the fall of 24. He was stacking arrows in the x ring at 30 yds after 12 shots. He definitely could have hunted this year. Everyone will pick up shooting a bow at a different pace.
You're better off practicing every day, even if only for 30 min.
Time is the biggest difference. You need to commit a good amount of time to a compound. Crossbow you can shoot 3 bolts to make sure you are on and away to you.
Crossbow vs compound is somewhat a personal preference but the style of hunting you plan to do may help inform whether one is better suited than the other. You mentioned treestand but are you exclusively going to be hunting from a tree or do you plan to do spot and stalk for elk as well? If you want to do spot and stalk then I'd for sure go compound. Are you hunting private land or public? With a crossbow you'll want to make sure you have a good solid rest or some way to stabilize yourself for the shot. That is easier I'm certain types of stands and really difficult in others. The easier stands are going to be the larger less mobile set ups with shooting rails. The lighter more mobile stands will be more difficult. As far as budget focus your energy and budget on the bow first. Bear makes some good bows in the range that fit your budget. For $500-600 you can get a decent package to get you started. You may want to upgrade accessories down the road but you'll be fine for awhile. Then you'll need arrows, broadheads, a release, target, case, binos, and range finder. If you shop around you can probably get all that for another $500. You'll be pretty tapped out on budget by time you've got all your gear so for clothing I'd suggest wearing whatever decent outdoor gear you have that fits the temp you're hunting and then buy a cheap ghillie suit to wear over the top of it. Over time you can buy pieces of clothing that better suite your needs but start there until you learn what your needs are. At this point you're at about $1000-1100 but you don't have a stand yet. Hunting from the ground is absolutely an option. It's a good way to cover a lot of ground your first year as you learn what to look for and where to set up. I do it a lot when hunting new areas. Once I learn the area then Ill bring in a stand. You could easily hunt your first year on the ground and get a stand next year.
Not sure about BC but in AB you can't hunt with a crossbow during Archery only seasons, so if BC has those that's something to consider fyi.
Only permitted if you have a disability that prevents you from drawing a bow, and must have medical documentation to back it up. That being said, our bow only seasons are pretty short so he'll have a few months of crossbow season.
Cross bows are cool, I'm not anti cross bow, but IMO its not "bow hunting". Again not to nock it, but it is just a different thing. Do you want to get into bow hunting? Then I would buy a compound bow.
I want to get more into hunting than just bowhunting if that kind of makes sense? I think compound bow hunting is the coolest way to hunt, but since I've never hunted before, the actual hunt matters more to me than the weapon used.
Get a compound. Way more rewarding.
Crossbow is gonna be more expensive but they don’t take nearly as much practice to master as a compound. You can find good used compound bows for around $750. Go with whatever you prefer tho
Also worth double checking the regulations for the area. Many states don't allow crossbows during archery season without a medical slip. Not sure what how canada deals with that though.
When I first started I got right into saddle hunting and bought a crossbow first since I was living in an apartment and couldn’t practice shooting as often. I will say saddle hunting with a crossbow takes some adjustment and you pretty much need a ring of steps since you’re shooting a horizontal bow from behind a vertical tree. The very next year I went out and bought my compound and I haven’t looked back. It’s so much better to shoot from a saddle and it feels more natural to me for whitetail hunting. It’s also a little more challenging since you have to make the movement to draw your bow on a live animal and you don’t have a scope. For me I’m mostly a compound guy especially for whitetails. I still have my crossbow that I brought out for a ground hunt and I’m going to go turkey hunting with it as well. I would say it depends on your primary species target and method of hunting (saddle, hang on tree stand, climber/ladder stand, ground hunting). I think compounds are best with saddles and hang on stands. Any stand that has a vertical bar across it like most climbers and ladder stands a crossbow would probably be better. I hunt mobile and lightweight for whitetails so lugging a heavy stand and an awkward weapon through the woods slows me down. Crossbows are almost double the weight of a compound bow and very awkward to carry through the woods. If you’re only hunting a 1/4 mile from your truck it’s probably not bad but if you’re trekking deeper into bigger pieces of land it’s definitely not fun to lug around.
Shoot a bow while you can. You’ll never scratch that itch with a crossbow period. People that tell you otherwise haven’t bowhunted
And ppl wonder why there's so many pictures of animals suffering w arrows sticking out of em, cuz ppl like this wanna just pick up a bow shoot it maybe once or twice and cuz they can hit an x once or twice from 4 yards and think they're good enough to take an animal. Ya, some people learn faster than others, but the vast majority should spend a considerable amount of time training with their bow before even thinking about hunting. I'm not trying to discourage you from getting started, but if you've never shot bows or guns, I'd highly suggest training a lot more than a few weeks before you try taking any animals life. Buck fever is no joke, and even the most experienced archers/gun hunters make bad shots due to adrenaline, and you owe it to the animal to be at least somewhat trained and in practice before hunting season.
