crossbow or bow?

[hazl0]

I have zero experience with bows, but is there an advantage of one over the other?

[Thermal Lance]

The crossbow is much more powerful. But I think the bow is more fun. Up to you to choose what matters to you the most.

[r4ptor]

Crossbow has slower reloading but is far easier to use. I'm not entirely sure, but I think it's less stealthier as well.

I prefer the crossbow and used it pretty much exclusively till I reached level 30 or something, when I started a new game from scratch - I level up quick with it.

[Mr. Ed]

When I first opted to try using the bows I chose to begin with the crossbow. I thought it would be a bit more forgiving when it comes to estimating the range of the animal than the other bows. Since I was just starting a new game with zero perks and skills (not to mention $) it wasn't that hard of a choice to make. The knockdown power of it just blew me away.

[Morthe1st]

Crossbow is easier. More power and you can shoot from the prone with it without having to spend a skill point for it. I think its only cons are that its heavy and slow to reload. I haven't used compound bows much so I'm not entirely sure. Also because it is a DLC weapon you have every bolt unlocked for it from the start, so you can hunt everything with it without having to grind bow xp to get different arrows.

[gabcik&kubis]

I do not hunt much with arrows of any sort (I did it few times and for the missions). Depends also on DLC's you have a little. I.e. if you have Parque Fernando there is great range where you can test sights and how sights (for crossbow also zoom level (!!!) ) and arrow weight work together.

Without any surprise - crossbow is short range rifle with bolt trajectory of the mortar and penetration of the APFSDS from the Abrams tank :-)
Bow reloads quicker, in one DLC has nice rangefinder sights (but heavy), but it cannot be held in drawn state for that long time and cannot be used from prone without lot of the perk points.
Arrows are a little bit cheaper than same class bolts

Thus for the beginner if you can go for the one-shot or at the beginning of the game without perk points to spare, crossbow is probably easier. Later and if you specialize in these weapons it most likely doesn't matter at all or you even benefit from quick firing of the bow (well you would if you decide to go after cape buffalo and duga boy decides to cook some mushed hunter. I have this experience :-) ).

[Hanuman]

When I first shifted from rifles to the compound bows, it was almost like I got to play a brand new game. The thrill of shooting stuff under 75m (anything over is mostly luck and I don't really take those shots) and especially from a tree stand, well it is awesome. It feels *way* more visceral. You see the animal sniff the air, hesitate, move step by step...it is a totally different experience from sniping things, its more raw in my opinion. The thud of an arrow impacting with a red deer's heart and just seeing it slump over is awesome.

Than I moved away from the rangefinder bow scope (its in the tech DLC with the nightvision binocs and the nightvision riffle scope), which started to feel like cheating, and the thing weighs 2kg, so I moved to the 5-pin scope which is way faster once you learn to use it. It sounds overwhelming, all them pins, but if you watch a video on it, its super easy to use and doesn't require hitting a button to zero. This made the whole bow experience even better.

A crossbow to me feels like a super powerful, very short range missile. I've shot bison with them and its amazing what they do. I don't know the stats but at short range it might be equivalent to the .470 in pure damage (if not more so).

Once you try the compound bows, you will love them. I really like the 6000 cred Razorback Lite, it only weighs 3.5kg instead of 4 and that little weight difference has saved me many times when needing to hunt and not wanting to carry back packs. It is nice and accurate...and cheap..

[yogisgoat]

I have to agree with everything Dream Master has to say, but the first paragraph in particular. Maybe there's something wrong with me, but for me the most satisfying thing in the game is the "thwak" of a broadhead hitting the target.

[r4ptor]

I reset some perks to get zeroing perk and went to the bow range, to do some testing with CB60, CB70 and the crossbow.

I was consistently hitting all targets better with the crossbow. I couldn't hit the 100m target at all with CB60 and CB70, but got it on my second try with the crossbow. I had side wind going on, while using all bows.

[shit owl]

Originally posted by Sarin:

I have zero experience with bows, but is there an advantage of one over the other?

bow is more silent crossbow is easier to use and has highest penetration regardless of bolt type basically compared

[shit owl]

Originally posted by Sarin:

I have zero experience with bows, but is there an advantage of one over the other?

also unlike the crossbow u kinda want to get some archery perks for the bow to reach its peak potential

[fs7kills]

If you have all DLCs: crossbow has scope with zoom, longer range, but it's slower; bow is faster, has a rangefinder, but has shorter range. Each one has certain situations where it's best suited for.
Imo something fun to do as a challenge is to carry both bow & crossbow, go to a hotspot and try to kills as many animals as possible.

[VeraNoa]

Definitely the bow. The best option to enjoy and hunt any animal, no matter how difficult it is, is any compound bow together with the sight with a built-in rangefinder and the tracer arrows ( in case you don't have the maximum strength skills in the archery skills tree, as it is essential for the normal arrows to hit where the sight with the rangefinder indicates. The tracer arrows always warn even if you don't have these skill points ). You can hunt any animal up to 150 meters away.