I bought this TenPoint crossbow in April of 2022 and I paid $1200 for it, new. Is it still accurate? You bet! Shooting 2 to 3 inch groups past 75 yards. Sure some crossbows can shoot tighter groups, but for hunting game my crossbow is terrific. Minimum energy for penetration on deer is said to be 25 ft-lbs. My crossbows terminal energy at 40 yards is 105 ft-lbs.
Last spring, before an Alberta black bear hunt, I had it inspected, cables and a few parts replaced and got a better quiver and a hard case. All screws were retorqued. Nice.
I also replaced the OEM scope with a new Oracle X Laser Range finding scope, cost $699.
This crossbow is shooting 350 fps with 425 grain arrows. I have harvested 2 black bears, both one shot kills and a 300 lb. Russian Boar with a second arrow using Swhackers, all with full penetration and 2 1/2 inch exit wounds.
In my opinion, this 350 to 400 fps arrow speed and energy is all I need for black bear, deer, elk and moose and allows me more retrieval options in pulling arrows from a target or 3D animal. Faster speeds, in my opinion well above 400 fps make capturing practice arrows a tough target pull and can damage vanes and knocks if the arrow is embedded.
If you want a target to handle up to 500 fps target butt, buy a BIGshot Target with a weather cover. Why a weather cover? A wet soaked target will not release your arrow easily. I use a mega size trash bag to protect mine. Works great!
And for really big boned game, like moose and buffalo, hunters can use heavier arrows in the 500 to 600 grain area can increase penetration, though I have no penetration issues with my 425g setup with Swhackers for deer and black bear, I would increase arrow weight for moose and buffalo.
If your crossbow has not been serviced or inspected after 2 years of use, perhaps now is the time in summer to get your bow inspected and serviced.
Much of my adult deer hunting life has been solo. I liked it that way. I rarely felt alone. I felt like the predator that I am. Seeing, hearing, smelling and understanding sign.
But having my youngest son with me in the woods is a delight to share the wild. Son Jason with my grand kids here on a NH hunt. No deer taken but great fun.
This November we will deer hunt in northern Maine in mid November. I am getting older and having him with me helps if either of us connect with a buck. Dragging out a big buck is hard work.
My method in snow is to first find fresh deer tracks in good deer areas not far off logging roads.
Deer that are not heavily pushed are likely to show themselves in early and late daylight e.g. crepuscular.
I think my son thinks similarly but staying warm and having some food and warm drink like coffee or soup makes it very enjoyable.
Buckle up, I’m taking you with me on this buffalo hunt with Jim River Guide Service. I wanted a respectable bull and great meat. It was travel on day 1, hunt on day 2, and fly home on day three. Honestly It seemed like a full week of hunting.
Just crazy to think we can accomplish this on short notice …but we did.
Jim River Guide Service is owned and operated by world renowned hunting guide Willie Dvorak.
Willie Dvorak
When Willie is not hunting buffalo, he is guiding for brown bear in Alaska. Willie has guided nearly 1000 buffalo hunts. Wow! World Class? Believe it!
Get your camo on and lets go stalk a nice bull buffalo for my freezer.
I had my Ruger M77 Hawkeye African in .375 Ruger with a Leupold VX-6 with a Boone and Crockett Reticle on it. A fabulous combination!
I custom hand load all my ammo. Below left, is a Nosler 300g AccuBond that I used on this hunt, loaded with a heavy dose of RL 15 powder.
The Nosler chrono’d just over 2500 fps and 4200 ft-lbs of smackdown energy at the muzzle.
I planned for a 200 yards shot and still holding over 3000 ft-lbs. of energy at that distance.
Buffalo are not easy to kill, often absorbing 3 to 6 bullets in the lungs to bring them down. And the challenge to me was to bring down the animal with three shots or less and well placed in the heart and lungs.
You know Robert Ruark of Africa fame says, “Use Enough Gun”.
And honestly, I have Enough gun!
Travel to South Dakota
Leaving Boston on a Delta Airbus A320 from gate A16 I arrived in Aberdeen, South Dakota after a quick stop in Minneapolis.
