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Here’s a light and early nod to two big new developments in the world of the shooting sports.
Crossbows are now legal for hunting in Michigan. They give accuracy confidence out to 50 yards and along with quick-drop performance (via bigger broadheads due to the increased power) and possibly a convenient new small-game option. They seem like a dandy solution to the small-lot hunting situation. With so many houses now in rural areas gunfire is less welcome or suitable, but not everyone has the time to get the total confidence needed with a regular bow. The performance style of the compound bow — with its trigger, stabilizers, let-off, draw-clicker and string sight — points to a crossbow anyway, so why not go for it.
Of course, some folks don’t like ’em, so they’re not for everyone. It seems like the sports tools are somewhat merging of late. Archery is becoming more gun-like. Shotguns are more rifle-like. Muzzleloaders are more shotgun-like. Personally, my parameters are MEAT and dealing with neighbors, so I need quietness and prompt effectiveness: that is, accuracy and a quick-drop kill. There’s a reason why crossbows have been preferred by poachers for eons! I understand that other folks go more for the challenge in hunting. I do enjoy that and being outside but for my main mission at this time I want a confident kill at a farther range but without the hours of practice, I have to say.
I think it’s pretty cool that a crossbow can put ’em in an inch group at 30 yards quite readily. That’s what I’m talkin’ about!
As a digression, I agree with the naysayers that the hunting seasons and definitions in some places, like Michigan, seem a bit mixed up. For instance, 90% of our deer hunting is from a tree blind with a shot at 30 yards. Today, hightech bows, xbows, shotguns, rifles, muzzleloaders all are equivalent in this scenario. They should have the same season, eh? Quite a few hunters remark that it seems like the early-season bowhunters get the best chances at the big deer before they’re frightened into the swamps ’til winter. Yet the way they hunt they’re not no real disadvantage to the gun hunters, so why do they get the jump? Then muzzleloading is given its own long, late season — even though today’s ML’s are as effective as any rifle/shotgun. They don’t deserve a break and the poor hunters shouldn’t be required to buy an extra rig just to get those extra weeks. In the end, it seems that primitive archery (longbow, recurve) and primitive muzzleloading (flintlock with sidelock) are the only sports that deserve special seasons. Now, let’s get back on xbows!
Crossbows tend to look alike these days, but I can see SOME differences. A couple are even built with the bows on BACKWARDS! I guess they call ’em a “string forward” design — it results in even more compactness and quietness. The Horton ReCon and Vision are members of this strange incarnation.
A basic Barnett Wildcat seems like a worthy tool — 150 lbs, 300fps. They seem to sell for $200 or so (maybe the new/used range is $150 – $250). But Barnett also makes a better line of AVI xbows — with anti-vibration damping — that shoot more like 340fps and more quietly — add $50 to $100. Their Predator model seems quite a bit more narrow for handiness.
Then there are still recurve xbows out there. Several lines and models. Excalibur offers a few. The idea is the same as with regular recurve archery: they’re simpler, more reliable and much quieter. But more cumbersome. Yet rather lovely looking. Medieval. But like “upright” recurves, they have heavier draw weights to get the same speed as a compound — so we see 225 lbs-pull in such xbows to get 320+fps speed. The weight gets heavier the farther you pull so cocking can be tough, but that’s what ropes, cranks and cockers are for. However, it seems that quite a few compound xbows can be cocked by hand readily enough.
Next up: gun silencers. They seem far out in the USA. But in the UK and Europe they’ve long been known as “good neighbor” devices. They get rid of the awful noise of shooting. That’s good. And, obviously, the noise of a gun isn’t what stops people from killing other people with them. Silencers don’t result in more murder. (Neither does things like mail-order firearms, but now we’re really running crosswise to the nanny state.) Think about it. Where do silencers get their bad rep here in the USA? Obviously: TV and movies, moreover, of the over-the-top fictional variety. Not a proud way to be informed. It might be better if a detractor or fretful type could point to a news item or statistic, say. Anyway, sound isn’t what encourages or prevents crime.
It seems like the new trend in silencers started with airguns. They’re often built with silencers in the UK. A powerful airgun is still a loud thing, so silencers are popular. Americans have been ordering these guns and the ATF has let it slide. But now the floodgates are open. For a $200 permit and proper registration you too can buy a silencer for most any gun. However, the law still seems to be against them here, so beware. One guy so far has been busted: a felon who sold one. But I like grey-areas. To me the law (or court system, specifically, coz that’s where the people are; law being just ink) is about justice not a pretend completeness, so I like it when there aren’t rulings on a subject. (There’s some heavy postmodern philosophy here, even.)
Check out YouTube to see how effective these silencers are. It’s sometimes a bit hard to tell, but I’d say they’re generally a darn good idea in terms of good neighbor relations. (I note a couple YouTube videos of interest: *one about the new Benjamin Marauder airgun…the 800fps .22 cal sounds like a “ffft” and *one of a military sniper practicing with a .338 magnum highpower rifle: “pppttt”.)
Barnett Predator
Horton Recon 175
Excalibur Equinox
