I bought this over the woody elite because I liked the speartip included with this gun better and the fact that the bands were more powerful on the XHD. These bands take so much force to pull back I am glad they use and extra thick shaft on this gun because it feels like it would warp a thinner one. I haven't gotten the chance to take it out and use it yet but I have no doubt this gun can make a clean through shot on big game. This gun is overkill for sheepshead and spadefish but that isn't really a bad thing. When loaded this gun feels like it could easily punch through a refrigerator. If they made a wooden version of the XHD with tripple 5/8" bands then I would have bought that. This gun does feel a little heavy out of the water.
Update: I recently took a 50+ LB amberjack (aka reef Donkey) with this gun and it made a very solid clean through hit in the thickest part of the body behind the gill plate (~9 inches). I just missed the spine but the shaft stood up to the fight
- Jordan
on 3/29/2010