Has anyone tried it? You guys have me wanting to try bowfishing bad, but a torn rotator cuff makes it problematic...

I guess what I need to know is, what kind of crossbow would be best? I have a Barnett Predator, but that seems a bit overkillish considering it has a 175 lb draw and can sling a bolt up to 375 fps

We shoot bows with only 20lb draw !! Don't need much

Well hell, I can do that! I didn't know that you could use that low of poundage, I was thinking somewhere around 50 lbs.

My crossbow would be a bit excessive

Our bows are out of the box with a 40 lb draw.


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Depends on what u are shooting but DDM is right, down here that's all I use. Them guys sticking big gars and offshore fish shoot a little heavier.

What draw weight would I want to shoot if I was shooting big gar and redfish?

40,no more than 50.

Is a 20 lb draw enough for large carp, up to say 30ish lbs? I don't think I could pull a 40 lb bow more than a couple of times before the shoulder flares up.

We shoot lots of reds and a shit pile of big gator gar! All my bows in my boat are set around 25lb my dads bow only goes to 20 and he has no problem penetrating gar with it!! My bow is set a little stronger than the rest but I don't have as many mud shots as the rest ! Lol!! I don't like shooting big gar facing me cause of scale pattern ! But 90% of our shots on gar are strait down or within 5' of the boat

25 lb draw will be fine for carp and buffalo, they are soft. Just use good tips on all your arrows.


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Thanks guys! I will try and find a light bow and give em hell!

ddm, I don't care what anybody says, your an alright guy

32 lbs

I shoot an Osprey @ 26#, shot gar up to 7'1 and pretty much everything thing else legal. IMO a crossbow on a bowfishing boat is a bad bad accident waiting to happen.

Just check out the local pawn shops for an old bow. I am still shooting my old bear recurve @35lbs. Been shooting that for 20 years now.

I agree with WW it is an accident waiting to happen but it is something that has been used my cousin made one for his self . He welded up a cross bar and made a pin trigger system and used double bands of surgical rubber tubing. I can get a picture if u are really interested. I have also seen sling shot setups, thats something I wouldn't mind giving a try.

i want one of the cross bow pistol styles for when i am driving

I see the point you guys are making about safety, hadn't really thought about that. I already have the crossbow for deer, I was just wondering if I could multipurpose it. I will look at the pawn shops and see if I can try a low poundage bow, my shoulder is pretty screwed though, I have a handicap permit for the crossbow.

Pse discovery 29# is less than $200 and can be turned down it will penetrate big gator gar and it has a smooth draw so ur shoulder wouldnt be jarring much during the draw cycle

Just don't try head shots on Carp.My recurve is a 45lb draw and it barely goes through the skull.I was thinking of trying a compound set at 50lb this year.We do take alot of long shots thou

Any of you guys bow hunt gators?