Ravin 500 fps $$$$$ 😱 $3500!!

[ButterBean]

Let's break it down.

At 33 yards:
It takes the arrow .2 seconds to cover 100 ft at 500 fps. The first sound the deer hears is the string gate slamming down under ~200 lbs of force. That's the loudest thing on the bow, and it happens before the arrow even moves. The deer hears that sound at about the same time the arrow leaves the bow, because it takes some time for the arrow to get moving. Let's assume it's purely deer vs arrow, with the deer reacting as soon as the arrow leaves the bow. That gives the deer almost a quarter second to drop, and they can drop faster than "gravity" because they pull their legs and head up which pulls the body down. In that .2 seconds, gravity alove will have moved the deer down almost a foot, and the deer could easily double that by lifting it's head.

Here is a clip from the slow-mo guys. Take a look at the 40 second mark. The loudest sound BY FAR is the string catch slamming down. Getting the arrow moving takes a LOT longer than you think. The deer knows what's up before you even know the bow has gone off.

Can't dispute that

 

[Kmccord]

I think the point is Don't shoot at Deer that are alert. This has always been preached or used to anyways when I was bowhunting, to wait until the deer has resumed grazing or not paying attention to your cover. Second thing that has been mentioned in the past, aim lower on an alert or nervous deer if you plan to take the shot.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Let's break it down.

At 33 yards:
It takes the arrow .2 seconds to cover 100 ft at 500 fps. The first sound the deer hears is the string gate slamming down under ~200 lbs of force. That's the loudest thing on the bow, and it happens before the arrow even moves. The deer hears that sound at about the same time the arrow leaves the bow, because it takes some time for the arrow to get moving. Let's assume it's purely deer vs arrow, with the deer reacting as soon as the arrow leaves the bow. That gives the deer almost a quarter second to drop, and they can drop faster than "gravity" because they pull their legs and head up which pulls the body down. In that .2 seconds, gravity alove will have moved the deer down almost a foot, and the deer could easily double that by lifting it's head.

Here is a clip from the slow-mo guys. Take a look at the 40 second mark. The loudest sound BY FAR is the string catch slamming down. Getting the arrow moving takes a LOT longer than you think. The deer knows what's up before you even know the bow has gone off.

I think that 2500fps was suppose to be 500fps. Cool video tho.

 

[ducky]

I think that 2500fps was suppose to be 500fps. Cool video tho.

When you're talking high speed photography/video fps means frames per second.

 

[VLD Pilot]

When you're talking photography fps means frames per second.

Well that makes a helluva lot of sense. Thank you. Thought it was a typo

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Also in reality that catch is not very loud. And a deer at 30 40 50 yards won't hear poop. Been crossbow hunting for a good bit of years and the deer ain't ducking an arrow. Hasnt happened yet in about 10 years of hunting. All that math doesn't compute to real life for me and what I've seen.
My Ten Point RS 470 vapor is my newer killing machine. Not quite 500 fps but about 450- 465 fps. 2 eight pointers this year would disagree with ducking an arrow from a fast crossbow

 

[CMP70306]

Let's break it down.

At 33 yards:
It takes the arrow .2 seconds to cover 100 ft at 500 fps. The first sound the deer hears is the string gate slamming down under ~200 lbs of force. That's the loudest thing on the bow, and it happens before the arrow even moves. The deer hears that sound at about the same time the arrow leaves the bow, because it takes some time for the arrow to get moving. Let's assume it's purely deer vs arrow, with the deer reacting as soon as the arrow leaves the bow. That gives the deer almost a quarter second to drop, and they can drop faster than "gravity" because they pull their legs and head up which pulls the body down. In that .2 seconds, gravity alove will have moved the deer down almost a foot, and the deer could easily double that by lifting it's head.

Here is a clip from the slow-mo guys. Take a look at the 40 second mark. The loudest sound BY FAR is the string catch slamming down. Getting the arrow moving takes a LOT longer than you think. The deer knows what's up before you even know the bow has gone off.

Already have a chart for that based on video of a yearling doe I shot at at 25 yards. Based on the frames and timing I calculated approximately 0.17 seconds from the time the deer heard the sound until it moved from the flight path of the bolt. The below chart gives you an approximate max range assuming the worst case deer movement.

I think the point is Don't shoot at Deer that are alert. This has always been preached or used to anyways when I was bowhunting, to wait until the deer has resumed grazing or not paying attention to your cover. Second thing that has been mentioned in the past, aim lower on an alert or nervous deer if you plan to take the shot.

Contrary to popular belief it's actually better to shoot a deer with its head raised.

Also in reality that catch is not very loud. And a deer at 30 40 50 yards won't hear poop. Been crossbow hunting for a good bit of years and the deer ain't ducking an arrow. Hasnt happened yet in about 10 years of hunting. All that math doesn't compute to real life for me and what I've seen.
My Ten Point RS 470 vapor is my newer killing machine. Not quite 500 fps but about 450- 465 fps. 2 eight pointers this year would disagree with ducking an arrow from a fast crossbow

They will absolutely duck a crossbow, my Turbo XLT2 proved that every time I shot it at a deer even as close as 25 yards. The nine point I shot at on the opening day of archery this year however did not duck when shot at with the RS470, which was the problem because my zero had moved itself 4 inches low while sitting in the cabin and it sailed right under him at 35 yards.

