by Wanderer » Tue May 10, 2011 8:57 pm
First off, I’m not taking any sides here. I don’t know enough about crossbows to offer an opinion. My total experience has been shooting one bolt out of my buddy’s Ten Point one day just to try it. I have been a bow hunter since the mid- 1960’s. I started out with a 52# Whiffen Comet recurve way back when and moved up to a Bear Polar LTD in the mid 70’s. Today I shoot a 60# Diamond Rock. Reading through these posts, I see recurring references to 70 to 75 pounds being the maximum draw weight for hand held bows. I also see claims that arrow speeds and draw weights are much higher with crossbows. My curiosity was piqued enough to page through the online selection of crossbows on the Cabela’s website. Of 27 listed crossbows, all except one had draw weights of 150# up to 225#. (The lone holdout only listed arrow speed, but not draw wt). I’m curious as to why cross bows have draw weights 2 to 3 times higher than compound bows. Is this just because they can? Yet, if you look at arrow speeds listed, they are not much higher than current fps speeds out of compounds. There was one crossbow listed at 180# with an arrow speed of 315. My Diamond compound has a listed 318fps on a 60# bow. Am I the only one who’s confused as to why the arrow speeds aren’t proportionately higher? I mean, 180# is three times what my compound draw weight is, yet arrow speed is virtually identical. (I know that the advertised arrow speed is not necessarily what each of us gets). Crossbow bolts are heavier, so their kinetic energy is higher, but given the posted arrow speeds, I wouldn’t think their range is any greater than compounds. In my home state of Indiana, crossbows are not legal during the early archery season, but can be used during the late archery season (after gun and ML seasons). The state also has a minimum 125# draw weight for crossbows. I’m not sure what the logic is there. The current minimum weight for longbow, recurve, and compound bows is 35#.That’s a ratio of better than 3.5 to 1. Why would min weights be higher on crossbows?