N.Y. State Department of Environmental Conservation(DEC) has  made some changes to the big game hunting laws for this fall 2011, it was too late for the changes to be included in the hunting manuals of 2011-2012, usually provided when licensees are purchased. Do to the fact that the bills were signed late by Gov. Andrew Cuomo the new changes will not appear on the manuals of 2011-2012.

The changes in which have been made consist of allowing rifles to be used for big games in Cortland County. Also crossbows are only permitted during the muzzle-loading gun season, this will only be for a part of the fall hunting season.

Hunters in Delaware, Sullivan and Ulster counties are now prohibited from killing a spike horn deer, they must have at least one antler with three points. The law applies to all public and private lands and all deer hunting seasons. Only hunters under the age of 17 are exempt and may take any antlered deer with at least one antler measuring three or more inches in length. Deer hunting regulations in all other WMUs were not affected by this legislation.

You can find more DEC LAWS

How to disassemble a SPIDER MK-250 crossbow:

Tools: Screw Driver, Pin-Shaped Nail, Rubber Mallet

1. Position the SPIDER MK-250 crossbow on its right side, then you will need to locate a small bolt that is inserted inside the scope mount frame(the bolt should not be the one that is connected to the scope knob adjuster). Then using your hammer and a pin-shape nail, you will need to place your nail on the (1) small bolt and gently hammer the bolt so that it can come out loose thru the other end (basically your using the nail to push the bolt out the other end).

2. The scope mount frame should easily slide off, after the bolt was pushed out. Then you will find (2) screws located inside the scope adjusters frame.

3. Using your screw driver gently remove the (2) screws. Make sure to have a small container where you can store these small screws and bolts.

4. The scope adjuster frame should then be able to come off easily.

5. Now you should have a crossbow with no scope adjuster frame and prepare your screw driver for the next step.

6. Using your screw driver gently remove the (1) top screw and place it in your small container with your other bolts and screws. Now all you should have in front of you is crossbow with no scope mount or scope adjuster.

7. Position your SPIDER MK-250 crossbow on its right-side and locate the (2) screws. Then gently remove the (2) screws from the right-side.

8. After you are done with removing the (2) screws from the right-side, position your SPIDER MK-250 crossbow on its left-side and remove the other (2) screws. Remember to place the screws in your small container.

9. Now you are going to position your SPIDER MK-250 crossbow upside down so that you can view the bottom part, there you will locate (1) screw that is inside the camouflage frame and you will need to remove it.

10. Now your metal frame is ready to be separated from its camouflage frame, by using a rubber mallet gently hit the metal frame.

11. Without any difficulty the metal frame should be able to separate from its camouflage frame.

12. You should have two separate parts your camouflage frame and your metal frame.

13. Position your metal frame on its right-side and remove the (2) screws.

14. Position your metal frame on its left-side and  remove the (2)screws. Don’t forget to put the screws in a small container.

15. After you are done removing the two screws from each side, you should be able to slide out the trigger frame.

16. You are now finished and have disabled your SPIDER MK-250 crossbow.

Hello Everyone,

I am gathering some information and I hope that you people can give me some valuable feedback.

“I wanted to know which of the FOUR out of the Fourteen Crossbows listed below you would mostly desire?”

1. Barnett Ghost 400 CRT Crossbow

2. Barnett Jackal Crossbow

3. Barnett Penetrator Crossbow

4. Barnett Quad AVI Crossbow

5. Barnett Buck Commander Crossbow

6. Excalibur Axiom Crossbow

7. Excalibur Exocet 200 Crossbow

8. PSE TAC 15i Crossbow

9. PSE Reaper Crossbow

10. PSE Viper Copperhead Crossbow

11. Wicked Ridge Invader Crossbow

12. Wicked Ridge Warrior Crossbow

13. Horton Team Realtree TRT 175 Crossbow Package

14. Horton Bone Collector Crossbow

Other(__________) Your personal suggestion in Crossbow

I promise you that your feedback is really important to me!!!

You can post your Comments here or on Facebook.

Thank You!!!!!

North Carolina has made it effective to legalize crossbows for hunting, starting August 1,2011 to July 31, 2012. This is really great news for people that like to go hunting with there crossbows. It is another wonderful location were people can go and have great hunting experience.  North Carolina offers great hunting opportunity programs for the disabled in which also consist of crossbow hunting.

“Crossbows are legal hunting weapons for licensed hunters anytime bow-and-arrow hunting is allowed. Crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 150 pounds. Bolts must use broad heads. ” -www.ncwildlife.org/Regs

Some of the Most frequent asked Questions:

Who can hunt with a crossbow?

Any properly licensed hunter or licensed-exempt hunter, regardless of disability.

When can a properly licensed hunter use a crossbow?

Anytime bow and arrow is a legal method of take. For deer, that is any open deer season (i.e., archery, muzzle loader and gun). A crossbow can also be used to take nay other game bird, game animal or non game animal for which there is a season.

Are there any restrictions on the type of crossbow I can use?

