Bearclaw lite CB-60 vs Crosspoint CB-165

[Jimpovich]

Couldn't find any post about those two. Only about going for A bow is really nice and stealthy, not which one you should go for and animals that's good for medium and bigger animals, but those posts are from 2017 or earlier. It's easy to find information about every certain gun and its ammo, what to go for and for which animal. But not really for crossbows and arrows.

I bought the game a few days ago, just started to figure out the game mechanics and mostly every google search is very informative for noobs. The only thing i've hunted so far is deers and foxes, i have a feeling that im soon gonna meet my first European Bison, i still have the .243 rifle and have not reached my first tier 2 skill yet. So probably going for my first bow and more stealth would be nice.

But i cannot figure what stats i should go for and what arrows that's the most effective against deers and bigger creatures, Bison for example. Any tips here?

[bossbill1]

at early lvls you have only 1 choice of arrow the 420gr. you will need to build up your bow score to unlock the other arrows. the 420gr arrow is for medium size animals like deer and black bears.
once you unlock the other arrows the 600gr arrow is for large animals, moose elk bison etc.
the 300gr arrow is for small game foxes coyotes rabbits etc. the same info goes for crossbow bolts.

[bossbill1]

just an addon: the benifit of getting the crossbow over the bow is... as its a dlc weapon you have access to all the bolts straight away enabling you to shoot larger animals earlier. The only point is you need in game cash to buy the bolts

[naspa]

I tried the cross bow and it is pretty good, but is has two draw backs. The reload time is not very fast -which can be a problem when an angry bull is going after you- and it is a heavy thing to carry (at least with the scope). So I am back to the bearclaw.
If you want tu use it to hunt bigger game, it is best to unlock the more heavy arrows first - just go hunting roedeer untill you have enough bow-xp.

I am myself not really into bow hunting for two reasons. Arrows are pretty sensitive to wind and they drop soon. Moreover, hunting pressure appears the same on the map anyway and to me there seems no huge difference in the herd-reaction when you shoot an animal with a gun or kill it quietly with an arrow. So I prefer the versatile and quick reloable Cacciatore shotgun for close range hunting (or the Rhino pistol when I am hunting moose or bison).

BTW, there used to be a good guide by a Japanese hunter over here who figured out the calabratrion of the sights - but since a recent update they have changed and the guide was obsolete and dissapeared. I use the 5 pin sight now and I tend to overshoot now with pin 1 animals that are at 10m distance (use to be around 3-5 meters).
If you are really into bow hunting, I would apprecate it if you would share your experiences with aiming in the forum.

[Jimpovich]

I'm not really into it this whole bow hunting, just want to try new things in the game and just want some tips and info about what stats to go for.

[KaiEr]

Originally posted by Jimpovich:

I'm not really into it this whole bow hunting, just want to try new things in the game and just want some tips and info about what stats to go for.

There's some sort of "wiki" out there somewhere online, but I'll give you my advice, for whatever it's worth.

I'd start with the compound bow (the CB-60 I think is the first available compound bow). I don't mean that as "start small" or anything of the sort; actually it's a bit of the opposite. The crossbow is like a mixture of the rifle/bow, and while it might be "easier" to move into and adapt to, it really doesn't give you the same experience. You might end up just dropping it, feeling like you are hunting with an "underpowered rifle", going back to the rifle, and having a bad feeling about bows altogether.

I've got all the weapons, and I stopped using the crossbow within a day of trying it out. It's fine, there's nothing wrong with it (although I felt it was a bit underpowered), but I just get more pleasure out of bow hunting with a compound over the crossbow.

I use it over the rifle on the European side (unless it's a long distance shot), and it's my go-to for close shots on Layton as well.

But be warned, it takes some practice to get used to. And don't bother with the extra pinned sights, I've been using the default one with great success.

And if you want any help/tips with it, let me know - I'd be more than happy to help.

(I've got a few odd videos here and there with the bow on my profile if you want to check those out. The "Bison slaughter" is a fun one to watch.)