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Crossbow noise

2K views 18 replies 17 participants last post by  LONZO 
#1 ·
What do you do or don't do about it.....
 
#2 ·
I just let it alone. They say by the time the deer hears the string the bolt is hitting home.
Mine moves out over 345 ft per second and to me the sound of the arrow hitting the target is louder then the string releasing.
 
#5 ·
I don't think about it too much. Shooting at animals at the right time is way more important.

Sound dampening devices do help with vibration which does help lessen the "rattle" of the shot a bit. The "crack" is still there.
 
#6 ·
Well, technically speaking, the deer would hear it before it hits its mark, speed of sound is @ 740mph or around 1100fps, so a deer standing 30 or 40 yards would have less than a 10th of a second to react. Not even a deer is that quick. Unless you can make a bow totally quiet why really bother.

This could be an interesting debate
 
#7 ·
Well there's dampers on my CAMX limbs but other than that, I do nothing. Today's bows are so fast the deer would have no chance to react at 30 yds or less. Now if someone's shooting 70 yds, maybe enough reaction to ruin a shot. Anyway I think deer react differntly to strange sounds. IMO I've found most are curious at first. It's movement that sends them running.
 
#14 ·
I shot a buck a week ago standing in my food plot at thirty five yards. I held for a heart shot and the deer reacted to the noise. I hit him at the top of the lungs. He only went 80 yards and I'm thankful for that. My point is that he ducked to the point that he almost ducked the arrow completely. My cross bow shoots at 330 fps. My hold was from a rest and I ranged him before I shot. Crossbows are noisy which I think should limit your shot to a distance that you can't miss from a reaction. I'm just sayin.
 
#17 ·
Springer Rage said:
I disagree. Deer reacting to the sound of the shot but I don't believe they react before impact. I have never had a deer "jump the string" with a bow or crossbow. I think it is a myth. Sure, they often jump but the arrow gets there first.
This type of answer really makes the poster lose all credibility! I had a doe put her chest on the ground, spin 90* and start to push off at a whopping 17 yards....in the time it took from release untill the arrow was there. She didn't know I was there, but she was on pins and needles....it was opening day a decade or more ago....poured all morning and then cleared up but was insanely windy. Clean miss. Arrow was right were it was supposed to be....at the top of her heart, but she wasn't there anymore! That bow was shooting around 290fps. I was humbled.

I didn't come in here to complain about nonsense posts though. I'm here to learn about crossbows. I don't yet own one, but will in the future so I'm trying to educate myself as best I can before that time comes.
 
#18 ·
My father has had a series of Excalibur bows. He just likes to update his bow every couple years.

On multiple occasions, I've heard his bow from distances as great as 600 yards away, depending on conditions, terrain, etc. He never believed me until he shot at a deer and I texted him right after just asking, "hit it?" Then he realized I really could hear it.

I also agree that there more than enough video and photo evidence on the web to put aside the idea that deer can't react to the sound of a bow or crossbow. There is a mountain of proof that they can and do react fast enough to significantly change the impact point or cause a miss altogether. Ignoring this is not a good thing for a bowhunter (whether they use a crossbow or vertical bow).

I've yet to hear a truly quiet crossbow, but some of the newer innovations are reported to be much quieter. I sort of think there's only so much you can do when you're storing/releasing so much energy in such short limbs and pushing a relatively short power stroke and short projectile. The energy has to go somewhere. The whole reason a crossbow tends to pull several times the weight of a compound to achieve the same terminal ballistics should indicate how INefficient a system of transferring energy it really is. Inefficiency equals noise for a bow.

I've been curious about the Bowtech Stryker, though, as it pulls only 125lbs for some serious speed. That has to mean it's fairly quiet, as crossbows come.

I don't hunt with a crossbow, for the record. I did for a bit, didn't like it, and went back to a compound. My father and several hunting buddies use crossbows, however, and like I said, I've yet to hear one that was anywhere near as quiet as a compound, regardless of string suppressors, bumpers, etc that were installed.
 
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