DANGEROUS Crossbow Mistakes: Part 1

Hey everybody, welcome back guys. A lot of people out there are getting crossbows for the first time and I wanted to go through some of the top crossbow mistakes that I've seen both in person and online for both honestly new and seasoned crossbow hunters that I want you guys to be aware of and watch out for to not only keep yourself safe but to keep your bow intact. So stay tuned. All right you guys so let's dive in to this will be part one of a two-part video series. We're going to focus mainly on the crossbow in this video mainly on your arrow in the second video. So the first thing you guys is keeping your fingers safe. Crossbows have danger zones where you can if you stick your finger in the way of the strength you can lose a finger. So a lot of times people want to especially if they're a firearm hunter they want to wrap their thumb or get their fingers up into the area above the rail where the string is going to pass through. If you do that like literally these crossbows today they can take your finger off. All of them today usually have nice big forend grips that you can grab a hold of or they have a picatinny rail where something I like if you want more of a post style grip to keep your fingers from going vertical you can get a post style grip that will mount right onto that picatinny rail. Not only do they have a lot of grip options but they also have these big finger guards now. So there really should be no reason when you grab a hold of the forend of your crossbow that any of your fingers should be sticking up in the way of the string. Another area with keeping your fingers out of the danger zone is when you're loading your arrow. So looking at your crossbow remember when this thing is cocked and it's not right now there's going to be a triangle that basically goes over to your trigger box into each cam. Where we don't want our fingers to be is in this area where the string will travel. If you've got string stops or if you just kind of know where your string is when it's decocked that's the area where you can safely grab a hold of your arrow. I like to do two fingers just a couple inches in front of the point and just slide it back into the rail right there. So my fingers that whole time were in front of the string stops so if this bow for some reason were to go off as soon as I put that arrow back into the trigger box my fingers are safe and out of the way. Some people and I don't recommend it but I get it if you need to do it if you feel more comfortable or you need to make sure you get your nock aligned if your fingers are more in the middle of the rail where that string is going to travel just pinch it a little bit with the tips of two fingers and slide it in there. I have never had a crossbow go off when I am putting an arrow in and contacting the string back in the trigger box but if you're going to do it just be careful because you could be putting your fingers in the danger zone. The next item number two I've actually got a different bow here in front I'm going to show you guys this is putting the safety to the safe position and then trying to cock the crossbow. So let me be really clear with this statement every crossbow on the market is intended and will successfully and safely latch your string and reset your safety when you cock the crossbow with the safety left in If you move the safety to the safe position only some crossbows on the market will actually latch the string if it is decocked and you try to cock it in the safe position. Now if you forget and you move it to the safe position what you'll notice is well shoot now I can't move it back to the fire position. I'll show you guys how to fix that in a minute but just understand a crossbow is different than a firearm and if you have the safety in the safe position the like latch mechanism the stuff inside the trigger box it it is intended to not move in the safe position so if it's decocked and you're trying to cock your string all of that stuff is for your safety bound up and a lot of people forget that they go to cock their crossbow they think they got it all the way back and they go to ease down and the string's not latched rip the cocking rope out of their hands dry fire the crossbow you've got a broken crossbow so cock your crossbow with safety in the fire position every crossbow will successfully do that if you forget and you move it to the safe position like I did so this crossbow right here this Vital X 405 from Killer Instinct I moved it to the safe position it won't move back forward so all you got to do is just take an arrow you don't even have to cock the crossbow just slide it in you're going to move the anti-drive fire mechanism out of the way so the bow thinks there's an arrow in there slide your safety back forward and now you're ready to go so cock your crossbow with the safety in the fire position speaking of cocking your crossbow another thing people get wrong is using the wrong cocking device some crossbows come with hooks some come with sleds some you can only rope cock some you can rope cock or use a crank some you can only use a crank use whatever the manufacturer says is intended for your crossbow if your crossbow like this Logix right here is intended to be cocked with a sled don't try to cock it with a rope cocker that just has two hooks if your crossbow doesn't use a sled don't try to use the sled if it isn't crank compatible don't try to use a crank if you can only use a crank don't try to use a rope cocker it's really simple just make sure you're using what is intended for your crossbow and how it cocks and how it's designed use what the manufacturer recommends and basically should supply for you and if it should break buy another one from your manufacturer but use the right cocking device for your crossbow and with that cocking device like this cocking sled right here make sure your crossbow cocking device is secured in the right location so there's on this Logix right here there's a little hook back here where your cocking rope rope goes make sure it's not right here and you try to cock it along the scope mount or where you've got it and some of the slack is wrapped up around part of the optic like that i've seen that a lot of times where guys go to cock it all of a sudden something's binding up and it's not right and the rope slips out of their hands and something happens so make sure you're cocking rope if you've got a rope cover or honestly a sled as well make sure it is routed in the proper way so you're again not damaging anything or not hurting yourself when you're trying to cock your crossbow the next one i got for you is forgetting that this is a crossbow and you've got limbs that are going to contract and get closer together when the crossbow is cocked and then they're going to expand back to this uncocked position when you fire the shot man i don't know how many times i've seen especially guys hunting in deer blinds but also tree stand hunters where they forget just how wide their crossbow is when it is in the uncocked state or when it's at the finishing stroke of firing their arrow and they forget they lose their reference frame and they get their limbs their cams too close to something they touch off the shot and you impact whatever it is the tree the window of your deer blind some brush or something that you were hunting in it doesn't take much you guys there is so much energy stored in these crossbows if you impact something during the shot with your limbs or cams you're going to have a catastrophic failure so just be aware of your surroundings and how wide your crossbow is knowing that you need an ample amount of space to