Crossbows must have a minimum draw weight of 15o pounds. Only bolts with fixed minimum broad head width of 7/8 inch or a mechanically opening broad head with a minimum width 7/8 inch in the open position maybe used for taking bear, deer, wild boar or wild turkey. Blunt-type bolts may be used in taking smalls animals and birds, including, but not limited to, rabbits, squirrels, quail, grouse and pheasants. Poisonous, drugged, barbed or explosive bolts may not be used for taking any game.

Find more detail from www.ncwildlife.org/Regs/Regs_Hunt_Trap.htm

Check: cbsnews.com/stories/2011/08/30/national/main20099252.shtml

This will make people think twice before they throw rocks at cars. According to San Diego police two young boys were throwing rocks at cars, when the passenger in a vehicle (black Toyota RAV4),  pulled out a crossbow and shot one of the boys in the abdomen. The young boy was taken to the hospital with no life threatening injuries. No arrest have been made.

It must be a hard lesson learned by the young boy that was struck by the crossbow, although the boy was wrong for throwing rocks, I believe that no child or person should be harmed in any form, especially being shot by a crossbow. There are many other forms in preventing situations like this from occurring, I am just glad to see that the young boy did not face any serious life threatening injuries. I do hope that the young boys parents are more aware of what there children are doing then letting them outside throw rocks at cars and well for the person who shot the crossbow I just hope that he gets arrested for his senseless act.

Hello Hunters–Have you ever found yourself on a big game hunt and you go to cock your bow and the wire snaps? Well, don’t get caught this season without your spare accessories such as our Barnett Predator Crossbow Extra Cross Wire String, which can be found at thecrossbowstore.com. That’s correct, we already have the cross wire in stock and ready to ship! So when you’re telling your buddies your hunting story this season, make sure it only includes the kill and not some sad story about your string breaking and not being prepared.   Not shooting a Predator crossbow, not to worry as we have other CrossWire Strings and Cables available for the following Barnett crossbows:

Barnett Ghost 400 CRT CrossWire String

Barnett Ghost 350 CRT CrossWire String

Barnett Predator Lite CRT CrossWire String

Barnett Buck Commander CrossWire String

Barnett Penetrator 2010 and prior CrossWire String

Barnett Revolution/Quad CrossWire String

Barnett Wildcat C5 CrossWire String

Barnett Jackal CrossWire String

Barnett CrossWire Replacement Cable

Hunting With a Crossbow or Rifle?

Hunting is a great way to experience a thrilling, often challenging, and what can be a very highly rewarding sport during most times of the year, depending on where you live.  Be it a high powered rifle, a crossbow or compound bow, whatever you choose, you will be able to go after game big and small. The potential rewards and the excitement gained in hunting are achieved differently with your choice of equipment. Being a responsible sportsman is of most importance, whatever firearm or device you are using, and as a responsible sportsman and hunter, safety and proper preparation before the season begins is very important.


The crossbow is becoming an ever increasingly popular means of hunting prey, rather than a compound bow or a rifle. Many areas are now opening up to the use of a crossbow, when restrictions might apply to either that of a compound bow or rifle.  Whereas the crossbow is legal to use, the use of one offers a unique challenge to the hunter. The crossbow has the added convenience of a rifle as well as having the restrictive range of archery equipment, and is well worth giving it a try.

Several areas have or are now considering banning the use of high powered rifles, so the trend towards crossbows and compound bows is far more active. In North America, game populations and specifically whitetails continue to grow, and to curtail these ever growing populations the crossbow is seen as an effective method. To control the deer numbers, game management authorities, can see the use of this often primitive weapon addresses the need, hence the growing popularity of this choice of weapon.

When comparing, one could say that a crossbow is just a blend between a gun and a bow, you can enjoy the stability the gun experience will give you, but at the same time the challenge of letting loose a trajectory armed with a completely different type of ammunition, and one that has distinct limitations. The effective range of a crossbow is say, about 40 yards, this is about the same as 60 or 70lb compound bow. One of the drawbacks of using a crossbow is that they can be cumbersome to carry; also they require much care and attention when drawing and releasing the string tension. As with any firing apparatus, safety is always paramount, and sometimes if you are on stand and want your crossbow cocked, this can be difficult to the sheer size of the crossbow.  The crossbow is not an arrow gun, the physical range of the crossbow is limited, and the reload time is slow, that’s why for ease, speed and portability, a rifle is often considered preferable.

Which is more effective? Crossbow, Compound Bow or Rifle?

