Prepping has become essential now than ever. More and more people are stocking up survival kits, food, and even self-defense weapons in their prepper arsenals. After the incredible success of AMC’s The Walking Dead, crossbows have become popular with preppers, but is it good for them?
A crossbow is good for prepping because of the many advantages it offers. It is lightweight and fast, and has more impact than a traditional bow, provides protection against wild animals and threats, can be used for fishing, and is a great tool for hunting in the wild.
While it has many advantages, there are also certain things about the crossbow that you need to be aware of. Keep reading this article to find out the advantages of including a crossbow in your prepper arsenal and learn what you need to consider before investing in one.
It Has High Impact
Today’s crossbows come with a relatively easy cocking lever that allows them to fire multiple bolts in a short period. Some even have an automatic safety mechanism which helps prevent dry fires. Crossbows today come with an adjustable sight, which allows for extreme accuracy.
Due to its high-impact, crossbows are becoming a popular choice among preppers looking at a long haul of living in the wild or a different world. These crossbows need minimum effort to provide maximum efficiency and help hunt down prey from a distance.
It Provides Defense Against Threats in the Wild
A crossbow is a defense weapon, and it is used mostly because of the protection it guarantees. For a prepper, being prepared for defense is also essential. Out in the wild, being prepared for self-defense is a basic requirement. It’s lightweight and modern design makes it a machine that is fast and easy to handle.
Self-defense is just as important to a prepper as it is to the next guy. Out in the wild, self-defense cannot be entrusted to a built-in security system around a tent’s perimeter or high-end lock and key. As you go out and about on your own in unchartered territories, there is more and more need to protect yourself from these unforeseen attacks, and that is where the crossbow comes in.
It Helps You Bring Dinner to the Table
A prepper’s pantry will not be able to sustain for all eternity. At some point, the prepper will run out of the packaged food and need fresh food to survive. This fresh food can be procured by foraging, but it can also be hunted. For this, again, the crossbow is essential. A crossbow will help you find food in the wild and bring meat to the table.
During primitive times bows and arrows were used for the same purposes. They would catch prey after a whole day, sometimes days, of toiling and work hard to bring something home before dinner. The game has changed with the crossbow, and hunting can be done much faster and with lesser fuss. Hunting can also be done from a long distance as well with the modern crossbows.
Use Special Tips in Your Crossbows for Fishing
Certain crossbows also come with special tips that help with fishing. You can point the crossbow at the target you see in the river and get yourself a lovely piscine for dinner. In this video, you can see how crossbows can be used for fishing:
While many do this as a recreational activity today, as you saw in the video, this will come in very handy in times of a crisis when you forage from the land, and the water will only increase the choices for you. You can also achieve both hunting and fishing using the same tool and do not need to carry a separate fishing rod for it.
Related: Can A Felon Own A Crossbow?
It Is Easy to Carry and Use Since They Are Lightweight
The modern-day crossbows are very lightweight compared to other machinery or self-defense weapons. This increases the ease of use as they become easy to carry and point and handle generally.
The Daisy 4003 Youth Crossbow is a minimal training crossbow for young shooters. It weighs only 29 lb (13 kg) and is equipped with an adjustable rear sight.
It Provides Protection From Wildlife
If you are prepping, it is quite likely you are anticipating a world where things may not be as sanitized from wildlife and other threats as it is now. Out there in the wild, or even in an uncertain world, one does not know where threat lurks. Having a crossbow is like having an added protection that will help you in those uncertain times.
A crossbow will help you by protecting wildlife and will act as insurance whenever there is threat perception.
It Is Faster Than a Traditional Bow
Traditional bows were heavy and difficult to carry and operate, making them redundant in today’s world, where faster and sharper weapons have taken over. A crossbow falls in the latter category as it is light and easy to use, making it a faster and better weapon choice than a crossbow.
The Barnett Whitetail Hunter II Crossbow has a speed of 350 feet (106 meters) per second and has a draw weight of 150 pounds (68 kg). It is made entirely of stainless steel, and so is easy to take care of. It has an adjustable sight to improve accuracy. It has a lightweight quiver with two 20 inches (50 cm) headhunter arrows and a lube wax.
Be Aware of These Things Before You Invest in a Crossbow
Despite the many benefits of a crossbow, you need to be aware of a few things before you invest in one.
As with any other shooting rifle, there may be a tendency to put the fingers that hold the rifle’s forearm straight up in the air. This is very dangerous as by doing so because you are placing the fingers directly in the path of the bowstring that is hurtling down from the opposite direction, risking you to lose your fingers as it rips through them.
Another thing to remember is not to shoot off-hand. The way crossbows are constructed puts a lot of weight on the front end, making it difficult to balance when trying to shoot from the off-hand position. So, it is advisable to have some practice and learn to shoot from kneeling or sitting positions.
Lastly, there is a thing called Maximum Effective Shooting Range (MESR). MESRs differ from individual to individual. Your MESR is the maximum distance you can consistently hit a bulls-eye. Having practiced your crossbow skills beforehand will give you an idea of what your MESR is. It is 20 yards (60 feet) for some hunters, while for others, it could be as high as 60 yards (180 feet).
Knowing your MESR beforehand will help you at the time of hunting or even in a combat situation. The more you practice, the more you will learn your MESR. Think of it like knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Once you know your range, you will not waste arrows by taking shots at animals outside that range.
Conclusion
In the wild, there is a need to have a tool for self-protection and for procuring meals. A prepper pantry will run out in a few days. There needs to be something that will help you sustain yourself once the pantry runs out. This is where the crossbow comes in. It not only helps procure food but is also insurance in case of any threat in the wild.
