yoderjac
5 year old buck +
"I bought one as I'm not very comfortable standing in a treestand to shoot a compound, and the crossbow allows me to shoot while sitting."
Is there a reason you can't set and shoot your compound? I only shoot from a sitting position. I practice it and it allows much less movement than trying to stand and shoot or stand for countless hours.
Also, my kids have killed many deer with a PSE Fang. It was a whopping $269 and is quiet enough to kill deer out to 40 yards. I would just use what you have and try to get as close as possible with your shot.
VV
The primary reason most folks stand with a compound bow is that it significantly extends the kill zone area. That is kill zone around the stand, not kill zone on the deer. I can slowly stand when a deer's head is occluded long before it is in bow range (20 yard for me with a compound). I can then rotate my body as needed depending on the direction of approach. This give me a kill zone area of about 240 degrees around the stand verses about 60 degrees sitting.
Now I'm not counting those folks who set their bows two heavy and can't draw when sitting. That is an inappropriate reason to stand. If I can't draw my bow comfortably while sitting with one foot off the ground, it is set too heavy for hunting. Many of these speed freaks also set the draw length too long for hunting. Far more deer come into range and are not harvested with a compound because timing of the draw is bad and guys can't comfortably letdown in a controlled way and redraw than are lost because the bow is too slow.
Personally, I often shoot from a sitting position if surprised by a deer in range and don't have an opportunity to stand and the deer happens to be in and appropriate position for a shot. If they don't make it into the limited shooting angle when I'm seated, I won't stand, I'll simply let the deer walk.
Thanks,
Jack