Flying Delta from Boston’s Logan Airport
Wing Tip at 35,000 feet. Cloudy below.
I rented a Chevy Silverado Pick up below and met Willie at his home/office.
Temp’s were in the 30’s …no snow.
I started the truck and noticed my drivers seat and steering wheel had heat. Nice!
Below, I pass by corn and giant silo’s, like protective centurions in the distance. Look at that hill of corn!
We were in Prairie country now, very flat, no hills, just undulating prairie as far as you could see.
We were hunting on a huge, yes huge tract of private open prairie land, not measured in acres, but in square miles.
All the roads and even dirt roads are straight as arrows.
The Hunt
Now on dirt, the tires sounded of earthen pebbles and dust tickling the undercarriage of the truck as we drove slowly along, looking for buffalo in the far distance. The wind was amazingly absent, maybe 5 mph, as typical winds blow 15 to 20 miles per hour here.
It’s almost as if our hunt was planned by providence just for us. If you believe in that sort of thing.
We found a heard of buff numbering perhaps in groups of over 50, but we wanted to find smaller groups of 5 or 6 or even a single bull.
We spotted a lone bull, but we needed to get closer to make sure its what we wanted to hunt.
I saw deer tracks and ringneck pheasants everywhere including thousands of sand hill cranes. A cornucopia of wildlife.
You’ve got to see it.
While driving, Willie says of bulls, “You see Ed, bulls fight each other every single day, always trying to beat each other and the dominant bull. And they don’t play fight for fun. It is to the death or getting the crap beat out of you. If the contesting bull can kill the rival, they would!”
I think loner bulls are loners because they try to heal their battle wounds and grow larger.
We parked the truck and began a stalk on the lone bull.
No bullet in the chamber but loaded and ready. Willie says, “buffalo have uncanny eyesight, always looking for danger.”
Willie was in the lead, me in the middle and Annie his daughter and hunt assistant was behind me. Watch out for buffalo chips, no tripping or stepping on them (which I did) they are everywhere.
If the bull spots us as danger, he will be running for miles so we had to walk as a group in a line with that bull so it would see us as one person, not three.
Using the undulating terrain we stayed in low spots and drainage ditches to get close.
The property, at some time in the past, had beef cattle, thus there were simple fences of barbed wire. Observing the lone bull, amazingly he was walking and feeding in our direction. “Thank you Lord!” I thought.
If he was walking away, we could have stalked him for a mile or more and never had a good shot..
So with some luck, we huddled for the final plan and I set up near the barbed wire and sat low to the ground. I asked, “Put a round in the chamber?” “Yup” Willie said!
The bull could not see us.
Annie came forward with a short shooting stick for me to use.
We waited ten minutes, it was like waiting for honey to drip off a cold spoon. Willie expected the bull will cross in front of us at about 80 yards.
Willie whispered, “Here he comes Ed.” I’m thinking, in retrospect, the bull may have detected us. He crested a rise at 80 yards and broadside, Willie whispered, “take him now.”
Crosshairs on him and steady, my rifle barked with authority. I didn’t feel the recoil. The wide expanse consumed the crack of the big .375 rifle.
The Nosler 300g AccuBond was on its way. Hearing the bullet thud on the buff was confirming the hit yet surreal. “Shoot again as soon as you can whispered Willie. The bull stumbled to the left. I had already jacked another round in the chamber, tracking him in my Leupold VX-6. The Boone and Crockett reticle crosshairs were beefy, making it easy to get on target. I fired a second round.
At the hit, the bull fell as if pole axed.
Loading another round again, I had the scope on him. “If he moves, shoot again”, said Willie
We watched. After 5 minutes he lay still.
We approached. Willie touched the eye with the muzzle of his rifle. Willie gave a “Thumbs Up!” He’s down for the count! “Good shooting Ed! Only 2 shots!”
I unloaded cleared the rifle, bolt open and announced “rifle is clear and empty.” “Great”, Willie said.
Time for pictures and smiles.
I was thrilled. Willie and I were all smiles.
We got the bull loaded on a flat bed trailer and off to the butcher.
Meat will be vacuum packed, and shipped to New Hampshire. Should get around 300 pounds or so of great meat and burger.