Jokes on him though because my rifle stays zeroed and he can't dodge bullets at 3275 fps even at 150 yards on the run.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Until crossbows can shoot 1100 fps, deer will keep dropping at the sound of the string stopping. That's a plain and simple fact despite all the guys disputing it. Sure many and even most deer get dead from crossbows. Those were relaxed and even while they DID flinch, it wasn't enough to clear the bolt. Alert deer or even feeding deer when heads are down are MORE alert. Feeding deer ONLY have ears to use for danger so are on extra alert to any sound even a leaf hitting the ground. Head up, not alert are using eyes and ears. Not quite as concerned because eyes are at work. They can be shot a bit easier. Either way, deer react to sounds differently and many DO duck arrows from this occurrence. If you hunt and kill enough deer, it WILL happen. Some guys have killed a few deer and brag about it never happening. I bragged about never losing an arrow hit deer. 5 dozen deer later, I've tallied up a few.

 

[6.5x300 WBY]

Well in about 10 years of this it didnt happen yet and I've shot them at a variety of ranges. All the math in the world hasn't confirmed anything other than dead deer. I am sure the deer tried to duck the arrow but only after my arrow went completely through them.

 

[VLD Pilot]

Well in about 10 years of this it didnt happen yet and I've shot them at a variety of ranges. All the math in the world hasn't confirmed anything other than dead deer. I am sure the deer tried to duck the arrow but only after my arrow went completely through them.

Good experiences are hard to beat. Hope you keep seeing them. I did for years. Lady luck ended eventually. It's not the shooter, it's the target. If you account for the reaction, you may not ever see a bad scenario. I always shoot for the bottom 1/3 of the deer and with a flinch, I always hit mid deer. I don't shoot a crossbow 90% of the time tho. Only in December. Never had one duck my crossbow yet either. It's not cause they didn't flinch cause they did. The bolt just hit vitals even with the duck. I always shoot for ribs and i only have a dozen deer under my belt with it. I expect it will happen unless I keep all my shots under 25 yards and only on relaxed animals. That just can't happen all the time if I want shots. Personally walking deer have been my best targets. Slow walking deer have been kills. Under 25 yards as well.

 

[left handed gun]

Since my wife and I got some cows (the kind that "moo" and sell for beef, not elk cows), I've started measuring everything's cost by how many cow/calf pairs I could get for it. The $3500 Ravin would be two, with some left over for couple hundred pounds of grain

Someone made the point that you can use it a good many more days than a rifle in most states, and that's true where I live.
For people who due to injury or whatever can't draw a conventional bow, might be worth it. There are less expensive Ravin options. Thought Eurooptic had some they were blowing out . . .

In my own little stand of woods, I could not easily get a shot longer than 35-40 yards with a bow. So I'll stick with my PSE regular compound bow for now. Save the money for cows, and the occasional rifle and scope.

I grew up when deer season meant modern gun season, only. Ninety five percent or more used rifles ('06, .270, 7MM, .308, a few .30-30 holdouts, in about that order), maybe a few in really wooded areas used shotguns with rifled slugs. So I didn't even pick up a bow until I was in my 50s. I'm amazed at the light release and the stability on the hold with an arrow drawn. I have a 1911 .45 with a target barrel and bushing, sweet trigger, a nice shooter, shoots better than I'm capable of, really. But I can probably shoot as tight a group with the bow and round points out to 25 yards. And between 25-40 yards, I'd say advantage, bow.

The velocity on the Ravins is impressive. Anyone checked their claims against a chrono? I've shot my PSE through mine a few times. I didn't write down the times, but they were in 250-275 range. Absolutely never hit 300. I don't have it maxed out on the draw weight. I'm 59 now, not Hulk Hogan to begin with.

 

[Raudy707]

We got a Ravin for my father in law who is in his last months of a long battle with cancer. Some states allow a hunter to hunt archery with a crossbow if they show a valid medical condition. He was too sick to put it together so I muddled through the instructions, some YouTube and sighted it in. By my 7th arrow I was hitting an orange size bullseye at 100 yds. That's as far as the slider tape went for the scope turret adjustment. I had never shot a crossbow before. I was very impressed to say the least. This past deer season I acquired permission to hunt some private property local to my house. A short 15 minute drive and I had a 20 acre ag field that deer were passing through with a constant regularity. The owners only requirement was it had to he hunted with archery equipment only. I took a nice 4x4 with my Mathews bow on the 3rd weekend and my tag was punched. The last weekend of rifle season my wife had not hunted yet so I said grab your Dad's crossbow and let go to the archery field. She was skeptical because she had never fired a crossbow in her life. I set up my block and we took 3 practice shots at 30, 50 and 60 yards. She hit bullseye on every shot. Just before last shooting light a forked horn came into the field. He meandered slowly into 103 yards. I said well it's now or never, shoot. We adjusted the turret tape to 100 yds and she held just under his spine. Off shooting sticks she squeezed off the shot. The arrow was there in an instant and the report of the smack echoed back 1 second later. The buck ran and stumbled then got up and disappeared into the tall grass. I ran to the corner of the pasture immediately as it was now dark and looked for blood. Nothing. As I walked back I stumbled over the buck dead as a stone about 40 yds from the point of impact. She heart shot it! 103 yds and she 12 ringed it. Idk if the Ravin is worth almost 4k but it sure made a believer out of us. Her Dad was too sick to ever shoot it so we were going to sell it or return the equipment and get our money back. Needless to say she's keeping that crossbow now. It is a deadly piece of equipment.

 

[Raudy707]

I forgot to add some pictures.

 

[cajun]

I think the point is Don't shoot at Deer that are alert. This has always been preached or used to anyways when I was bowhunting, to wait until the deer has resumed grazing or not paying attention to your cover. Second thing that has been mentioned in the past, aim lower on an alert or nervous deer if you plan to take the shot.

This^^^^. An un alert deer will rarely duck an arrow. Texas deer at a feeder are an exception lol. But seriously I have never had a deer that had no clue I was there duck. By the time they hear the sound and react it's too late.