The feeling of landing the first shot with a crossbow is something else. A crossbow is not as fast as a rifle. Crossbow needs better positioning and more precise timing. Getting into crossbow hunting is tough.
Finding the right crossbow for hunting is super important. If you are new to the whole subject, chances are you are still confused about what to get.Don’t worry, I am here to clear your confusion.
Today I bring you guys the best hunting crossbows that you can buy right now. All of the crossbows on the list will come at a different price point. Instead of skipping through the review, read it and you will find which one will be the best for you.Enough blabbering, let’s start this party up.
1. Barnett Whitetail Pro STR Crossbow
Barnett is renowned for its innovative technology. Each year Barnett has something new and cool to offer their customer care. Whitetail Pro STR was one of them.
Barnett Whitetail Pro is one of the best under $1500 crossbow on the market. It’s not easy to achieve a feat like that. It’s Barnett we are talking about.
The build quality of this crossbow is quite good. The most impressive part of this crossbow for me is the speed. It can shoot a bolt at up to 400 FPS. Not a lot of crossbows can achieve that feat. A lot of them claim to have 400FPS but struggles to reach even 370.
Barnett kept their promised and delivered an unmatched 400 FPS consistency. The accuracy of this crossbow is quite scary too. To reduce the vibration and make the string silent. Barnett uses sound dampeners in this crossbow.
The draw weight of this crossbow is 187 lbs. I know what you are thinking. You can cut that draw weight by half using a rope cocker. So there is no issue with that.Barnett will give you a 4×32 illuminated crossbow scope. It seems to be standard for crossbow scopes.
I have to admit, it’s a quite good scope. Out of the box, calibration was accurate. This crossbow is silent and deadly. Everything you want in a crossbow for hunting.
2. CenterPoint Archery CP400 Crossbow
Centerpoint Archery and Barnett have been at each other’s throats for over decades now. CP400 is a medium-budget hunting crossbow from CenterPoint. This is also another crossbow that can shoot up to 400 FPS.
The build quality of CP400 is excellent. It’s a compound crossbow. Meaning it’s more compact than a recurve crossbow. You can easily carry it inside a hunting bag. The cam system of CP400 is made out of CNC machined aluminum. Fine quality guaranteed.
CenterPoint uses the HeliCoil system in their crossbows. HeliCoil routes the top and bottom cable away from the cams. Keeping it friction and soundless. You might have heard about this technology already. Ravin uses this in their expensive crossbows. You can guess already how good this technology is.
As I mentioned earlier, CenterPoint CP400 is capable of firing bolts at 400 FPS. CP400 fires those arrows with 142 kinetic energy.The included scope is a 3x32mm illuminated crossbow scope. It’s good for both hunting and target practicing.
This crossbow is extremely silent. When you fire the bolts at that speed with zero noise, the prey won’t see it coming.
3. Ravin R20 Crossbow Package
Ravin R20 is one of the best crossbows for hunting on the market. It received the best crossbow of the year 2019 editor’s choice award. After that Ravin managed to get nominations and win many reviewer’s awards.
This is not a cheap crossbow. It’s as good as they can get. Ravin R20 comes fully assembled from the manufacturer. All you need to do is tune the crossbow a bit and enjoy. The accuracy of this crossbow is on another level. The build quality is also excellent. Made from CNC machined aluminum, the stock, and the body is quite durable.
The finish of this crossbow is also quite good. The camo is beautiful to look at. Ravin R20 is also one of the most compact crossbows on the market. Ravin has a smaller version of this compact crossbow too. Known as Ravin R10.
Ravin R20 is capable of firing bolts at an incredible 430+ FPS. With that dead-on accuracy and 430+ FPS. The bolts hit like a truck. You can imagine why hunters love this crossbow.
Ravin R20 uses famous HeliCoil technology. You can say Ravin invented it and other company licenses it for their use. If you have the money to spend and want potentially the rest of your life with one crossbow. This can be an excellent investment.
