So I recently just got a crossbow this season since they legalized them in NYS, and I love it took 3 deer with it, clean ethical kills as well. But one thing that is driving me crazy is trying to see out of the scope at dawn and dusk, I past up so many deer because I couldn't see clearly enough. I am using the barnette brotherhood crossbow w/ multi retinal scope, any suggestion on a good scope that preforms awesome under low light conditions?
I just purchased a Nikon Bolt XR after my Barnett scope that came with my Jackal swarmed on me. This scope is very bright and clear. I just got it zeroed and am anxious to hunt with it. The Barnett was not very bright and hard to see through. I have managed to kill seven deer with it though. This Nikon is soooooo much better.
Agree with nikon Bolt. Ive gone to Nikon for all my optics. There are better optics out there, but the price to value ratio can't be beat IMO.
I use a BSA red dot. It's a single dot with 11 brightness adjustments. If you can see your target with the naked eye, you can see it through the scope. I have even used my crossbow to hunt coyote in the middle of the night. A full moon and some snow on the ground makes plenty of light to hunt.
I use the Vortex XBR crossbow scope version of the popular Vortex Viper rifle scopes. 2.5-10X44 with high quality Japanese glass lenses, it does a great job at dawn/dusk. It's one of the more expensive crossbow scopes, but well worth it's cost to me. I've got mine on my Scorpyd RDT 165 & it's a heck of a fine system. Reticle lights up red or green as the user prefers & has 10 brightness settings for both.
first thing to do when purchasing a xbow--is throw away the scopes that come with them---most are crap-- four five or 6 fine lines are not needed on a xbow plus there so fine you can not see them at dusk and dawn---red dots many times block out the target---for an xbow all you need is a good quality 1.5 to 4 power scope with thick crosshairs plain and simple---most shots with an xbow are at most 40 yards---with todays powerfule xbows you do not need 4, 5, or 6 crosshairs to shoot up to 40 yards my xbow shoots 10 to 30 yards with one pin ! thick crosshairs can be seen at dusk and dawn I think my current scope is a bushnell dusk and dawn 1.5 to 4 power for $79.00 works fantastic well that's my 2 cemts
I have two Nikon bolts, both are on the shelf, they are fine if your bow is in the 295 to 310 fps class. I thought they were great until I picked up a Leupold crossbones. Much better, you can adjust the aiming points for the speed of your bow. Much better glass, If you can't see the crosshairs you' re WAY past shooting time. I have a Hawke XB30 PRO SR on one of my other bows, the reticle is way too busy and the aiming points much too small. The center of the glass is clear but has a fish bowl effect on the edges. About the only likeable feature is the lighted crosshairs, its pricey too.
I'm glad that I ran across this thread. I'm very new to the x-bow world (converted VERY recently after a shoulder injury prevented me from getting to full draw). I am looking at replacing my scope on my Center Point Sniper 370. Does anyone know, good or bad, about this scope?
Most red dot scopes are pretty straight forward, no magnification, single aiming point, variable dot brightness. You would need to create your own hold over sequence and tape it on the stock somewhere just for a quick reference. A quality scope has better coatings on the glass, giving you a much clearer picture at the last light when animals tend to show up. A little magnification helps too.
There are some very good suggestions on here but the secret to light transmitting is to have the front reticle as big as possible the long slim scopes do not work well in low light conditions . I personally use a true glow four crosshair lighted scope and I really really like it I even use it at night for coyotes. I found mine on eBay on a for bid listing that ended during the week. I seem to get better prices when they end during the week compared to it ending on the weekend. Be careful and buy from a reputable dealer because eBay is over run with ching ching knock offs that look like the real thing but aren't.
