anyone have any info on crossbows?

hey all,

I'm interested in getting into crossbows/longbows but don't know a great deal about them. As far as I know they are legal in South Australia (where I live) but was wondering do you need a licence to own one? I've seen people practicing archery somewhere within the city (the park lands just south of CBD) and was wondering if crossbows are allowed there as well?

also, I'm 19 years old and a moderate height, what sort of longbow or crossbow would suite me? I've been looking for stores that sell them but have not come across any yet

I'll continue my search online but thought I might ask here to start with.

thanks for any help.

 

a long bow and a cross bow are 2 completely different pieces of equipment, what do you want them for? are you just looking for power?

 

more of a hobby then anything else.

 

yes but they both have their different uses, personally for target and hunting id go a recurve, but theres some nice compounds around also, just depends what you want it for and how you want to use them

 

My girlfriend has a bit of land so we'd be able to set up our own targets if we can't find any archery clubs. I'm more inclined to crossbow's myself but a recurve would be nice too. do you need a licence to own either a crossbow or recurve? also where is the best place to purchase them and how do you size yourself to one?

 

You could check out some of Guzzo's posts he's right into them.

 

I like recurve bows as they are a lot more manageable than long bows, great for learning basic archery skills, and heaps of fun. Long bows are more powerful but I found took a bit more to get used to. Both are great for target practice.

Crossbows on the other hand require little skill to shoot, take longer to load and aren't nearly as cool as they look on the walking dead. Apparently good for hunting.

 

Compound bow if you want to hunt. Recurve for targets. Why have you taken an interest In crossbow? An 80 compound bow is lethally powerful and acurate if you have the arm to pull it back

 

From what I have heard Crossbows are legal in SA unlike QLD,a thing to keep in mind is that Crossbows have over 100 pound draw weights, the strongest compound is 80. Just something to keep in mind as you were worried about that. If I were you I would go and find a local club and start of with a 30-50 pound recurve and gain some knowledge before going for the big stuff. Also the club may be able to tell you what bow or Crossbow would be best for you. Personally I would take the crossbow but that's just because they are illegal up here and I can't get one, but another option would be to get a Compound with some cool attachments like a Sight, a rest and all the other awesome things you can get.

 

I've done a bit of shooting and I would recommend going to a club and doing a beginners course they usually run over 2 days. Starting out on a recurve at 30-50lb is a big ask most people start out at about 26lb and go up in 2lb as they get stronger. It's always easy to learn on a recurve at a club then if you just want to do it as a hobby then make the switch to compound as they are much easier to shoot and will keep you interested for longer. Recurve takes a lot of time and patients to get results. Don't buy anything from a shop till you have done a beginners course every club will tell you the same thing, a shop is there to sell you what they have to make money a club is there to grow members and enjoy the sport.

Crossbows are illegal in QLD and not many archery clubs accept them as they are quite dangerous an made with very sensitive triggers made to a price.

 

there is a place at the top of education road that has an archery park. and a shops at st marys, one near kfc just off south rd and one on south rd a bit futher south. I dont know anything about the sport though.

 

Have a read here http://www.ausbow.com.au/crossbowinf.html

 

if you want to hunt with it then get used to days of trying for nothing , you have to get in nice and close for a guaranteed kill shot with a bow , and you would probably want to get good on it with the targets first , dont want to get something in the leg and then have to deal with what comes after a dodgy shot , they could also get away which leaves them wounded and vulnerable so not real nice

but then if you only want to use it for targets then happy shooting just be safe , cant help with any of the legal requirements in your state though , i personally prefer things that go boom but i do have an old compound bow but its the type with a fishing real attached need to replace the actual bow string thingy too as its all frayed

 

if you want something that is skillful go with recurve (easier) or longbow (harder)

if you want "easy mode" archery or "easy mode" hunting go compound (personally they remind me of mega ricer honda civics with a huge wing)

if you want to be bored in 10 mins go for a crossbow

 

Here in the UK its illegal to hunt anything with a crossbow or any bow for that matter. I used to shoot crossbows at targets. The best piece of advice I can give is the power of a modern crossbow is frightening so where ever you shoot make sure your backstop is absolutely safe. Strangely enough in the UK crossbows are not licenced.


Kindest regards


Endeavour

 

There not illegal, you just require a weapons licence to hold one.

And I have both a cross bow and a compound bow, the compound gets used all the time, cross bow, hardly ever gets used. Easy decision or do what I did get both

 

What crossbow do you use Tim?.

Kindest regards

Endeavour

 

Nothing special, just like this guy I was interested in them for a bit, I already had my firearm licence so I thought why not it's a spider compound hunting crossbow 150 lbs. but yeh doesn't get much play anymore and hunting with them is awkward as anything, nice and quiet tho, but dealing with the animal once hit is not pretty.

 

150!! That must be tremendous to pull back.

 

Yeh it's pretty crazy, I'm not a very big person, I can't pull it back alone, brothers can, I have to use a crank wheel :/