4. TenPoint Vapor RS470 Hunting Crossbow
TenPoint Vapor RS470 is one of the fastest crossbows on the market. The main selling point of this crossbow is an incredible speed.RS470 can shoot arrows at an incredible 470 FPS speed. That was anti-climatic. Come on manufacturers stop giving spoilers in the name.
The Micro-Trac barrel reduces the string to rail contact by over 50%. That increases the longevity of the string and also makes the crossbow more precise.
This crossbow is so accurate that you can nail 3 or more shots on the same whole without any adjustments. Keep in mind the wind direction and speed will play a big role while doing this.
This is the only crossbow that can use the same string for over 1300 shots. And yes TenPoint tested that before claiming this.
RS470 also features silent cocking and ACUslider safe decocking. You can carry a loaded crossbow on your back for as long as you may like.
The EVO-X Marksman Scope is another excellent part of this crossbow. It’s one of the best scopes for any crossbow. The performance of this scope can’t be compared with any other scope that comes with a crossbow.
You are paying a premium price, TenPoint will give you a premium value in return. Much like Ravin, this is also a long-term investment. If you want to hunt for years without any problems. I can recommend you spending this much money on the RS470. Without a doubt, this is one of the if not the best crossbow for hunting.
5. Barnett Jackal Crossbow Package
This is the second crossbow from Barnett on the list. This one is way less expensive than the previous Barnett Whitetail STR Pro. Barnett Jackal is much more budget-oriented than
WhiteTail STR. This is a recurve bow. That means it’s not that compact.
The build quality of this crossbow is quite good. The camo is a hit and miss. You either love it or don’t. The trigger creep is a bit higher than usual. It’s to prevent misfires and accidents. Coming at 3.5lbs, you need to apply a bit of force for a smooth trigger.
This is a complete crossbow package. It comes with a quick-detach quiver, 3 arrows, and a red dot sight.That’s right you won’t get the traditional 4×32 scope with this one. The red dot is more than fine. You can shoot from 40-50 yards or so away.
If you want you can always ditch the red dot and buy a crossbow scope from the market. The speed of this crossbow is 315 FPS. It’s not the highest, but not terrible either. It’s enough to kill a deer. You need to be hit the target precisely.
That’s where the bow will help. The accuracy of this crossbow is quite good. As it uses a red dot sight, you don’t need to calibrate this at different markings. For the newcomers who just want to get into crossbow hunting, this is a complete package and you will love it.
6. Killer Instinct Crossbows Hero 380 Crossbow
Killer Instinct is Hero 380 is another fantastic crossbow for hunting. Hero 380 is also a budget-oriented offering from Killer Instinct.
Killer Instinct Hero is one of the lightest crossbows on the list today. This weighs merely 5.8lbs. While most other crossbows weight over 6.5-7lbs.
The trigger weight is a bit more than Killer Instinct’s usual pattern. The draw weight is also on the higher end. But you can always cut that off by half using a rope cocker.
You will find sound dampeners built-in the crossbow. The sound is almost inaudible. Thanks to that the string will last longer too. As for speed, Hero is capable of firing 20″ bolts at 380 FPS. Their claim is quite accurate. If you test it out on a place with the neutral wind, you can easily reach 375-380 FPS every single time.
The accuracy of Hero is also quite good. One might say, you can be the Hero by using this. Okay, I admit that was terrible. But this crossbow isn’t. It’s one of the best hunting crossbows on the budget.
7. Ravin R10 Crossbow Package
Ravin R10 is the smaller version of Ravin R20. That’s it, that’s the review.Just kidding, Ravin R10 is also an award winner crossbow from 2019. It’s the most compact crossbow of 2019 without any doubt. When you cock the crossbow, it narrows down to 6″. That’s smaller than most modern smartphones.
How impressive is that! Yet, it has all the features the bigger brother Ravin R20 has. It has HeliCoil technology, it has a 360° rotatable cam system, it also includes the incredible 400 FPS top speed.
The key difference between the two is the size. This is way smaller than Ravin R20 in every regards possible. The included scope is the same illuminated 100 yards scope that also comes with Ravin R20.
