Crossbow targets & decocking bolts?

Thanks papiman that's what I   suspected,I will no longer be using that bolt. 
Oldhunter, good information. Yes, I have seen some slow-motion videos with  compound bows. The arrow looks like a spaghetti noodle.

I would strongly NOT recommend.  using that type of discharge ARROW..  You hit a stone or something solid in the ground, you run a high risk of cracking or splintering the carbon arrow shafts. sometimes carbon splinters can be undetected and likely will shatter when shot the next time, causing damage to the crossbow and more likely injury to the shooters.  Additionally what do you do if the ground is frozen ? The weight of a crossbow arrow is critical to the forces of the crossbow when shot. to light of a arrow cannot absorb the force of the shot, and to heavy of a arrow will cause to much back pressure to the crossbow.  That's why crossbow manufactures  specify certain weight arrows 
Use a arrow with a field tip and shot into a compact discharge target, which you can buy for under $20.00. 

If you ever see a slow motion video of a arrow being shot from a crossbow, you would be totally amazed how violent the reaction and how much the crossbow strings and the arrows themselve  bend and flex. 

Regarding the story  of the hunter discharging his crossbow by the road and in front of a warden, sounds like a barstool story. If it were true, the person could have easily contested it and any judge would have frown the case out.  Point blank obvious the person was not hunting or shooting at a deer.  

oncebitten i used the bolt you shoot into the ground with the mushroom head and it broke the string and a limb  not worth the money just use a bolt with a feild tip and bag .

Problem solved. Load it at the base of ur stand when u get there, & decock it when u get out from ur stand.  No shooting into a target when u get to ur vehicle or worrying about a decocking bolt.  

He also told us some stories while setting up the crossbow…
First was the warden that comes into the shop said he was patrolling the public lands and saw a truck with a crossbow case in the back.  He waited for the guy to come out and was talking to him while he decocked the bow ​into a ​target and then gave him a ticket for shooting next to ​road…my thought was that is what gives wardens a bad wrap, he could at least have him a warning or even corrected him before he shot.

2nd story was a guy ​who decocked his bow with a bag that he kept in the back seat of his truck, and he ​shot into the back seat, he would just open the side door and shoot into his truck.   
Thought that was ​lazy as frick but funny at the same time.
​He also had a crossbow on the counter he was working on rebuilding because the guy didn’t decock it while done for the day and left it cocked all season long🤣

I bought a crossbow a few years ago for my son who wanted to get into archery…he recently bought his own normal bow cause he found out how much more fun they are to shoot😁. But when I bought it I went to the archery shop by me, just a small shop with just the owner doing everything, he strongly said not to use the decocking bolts, said if you shoot it into the ground and it hits a rock or something and there might be a small crack in it, the next fire it could blow up in the bow and crack the limbs.  I got a small target block that can use in the yard to sight in and can just toss it in back of the truck when we head to the hunting land

Papiman 
What bolt did you use, and what happened to the x bow.
I have a mushroom head type from F&F that you shoot into the ground/hill it's kinda heavy, and I worry about damaging my bow with it. I only used it a few times.  

I recently upgraded to a Tenpoint Viper 430 and the cocking/decocking mechanism is awesome. You can stop at any point when decocking and it just sits there, half cocked, etc.  The handle won't free spin or release.  Quite a difference from the older style crossbows, even the ones that had the ACUdraw before.  Its nice not needing to fire it every time I want to decock it.  With my previous one I did use a bolt/field tip and a small bag target.  I like ​how narrow it is too.

I think Ravin has a similar mechanism, but you have to depress and hold a button to decock them and if you let the handle go with the button depressed, it could fire.  Don't fully quote me on that though, I might have it wrong.  With the Tenpoint you release the button immediately and just use the handle alone.

I like bag targets like the yellow jacket bags.  I did get the yellowjacket crossbow block target once and you'd have to be the world's strongest man to remove bolts from it.  I literally stood on top of it and used my legs to pull up.  Ended up selling that the first year.  Maybe its okay for slower bows, but not ones that can really bury the bolt. 

I have a matthews crossbow  used a decocking bolt wrecked my  bow mattews suggested to use a bolt with a field tip and bag not a problem since another person same  thing different brand crossbow.

i keep a small Hurricane bag, field point only, target in the truck for de-cocking, and have a Block target for sighting in broadheads

There are several type of cross bow de-cocking bolts (Fleet-Farm) most are heavy duty and work well until the ground freezes, then you will realize that they are limited
You can buy a small bag just for de-cocking and keep it in your truck/trunk. Use an old practice bolt that has lost it's fletching and use it to take the stress off the limbs.

If you have not yet bought your crossbow yet, investigate the units that offer manual de-cocking. I have a Wicked Ridge that has that feature and love it.

Here is a link for a reasonably priced traveler bag:
https://www.morrelltargets.com/collections/bag-targets/products/yellow-jacket-final-shot-crossbow-discharge-target

Mission Sub 1.  Love the ease of decocking the Sub 1, no need to fire a Xbox bolt into the ground.   Believe Mission offers the best warranty of that market as well. Warranty was a main factor & again, the ease of decocking the Sub1 were big factors.  Hurricane Xbow target seems to work very well for me.  Muzzy Trocar 100 grain Xbow broadheads have performed very well, just an fyi.  

I have the Ravin R20 and R500.
I would recommend the R5 or R10. They are made in Wisconsin and have had no issues in 5 years.