Crossbow Considerations for Youth Whitetail Hunters

I do own two, however, which isn’t much of a coincidence since I also have two 12-year-old daughters. While my girls just can’t quite draw the minimum poundage to hunt whitetails yet, they’ve been able to crossbow hunt for a few seasons already, and it’s been so much fun.

It has also been a learning experience. While crossbows can be a great weapon choice for youth hunters, they also come with a learning curve that begins with the initial purchase.

Fit Matters, A Lot

If you’re like me, and you’re used to handling either normal firearms or vertical bows, you’ll feel like a crossbow is a poorly evolved version of both. A weaponry mutt, if you will. They’re heavy up front, with the tendency to list port or starboard without much warning. They are weirdly loud as well.

Just like any product category, they are also offered in a wide range of styles and sizes. My first purchase, since I didn’t know if my daughters would stick with it, was a cheap women’s/youth crossbow. The girls killed several deer with it, and while it proved to be the right size for them at the time, it was also not a shining example of quality.

With hunting gear, you really do get what you pay for. When I upgraded their crossbow this year, I went for an option that retails for about twice what I paid for their original crossbow. That was still well below the sticker price on the top-end models in the market.

Their new crossbow is lightweight, which is huge. It’s fast enough to zip a bolt through a bull moose, and it’s easy to de-cock. It pretty much does what we need it to do, but the best part is that it’s somewhat customizable when it comes to fit. This is important because proper fit allows for repeatable form and comfort in handling. It also allows both of my girls to hunt with it, which is a huge bonus.

Fit is a start, but it’s not the only consideration you need to make if you plan to take your kids out this fall for whitetails.

Blinds VS Stands

This fall will mark the first season that my daughters will hunt deer from treestands. Not great big, elevated box blinds, but actual stands. Hang-ons and ladder stands. Up to this point, it has been a ground-blind game, which is by far the easiest way to take kids hunting, keep them happy, and provide an opportunity for a high-odds shot.

Ground blinds are a game changer, especially if you pair them with a tripod that allows you to lock the crossbow in place. Not only does this provide some insurance safety-wise, but it also allows for ease in aiming.

It’s also not much of an option in a treestand. For aerial hunting, you need the proper safety gear for kids, as well as some style of rest. If it’s a ladder stand with a built-in rest, so be it. That’s far better than free-handing. I usually try to bungee strap a monopod or a bipod to our ladder stands to give the girls an even better rest.

With hang-ons, it’s often a matter of improvising a rest with a stout bow hanger, nailing a board to the tree if it’s an option, or figuring something out with a store-bought solution. The key point here is that no matter what, if you take a kid to hunt deer with a crossbow, figure out how to get them a proper, solid rest.

Not A Bow, Not A Gun

For the uninitiated, like I was a few years ago, it’s easy to assume a crossbow will handle like a gun and perform like a bow. While technically, this is kind of true, they are also a lot faster out of the gate than a vertical bow. If you’re counting on watching the bolt to mark the impact site, you might blink and miss the whole thing if you’re not using lighted nocks.

It’s also almost a given that deer, even relaxed deer, are going to move at the shot. Crossbows have a lot of energy stored in a small package, and when it’s released, it creates noise. Last year, while filming a show for MeatEater, we filmed my daughter shooting a Wisconsin spike buck at 20 yards. That deer dropped about five inches from the moment she tripped the trigger until the bolt hit, which led to a longer blood trail than I expected.

Pushing it out to 30 or 40 yards means deer have a better opportunity to try to get out of the way, which changes things more. Pay attention to the reality that a crossbow is not a gun, but also not like a vertical bow in a few ways. This will help you encourage better decisions out of your young protégé and head off some of the bad stuff that can happen when things veer just slightly from the plan.

For more information on taking kids hunting, check out these articles: The 6 Best youth Deer Hunting Rifles, How Not To Introduce Your Kids To Guns, and 3 Ways To Keep Your Kids Happy During Camping Trips.