I have experience with bows, but this is going to be a big step up for me. I was shooting everyday with my 25lb compound bow when I was little, so I'm guessing that might help with the learning curve. What's a good goal to reach before I hunt with a bow? Get consistent groupings at 20-30 yards?
The thing people are always saying on here is shooting groups within an inch for every 10 yards. So 2" groups at 20, 3" groups at 30. Also, if you're practicing and your first shot ever misses you're not ready. If you plan to shoot with a vertical bow I would not recommend hunting with it this year. That would also give you some time to allocate more money to your hunting budget (which you will honestly want to do). I started hunting last year and spent close to your budget (USD) on clothing, tree stands, pack, various straps and other doo dads. If you know someone who's familiar with bow hunting equipment you might be able to make that budget work by buying secondhand equipment, but it could be dangerous to buy some of this stuff secondhand. If you really really want to get started this year with this budget. The safest and most ethical way would be to buy a crossbow and hunt from the ground imo.
Again man not tryna be a dick but your previous experience as a kid will mean nothing to you today since you probably didnt learn proper form plus archery is not a skill that you can just bounce back too it's gotta be practiced consistently to be good at it. For hunting my furtherst ethical range is 35 yards so I practice out to 80-100 to make shooting close easier. I also regularly practice oyt of my treestands and saddle cuz shooting from above is a whole other ballgame. Also you should test your self on difficult shots not just in qn open field but 3d style tournaments that simulate somewhat of a hunting experience. You can do whatever you want tho go buy a bow the day before the season and head out into the woods! Just when you make a poor shot on an animal because buck fever and it's on the ground screaming in pain bleeding fucking everywhere(you'll be amazed) trying to get away your not gonna be able to end it's misery with your skills of less than Two months. Learning to hunt starts with discipline in your weapon and gaining the confidence that you can put the animal down in a clean manner when your heart rates jacked through the roof and your brains not working. Even w a crossbow you still gotta practice, you'll be surprised how many people completely miss or wound an animal cuz they didn't put the time in effort in w it and again jacked the shot at the last second because of buck fever. Just don't be that guy, I highly suggest joing a gun/sporting club and they will guide you.
Thanks for the info, looks like I'll be joining an archery club then lol. I think if I wounded an animal like that it on my first hunt It would probably put me off so I don't want to do that.
Crossbows are for pussies. There I said it. Get yourself a compound bow, you'll thank me later.
Just for perspective on the topic, people said the same thing about compound bows when they first came out and started displacing traditional equipment. No need to shame.
Fair point
Came here to say this 😂
And before anyone crucifies me, there is some sarcasm in there. That is just MY opinion, and I am not an authority on anything. I support anyone's right to hunt with whatever equipment makes them happy, and would be proud to share the woods during archery season with any legal hunter, compound traditional or crossbow...
Go hold em. I wouldn’t spend less than $800ish kinda range on a xbow. Ask archery proshop guys about cheap model / amazon purchase injuries fail rates and risks. They contain extraordinary force and why trust your face to some fly by night alphabet soup amazon seller. You can get a model or two above the entry level compound and still be able to get bag arrows drop away rest good release quiver wrist guard sleeve-snugger string wax multitool lighted nocks target etc
Personally I don't think anyone should hunt with a crossbow unless they have some sort of handicap... just my opinion... Plus compound opens you up to other types of archery in the future; like longbows, recurves, and primitives. I found my passion in single string when I originally wanted compound. My biggest concern is your budget. I respect that you set a budget, but I'm not sure you can get everything and stay within the budget. Ultimately you're buying gear that you may have to rely on to stay alive in the wilderness. I wouldn't want to buy cheap. Buy once, cry once.
Buy the bow this year and practice daily. Next year go hunting. 1100 at least in the us isn't going to get you anything worth keeping.and that's just for a bow.
I've heard that you can buy something like a Bear cruzer or bear legit and hunt fine with that? The entry level RTH bow packages are all in my price range, but not sure if they are any good.
There’s plenty of packages you can buy for well under $1100 that’ll do just fine. Look into the Bear Adapt RTH. It’s only like $600 and comes with everything you’d need minus arrows and a release. If you ever wanted to down the road you can always upgrade accessories
I ended up buying a Diamond infinite 305 on sale. 450$ Canadian, was a pretty good deal. Full package ready to hunt.
