Crossbow ranges

[ShawnM]

Anyone know of a range that allows crossbow practice? CAC doesn't last time I asked.

[Stinky Coyote]

i bet Jim Bows would hook you up, they sell crossbows too, give him a shout, NE Calgary by 32nd/edmonton trail etc.

[ishootbambi]

good luck. theres an awful lot of prejudice against them machines.....

[Honker1]

Yes Jimbow's does but he pull's out a special butt for crossbow guys to shoot at same range price 10.00 for the day.

[ShawnM]

Originally Posted by ishootbambi

good luck. theres an awful lot of prejudice against them machines.....

Couldn't agree more actually. I haven't bought one yet but I thought what's the sense if I can't practice anywhere with it. I'm not sure if I'd ever use one for hunting but I've got access to a small piece near Calgary and some of the good areas face property. Could be worthwhile investment.

[diamonddave]

I didn't realise that it was an issue at the range to shoot the Xbows? Is it just an issue at the indoor ranges, or are they for the most part all against it??

[blueskys]

The biggest problem I have found shooting crossbows is hitting the previous arrows you have shot. Gets expensive quick!

[HunterDave]

Why do you need to find a range to use your crossbow on? Purchase a couple of bales of hay or make bags of rags, set up on some crown land somewhere and have at it.

[Stinky Buffalo]

Originally Posted by blueskys

The biggest problem I have found shooting crossbows is hitting the previous arrows you have shot. Gets expensive quick!

Heh! What's that saying they have... "A 'Robin Hood' is not a big deal... It's actually a mistake..."

[blueskys]

For my archery target I use bales of wood shavings. $8 bucks at UFA a bale. Then I flatten a bunch of heavy cardboard boxes until you get a stack about 4" thick the same size as the bale.

Next I got a bunch of old floor mats from trucks [the heavy rubber ones] 6 or 7 and duct taped them to the front of the bale. Then I duct taped the cardboard stack over the floor mats. Even with all that.. a few shots in the same location and you start to bury your arrows so you have to move your aim point frequently, even with my compound bow. I tried the small square straw bales but went completely through.

One of these days I will break down and buy a real archery target

[Honker1]

Originally Posted by diamonddave

I didn't realise that it was an issue at the range to shoot the Xbows? Is it just an issue at the indoor ranges, or are they for the most part all against it??

Most of the upper end Xbows are very very fast and have very high KE but they shoot short bolt's. Most archery range's do not want to take their target butt's apart or sell the bag to the xbow shooter so he can cut it open to retrieve their bolt's. Xbow's must be shot at high density foam target's anything else and the bolt's are inside the target or pass through, most shop's will not go through the extra expense to have a xbow target.

[jim-bo]

At Bass Pro we really try not to shoot any crossbows at all for that reason, even our massive FieldLogic Blocks don't stop crossbows all that well, it damages our targets and more times than not the vanes on the bolts either in the target or removing the bolt. they actually penetrate very similarly to compound bows but those 20" bolts are hard to remove.

Jim-bow probably will let you shoot, I believe he has a specific target for x-bows. Many other ranges don't or won't.

Your best bet is to buy a target and shoot on private land or crown land.