Barnett Whitetail Hunter Review

Intro

If you have just stepped into the adventurous world of game hunting and are yet to earn yourself the expert tag, worry not as the Whitetail Hunter by Barnett is what you require to pull off a decent game without ever hurting yourself. Small in size, big on performance, the new Barnett recruit bow is perfect for women, the smaller framed or up and coming hunter.

Features that match other popular bows by Barnett will have the young hunter in your life ready to hit the woods.

Full Review

Materials and design

Established in 1962, Barnett has spent over 50 years designing crossbows that are better and better at aiding your hunt with accuracy and speed. Barnett uses modern designs and materials to provide you with high quality hunting crossbows and crossbow products. With developing technology, they have refined their designs over and over, resulting in some of the best bows in the market. Every Barnett crossbow defines enthusiasm, zeal and perfection. The manufacture of cross bows for Barnett isn’t just an every day job but a quest to develop state of the art crossbows. The finish and fit of Barnett bows reflect their successful engineers and remarkable craftsmen. Their quality control department works extra to guarantee that only genuine parts and quality materials are used.

Flexibility & Setup

When looking at a crossbow for young archers, one key point that must be highlighted is the bow weight. Barnett know this and they designed the new recruit with a weight of only 6.5 pounds which is great as a starting weight for beginners and will work out great for young adults and women.

The bow relies on a pulley system which allows you to cock the string without hindrances. This is a very easy crossbow to set up. You start by attaching the riser to the stock, mounting your scope and you’re ready to shoot. The adjustable butt stock allows users to set the draw length that is comfortable for them. This nice feature also saves money for the newer shooters because they don’t have to go out and buy new bows as they grow older: this crossbow will grow with users and make them hunters for life.

The Barnett Whiteail Hunter also features a finger reminder passing right through the grip. If you are a professional who has used crossbows for a long time, you should know just where to keep the fingers when firing your bow. But for a newbie, the odds for an accident are quite high. With a finger reminder passing right through the foregrip, this crossbow ensures that your fingers are safe, and that your grip isn’t compromised.

Performance

Barnett is known for the production of crossbows that deliver superior performance and accuracy. Some hunters worry about using lightweight crossbows but this crossbow packs a mighty punch. Power in a crossbow is indicated by its total draw weight, so that the higher the bow’s draw weight the greater the speed generated by the arrow generates once it leaves your bow. The Barnett Whitetail Hunter offers draw weights of 130lbs, which is equivalent to 80 ft.lbs of kinetic energy, and shoots arrows at a IBO rating speed of 300 FPS. The Barnett Recruit compound crossbow features an anti-vibration system for enhanced accuracy and noise-free performance.

Hunting Features

The Barnett Recruit crossbow fires arrow at 300 FPS, which is not the fastest in this category but enough to take down just about any game. Noise when shooting is typical of most crossbows, but the Barnett includes AVi antivibration foot stirrup and cross wire string system for smooth, consistent, and quiet shots. The crossbow is also easy to carry due to it lightweight and to maneuver in tight spaces such as dense foliage or tree stands.

Accessories

The Barnett Recruit Hunting Crossbow comes with everything a novice needs to get started. Package includes Optic (either Red-Dot or Scope depending on package), Rope cocking assist, quiver, 3 x 20-inch Arrows, and lubrication wax (a must for the stock cables included on this model).

The red-dot scope allows you to keep your eyes open when making the aim and this allows for faster acquisition of the target. The reason for this (if it isn’t apparent) is that with both eyes open you have full awareness of your surroundings and a better judgment of distances and movement speeds. The premium red-dot scope can withstand months of use and abuse, but it might not be the very best for long-range shooting. Its optics are nicely coated to resist fogging and the illumination rheostat is adjustable and works smoothly and easily.

The 3 included head hunter bolts are well balanced bolts for this crossbow and decent for both target practice and hunting. They feature a 20″ Easton carbon shaft with moon-nocks and Barnett’s field points. Note: Always use arrows with half-moon nock such as the Barnett 20″ carbon arrows on this bow. Arrows with improper stiffness may damage the string, cables, and limbs thus voiding the warranty and possibly causing personal injury. The tip of an arrow or the broad head is the initial thing that will make contact with something after you pull the trigger. Broad heads are classified into fixed blades and mechanical broad heads. It’s up to the user to decide whether they need deeper penetration or a larger wound area. The manufacturer recommends using three blade, low-profile broad heads with their cutting diameters at a maximum of 1-3/16 inches. Recommended alternatives to the Barnett bolts include the 20-inch 2219 bolts or 20-inch Black Eagle Executioners.

Barnett provides a standard 3-year warranty on all of their crossbows. The customer service staff at Barnett are friendly and knowledgeable, and will quickly take care of any issues you have with your crossbow.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• checkLightweight and compact
• checkGood flexibility
• checkVery easy to setup
• checkDecent scope included

Cons

• The string is claimed to break easily. It is highly recommended that you read and follow the user’s manual, watch the safety videos and wax the string every ten shots. This will aid you to understand how the crossbow works and how to keep the string strong and supple to prevent any damage.
• exclamationNot the fastest crossbow

Barnett Recruit Compound Crossbow Review: Conclusions and Rating

There aren’t nearly as many crossbow starter kits as compound bow starter kits overpopulating today’s fast turn-around archery and hunting market, and one need to be wary of the various knockoffs and low-end accessories. World-renowned Barnett proposes this tactical Recruit crossbow that while does not surprise for extreme power or speed, stands out for user’s satisfaction and is overall a more than decent crossbow kit for the beginner archer looking to get into hunting with a robust yet affordable weapon, from a high reputable brand. Add another point for the nice red-dot scope and carbon arrows included, and it’s only fair to rate this product high on the scale for what you get for your money!