Is an adult bison considered dangerous game? Wounded at close range? Believe it! Certainly, not as vengeful as a cape buffalo but it is wise to give it great respect.
Courtesy Wikipedia
Amazingly, It is rare, based on ample evidence, to harvest an adult bison with just 1 or 2 shots to the lungs… even with a powerful big bore rifle.
It is not uncommon to take “at least” 3 lung hits to put down a full grown bull, even from my .375 Ruger or larger rifle. Amazingly, I was able to harvest my buffalo with just 2 shots from my .375 Ruger with 300g Nosler AccuBonds. My guide was thrilled as was the butcher. But being ready to reload is key.
My internal rifle clip only holds three rounds. Not 3 plus one.
Accordingly, I needed extra rounds at the ready to reload, just in case.
I purchased a Tourbon Buttstock ammo holder below. Just $28 dollars.
It looks great, however, I had to work/stretch the leather loops to hold my .375 rounds with 300 grain Nosler AccuBonds. I lubricated the leather with rendered oil from my last years bear. That helped greatly. It now holds 4 rounds.
In addition, I purchased a cartridge belt from Amazon ($11.00), just in case. Why? Easy access to reload can be difficult, cold weather grips the cartridge too firmly in the leather loops, then the cartridge belt with ammo around my waist will be there as a back up.
And I found out too late for this hunt that Alaskan Arms LLC offers a floor plate for two extra rounds in my Ruger Hawkeye African.
Honestly, I never thought I would be hunting American Plains Buffalo. Yet, in 12 days, I will come face to face with animals that include some giants of over 2000 lbs.
courtesy Wikipedia
Aghast! These giants of the plains absorb powerful bullets in the chest and lungs and some bulls remain standing even after multiple hits from Magnum rifles.
My research shocked me that these mega beasts eat big bullets like a stack of wet newspaper. I am getting ready for a huge adrenaline rush!
Video shots observed are often much less than 200 yards and closer to 100 yards.
I digress, watching a rare old video of Chef Andrew Zimmern get charged by a huge buffalo he killed and having to empty is rifle on it before Andrew became a piñata, Ole’.
Alaska Fish and Game for example has a minimum requirement of bullets of 175 grains and have a muzzle energy of 2800 ft-lbs.
The 30-06 caliber is considered an Alaska minimum with a 220 grain bullet with a muzzle energy of 2836 ft-lbs.
My new short Lever Action Marlin 45-70 SBL does not get in the picture as it can’t reach out with the longer range energy needed beyond 100 yards or more.
Next is the .338 Winchester Magnum with say a 225 grain bullet with a muzzle energy of just over 4000 ft-lbs. I hunted African Plains game with it. Loved it.
Up from there is the .375 H&H and .375 Ruger with 300g bullets delivering 4200 ft-lbs at the muzzle. This is where my Ruger M77 Hawkeye African Rifle enters with the .375 Ruger and 300g Nosler AccuBonds. . Just shoot straight!
In black bear hunting circles, the 45-70 lever action is highly regarded especially over bait. I am one of those who like big bullets at short range deer and bear. I bought the Marlin 1895 SBL specifically for short range hunting.
A lever action in 45-70 is a powerful friend on short range heavy timber shots. What is a shorter shot you ask? Most east coast whitetails are harvested inside of 100 yards and more likely inside of 60 yards in a woods setting. This makes the 45-70 lever guns so valuable. In addition, being a lever action, follow-up shots are much faster than a bolt rifle. On black bear, shoot’em till they drop if you can.
Yes, I have rifles such as my 7mm Rem Mag to shine best at over 100 yards and well beyond but consider it out-of-place at very short range.
Of course, it was easy to talk myself into another rifle.
On my Alberta spring black bear hunt in June of 2025, during the bear rut, testosterone laden male bears wander widely in search of receptive females and non-receptive females alike.
Male bears, I submit, are much more aggressive during this time, often climbing up to my tree stand with me in it. Below, a big cinnamon sow, checking me out.
I did not observe active aggression however but my hunting friend did.
A smaller male was harassing a larger female with cubs below.
