BARNETT Whitetail Hunter STR Crossbow

I bought this new Barnett Whitetail Hunter STR crossbow to replace a 175 lb Barnett Predator crossbow I bought new in 2006. The Predator was awkward and front heavy but deadly to hunt with ( I killed some really nice bucks with it over the years). I'm 70 now with arthritic hands and a newly replaced shoulder and need something lighter and better balanced but just as powerful. This bow fits that perfectly. It cocks using the same effort as the old crossbow and shoots perfect groups out to 50 yards using the same bolts and field points. I did replace the included scope with a much better lighted one. I also had a little trouble with assembly because of the arthritic hands but other than that I highly recommend this.for purchase.

It is my 1st crossbow. At 45 feet it goes through the target! I do not recommend buying the crank because the string is easy to use. The scope has turrets that are easy to adjust. I recommended it to my friends. Also because it is a crossbow, It is nice not having to hold the draw.

Great crossbow, I have shot out to 70 yards and I am impressed at the accuracy. This is combined whit the supplied 22" bolt from Barnett with Muzzy Trocar HBX and the Bloodsport Witness 22" bolts with Rage Crossbow X.The only thing I will pick about is the optic and mounts....... optic is ok and accurate but the mounts are to be desired, I changed them out to a set of Vortex rings

I would give the bow a 4.5 star rating and the scope an absolute 0 rating. I spent quite a while trying to zero the scope. Half the time I couldn’t even get the crosshairs to adjust even with tapping on the turrets. I probably shot 50 shots from 20 to 40 yards with zero shot placement consistency. Back and forth, back and forth, over and over still suffering 6” or worse variation. Was about to give up and send the whole thing back as I definitely wouldn’t feel confident using it for hunting with the high probability of leaving a wounded animal in the woods. As a last resort I switched out the scope with an extra I had. Had this one zeroed at 20 yards in 3 shots, small adjustment for 30 yards and no adjustment at 40. The shots were then very repeatable and accurate. (I didn’t go out past 40 yards as I generally have a max 30 yard shot from my stand, and also feel the delay from shooting to strike is too long beyond 40 yards giving the animal too much time to move.)Conclusion, the bow is accurate, but the scope is absolutely unusable. As an added negative, if not being able to sight it in isn’t bad enough, the eye relief is terrible too. I had the butt-stock fully extended and the scope mounted as far forward as possible and still had to back off further for proper sight view. This left me with an uncomfortable shouldering of the bow. Just figure you will have to buy a different scope which definitely affects the price as you need to consider this as a bare bow purchase without a scope. Not even sure why you would put this piece of junk on the bow. Sell the naked bow and lower the price or put on a better scope at a reasonably higher cost.

Arrived in separate pieces but was easily assembled. Crossbow is sturdy and accurate, fairly easy to operate. Really do like it.

This bow is excellent once assembled. Make sure you find a video for the assembly, as the instructions will not help. You need to push the bow at a angle towards the scope to get it to seat properly. Throws the arrows harder than my targets can handle. Even shooting through a "Black Hole 18" target. Can't wait for big game to open!

I decided I was gonna finally add a crossbow to my repertoire. I have a lot of experience with crossbows but I mostly use compounds and recurves for the intimacy and various challenges, I just never decided to buy one. So on to my rant. 4 star, it’s a great crossbow, solid, easy to set up. I don’t care for the scope but that’s okay I was prepared with a better one anyways. I did decided to go for the cheaper used offers and picked one that said it was returned due to a damaged box but the item was in “like new” condition. I opened it up and the original box wasn’t damaged at all but the bow itself was in shambles. Strings off and jammed in the cams, not in the cardboard protection pieces. Other than that it was good. Thank god I have the equipment and experience to restring or the price and inconvenience to take it somewhere would have been way more than the outright new.

Bow seems to be solidly made. Looks attractive, nice camo pattern. Shoots hard, not too bad to cock. A little loud but not more so than any of the other crossbows I have heard. I am coming from shooting and hunting with a verticle compound since the mid 80's and a traditional recurve before that. Have had to go to a crossbow because of some pretty invasive surgeries and medical problems over the past few years. Plus I'm getting old. Tried pulling back my 70# Bowtech Guardian last month and that was not happening. I think this crossbow will allow me to get out in the woods and hopefully put a deer or two in the freezer.First thing I would recommend doing is unmounting the scope that comes with the bow and throwing it right into the trash. The eye relief sucks and mine was mounted crooked. I'm sure I could have put it on a bench and straightened it out but I didn't want to go through all that for a sub par scope. I tried to zero at twenty with the included scope but I ran out of room. I just want to get out in the woods and hunt so I upgraded to a better scope. Was able to get it zeroed in about a half hour.We'll see how it does in the deer woods.

Crossbow is very good but the cheap scope that comes with it pitch it straight in the trash can

Anything on the receiving end of this is either not getting up, or is going to be VERY angry.

it didnt come with the plastic thing that goes for mounting on the front . instead of using side rails

The screws that hold everything together definitely need some better quality control. They feel cheap and easy to stripped.

Beautiful crossbow in every way. But better instructions are definitely needed. It also could come down in price.