The mature doe was beyond alert. She stood inside the woods — about 20 yards from my food plot — swirling his nose, pivoting her ears and standing still for what seems like, well, forever.
She finally relaxed and browsed heavily on what few turnip tops remained in my plot. The moment of truth was here and now, and I was ready to launch an arrow (call it a bolt, if you must) into her rib cage.
You know what happened next, but I don’t think “Thwack!” is the proper sound effect. It was more like a quiet “click” followed by an echoing “thunk!” as the SEVR Robusto hit its target.
The big doe whirled, made about six or seven bounds and collapsed. It was a venison celebration, for sure, and quite possibly the first whitetail harvested with the new 2023 TenPoint Viper 430.
We here at Deer & Deer Hunting TV are proud to have TenPoint as our TV sponsor (DDH-TV anchors the Pursuit Channel’s Saturday Night Deer Camp block). I also feel fortunate to be on the list of editors, writers and TV producers who get to test out the new year’s products before the final details are ironed out and new bows are built and shipped to dealers nationwide.
This year (a little over a month ago), I was on the short list to be one of the field testers for the new Viper 430. It’s just one of several new 2023 crossbows that TenPoint unveiled today for consumers. You can read about the other models (from both TenPoint and Wicked Ridge) on their website, but here’s my initial thoughts on this particular model:
TenPoint Viper 430 Specs:
• Faster, narrower, more accurate version of the best-selling Viper S400
• Registering 430 FPS and measuring a sleek 6 ½ inches narrow.
• Scope Struts and Longer Dovetail increase strength by 80%- providing rock-solid foundation for optics to deliver long range accuracy and “bulletproof” in-the-field durability.
• 100-yard reticle. A nice feature for the practice range, no doubt. I still won’t shoot at a deer anywhere close to beyond 50 yards. Even then, I keep my shots to “normal” bowhunting distances. The key difference is when you are confident of your accuracy on the practice range, those 30 and 40 yard shots seem like layups.
• ACUslide SAFE De-Cocking. Probably the coolest thing on all TenPoint crossbows. You no longer need to worry about “shooting this thing” at the end of a hunt. Simply de-cock it and go eat dinner!
Final analysis (for now): This is a heckuva nice, new crossbow. Retail price all depends on what you want as far as a package (scope, accessories, etc). If you are in the market for a new crossbow, my recommendation is always to go to an archery shop and test them out BEFORE you buy. Pro shops will gladly let you do that (the good ones will, anyway). That will allow you to pick a crossbow that is just right for you.