The female sent her cubs up a tree and she turned on the smaller male and chased it up a tree. The smaller male would come down and approach the female again. She wanted no part of that young testosterone laden boar and she chased him again until the male bear observed my friend in a nearby tree stand.
All of a sudden the young aggressive male decided to climb into my friends wooden stand and attempt to attack him. He had a bow and arrow and a back up rifle. He was forced to shoot the .270 rifle over the bear to get him to leave. The bear left for 30 minutes and came back to continue his aggressive behavior. Finally my friend got safely away with his guide.
I am no expert on bear behavior but can’t help observing and discussing bear behavior with Alberta bear guides who observe lone male bears who often bluff charge at baiting sites and getting within feet of the armed guide.
Fact: Large Bears have to eat a lot of food to stay large. Small bears have to eat a lot of food to get large. I submit, that at certain times everything is on the menu, even other bears.
Having said that, in spring time moose and deer have young who are on the bears meat menu. During this time there is little to eat except these young animals. Older bears learn the cycles of nature and take advantage of fresh meat. In fall, bears look to top off their fat reserves for approaching winter. Below, a New Jersey group of student encounter a sizable bear and begin to photograph him. The bear got closer and closer. The students were then afraid and scattered. The bear was then in pursuit of prey at that point. Below is the article where one student was missing when they reconnoitered.
Large or small, a bears claws are extremely sharp and can do great damage to subdue its prey. It is wise as a bear hunter to understand that you are hunting a very intelligent apex predator.
A few days later, i encountered the smaller Alberta bear on my last hunting day. I sent an arrow through him at 20 yards. In a flash, he climbed 20 feet up a nearby tree and the arrow did its job and the bear fell 20 feet quite dead. My friend was so happy I killed that aggressive bear! He called him “Angry Bear”!
I have been looking and waiting for the right big game 45-70 lever gun to talk to me and I think I found it.
The Ruger made Marlin Lever Action Model 1895 SBL 45-70 is a stainless, easy and fast-like “butter” levering rifle with a 19 inch barrel. There is a shorter version but will share on that later.
I put a deposit on it as I wait for more snow to melt. I will reload this cartridge.
What makes this rifle so special is that it is,… well you’ll have to wait till I get it and take it to the range for me to share.
There is no doubt that the engineering and physics of todays compound crossbows make tremendous hunting tools for speed and accuracy especially with my Swhackers.
My bow is a TenPoint Turbo, shooting 360 fps. I added a Burris Oracle Laser Scope. A great combination.
Todays fastest crossbows are in the 500 fps range but for me, personally, I find crossbows better in the 300 to 400 fps range allow crossbow targets to capture the arrow without undue stress to remove the arrow, yet easily harvest game cleanly and often fully penetrate and exit.
There are limitations and concerns with such powerful bows however.
Broadhead tipped arrows of all kinds and bows can very easily deflect in brush, thus shot distances are often limited and must be unobstructed for the bolt/arrow to hit the vitals of the game you hunt.
I recall this past September in a ground blind for bear hunting in Maine with my friends at Foggy Mountain, I set up my crossbow on my steady “Death Grip™ tripod. Nice!
But once set up above, I noticed that there were tiny fir branches a few inches in front of my arrow. In the photo above you can see fir branches.
I thought, Yes, its a tiny branch, but my decades of bowhunting experience says, even a tiny branch can cause deflection.
I took the time to clear the branches.
An hour later, I harvested a sizable handsome boar. At the 29 yard bait barrel, the boar arrived appearing as if by magic. He stuck his head in the bait barrel and immediately backed out. He faced me in the ground blind and walked 8 to 10 yards toward me. I was on him and very still. Seeing no movement he turned to head back to the goodies. When he was “momentarily broadside” my arrow tipped with a 125g Swhacker hit the big bruin in the ribs.
The swhacker went through that bear so fast that the exit speed, even with a 2.25 inch cut, was so fast as it destroyed the broadhead striking a granite rock.
I knew the bear was mine. Very pleased with my shot I reflected on the power and accuracy of my crossbow.
I highly recommend shorter range crossbow hunting especially with Swhackers.
