Customer Reviews

Crosman Elkhorn Jr. Compound Bow

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I purchased this unit for my 12 year old daughter on the advice of an archery buff friend. After a little internet research and tinkering (the instructions are not very good), she has been shooting-up a storm with it. She had little problem with the 21 pound draw weight and the compound mechanism really helped her hold her shots steady. As shipped, the unit is fairly complete but you'll probably want to add a nock, and some thread to wrap around the string to fatten it up so that it will more securely position an arrow for firing. Please note that the bow came with an "all weather" string that makes the addition of standard sighting aids (like a rear "peep" aperature) a bit problematic. That said, this is a bow that is actually capable of decent accuracy and is well suited for smaller/weaker frames. The bow is sufficiently accurate that she has rapidly progressed to shooting very well and now wants to get fitted for a more expensive rig.

This bow is a nice youth starter bow, and priced attractively for its quality. I have a 13 year old son, just about 5 feet tall, and this bow was perfect for him in draw weight and length. It was easy to assemble (it is close to "ready-to-shoot" right out of the box), and the directions were clear. The arrows, while low end, have taken hours of punishment pretty well, with the fletchings still intact. The arrow rest (self-adhesive plastic) was the only disappointment, as it broke after a half hour or so of use (those are easily replaced, and not a deal breaker for us). Independent of the arrow rest, the construction is solid, and this bow performed well throughout extensive days of shooting. The accuracy is sufficient for a bow in this price range, and precise enough to allow for subsequent shot correction. I anticipate my son will outgrow this bow in a year or two, but with little-to-no maintenance, I foresee many hours of trouble-free target practice over those years. Should something untoward happen to this bow, we would definitely replace it with the same bow. Nice value. Thanks Crosman!

Note to Amazon: While Crosman does indeed make air pistols, the words "air pistol" are out of place in the title/description of this compound bow archery set.

After earning his Jr. Hunting license with rifle and shotgun, my 12 year old decided he absolutely MUST complete his training and add a bow license to the other two. I am all for correct training in safety procedure, and when he asked for a bow for his 13th birthday I readily acquiesed.

This is the best possible "starter" bow for the money that we have seen or heard about. For less than $50 thru Amazon I couldn't be happier (especially since we spent all our spare cash paying for upcoming Boy Scout Camp and Coldwater Conservation School/Camp for our kids. It was, as others have stated, a little tricky to figure out where everything goes from the 2"x2" picture directions, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to eventually get it. (look at it like a puzzle and logic takes over - LOL!) When practicing be certain that you have either a windowless building behind your backstop (like a garage - as we did), or empty woods. Otherwise your neighbors and their pets could be in imminent peril.

I can say that this handy bow has certainly enough power to pierce, siding, insulation and underlying clapboard, along with toy truck tires and plastic garbage cans. It is apparently easy to be accurate with, but too powerful for our first efforts at constructing a target/backboard ;p

All in all I can't say anything negative about the bow itself. The arrows are cheap garbage and you will have to get more fairly quickly, though. The "accessories" are also cheap, but will at least serve to get you started on the way. The only thing lacking to be the perfect starter get-up is a cheap attempt at a protective carry case.

I have two teenage sons that are constantly in front of a computer, so when one of them had a birthday last week, I wanted to get something that would get him out of the house. I knew if he could shoot at something, I'd have a chance. This is a well-made, easy to shoot and ready to shoot out of the box, target bow for beginners. My boys are practically grown, but not too muscular, so the 20 pound pull is just right for them at this point. They had a ball yesterday sharing the bow, so now I'm going to get another to keep them both outside. The only draw-back was the substandard arrows (and only two of them!). Luckily, I read the reviews beforehand and purchased additional arrows at a better grade. The 26 inch arrows are ideal. I also found an affordable school-type target at another location that is working great! We don't have access to hays bales, Amazon was out of the 'bean bag' style I wanted, and we can't afford real archery targets (running around from $100 on up), but the one I found ran about $40.00 and stands on its own (does better if leaned up against something). We found it at [...]; it's called the Morrell Youth Archery Target.

