Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

I was thinking about getting a bow so that I can have more time in the woods hunting whitetail next year, but I was surprised to see how much some of the compound bows these days cost. I was surprised to see bows that cost over $300 and that's the price I have a tough time exceeding for a bow package. Have bows always been this expensive? I've never payed attention to the prices before, but it's only a bow, so why the high price?

Also, as long as I'm here, I might as well state that I want a bow with a 60-70 lb draw and 30" pull that will kill a whitetail. Where would be a good place to start looking as far as brand goes? PSE seems to have some bows in the Cabelas catalog that seem to be priced fairly. What do you think of PSE?

What accessories are must have to hunt with a bow? How much practice did it take you to hit the target at reasonable distance EVERY time?

I just want to slowly get a feel for archery and the first step is getting some info. Thanks for the reply.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Your best bet is to buy a used rig if that is the price you need to maintain. Check out the classifieds here and some of the other better forum/boards. Ebay is good to, but caveat emptor! Check feedbacks and such...

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

My first bow was a used PSE, and it was a great buy and very cheap...

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Yes, a gently used bow is what you need. I'm sure you can get one for around $300 that will last you many years of occasional usse. Just remember to practice and become accurate and comfortable with it BEFORE you even think about using it for hunting.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Cheap bows will kill a deer as dead as a high one. The expensive bows are going to be better made with morebells and whistlesthat make them more of a joy to shoot. I killed 12 deer with my first bow (PSE) and it was slow with very little let off. Most cheap bow now are still much better than the bows 15 or twenty years ago. So get a starter bow either used or new and practice a lot and have fun.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Like others will agree. You should go to a proshop and get the feel for as many bows as you can. Find a bow that you are comfortable and confident with. You should practice, practice, practice, and practice some more. Find out how your bow shoots and what your maximum effective range is. I have not practiced past 30 yrds but I have not had the chance at a 30 yrd shot, they have all been closer, under 20 yrds.

As far as price. You get what you pay for. I own a Hoyt Ultrasport. It is not top of the Hoyt line but it is fine for me. I do realize now that bowhunting is something I will always enjoy. In a year or so I will sink more money in a more expensive bow, Hoyt more than likely. Just make sure it is something you will be interested in.

There are many different opinions on accessories. Some shoot with a release and others shoot fingers, its nothing but personal preference. I prefer a release for consistency, my case anyway. There are many accessories to choose from.

You have found a great place to start. You will learn valuble information from this site. In no time, you will be tuning your bow and posting a pic of your first bow kill. Its probably too late for you to bowhunt this season. It takes some practice and an understanding of your bow. Just stay focused and good luck.

BTW: I paid $40 for my first bow. It was an old Pearson bushmaster (buckmaster) not sure on the name. I killed my first bow deer with it and discovered my love for archery.

I see you live in Botetourt. My parents live in Natural Bridge. We may have to catch up sometime and shoot together.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

I got a circular from Cabelas a few weeks ago that shocked me the same way. I haven't been paying much attention to gun prices over the past 15 years or so. In comparison, bow prices are getting totally absurd, IMO.

Bow season here is only a month long, before the rut,and gun season 3 months with the peak of the rut. Then consider that I can get a brand new scoped .270 Remington or a very nice muzzleloaderfor a lot less money than I'd have to pay for even a mid-grade compound with all the accessories....

All in all, I'd honestly have to say if I were thinking about starting outwith bowhunting today, I wouldnt do it. But I've been addicted to bows for 50 years now, so I'm in a hopeless situation. ;)

Fortunately, I have traditional and primitive archery to fall back on. I won't pay the prices they want for compounds.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Wow, I'm amazed at how many people replied so fast! Don't people work anymore[:@]? Everyone seems to think that a used bow is the way to go, but is it possible to "wear out" a bow? Don't they need to be tuned up or something? When I say I don't have a clue about archery I mean it! Now that hunting season is here and in full swing , I've been watching some the Oudoor Channel and they have these guys taking deer with a bow and it got me thinking how challenging it would be because they always run when hit and sometimes the deer are quick enough to jump out of the way on a longer shot because they hear the shot letoff or something. The bottom line is that I don't want to waste money on junk equipment. I want a bow that is not junk, and if it matters, is close to 300 fps. It seems that to get close to that number or exceed it, the price goes up a bit. Unlike rifles, I could practice archery in my back yard if I set up some backstops, which is appealing to me.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Bows today are much easier than yester-year. You can be surprisingly accurate your first time. At least that's how it was for me. I was shocked. My first year I got an 8 point and won 3rd place in an indoor league shooting "Hunter Class".
It also just happens that I have that first bow for sale. It is a Hoyt MT sport. It's a great bow I just wanted all the new bells and whistles so I spent over a Grand on a newBowtech in September.
It's a 60-70 lb draw with a 29" drawlength. It has a Copper John 4 pin sight. Stabilizer and Golden Key Rest, peep sight, kisser button with about a dozenarrows. It also comes equipped with sims limbsavers.
I will sell this bow and ship it in hard plastic airline approved case for $300 plus you pay shipping from Ohio. I will also offer... publicly on this board.. a Money Back guarentee if it isn't as described. (minus return shipping of course). It's a $649 dollar set-up as new with all the reciepts to prove it! Bought brand new in fall of 2002.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Frankly, I wouldn't recommend a usedcompound to a total greenhorn unless he has a friend who is an archer who could inspect the bow and make sure it's in decent shape. There are a lot of good used bows out there. There are also some that have been shot to pieces... bent risers and cams are expensive to replace and bent axles are hard to detect without taking the bow apart and actually checking them. If you get a lemon, you'd wind upspending more money thanif you'd boughta new bow in the first place... if the bow could be repaired at all.

