Hunting Crossbows Power & Range, Very Low Velocity:
 In this crossbow guide we will review proper crossbow set-up, arrow recommendation, broadhead recommendation, point blank range sight-in, deer size animal shot placement and whether you should ground blind or treestand hunt with this crossbow.

Very Low Velocity; 200 - 225 feet per second arrow speed crossbows.
 22 Yards - Maximum Point Blank Hunting Range.
 26 Yards - Maximum Effective Hunting Range.
 Arrow flight time till impact at 26 yards, approximately 4/10 of a second.

Very Low Velocity Crossbows.
Excalibur Crossbows: Apex.

 There are a lot of crossbows that fall into this velocity range and I am going to guess that there are 100's of thousands of these crossbows out there and all are capable of taking deer sized animals effectively, when set-up properly and limited to their actual capabilities.

Most Popular Crossbow In This Velocity Category:
 Imported Crossbows; Possibly Barnett Wildcat XL Copies. These crossbows appear to be exact copies of barnett Wildcat XL crossbows. between $75.00 - $100.00. These 150 lb. recurve crossbows produce enough power to kill a deer when set-up properly.

I stumbled upon bow prods and replacement strings for other Barnett recurve crossbows.

Product Recommendations to gain maximum accuracy, power and range:
 Based on our field testing of archery products for crossbows.

 1. These crossbows where the sight mounts in the rear of the crossbow has a groove that accepts a 3/8" dovetail scope mounting which is the same as most .22 rifles. Mount a quality scope on the crossbow. I found these quality Bushnell rimfire scopes at for a cheap price and these Barnett multi-reticle crossbow scopes at as well and they all have the correct mounting rings with them.
 Note: Most crossbow manufacturers use a 7/8" weaver style scope mount.

 2. There are various arrow lengths recommended for these crossbows and even by Barnett from 14" - 18", to acquire maximum accuracy and power for these crossbows buy good 20" carbon arrows, not aluminum, carbon arrows are lighter and tougher than aluminum arrows.
 We ran multiple tests on the StalkerXBolt's from Cabela's and found them to be highly accurate, most of the crossbows we had worked with gave 1 1/2" accuracy and under at 50 yards with these crossbow arrows.
 (Highly Recommended).

 3. Arrow points and broadheads need to be the same exact weight which is 100 grains and no more, this will give the correct F.O.C. for the arrow. The broadhead diameter needs to be 1" - 1 1/16" of the fixed blade type to gain maximum accuracy and penetration on a deer size animal. Absolutely no larger than 1 1/16" diameter broadheads of the fixed blade type.

 Further field testing of hunting products carried by Cabela's revealed that the Saunders Combo Point and the Trophy Ridge Ultimate Steel Broadhead of matched weight, impacted the targets in a near exact match.

Very Low Velocity Crossbow Sight-In:
 Now that you have the correct set up to extract all the power and range these crossbows offer, lets sight-in for maximum point blank range.

200 Feet Per Second Maximum Point Blank Range, 22 Yards.
5 Yards	10 Yards	15 Yards	18 Yards	20 Yards	22 Yards
+ 3" High	+ 3" High	+ 2" High	0	- 2" Low	- 3" Low

 As you see by the above chart you sight your crossbow in at 18 yards and use a dead on hold for all shots out to 22 yards, which will give you the correct impact zone as illustrated below. Maximum effective hunting range for this power of crossbow is 26 yards, any target that is beyond 22 yards you must raise the crosshairs and crossbow to adjust additional arrow drop while still keeping the target in the crosshairs.
 Raise the crossbow and scope to the top of the back of your sighted deer and hold dead on at this point for the correct arrow strike out to 26 yards as in the illustration below.

Very Low Velocity Crossbow Power:
 Even these very low powered crossbows are an effective piece of archery hunting equipment, when set-up properly and their limitations are known.

 These crossbows have enough arrow energy for hunting, they generate 35 - 45 foot pounds of energy and when coupled with good fixed blade broadheads they can be used for hunting medium sized game such as, Deer and Antelope.

Very Low Velocity Crossbow Blind Hunting:
 Because of the very low velocity of these crossbows you need to be as close to your target as possible and on a near horizontal plane, in other words use this crossbow from a ground blind.

Very Low Velocity Crossbow Shot Placement:
 Because of the low velocity and low arrow energy of this crossbow you need to keep all your shots at an animal broadside and broadside only, for the simple fact; there is not enough energy to make a quartering shot because the energy required to push an arrow that far through an animal.

 Even with these limitations this is still an effective hunting crossbow.