There is many a debate between the uses of a crossbow a compound bow and that of a rifle, which is more effective? And perhaps, which is more accurate for hunting? Some people prefer a crossbow, as it is sometime seen as more challenging, and the use of this primitive weapon has a great appeal, and that a crossbow is able to be used in some suburban areas whereas a firearm is not. But saying that, the rifle is often seen as being the best choice and sometimes there is no comparison to either a crossbow or compound bow, as a rifle is considered more accurate, faster loading, and the distance you have to get between you and your prey is much less. But the use of these hunting devices can be restrictive to the area in which you live, some laws allow you to use a crossbow in the rifle season only, but in the archery season you cannot. Another plus for the use of a rifle against a crossbow and compound bow is that the arrow and bolt are relatively quiet but not completely. They are also much slower than a bullet, so the prey that you are hunting can sometimes jump, which can make the arrow or bolt hit the animal in another place than was originally intended. Saying this though, there is nothing quite like getting near to your target when hunting with a crossbow or compound. It gives you that feeling of raw hunting in its basic form, just you and your prey, whereas with the rifle, you are much further away.

Consider a Crossbow for Your Hunting Experience

When comparing the three pieces of equipment, one must consider health and strength and especially upper body extremity. One can have problems with a compound bow, in this case, a crossbow is possibly the bow that you require, either that or a rifle.

A shaft from a high performance crossbow may achieve about 350 feet per second, whilst the arrow from a high performance compound bow will tend to fly at 335 feet per second, but these speeds can vary, depending on the composite being shot off the arrow or bolt. The compound bow with its style of pulleys, usually shoot a fairly heavy arrow, compared to the lighter and shorter bolt fired from a crossbow. The effective killing range with a crossbow is no greater than your typical compound bow, if fact one can think of it as a horizontal compound bow that is being held for you at full draw, and not even stop to consider the fact that it has a rifle like stock, quite frankly that is where the likeness ends.

Usually big game animals such as bear, elk, moose and deer are better suited to being hunted with the use of a rifle, and game such rabbit, turkey and coyotes, are better suited to a crossbow or compound bow. But in saying that, the crossbow and the compound bow will do the job when hunting larger animals, but more skill is needed. A point to consider is that big game shot with a crossbow or compound bow, will often make a better meal. This is possibly because of the adrenaline factor; the shock to the animal is more severe with a high powered rifle than that of a crossbow or compound bow.

You can also check our Squidoo Page to learn more about crossbow.

2011 ATA Vegas Show again was held in Sands Expo Convention Center. ATA is the word’s largest trade show for all professional hunting and shooting sports industries, and it includes firearms, ammunition, archery, cutlery, outdoor apparel, optics, camping and related products and services.

This is Barnett’s newest Ghost Compound Crossbow featuring CRT (Carbon Riser Technology) by Barnett (The upper one in the picture), which is almost 1 lb less than the regular version in weight! I tried both in the show, and I will say it does make a big difference! As the front weight is reduced, the balance of the Barnett Ghost Crossbow is closer to us, which means higher stability.

With 400+ FPS incredible fast arrow speeds, the Ghost Crossbow also comes with Barnett AVI limbs which makes it less noisy and reduces vibration upto 30%. Other features, including CrossWire Strings, Aluminum flight track, and Whiplash Cams makes a faster, quieter, smoother and more accurate shot in a compact and light weighted fit.

Here is the Barnett Ghost Crossbow Gallery:

We recently had a customer purchase one of our most popular crossbows, the Man Kung Sniper MK-150A1PB from Thecrossbowstore.com website in October, 2010. Since then our customer has made some self modifications and upgrades to enhance the accuracy and comfort level of the crossbow.

Here are the pictures:

The customer started by attaching a Black Leather sling that would allow for a easy carry and shoot while out hunting.

Black leather sling added (cost $25) Original weight 5 lbs 7 oz. Customized weight 7 lbs. 6 oz.

A Grayling Lite ‘N’ uff quiver was added that holds 4 arrows will make it easy for the hunter to get access to the arrows quickly.

The customer made a upgrade to the scope by attaching a 4 x 32 Dual Red-Green Illuminated Rangefinder Scope with Multiple Rectiles and flip-up caps (cost $50). Dovetail Rail removed and Weaver 20mm Rail installed. And also along with the Red Laser point, attached a Green Laser that will reach up to 100 yards that will assist with hitting a further out target and pressure pad attached with tri-rail scope rings.

You can get a 4×32 Aluminum Scope from Thecrossbowstore.com.

The lower one is a green laser and the top one is a red laser included in the pro package, or you can get the red laser from our store.

Originally there was no cocking mechanism included with the crossbow, our customer attached a white pulley to the stock of the bow so that he could add on a Excalibur Cocking Rope that will allow for a even faster cocking of the string. Thumb pressure pad for green laser.

The last modification that our customer did was to the stock of the crossbow. To make sure our customer had spare strings and tips on him at all times, he added a Colt Rifle Buttplate (cost $25) has a trap door for storing extra strings and tips if ever needed.

When purchasing any of our Man Kung crossbows all of our packages are fully equipped to handle all of your hunting needs and if needed they can be modified to our customers liking. Even having spent extra more money to customize his bow to his preference, our customer has been very pleased with how accurate and efficient the crossbow has been working for him.

Thanks for one of our customers: Wghunter, who shared his DIY customized 150LBs hunting crossbow with us.

For more stroies, please read TheCrossbowStore Crossbow Review Page