The ballistics of most vertical arches are superior to most crossbows. The mystical ingredient is the force stroke. Even though a crossbow has a heavier draft weight, the power stroke is much shorter. It is the power stroke generated by the kinetic energy that is stored in an arrow when it is thrown towards its target.
Compound crossbows are generally more powerful than compound crossbows. They can stay cocked for hours once you load them, and you don't have to unload your crossbow until the end of the day. This means that the crossbow is ready to fire, only when you are. Because of this much shorter “force stroke” (shot) on the crossbow, it must have much heavier limbs.
The powerful limbs move a short distance and stop quickly when an arrow is fired. Therefore, the crossbow must have more physical mass than a compound bow to absorb the impact. This short, powerful hit means that the crossbow will create more noise when discharged than the conventional compound bow. Over the years, the crossbow has been refined and new materials have been obtained to increase the effectiveness of the crossbow.
For a detailed explanation of crossbow safety and how to safely unbuckle the crossbow, check out this TenPoint Crossbows video. The compound bow takes longer to learn, so it's best to start lessons with a compound bow before trying a crossbow. The biggest advantage the crossbow has over the compound bow is the ability to maintain a loaded and ready to fire condition, while the compound bow, although faster when loading, can lose the shot with the crossbow. The physics of the crossbow hinders stability when shooting, making the crossbow less accurate than the vertical arc.
The final documented scores delivered at the shooting range at the IBO and NFAA tournaments (both allow the use of crossbows in their national competitions) by professionals definitely prove that vertical bow is more accurate than crossbows when shooting freehand. The best way to choose between a bow and a crossbow if you're completely new to archery is to try both. The disadvantages are that the total weight and volume of a crossbow make it difficult to aim unless it is in a prone position or has the crossbow resting on a flat surface. You may have heard that crossbows are better than a compound bow, but you may have also heard that a compound crossbow is not as good as a compound bow.
While you may think that a ready-to-fire crossbow is inherently more dangerous than a compound bow, the evidence does not indicate that the use of a crossbow causes more accidents. You can have a crossbow removed with the purchase of some additional accessories, such as a leaf spring silencer, for example. This has become especially evident with the development of reverse draft crossbows that allow a crossbow to have an even longer power stroke along with high shooting weights. Let's compare the crossbow with the compound bow in the following 10 categories: speed, range, rate of fire, accuracy, safety, portability, maintenance, noise, cost and the best for hunting.