It’s a good scope. Instead of relying on the out of the box calibration, try to calibrate this as the first thing. Ravin R10 is not crazy expensive either. But it is expensive. I can assure you this crossbow will last you for years. If you take well care of it, may even last more than a decade.
More than a decade worth of hunting? Sounds, like a steal to me.
8. TenPoint Titan M1 370 FPS Rope Sled Crossbow
This is the second TenPoint crossbow on our list today. Most of the time the main concern while buying a new crossbow is the draw weight.
The draw weight of M1 is 190 lbs. But you can either choose from ACUdraw or Rope-Sled cocking aid. Depending on which one you choose, the draw weight of this crossbow will come down by more than 80%.
M1 is capable of firing bolts at 370 FPS with 113 FP KE. That much power is capable of nailing even the toughest of animals out there. To target the prey better, TenPoint includes ProView 3 crossbow scope.
Pro-View 3 is an illuminated 3 dot crossbow scope. Meaning you can calibrate the scope at 3 different ranges. Alongside the scope, M1 also comes with 3 x HME Fixed-Blade Steel Tip 100-Grain Hunting Broadheads and a quiver.
One of my favorite parts of this crossbow is the trigger mechanism. It uses a T5 trigger which can imitate a rifle trigger quite easily.
To compress the sound you could add third party sound dampeners. I understand why TenPoint didn’t include that inside the box. It would have increased the price of the crossbow by a lot. And TenPoint wanted to give a good experience to people buying a crossbow for the first time.
9. CenterPoint Sniper 370 Crossbow Package
CenterPoint Sniper 370 is one of the most loved crossbows on the market.The pricing of this crossbow makes it super hard to pass on. Unlike many other knock-off brands, CenterPoint Sniper is capable of firing bolts at 370 FPS. The consistency is also good and highly accurate.
The foregrip and stock of this crossbow are fully customizable. The rail of this crossbow is made out of CNC machined aluminum. One of the most durable and preferred materials for crossbow rails.
To make the crossbow silent and deadly, CenterPoint includes noise dampeners pre-built in the crossbow. The dampeners do an excellent job. It reduces the vibration of the crossbow by a lot too.
If the target can’t hear you firing, it can’t escape. That’s why hunters love this crossbow. It is also a complete package. It includes a quiver and a set of arrows made by CenterPoint.
The scope on top of the rail is a 4×32 illuminated crossbow scope. Pretty standard stuff. Fortunately, the performance of this scope is above standard. That’s why you don’t need to change the scope asap. You still should, but won’t be your top priority.I want to end it by saying, CenterPoint Sniper 370 is one hell of a crossbow for hunting.
10. BearX Intense Ready to Shoot Crossbow
The final crossbow on today’s list is from BearX. Is the BearX capable of taking down a Bear? Let’s find out. BearX intense comes fully pre-assembled inside the box. You don’t need to fine-tune anything before you start going Rambo on the range.
Intense is also a compact compound crossbow. After cocking the bolt, the width of this crossbow is only 10″. Which is the same as an Ipad. You can carry it on your back without any issue.
Intense comes in two different finishes. Depending on which color you like, choose that one. Both of them will come with a set of arrows made by BearX. They will also include a quiver and a rope cocking device.
To keep the string waxed and smooth, you will also find a lube inside the package. Don’t throw it away, use it when the rail becomes dry. It will smoothen out the contact and make it more silent.
The illuminated scope is also calibrated from the factory. I recommend you to calibrate your own. But if you are a newbie and just want to shoot and enjoy the hunt. You can use it without calibrating.
As for speed, this is where the BearX shines. Intense is capable of firing the bolts at an incredible 400 FPS.
To answer the question from earlier, BearX Intense can take down a bear. There is no doubt about that. You can guess why we included it on the list.
Conclusion
That was the last of them. I tried to cover a crossbow for everyone. From most expensive to least expensive. We (Critic Hunter Team) got them all. By now you already know which one you are going for. Do let me know your experience after buying.
All of the crossbows on the list are good at one thing. They are the best hunting crossbows. They were made for hunters and that’s what they are best at. With that said, I have to end our journey to the west here. I hope you had fun on the road. Till next time.
