I new to crossbows. I am going on a crossbow hunt. Is it ok to pull the string back and leave the crossbow in the cocked position for hours?
JB800
Can I leave the crossbow string cocked?
No a good idea!
For hours? No problem. Overnight or for days, it's not advised, just too much stress for too long a time. The trigger assembly is under a lot of stress. The string is under a lot of stress, and will stretch. If you are using a compound, the same goes for the cables. Too much stretch of the string and/or cable may cause the limbs to extend too far forward upon loosing an arrow, a potential hazard. Best action? Uncock the bow at the end of a day. Shooting it is the safest way, of course. (BTW, never 'fire' a bow. Fire and bows do not go well together, unless of course, your are shooting fire arrows to set ablaze your enemy's defenses and/or dwellings. Firing belongs to firearms, thus the term 'fire'. Arrows are loosed - always have been, always will be.) Just a bit of trivia to practice my keyboarding.
msj
For hours? No problem. Overnight or for days, it's not advised, just too much stress for too long a time. The trigger assembly is under a lot of stress. The string is under a lot of stress, and will stretch. If you are using a compound, the same goes for the cables. Too much stretch of the string and/or cable may cause the limbs to extend too far forward upon loosing an arrow, a potential hazard. Best action? Uncock the bow at the end of a day. Shooting it is the safest way, of course. (BTW, never 'fire' a bow. Fire and bows do not go well together, unless of course, your are shooting fire arrows to set ablaze your enemy's defenses and/or dwellings. Firing belongs to firearms, thus the term 'fire'. Arrows are loosed - always have been, always will be.) Just a bit of trivia to practice my keyboarding.
msj
According to Parker you can leave it cocked for the whole season. I shoot mine at least every other day
And your can leave your gun loaded while in the house, but would you? It's easy to let a crossbow down or,, at worse, shoot it down, why take a chance.
You can leave the crossbow cocked while you're hunting for hours and when you're done hunting shoot a pratice arrow into a target bag or soft ground and put the crossbow away. I don't like all that stress on the strings and limbs. :thumbs_up
Just to clarify things, my previous post regards leaving a bow cocked was derived from a post placed on the TenPoint community forum placed by a TenPoint tech. Here it is again.
Leaving your bow cocked is a very bad thing to do. Here's why.
1. It will put higher amount of continuos pressure on your string and cable (even more so than normal) which will wear them out quicker.
2. When your string and cables get worn out it can allow your limbs to deflect to far forward when the bow is shot and cause limb damage.
3. When your limbs deflect to far forward it can bend axels.
4. When axels bend it wears out cam bushings.
5. When all of this goes wrong it will be the middle of the rut and you will have to send your bow in for reapairs and miss the best time of the year to hunt.
You just have to remember that shooting the bow once a day will cause less wear on it then leaving it cocked for days at a time.
(I copied and pasted above what the tech had to say regards the matter. The spelling errors are his, too.)
Leaving your bow cocked is a very bad thing to do. Here's why.
1. It will put higher amount of continuos pressure on your string and cable (even more so than normal) which will wear them out quicker.
2. When your string and cables get worn out it can allow your limbs to deflect to far forward when the bow is shot and cause limb damage.
3. When your limbs deflect to far forward it can bend axels.
4. When axels bend it wears out cam bushings.
5. When all of this goes wrong it will be the middle of the rut and you will have to send your bow in for reapairs and miss the best time of the year to hunt.
You just have to remember that shooting the bow once a day will cause less wear on it then leaving it cocked for days at a time.
(I copied and pasted above what the tech had to say regards the matter. The spelling errors are his, too.)
I don't plan on leaving it cocked for days. I just wanted to know if it's safe to leave it cocked for hours while on the stand. Thanks for all the info.
Crossbows can be left cocked in Canada and is concidered unloaded if no arrow is on the deck. But casing laws are the same as rifles. Must be cased half hour after sunset to half hour before sunrise. As for the one that said leave it cocked in back seat of car in case you see a deer...... In Canada that is highly illegal. Cannot shoot from a motor vehicle you have to be across the fence and if there is no fence you must be 30 feet from the road. I shoot excaliper's and there are no cocking issues of how long you leave it but just don't leave the bow locked up in a hot car. Could warp the limbs from extreme heat. Some of us with new strings leave them cocked for a couple days to strech new strings. It is a non isssue leavng them cocked. But who would want to. Have your kid play wih it or something and lose a finger from the string shooting. I know alot of this is not what you asked but just a little insight from a Canadain perspective.
The man was joshing, whellie
It's nearly impossible to shoot from a car with a crossbow, esp an Excal, but that's what causes the antis to call the crossbow a poachers tool.
It's nearly impossible to shoot from a car with a crossbow, esp an Excal, but that's what causes the antis to call the crossbow a poachers tool.
Crossbow Cocking
Most if not all of the manufactures suggest not leaving a bow cocked greater than 24 hours. Extended periods of time, changes in temperature, etc will play havic on the lamination of those cocked limbs. Finally, the only safe way to unload all crossbows are to shoot them.
Good luck, just recently shot a buck and doe with my Ten Point Phantom Extra
Most if not all of the manufactures suggest not leaving a bow cocked greater than 24 hours. Extended periods of time, changes in temperature, etc will play havic on the lamination of those cocked limbs. Finally, the only safe way to unload all crossbows are to shoot them.
Good luck, just recently shot a buck and doe with my Ten Point Phantom Extra
Agreed. Perfectly safe...unless you are mechanically challenged. I have even done the same with my compounds, just used a short piece of arrow or dowel to deactivate the DFI. But, if YOU don't feel comfortable doing it by all means shoot it off.
Bill Busbice?
Is he a crossbow expert?
Is he the Cajun man that is always on TV in his white BVDs?
Is he a crossbow expert?
Is he the Cajun man that is always on TV in his white BVDs?
by the way, JB8, if you don't have an uncocking device, always carry a crummy arrow witha field tip. replace and
fire that one into the ground to discharge. saves broadheads
fire that one into the ground to discharge. saves broadheads
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
-
?