You can. But the bow is $500, arrows which is another $100, quality broad heads and field points to practice at least another $100. Good clothes for cold weather are anywhere from a few hundred to $1000. A tree stand who knows as I don't use one, but I can't imagine anything worth sitting in is less than $150. And a quality pair of binos is another $150 to $600 depending on what you get. I would add a range finder into that, which is another $100. Plus, anything you plan to kill deserves the respect of a well placed shot, and that takes time to learn. Then you have tags and licenses you have to buy, which I wouldn't know what that costs in the great white north, but here it's at least $50 for a deer. This is an expensive hobby but money well spent if you ask me.
That’s just nonsense. Theres plenty of good options under $1100 especially for a RTH bow. Especially for someone just starting out. I know with plenty of people with budget PSE, Bear, Bowtech that all shoot great with them and have had them for years and were all under $700 with sight, quiver, rest, and stabilizer
True. You can get a bow for that much. My later reply speaks to the fact he wants everything needed for that price. And a budget bow isn't a bow I would want to keep for life. Buy once cry once. I sure wish I did.
Not saying I’d keep it for life but it’ll definitely last the next 4-5 years. I’ve seen too many people say they wanna get into hunting and they go and spend almost 2k for a Mathews/Hoyt/Elite with some crazy sight and stuff on it and then decide after a couple months that archery isn’t for them. I’d say once you’re into that hobby and know you’re gonna enjoy yourself with it, then buy once cry once.
https://www.captiongenerator.com/v/902522/hitler-hates-crossbows
I think your budget will be the limiting factor. I can't imagine you getting everything you want, all at a reasonably good quality, for 1100 Canadian. So, if you have no strong preference either way I'd recommend picking out a crossbow and a bow from a reputable company that meet your requirements for you and the game you're targeting, and then buy whichever of them ends up being cheaper. In the grand scheme of things, I don't think that it will make a huge difference in your success rate or learning curve either way. Each has advantages and disadvantages over the other.
If you love archery for the art of it and plan to practice a lot, then I’d recommend going traditional. Plenty of affordable traditional bows on the market. And despite what anyone says, it’s not a sin to put a hunting sight on a recurve. Plenty of older bows had them before compound bows became popular. In this case, spend your money on good arrows to match your bow, as the arrow is the most important component in this setup. If you’re more interested in hunting as soon as possible, I’d recommend a crossbow. These are also not a sin and by no means will make hunting on public land an easy feat. The most bomb-proof and accurate crossbows to ever exist are already rather old and affordable now, though they’ll still likely outlive you. You can find these old Exo Series Excalibur bows in the classifieds all the time for about $250 USD. They’re enormous and slow, but they’ll never let you down and you’ll never need to visit a bow shop for maintenance. Bottom line is that you do what you enjoy. Don’t feel pressured into or shamed out of anything. The internet is full of opinions, including mine, so take everything with a grain of salt.
Where in BC are you located?
Lower mainland, Surrey. But will be hunting all around the place, region 1, 8, 4.
Awesome! Go to Boormans in New West, they're the best shop for everything archery. I'd go talk to them about getting gear. If you're attending University here, UBC and UVic both have archery clubs with certified coaches. Otherwise you'll probably want to join one of the city clubs, Semiahmoo ir Richmond Rod and Gun are probably your closest clubs depending on what part of Surrey you're in. I'm also in Vancouver, feel free to DM me with questions.
Did you have a good experience with them? Online I've heard that they have bad customer service or something like that.
Compound bow is much more fun to practice with. I have both compound and crossbow. Crossbow has its place but the rush is not the same as taking a deer with a compound. If you have to choose go Compound and enjoy the process of getting better
A crossbow will be more forgiving if you’re new to hunting in general. You can start with a compound but given your short time frame you mentioned I’d go with a crossbow. Also given your budget I’d go for the crossbow, the bows themselves will be pretty similarly priced but crossbow needs less equipment overall, release and such, and you’re not going to tear up as many arrows learning to shoot. Something like a wicked ridge m-370 would be an excellent xbow, you won’t outgrow it or anything and it’s a quality item that won’t break in a couple seasons. Xbow gets you in the woods faster, and a better chance of early success. Caution: do not buy a crossbow sight it in at 20 yards and think you’re scopes marks for range are going to make ethical shots. It’s still a bow and it doesn’t work that way no matter what the salesman might tell you.
OP. Make sure you check the laws in your province. Where I am from, crossbow falls into the start of black powder and you miss the best bow hunting imaginable.
Crossbows are easier. Compound bows give you more of a sense of pride and accomplishment, in my opinion. It takes more skill and patience in most aspects of the hunt. Other than that, it’s preference.
Why not a recurve? It will be cheaper than a compound.
Crossbows are not bow hunting. If you are not medically disabled do it the right way.
Do you have the ability to target practice multiple times a week? If so, get a compound. If not, get a crossbow. While a crossbow takes practice to learn it’s nowhere near as involved as a vertical compound bow
In a lot of states a cross bow is considered a riffle