How far can a crossbow shoot? A question that has been discussed in marksman circles for many years.
First of all, the distance depends largely on how heavy the arrow is and which arrowhead is used. According to simple school physics, the range of the crossbow decreases the heavier the arrow is.
Apart from that, four factors determine the range of your crossbow:
- Are you shooting at a target or just want to test the maximum range?
- How good is your target accuracy?
- How good is your technique?
- How fast does your crossbow shoot (in fps)?
Maximum Range
Most modern crossbows shoot between the arrows at around 300 to 400 fps. If you shoot into the air at the right angle with a powerful crossbow, you can easily shoot an arrow 500 meters in good weather conditions. At this distance, of course, the arrow has little power and precise aiming is just as impossible. If you are only interested in the maximum range of a crossbow, 500 meters and more can be achieved.
Effective Target Area
If you shoot a target or a shooting die, you have to get a little closer to be able to hit it predictably. The best crossbowmen can hit very precisely with their sports equipment at a distance of 80 meters. Only a few shooters are able to fire precise shots at well over 80 meters.
Nevertheless, it is not unthinkable to hit the target at 150 meters or more. It is pure luck to hit the ring center from this distance.
Usually, however, there are much shorter distances to the goal. 20, 30, 40, or 50 meters can be seen many times more often than the attempts at long distance. This is not least due to the increasingly difficult path of the arrows to predict with the route.
The Speed of the Crossbow is An Important Factor
Depending on the speed of the crossbow, the arrow will drop more slowly or more quickly. With a 350fps crossbow, a 26-gram arrow hits the target after about 30 meters about 10cm lower than the height at which it left the crossbow. At around 50 meters, the 10 cm quickly becomes 50 cm with otherwise the same variables.
When shooting from a crossbow, it should be borne in mind that a crossbow bolt is not a gun bullet! The maximum initial boom flight speed is 125m / s, and the mass is <25 grams. Experiments show that at the maximum speed, the arrow reaches 20 meters in flight, to curb this milestone, the speed and altitude of the flight are reduced with each centimeter of the distance traveled.
Good crossbow boom flight range – over 300 meters but talking about aiming the target at such a distance makes no sense. However, even in the end, if an arrow accidentally hits the target, it can inflict a mortal wound on the animal, which is impossible with a similar hit from a gun. The fact is that an arrow inflicts more serious damage to an animal than a bullet, and if an animal can move with a bullet in the body, then the arrow causes unbearable pain, causes significant blood loss and damage to internal organs.
The animal quickly loses mobility and dies, while the bullet carries only painful shock. Thus, we see that in capable hands is a hunting crossbow, an extremely effective lethal weapon! According to experienced crossbowmen, on a crossbow hunt, there are no wounded animals.
How to Become an Experienced Bow Hunter?
To become an experienced and successful hunter, you need to thoroughly study such a thing as: “effective defeat distance.” Of course, you can try to shoot arrow after arrow, hoping to hit the frog princess, but such tactics will not make you a real getter. The main rule of the alabaster is that the arrow should fly wherever you want, and not for luck, or wherever it wants. That is why the effective distance of the boom does not have much in common with the range of its flight.
When choosing a hunting crossbow, you should consider which animal you are going to hunt. To determine the effective distance of the defeat, that is the maximum distance at which the arrow released from the crossbow, without causing suffering, hit the game.
It should be especially noted that this physical discipline is purely individual not only for each crossbow but also for the hunter, with his skills as a shooter, as well as the climatic and natural conditions of the upcoming hunt.
Having a Good Crossbow Doesn’t Mean You’ll Be Successful in Hunting
Sometimes, insufficiently informed sellers tell all kinds of fables about the crossbow, supposedly with such a super weapon, you can hunt elephants and rhinos. Famous manufacturers like Bear Archery, Excalibur, and Interloper produce long-range crossbows that can hit a target for hundreds of meters. On the one hand, they are certainly right: a modern crossbow with a pulling force of up to 200 lbs, shoots an arrow at a distance of up to 500 meters however, it is not its aiming range.
The fact that a recursive or block crossbow does not have a large range and high speed of flight of an arrow is not its drawback! If this circumstance bothers you, then crossbow hunting is not for you – buy a gun and wander through the woods with half-drunk men.
Crossbow – a weapon of aristocrats, which requires respect, and serious preparatory skills. The speed of the crossbow arrow, weighing 27 grams, exceeds 120 m/s, therefore, the crossbow is quite able to cope with the task assigned to it!
What Other Factors Need to Be Considered?
In addition to the striking power and range of the arrow fired from the crossbow, there are also your ethical requirements: a deadly shot can be fired from a distance of 15 or 100 meters and how close you want to get to the prey is up to you. Of course, experienced hunters try to get as close as possible to hit the beast for sure, and not chase him across the forest or climb into the swamp for wounded animals. For a beginner, the most effective distance of a shot from a crossbow is considered to be a distance of 10 or 12 meters.
In this case, you don’t have to think about the trajectory of the boom, the direction, and the strength of the wind to get to the most vulnerable place. But in any case – the choice is only yours!
Your Accuracy
Most crossbows come with a red dot. If you want to aim as precisely as possible, you need a rifle scope that can be adjusted in the distance. Some models can be set in 10-yard or 10-meter steps. The minimum distance is usually 10 or 20 yards/meter, and the maximum distance is usually 50 yards/meter.
For all distances to be shot beyond, you have to rely on your skill and experience. This is the only way you can estimate how high you have to take the shot to compensate for the flight curve and to accommodate the arrow in the target.
Crossbow Range: A Summary
- If you don’t care about hitting a target, a powerful, modern crossbow can shoot up to 500 meters.
- If you want to shoot at a target, up to 80 meters is possible for a very experienced shooter.
- If you are not a professional shooter, you should orient yourself at a maximum of 50 to 60 meters. As a beginner, 30 to 35 meters is a big challenge.
