By Glen Wunderlich
Charter Member Professional Outdoor Media Association (POMA)
At a media event years ago, a representative from Horton was there to introduce outdoor professionals to the new Vision, reverse limb crossbow. I stepped right up, followed the instructions, and gave it a try. Never having shot a crossbow, it impressed me with its accuracy and compact design.
At that time, Michigan had made crossbows legal to use in its archery season, as long as they wouldn’t send an arrow/bolt downrange faster than 350 feet-per-second (fps). The Vision fit the bill with an advertised velocity of 325 fps; I had to have one.
Testing the new bow, I learned that the aluminum arrows supplied with the bow, came off the string at a mere 292 fps. From there, I upgraded to carbon shafts and picked up a bit of speed but still nowhere near the advertised figure. Still, it was a vast improvement over my vertical bow in not only speed but the ability to reproduce accurate shots as far as I chose. Even though Michigan dropped the speed limit – which was asinine from the beginning – I was happy with the new rig overall and have used it afield during archery season ever since.
Within a year, my pal, Joe, purchased a Parker crossbow that launched the arrows at exactly 352 fps. When observing the flight of the arrows, it was remarkable how much faster some 50 fps was than my Horton. I have often thought of upgrading my Horton, but have never justified the added expense to do so.
Since then, market demand has soared across the nation and crossbow manufacturers have upped their game immensely. Until recently, the fastest crossbows hovered around 400-430 fps – one of which from Ravin has been shown to hit the target consistently at an amazing distance of 100 yards under ideal circumstances.
For 2022, industry leaders TenPoint Crossbow Technologies and Garmin® have teamed up to release the new pinnacle in long-range crossbow accuracy and performance – the new Nitro 505 XERO. 
Delivering unheard of speeds of 505 fps with a 400-grain arrow and featuring the revolutionary ACUslide™ silent cocking and safe de-cocking system, this perfectly balanced reverse-draw crossbow is equipped with the Garmin® XERO® X1i Rangefinding scope to deliver the fastest, most accurate long-range crossbow ever.
TenPoint Crossbow Technologies is 100% American owned, operated, and all of its crossbow models are manufactured in Mogadore, OH. For those that have a notion to step up, it’s a giant step at $4599.99. Said Rick Bednar, TenPoint CEO, “All major components were designed to handle this level of power. The Nitro 505 is the most tested TenPoint crossbow ever – with over 25,000 shots put through the design.”
The Garmin optic not only ranges the target, but it provides an aiming point, which compensates for up or downhill shooting. But, what is not mentioned is one major obstacle to accuracy – especially at distances typically reserved for firearms: wind.
Bows capable of such blinding speed could give inexperienced archers the notion that just about any shot is within range; however, unless shots can be held within a 6-inch circle at any given distance at least 9 out of 10 times in field-conditions, speed is irrelevant.
Heck, for all I know someone is probably working on integrating wind measurement and compensation into tomorrow’s optics. Where it all is headed is anyone’s guess.
