Hi all, just joined up, looking for some expert info. So far I've mainly been a turkey hunter and other small game like groundhogs, squirrels, rabbits, etc. but have helped a deer hunting buddy with tracking many times. I'm looking to move up into the deer population that comes into our fruit and nut orchard/food forest. I have some experience with guns and bows, including homemade hickory longbows, but want something higher powered to drop the deer but that also won't make a lot of noise. We only have 3 acres with some neighbors within hearing distance. I also can't go too far to chase the deer after shooting. What will be powerful enough to quickly drop it (obviously shot placement is most important), yet quiet enough to not alarm neighbors. Preferably $500 and under. Thanks and hope everybody has a good season! Rory, Folk Rock Farm
Yep, you've got a lot of learning ahead of you. Power is not necessary for a quick clean kill form any kind of bow. With a sharp broadhead and good shot placement, a 45 lb bow is plenty to get full penetration at 30 yards (outside limit for bowhunting in the woods. A compound bow has an advantage over a recurve or stick bow in that the cams allow for a higher peak draw weight because the peak occurs earlier in the draw curve. This allow the shooter to hold at a lower weight and use bow sights for aiming. This compares to walking the string or instinctive shooting with stick and recurves. Shooting at the faster speeds of a compound means there is less arc in the trajectory path. This means there is more room for error in range estimation.
The only advantage a crossbow has over a compound is that shooting form is enforced by the rail and the fact that the hunter does not have to draw in the presence of game. They are generally faster but noisier. Focus on quiet if you go this route. They offer no greater range than a compound bow in compentant hands.
The faster a bow shoots, the more energy is transferred. Any energy that is not absorbed by the arrow has to go somewhere. Most of it goes into vibration of the string and bow limbs. This vibration caused noise. When a deer hears a sharp noise close by, it drops it chest preparing to bound off. This is commonly called "jumping the string". Bullets generally travel faster than the speed of sound, so the deer does not have time to react to the sound of a gun before the bullet arrives. Even the fastest crossbows are very slow compared to a firearm. So, a deer can drop 18"-22" from the time an arrow is released until it arrives. With todays technology, it is pretty easy to get an accurate range on a deer, so a quiet bow is generally much more important than a fast shooting bow.
An arrow is different than a bullet. It primarily kills by cutting blood vessels and arteries and puncturing lungs depriving the brain of oxygen. It takes only seconds for a deer to die from a well placed double lung shot, but it can run several hundred yards during those seconds. Bow shot deer are most often recovered by blood trailing.
You never want to drop a deer in its tracks with a bow. This means you made a very bad shot and hit the spine. The spine is too small of a target for a bow, a slight miss means a wounded deer that will be hard to recover. That is why broadside or slightly quartering away are the best shots aiming at the lower third of the chest.
If you need deer to be easily recovered, you need the combination of a firearm and proper shot selection. If you are hunting in an area where firearm noise is an issue, the only thing you can do is select a smaller caliber firearm and use a suppressor. You would likely need to take scapula or neck shots to drop a deer in its tracks.
None of this can be had for under $500 as far as I know.
