Pennsylvania Game News - May 2010 - 56

WILL POOLE, 6, Coatesville, got this nice buck last season while being mentored by his grandfather. The crossbow allows youngsters to take better advantage of the archery season through the Mentored Youth Hunting Program.

emitted a metallic clack, but the sound of the arrow hitting dead center on the target’s bullseye 20 yards downrange was almost simultaneous. This crossbow spits arrows out at speeds of 325 feet per second (versus around 310 feet per second with my Hoyt RazorTec compound bow). My first shot with my new crossbow was virtually as accurate as any I have ever taken with my more traditional bows, including my current state-of-the-art compound. But in the time it took me to apply the complicated cocking device and get set for a second shot with the crossbow, I could have taken another half a dozen accurate shots with my compound. Yet, come to think of it, other than the relatively hefty eight pounds this crossbow weighs versus less than four for my compound, that’s the only real advantages I could cede to my old reliable (and admittedly quieter) compound. Every other one, including the ability to shoot the device from a solid bench rest, appeared to go to the crossbow hands down. For example, a compound bow must have a draw weight and a draw length that fits the archer. Once you find a bow that fits, you match it with the appropriate arrows and then you practice, practice, practice until you finally achieve enough comfortable and consistent accuracy to head out afield with confidence. Over the years I’ve allowed some friends, usually at their request, to shoot my compound bow. With
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few exceptions, the results have not been pretty. In most cases these friends were nonarchers, not conditioned with the strength or technique to successfully pull back a string set at 70 pounds draw weight. Many eventually gave up. Those that succeeded in coming to full draw usually ended up with the arrow slipping off the rest or firing a wild, sloppy shot while at the same time imparting a painful string slap to their arm. Successful and accurate archery, even with the sophisticated technology of a modern compound, takes a significant investment of time and effort that makes for a more personal, more intimate connection with the bow that’s lacking with a crossbow. That’s because the rule of rigorous practice does not hold true for the crossbow — even the proverbial man off the street can score a bullseye with every shot. When some neighbors (ages 8 and 9) and their dad tried out my crossbow, they all enjoyed immediate and unpracticed accuracy. At a range of 20 yards (a typical bowhunting distance) shooting freehand without a rest, they each nailed the target dead center. These results suggested that, had they been hunting, every shot — the first each of them had ever taken — would have killed a deer. But actual hunting conditions afield are far different from those on the practice range and, in the end, the proof is in the pudding. So when archery season rolled around it was time to field test my new toy. My trek to my treestand in the opening day predawn darkness gave me a heightened awareness of the weight differential between this crossbow and my compound. It seemed like quite a chore to lug it the relatively short, ten minute walk to my
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Pennsylvania Game News - May 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - May 2010