My First Crossbow Kill

[ADMIN]

I parked the truck downwind of the blind, grabbed the gear and headed to the huge pop up blind my wife had bought me (Cabela's Hunting Garage Ground Blind, 68"L x 92"W x 82"H), overlooking the feeder (Wild Game Poly Feeder) and game camera (Moultrie Panoramic 150) she had bought me earlier this year as well. The ground blind had been brushed in for a while and I knew the animals had gotten used to it. The wind should be good for the midday hunt. After the decoys were put out, I set up my oversized bag chair, arranged the calls, loaded the crossbow and begin to communicate with the local turkeys.
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This is a thread for discussion of the article, My First Crossbow Kill, By Harold Stephens. Here you can ask questions or make comments about the article.

 

[SidecarFlip]

I have a Wicked Ridge myself, poor mans 10 point. Nice X bow but a bit noisy. No gobblers but hopefully a whitetail in early season here in Michigan..... Sure is fun to shoot and deadly accurate too.

 

[HRstretch]

Yes it is a little noisy, but it is a flat shooter and fast. Still looking for the arrow, I guess I will have to get a metal detector to find it?

 

[SidecarFlip]

Get yourself a set of lighted nocks. I put them on right away on the advice of a couple guys at work who X bow hunt exclusively. I went with Luminocks on the Turkey Broadheads and Nockturnals on the fixed points, just for variety.

They come in colors, I went with red but the have them in green and yellow I believe.

A bit hard to install. I learned the hard way that to install them on aluminum bolts, you need to heat the nock end with a propane torch to soften the glue and the nock pulls right out. My first time, I tried to pull it cold, broke it off and had to drill it out a real PITA. The torch method makes it painless and quick.

Once relleased, the bow string pushed the nock end to complete the circuit and the n ock lights (led). It stays lit for 25 hours or until you pull the nock end back out a bit. The nocks have replaceable batteries too.

Makes it easy to find your bolt in the snow or brush. Bolts aren't cheap.

Cabelas has them but both companies have online sites as well.

BTW, you have a good wife. I have to buy my own.....

 

[HRstretch]

Yes I need to look at the illuminated nocks. I am fortunate to have a wonderful wife. Thank you for the compliment.

 

[SidecarFlip]

Just keep in the back of your mind, my experience with installing them and the easy way versus the hard way. Ypu'll need the flat faced nocks or what I call 'nub' nocks (with little nubs) on the backside. Nothing else will work correctly. Good hunting in the future.

 

[HRstretch]

My first experience with archery hunting was going with my soon to be B-I-L . I tagged along with him on a couple of hunts then my dad bought me a Bear 45# recurve. My first shot at a live animal was at a spike. I was flabbergasted that the deer jumped the string. It was soon after that I killed my first deer with that bow and it is a memory that I will never forget.