execute that shot safely and properly next up another one i see a lot is not waxing your strings and lubing your rail appropriately guys the manufacturer with whatever crossbow you get is going to put in their manual how often you should wax your strings and cables and put rail lube on your crossbow rail follow those instructions if it doesn't save for some reason something like every 10 shots is a is a good probably conservative recommendation and don't forget to do it too while you're hunting you might not be shooting a ton but when your crossbows out in the elements when it's been cocked for hours upon time every so often every maybe five shots five hunts ten hunts just make sure you guys are keeping an eye on both your strings and cables and your rail now you don't want to use string wax on your rail you want your rail lube to decrease friction with your string string wax does the opposite that is going to create friction if you put that on your rail also string wax is a little it's a little bit thicker you know substance and if you put a whole bunch of string wax on your rail when you go to cock your crossbow what you're going to do is you're just going to drag all of that string wax back into your trigger box get a big old glob of that back there and then you could have issues down the road with either that wax itself or that wax collecting dirt debris stuff like that so you want to make sure you're using rail lube for your rail and it doesn't take much just a little bit a couple little dabs wipe it across your rail you just want your rail to glisten a little bit just make it look like it's got just a little thin coat when it comes to waxing you guys wax your string wax your cables work it into all the areas there's a lot of different products out there i've got string snot that's one that i really like that's one you can find on amazon you can find that probably any bow shop a lot of people now really like scorpion venom this is a polymeric bowstring wax this one really high quality and honestly too i've been really liking doing a combo of trident pure silicone grease and then some polymeric string wax and working it into those bow strings and cables really well that seems to help a ton for preserving stringing cable life and if you've got string or cable wear guys take your bow in get a new string get new cables like if it looks fuzzy if your servings really starting to separate if you're seeing you know a lot of wear and things starting to unravel where the the string the serving travel along the rail the loop ends if those look like they're coming undone don't risk the rest of your crossbow trying to get a few extra shots out of your strings and cables go ahead get them replaced keep your bow in good working order kind of along the maintenance side of things the next one i've got is just improper assembly of a crossbow i think the biggest one is not getting your string sorry your cable guide correctly positioned and the correct cables going through the correct grooves if you mix this up you will get a ton of cable wear so pay attention to how the manufacturer has shown you how to assemble that okay take you know good precaution get that assembled correctly same thing just making sure you don't under tighten or over tighten bolts a lot of stuff at least on the killer instinct stuff comes with like a pre-applied patch lock on it like a loctite so it's going to help with anti-backout but you don't want to reef on these things but at the same time you don't want all your fasteners loose and check the fasteners when you guys get a brand new crossbow even if they're fasteners that you didn't have to install go ahead and check them make sure everything is snug and after a few shots check them again just to make sure once you get everything dialed in everything's set up you've got some shots through your bow you're working through sighting it in you're you're kind of breaking it in you're getting familiar with it go back through check all your fasteners to make sure stuff isn't loose and last but certainly not least for this video is leaving your crossbow cocked for extended periods of time your crossbow should not be cocked longer than your day of hunting i mean if you hunt a morning and you're coming back to the house decock your crossbow and cock it again when you go back out in the afternoon i know a lot of you guys might do all day sits and i get it that's fine if you are going to be sitting all day your crossbow should be just fine being cocked all day but if you can uncock it at some point or shoot it with a decocking arrow go ahead and do that take some of that pressure take some of that you know stress that is on your limbs and your cables for extended periods of time take that out of your crossbow when you have the opportunity to do so and please do not leave your crossbow cocked for more than a day like don't come home hang it up cocked knowing that it's going to stay cocked for that night and you're going to get back up the next morning and go hunting do not do that these crossbows today the limbs are short the draw lengths are longer the you know the draw weights are high i mean these things are high performance stuff and leaving them cocked for more than just your hunt is not a good idea at all that is a great way to induce premature wear on stuff and have a crossbow blow up on you so don't do it decock your crossbow when you can and kind of on that same note this is it this is the last one storing your crossbow make sure you're storing it properly don't leave it out in the garage where there's a lot of temperature fluctuations don't leave it in the trunk of your car for extended periods of time make sure it's in a case make sure it's in a temperature controlled environment basically like your house where it's not going to see huge temperature fluctuations a lot or a lot of moisture or things like that like this is a high performance machine like i just said don't leave it out in an area where it can be exposed to elements and please get yourself a case for transporting your crossbow as well as storing it don't have your crossbow bouncing around in the bed of your pickup truck or uncased rolling around in your trunk things like that and definitely you guys definitely don't transport it cocked if this thing rolls around bangs around on stuff it's bad enough as it is if it bangs around on stuff uncocked when it's cocked and you've got all that load on the strings and cables and limbs if it's knocking around on stuff that is a recipe for disaster so pay attention to how you store it how you transport it and just take care of it like you would some other high performance you know piece of equipment that you have because that's what your crossbow is it's not a shovel it's not an axe it's not something you can throw around bang around leave outside leave in the garage things like that keep it in a climate controlled environment transport it in a case transport it uncocked and make sure you decock it when you're done with your hunt so that's what i've got for you guys as far as common mistakes that i see both with people that i've helped get into crossbow hunting as well as things that i've seen online the next video you guys we're going to talk a little bit more on the arrow side of things so stay tuned for that one but i hope this video helps you guys out if it did please leave me a like down below also comment let me know what you guys think of this video if you're looking for more awesome crossbow content go ahead and check out one of these two videos right here thanks guys for tuning in i appreciate it be safe god bless and remember be a sportsman make a sportsman