Category Archives: Crossbow for Hunting and Target

Eating Russian Boar – Best Pork Chops on the Planet

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Recently I hunted boar again in Maine as you can see from recent articles. These were mixed breeds that are part Russian Boar.

A few years back I took a larger boar (female) that was said to be Russian.

Below the meat of the Russian boar was more beef like with fat marbled throughout.

These Russian pork chops when grilled were the finest tasting meat my wife and I have ever experienced in our lives. OMG, my wife went bananas over the meat which is why she sent me off to get another one. The meat of the latest boar was not as fatty as this one and it tastes great but not quite as good as the first.

We think that it is the fat marbling that drove our taste buds insane when fire grilled to a blackened crust below.

For my wife and I, pork will never be the same. This wild boar meat was a true culinary experience.  My latest boar meat is still over the top as compared to domestic pig. So I will go hunt one up instead of the pork at the grocery store. Just shoot a fat one!

Good Hunting

© 2019

New PSE Thrive 400 Crossbow – Out of the Box

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https://www.pse-archery.com/pse-thrive-400-crossbow/

For all the years I shot bow and arrow for hunting deer and 3D,  I have never used a crossbow because I loved the basic bow so much and could shoot it well in long bow, recurve and compound. After I crossed the 60 mark, my shoulders and arms and eyes had minds of their own. The rifle has always been my favorite for longer distances thus after 60 it became my hunting tool of choice. I thought that perhaps I could be satisfied to give up the bow, arrow and my favorite Muzzy broadheads.

Along comes the crossbow which is half rifle and half bow for me to test like this one from PSE.

I chose the PSE Thrive because the PSE name and quality have been around for many years and I am familiar with PSE Compound bows. Second, I wanted a bow that had a CNC machined barrel which launches consistently tight groups yet does not rob my wallet (MSRP $499-$599) . Sorry, I am not spending over $1000 on a Crossbow at this time. I need to hunt and practice with an affordable crossbow.

Why the 400 series? Well, I think the Thrive 365 and 400 are just the ticket to reach out to the farthest 40 yards with plenty of speed for a slight miscalculation in arrow drop and energy for penetration on all North American game. That is provide the hunter can string load the 175lb bow correctly and safely.

The Thrive came in a double cardboard box to protect the contents. As all crossbows do, they come un-assembled. It is important to verify the contents of the box before getting started in the crossbow assembly which is very straightforward.

The assembly comes with Allen wrenches but was lucky enough to have my own set of fold out Allen wrenches making it easier to tighten screws. Basically you take the bow portion and intuitively place it on the square and round barrel assembly. It took some finagling to get the barrel inserted but once that was done you added the foot stirrup over the front of the bow and aligned it with the large bolt hole that holds the bow to the barrel. Now it is a crossbow! Time to assemble this far is in minutes. Next to assemble the quiver on the picatinny rail underside but had to move the fore-stock back a few notches so the quiver mount would sit flat. Next the scope came with scope rings attached. Nice! And easily.mounted on the pre-installed scope rail. I had to adjust the verticle of the crosshairs just slightly and tighten the scope rings.

The string rope that came with it, I discovered was too long and I could not load the bow as I pulled it toward my chest. Bobby Vargas at PSE sent me a YouTube to shorten the rope and then I could pull and load it. See below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unOIeBn0tgE

There is an automatic safety that when the bow is cocked, it engaged the safety. Like a rifle, you must push the safety off to FIRE.

I made my own target out of shrink wrap, cardboard and a large zippered vinyl cold food insulated bag . My first arrow bolt struck and the shrink wrap did the job of absorbing the impact with my “block” as a backstop.

I created this target so I can easily pull the arrow/bolts. It works! I have shot 1 bolt at 20 yards and 6 bolts at 30 yards with the crosshair markings and adjusted the scope easily up and left/right. And it didn’t even bother my neighbors. I can hit a baseball size target at 30 yards so far on day 1. I will test this crossbow and write several articles so you can read my evaluation.

Well that is it for the Out-of-the-Box! So far I give it a solid “A”

Next is to shoot it at longer distances with a rest such as a monopod, bipod, tripod and bench rest. Then to shoot broadheads.

Maybe one for you to think about for Christmas!

Good Hunting!

 

 

A case for Crossbows in Archery Season in New Hampshire – Updated

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Has the Crossbow as a hunting tool made a deer population control conservation impact above and beyond the long bow, recurve and compound bows. The answer is a resounding yes, in many states that recognize it as a state of the art archery hunting tool. In fact, there are more deer taken in Ohio by crossbow than by other archery means. The crossbow is particularly useful in urban residential areas with high deer densities. This is because the crossbow like today’s compound bows make little noise and does not bother the neighbors.

QDMA’S RECOMMENDATIONS 2018 from page 16

https://www.qdma.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Whitetail_Report_2018.pdf 

NEW HAMPSHIRE IS NOW GREEN. CROSSBOWS ARE LEGAL as specified in new Regs.

“The QDMA is dedicated to ensuring
the future of white-tailed deer, wildlife
habitat and our hunting heritage. As such,
we are more interested in managing deer
and habitat appropriately and protecting
our hunting heritage than debating use of
specific weapons. If the use of crossbows
positively impacts a deer management program
and helps recruit and retain more
hunters, then we fully support it.”

 

I was a traditional recurve archer most of my young life till the compound bow came into vogue in the 1970’s  but archery took a back seat when I had a shoulder issue in 2012 and could no longer get my bow to full draw. Note the Compound bow was seen as a usurper of traditional archery too.  It was disappointing as all get-out to not be able to shoot my bow.

If I can shoot a rifle then I can shoot a crossbow. In addition, the same hunting guidelines and distances (40 yards in open terrain only)  that apply to archery are the same for the crossbow.

The same similarity exists  as the traditional muzzleloader of the revolutionary war began a muzzleloader season and is now supplanted nearly 100 %  by in-line muzzle loaders with a 209 shotgun primers and used for hunting most big game on the planet like elk, moose and brown bear. The crossbow is no less the same.

New Hampshire is suffering loss of revenue in hunter volume and license sales.  Think out of the Box!!

Further that David Risley is an avid deer hunter in Ohio along with over 140,000 buckeyes take to the woods with a Crossbow. Note that as of 2009 David Risley is Ohio’s Wildlife Management Chief. Ohio hunters and non resident hunters are keeping the financial coffers full with the embrace of the crossbow AND serving the conservation effort of whitetails and human/auto collisions alike.

I personally know of 5 female deer that live between houses in southern NH. Next year there will be 15 deer between houses. Who is going to harvest and consume this surplus deer that live among houses and where the deer aids as a tick borne vector which places humans and our children on the brink of an epidemic. Note that the Coyotes live with the deer too. Hey what happened to my pooch? He just disappeared or was pulled from a leash and eaten.

I give local seminars in Lyme Disease prevention. Most of us today have been or know someone that had a bullseye rash and associated flu symptoms later if not caught to  manifest into brain dysfunction, paralysis and joint pain and death.

The state of New Hampshire does an otherwise great job in managing the central and northern herds but there are growing pockets of deer in Southern NH that could use the Crossbow especially in Rockingham County to keep the deer in check and provide added recreation in the archery season and meat for the freezer.

As QDMA states: “If the use of crossbows positively impacts a deer management program and helps to recruit and retain more hunters, then we fully support it. And I support it as a QDMA member.