Be sure you know that you are getting a bow to be held with the left hand and the strings pulled with the right hand (usually for right-handed people). Unfortunately, this bow doesn't come for lefties (like my eldest son), so I found him a similar bow to the Elkhorn that is made for either right/left hand shooters--I hope it is as good as the Elkhorn (it is a Martin Tiger Bow--I will update this review if there are problems with the Martin). Archery is great fun but be warned--this bow is NOT a toy and CAN cause serious damage--be sure your child or young adult knows how dangerous shooting a bow and arrow can be! My boys are old enough to be unsupervised, but I would suggest adult supervision at all times for younger teens and tweens (or unreliable people at any age). This could cause serious injuries or even worse--so be VERY CAREFUL with instruction and supervision.

My son bought this bow with an Amazon gift card. We chose this despite the reviews mentioning a wrong-sided grip for a right-hander. I can confirm that this bow is intended for a right-handed person (bow held in left hand, right hand drawing the string for the shot).

So far this bow is an excellent size for my son (just turned 11 y.o., a bit tall for his age). He can pull and hold it no problem and the accuracy is actually really really good. The shots are consistent from 10-30 yards, and I am getting a kick out of shooting it too.

The instructions are perfectly fine for assembly of the quiver, sight, and arrow rest (which hasn't fallen off once, despite the statements in other reviews suggesting it is flimsy). However, although it looks as if the draw weight of the bow is adjustable since there are additional anchor holes in the cams, the instructions do not explain how to do this. This is not really a big deal since my son is using it fine at its current factory setting, and I can probably do a little research to find out how this adjustment might be done.

Overall, excellent product for its price, super fun, and more than a toy.

This is a great first bow for a young boy. Everything needed is in the package, including a sight, two arrows, a finger pad and an arm protector. Assembly is minimal and straightforward, but a little more documentation could make it even easier.

This being a compound bow, the effort to hold it is low. Drawing it still requires some strength, however, and not all 8-9 year-old will be able to do it repeatedly.

At this price, one cannot expect great accuracy, which is indeed lacking. The power is not sufficient for anything much longer than 10 yards either. But as a first bow for kids, it is adequate.

This is a great bow for the money, great for a beginner and good enough for an intermediate shooter. I would recommend this bow and would deffinately buy from this outfit again!

I bought this bow for my 10 year old grandson for Christmas. The bow is very well made and has adjustable pull so you can set it to suit the archer. It is quite powerful for its size and capable of enough range to keep it interesting. My only complaints are the lack of button for the arrow nock, a somewhat iffy arrow rest, and really inadequate instructions (they don't even mention the adjustable pull, much less how to do it).

I bought this for my son (12yr old) and he really enjoyed it. Nothing fancy but a great way to get started, especially for the price. He had a tough time drawing it back at first but got better with practice. Obviously won't take down a bear but it definitely has some power, not a weak little toy. The arrows are kinda junky but at least it gives you something to work with straight out of the box and you can go to an archery store for better arrows that match your draw length later. Good buy.

I purchased this bow for my 10 year old son and he loves it. He really wanted a bow and arrow and this bow was exactly what he was hoping for.

I will say the lack of directions is amazing. It comes with directions for safety, but nothing about how to turn down the pull weight or change the draw length. I left the draw length as delivered as it fit my son pretty good, but I had to crank down the pull weight. I know on a regular compound bow you can only turn the hex bolts 4 turns to safely turn down the pull weight, but just to be safe I did it three times on this one for the first few times.

My son had a little tough time pulling the bow back, but once he got used to it, it was no problem. In fact, within 3 days I set the pull weight back up to the max as he was starting to shoot further away.

I did have to add some thread to the bow string as the arrows wouldn't click onto it, so that helped, plus it gave a good idea where to click the arrow on the string to get a consistent shot.

We'll probably keep this for at least a year and then eventually trade up, but I found this product perfect for a childs first bow.