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There are three simple cocking tricks you can employ to increase your crossbow accuracy ten-fold. Employ these and watch your groups shrink exponentially.
1. Shorten the Cocking Rope
Factory cocking ropes are designed for knuckle draggers. For us average guys, they’re simply too long. Attempting to cock a crossbow with a factory-cocking device puts you at serious risk of shoulder injury, and almost guarantees you’ll cock the bow crooked. By all means, adjust the length of your rope so it matches your cocking stroke.
2. Mark Your String
Few crossbow enthusiasts realize just how easy it is to get a crossbow string cocked off-center. Uneven rope lengths on either side of the arrow track leads to the string being latched off-kilter in the trigger mechanism. Once this occurs, your arrow will not be pushed from the bow in a uniform manner, resulting in horrible arrow flight.
To ensure you’ve cocked your crossbow straight, mark each side of the serving when the bow is at rest. Once cocked, checked your marks to make sure the string is equidistance from the arrow track on both sides. If it’s not, uncock (in a safe manner) and re-cock it.
3. Mark Your Cocking Rope
Place a line on the center of your cocking rope. Line the center of the rope up with the center seam in the stock or whatever anchor point you’ve established for the rope cocker. This ensures you start with the rope in the center and minimizes crooked cocking.