Just mentioning the word Crossbow will send people from any local hunting or archery club into instant debate. It seems that a large number of hunters are against crossbows because they are afraid of losing part of their season either bowhunting or rifle hunting to crossbow hunters if it becomes legal in their state.

I am writing this article to hopefully shed a little light on the subject. Now don’t just turn the page because you think I am about to climb up on a stump and begin a sermon on how everyone’s thinking is wrong on the subject, let me share with you what I have learned and have found out over the last several years.

My husband Jim and I have taught archery programs for years, we teach at summer camps, schools, Boy Scout groups and camps for the terminally ill. We also teach women’s groups such as Becoming and Outdoors Woman and NWTF’s Women in the Outdoors we also host several women’s and couples whitetail deer hunts each year. I am sure you are wondering what this has to do with crossbows and the controversy they invoke.

In our school programs we have several handicapped children that are confined to wheelchairs. They want to shoot as much as the other children in their class and more often than not we hear " Tommy can’t shoot a bow, he can’t do anything like that" from their classmates. I would love to say that Jim is able to attend all of the school programs that we teach but he can’t possibly get off work for all of them. I can usually help anyone shoot a bow from 3 or 4 years of age up, even in wheelchairs, but the problem I face is the new motorized chairs are so big that I couldn’t reach around them. The boys that are confined to the chairs don’t have enough strength in their arms and hands to hold the bow for me to draw it to help them shoot. We are the type of folks that never give up and we were bound and determined to find a way for everyone to shoot and to change the mindset of their classmates that were so eager to tell us what their wheelchair bound friends couldn’t do.

Barnett Crossbow joined us two years ago and we have not looked back since. Our hats off to Jackie and Kim at Barnett, they understood what we needed and came to our aid to provide a way for everyone to be able to shoot during our programs. They added two Revolution XS Crossbows with the red dot scope packages to our arsenal. The Revolution XS comes in Real Tree Hardwoods camo and had a thumbhole stock. It’s 160 pound limbs shoots over 300 ft per second and comes with an adjustable cheek piece and recoil pad that can be adjusted to each shooter.

We equip the crossbows with a Nikon tripod, this way our children don’t have to hold the weight of the crossbow and we shoot Carbon Express CX Advanced Cam Crossbolts tipped with 75-grain field tips. It’s steady and all the shooter has to do is aim with the Barnett red dot scope and squeeze the trigger. Needless to say since we have added the crossbow to our classes everyone is happy and we love to hear the children say "Hey Jessie you did it that was awesome I didn’t know you could shoot !!!

The accuracy of the Barnett Revolution is amazing we literally took it out of the box and attached the red dot scope to it. We made a few adjustments and within 4 shots we had it dead on. We do help our handicapped students aim to begin with and they usually hit the bullseye the first time. The smiles and the cheers gives Tommy and the other handicapped children confidence that they can do anything and we have also been able to change to mindset of the other children in their class. When we come for "bow day" as they call it now they all ask, " did you bring the crossbow today, we love to watch Tommy shoot it". We don’t do any of our programs without the Barnett Crossbows now. The children all love to shoot the recurve and the longbows that we take with the big flu-flu arrows but they have also learned to appreciate that if you put your mind to something you can achieve anything, it doesn’t matter if you are handicapped.

Jim and I have also introduced the crossbow into our seminars that we do on our All Women’s All Weapons hunts that we host in South Carolina each year. The first year we brought the Revolution XS on our hunt most of the ladies were afraid of it because of what they had herd. It had the range of a rifle, you could get hurt badly with it, they were very loud and you had to wear hearing protection, they were not accurate and the list went on and on.

In between our morning and evening hunt we help the ladies with their equipment if they need it and we always bring out the crossbow and the long bow for them to shoot and to clear their minds of all the bad things they have heard about bows and crossbows. The first thing that almost every lady will say is " I can’t do it, I can’t cock the crossbow, I can’t draw the longbow, I can’t, I can’t. I know, being a lady myself, that what they are saying is I am afraid of hurting myself in front of everyone else. We always teach safety first and make sure that no one gets hurt. I always shoot the crossbow first so they will know what it sounds like and how to hold it. After a few shots they reluctantly give it a try, after they shot they look at me and say " oh, that is cool, I hit the bullseye the first shot"! The same for the longbow, " I never thought I could draw it, let alone hit the target with it, and I didn’t hit my arm.

The truth is that a crossbow has about the same range as a compound bow, they do make some noise but this can be easily quieted with SVL Limbsaver products. Like bowhunting you will more than likely get only one shot and you will still experience the closeness and the quietness of bowhunting.

The first year we added the crossbow to our women’s hunt seminar, we had a lady that refused to shoot the crossbow. She said that she had shot one once before and almost amputated her thumb. I promised her that she would not get hurt and that the Revolution XS was designed with places to put your fingers and thumb on the stock well below the string and there was not way she could get her thumb into the path of the string. Everyone else shot the crossbow and she finally decided she would shoot it, but just one time. Needless to say one time turned into several dozen and she was in love. She said that when she returned home that she was going to purchase a Barnett Revolution XS and start hunting with it, it was legal to hunt with a crossbow in her state without permit. She said that it would lengthen her season since their crossbow season ran with archery season.

I also have several lady hunting buddies that suffer from Fibro-Myalgia and can no longer shoot their bows, they now use a crossbow because it’s as close as they can get to their bow and they don’t want to hunt with a rifle. Jim and I also have a member of our team that hunts with a crossbow by permit, his name is Gary Carver. He had an accident several years ago and doesn’t have the strength in his left hand to hold his bow as he draws it, he also didn’t want to just rifle or muzzleload hunt and went through the proper authorities and now has a permit to hunt with a crossbow.

What Jim and I have found is that the crossbow gives more people the opportunity to hunt that other wise wouldn’t. Older people, women, children, men and the handicapped can all enjoy crossbow hunting. Can you imagine if something changed you life and you could no longer bowhunt? What would you do, just lay it down and forget how much you loved the closeness and quietness of bowhunting, I know I wouldn’t.

The next time you are in a group and the crossbow controversy comes up think before you condemn it. I will more than gladly share a week of bow season with crossbow hunters. I feel that the crossbow enables more people, young and old to hunt and be a part of something that they would otherwise not have an opportunity to do. It goes with the old adage "walk a mile in my shoes" try shooting a crossbow if you have the opportunity you might be amazed at how much you enjoy it and it might give you way to introduce others to hunting. 

Team Frady would like to say a special thank you to Tommy and Jessie, your "let’s do it attitude" and huge smiles are what makes you 10’tall in our eyes. We know that with your heart and determination you can soar with the eagles. Thank you for teaching us more than we will ever be able to teach you!

Equipment List:

• Barnett Revolution XS ( in Real Tree Hardwoods Camo)
• Carbon Express Advanced Camo Crossbolts
• Byron Ferguson Longbow
• Carbon Express Flu-Flu Arrows
• SVL Limbsaver Product