Crossbow Quivers & Mounting Options

Archery hunters use more accessories than any other faction in the entire hunting industry. This in turn has led to numerous manufacturers producing products to fill the wants and needs of bowhunters. There are countless broadhead, sound dampening, arrow, and optics companies producing products to supply the demand.

However, unlike the rest of the accessory industry, there are basically only two quiver manufacturers. Although the trend of late is for broadhead manufacturers to produce their own quivers and there a couple of start-up companies trying to break into the market for the most part, there hasn't been a lot of competition or innovation when it comes to quivers.

The majority of crossbow packages will include a generic three arrow quiver that attaches somewhere to the front of the crossbow. The quivers provided with these packages will generally work for most hunters. However, they usually have a small hood cover, hold only three arrows and secure the arrows with a single gripper.

If you prefer carrying additional arrows more securely, you're going to want to swap the quiver out for one of the other popular brands. I generally carry only three arrows at a time with me to the field. However, I prefer to use a five-arrow quiver. The larger quiver hood provides more space for broadheads and a double-gripper quiver will better secure your arrows without any fletching contact.

How and where you attach the quiver to the crossbow can greatly affect the arrows and the balance of the crossbow. For years the standard quiver placement was mounted underneath the crossbow running parallel below the limbs. However, I believe not much thought went into this design. With the quiver mounted in this position, it adds additional weight to the already front end heavy crossbow. And every time you set the crossbow down, you were smashing your arrows and fletching.

As crossbow designs progressed, and parallel limb technology came into play, quivers needed to be mounted parallel to the crossbow's rail because in the previous mounting configuration, the arrows would stick out past the crossbow's limb tips, subjecting them to damage and making the crossbow wider then it needed to be.

Mounting the quiver parallel to the rail solves very little. The quiver is still attached to the front of the crossbow adding additional weight to the front. Your arrows and fletching are still smashed every time you set the crossbow down. There are also reports of hunters inadvertently cutting their strings and cables with broadhead tipped arrows when accessing them with the quiver in this position.

For me the best quiver mounting product on the market is the Bohning Top Mount Bracket. It attaches to the scope rail of your crossbow. A single thumb screw is all that is needed to secure the mount, and the scope doesn't have to be removed. After you attach the Top Mount, simply attach your quiver to it and it's ready to go.

The position of the quiver is now above the crossbow and mounted back towards the shooter which brings better balance to the crossbow. The crossbow can be set on the ground without causing damage to your arrows or fletching, and arrows are easier to access with no danger of cutting the crossbow's string and cables.

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