I find myself in a dilema. Have wanted to get into bow hunting for a long time. I finally have the time, money and place to make this happen. As a newbie I am trying to gather as much from places such as this and other bow hunters I know. The number one thing everybody tells me is shoot some different bows before you buy one. I can follow this logic as buying from a local bow shop gives me better fit and support than an internet of big store purchase.

Here's my problem. I am short and stocky. My true measured draw length is 25". In my area there are 4 bow shops, 3 are part time only. The one closest to my house has only 1 bow in stock that will fit me if he can locate the proper module. The other has 3, but the starting price on them is about what I expected to pay after I had the bow totally set up. I did get a chance last night to shoot a Mathews Switchback and it was sweet. I don't know what draw weight it was set to but (and this is embarising) it belonged to one of the techs kids and was the only bow in the house set to 25".

It seems to me most shops carry bows in the 27-30" range as this is the most common sizes. But how can I shoot several to choose when there are so few choices. I can't ask the dealer to order several models just so I can try and find one. As a newbie with no precovcieved notions of the diferences am I better off just going to the internet or the big chians and then let my local shop tune me up?