The Evolution of the Crossbow

The Popularity of Crossbow Hunting is Growing

by Wade Middleton

Hunter wading through water with crossbow

In this episode of Cabela’s Deer Gear TV, we are looking at the evolution of the crossbow and how it has become a popular option when hunting for big game, especially whitetail deer. Brian Flaherty from TenPoint Crossbows joins us in this episode, as we discuss the newest crossbows (Vapor RS470, Vengent S440, and Viper S400) to hit the market and the revolutionary technology that they possess. No matter your opinion on crossbows, you can’t deny the amazing advancement in technology that they have had over the years.

I’ve had a chance to hunt with a lot of different models of TenPoint Crossbows. Field test them or provide feedback about each one of the different models that we’ve used and what’s been exciting to me is to see the evolution of them. Whether I’ve been deer hunting with them in many different situations and scenarios, whether I have taken exotics, I shot a giant fallow one time with them. Turkey hunting with them, lots of hogs at various times. All year long, I’ve found reasons and needs to go hunting with a crossbow.

 

Brian Flaherty Posing with Deer

Brian Flaherty poses with his long 8-point and the Viper S400

Whitetail hunting is something that has driven and seen such a huge increase in the crossbow market. Crossbows have always been both not only a recruitment tool but a retention tool. So crossbows on the recruitment side, you can start kids at young ages that maybe can’t pull a vertical bow back yet and you take them out there and they can be shooting bullseyes with their crossbow or they can go out and they can harvest an animal at such a young age, that just gets them into the sport of archery and they get excited about it. Naturally, they may transition to a vertical bow, but on the recruitment side of it, now we’re building the numbers of hunters out there. On the retention side, there are situations that come up whether it’s a shoulder surgery or maybe just whatever physical things may prohibit someone from getting out there and drawing their vertical bow. They can still get out there and enjoy the sport of bowhunting and then for gun hunters that want to get into some archery seasons or some late season archery hunters, it’s just all over the place from recruitment and retention crossbows are doing a great job. – Brian Flaherty, Marketing Manager for TenPoint Crossbows

Hunter smiling with deer and crossbow

Wade is all smiles with his first buck with the TenPoint Vapor RS470

I’m a person that just loves to hunt with a lot of different means and methods and TenPoint Crossbows and I have been working together for quite some time now. What I learned about the TenPoint models looking at their innovations, field testing them, and taking them hunting for a lot of different types of game species is that their innovation and advancement continue to evolve hunting with crossbows into levels of comfort and deadly accuracy that are mind-boggling.

 

 

There’s still a little bit of a mindset with vertical bow hunters that the crossbow doesn’t belong in archery season, I would just tell you to go out there and try them, they’re very cool to shoot, they’re very fun to shoot. They provide tons of opportunities for hunters and it’s growing in numbers every single year and we’re just happy that we’re the forefront of it. For the past 25 years, TenPoint Crossbows have been at the forefront of crossbow technology and continuing to push the envelope and provide more opportunities for hunters everywhere. – Brian Flaherty, Marketing Manager for TenPoint Crossbows