Even getting a bow set up with new string and cables can set you back over a hundred bucks and, unless I know for surethestring/cables have been recently replaced,I always rerig the bow when I buy a used one. I don't want a worn out string snapping at the shot.

With compounds, some are draw length adjustable over a couple of inches,butmost are made to draw a certain length, and changing the draw length means changing cams. Many times you have to change string and cable lengths too.With those, you have to know what your draw length is, within an inch, or you're going to be out extra cash to replace the cams and rigging. Once again, you might wind up spending more for a used bow than you would to get a new one. Any halfway decent pro shop will fit you with a bow that has the proper draw length.

I'm not at all saying used bows are bad, because there are some great bargains floating around out there with a lot of good shooting left in 'em. It's just you need to know what you're doing to get it right.

About speed, you don't need any 300 fps for a hunting bow. Nice to have, I guess, but not necessary. Take a bow that's shooting 250 fps and one that's doing 300 fps. Sight them both in at 27 yards. The difference in midrange trajectory between the two is less than 1" and both arrows will strike within 1" of each other at all distancesout to30 yards. Very, very few bows will actually shoot 300 fps when fully rigged up for hunting anyway.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Browning offers some very good hunting bows for not alot of money. Give them a look.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

How do axles, cams and risers get bent? Is it from abuse or what? Now I'm beginnning to think that there is a serviceable life of a bow and then it has to be reconditioned or tuned up, is that right? I think it would be easy to buy a used bow that is a piece of junk without even knowing it now. How do you feel about buying a bow online as opposed to going to a shop and paying more for it? Online has got to be the cheapest place to buy a bow.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

STICKER SHOCK!!!! You haven't seen anything yet.[8D] Wait until you start adding better rest, sights, $100 a dozen arrows, $5-10 broadheads,releases, quiversyada yada yada yada. Just the bow stuff for most of us runs to the close side of $1000 when it's all done. Throw in a practice target, climbing treestand yada yada yada and you're into used car territory. NOPE, it sure isn't cheap. AND THEN....throw in the cost of the divorce...or at least the make up points you have to pay... well, it's a new car.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Hey MP, welcome to the boards. I live in Botetourt Co.too. Send me a PM with your number and maybe we can catch up sometime and I can give you a helping hand getting started. There's a pro shop, I'm sure you know, on Peter's Creek Road (Bryansteen's Gun Shop) in Roanokethat has some bows and can probably answer a lot of questions for you.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

Stuff gets bent from abuse, being dropped out of treestands, being shot over and over and over again with very light arrows and some parts, like cam bearings and bushings,simply wear out and have to be replaced.

All bows need to be tuned up from time to time. Strings and cables stretch out (what we call 'creep') and have to be adjusted back to spec. Screws vibrate loose and lets stuff get out of adjustment. It's just a fact of life with a bow.

As for buying online vs in a local shop... I like to save money as much as anyone else. I'm kind of a tightwad, actually. But I think it's very important, especially for a newcomer to archery, to find a good archery shop and develop a good relationship there. You're eventually going to need their help - eventually if not immediately -with tuning or replacing strings and cables or worn/broken parts. I think it's worth spending the extra money on the bow to get the advantage of havingtheir expertise when you need it. And, just starting out like you are, you will need it.

Today'scompounds are very high performance machines and, like all high performance machines, they are high maintenance. They do not hold a tune like the bows from 20 years ago did. Tournament shooters often have to retune their bows every few weeks. A book that you might find very helpful in getting up and runningis "Tuning and Silencing Your Compound Shooting System" by Larry Wise. If you're mechanically inclined, you can do most of the basic chores yourself with that book's guidance.

If you are very lucky, there will be an archery club in your neck of the woods. I highly recommend joining one and hanging out with experienced shooters. You can learn so much more, and learn it a lot quicker, by doing that than by reading books orwatching videos.

To tell the truth, it all got to be a lot more than I wanted to mess with. I like shooting a lot more than cranking on wrenches, so I've gotten away from compounds altogether. Longbows and recurves are all I shoot nowadays. That's what I started out with, way back when, and what I intend to shoot until I get to the point where I can't tug a string any more. Tuning is simple. Brace height and nock point. As long as your arrows are the correct stiffness for the draw weight, that's all there is to it.

I can tune one in 10 minutes. Changing a string and getting it the right length might take 3 minutes. No fancy rests to vibrate loose or break. Wood risers don't bend. No cams. No axles. They might be obsolescent but will never beobsolete. They require a little more work and practice to be proficient but, with a backyard range, that's no big deal. Most guys I know enjoy shooting their recurves and longbows so much they never have a lack of time to do it.

When you don't have any sights, then you don't have to worry about it being too dark to see the pins. If you can see your target, you can shoot it. Why sit and watch 'Wheel of Fortune' when you can turn on the patio light and be outside plinking?;)

Heck, I popped a raccoon with a recurve one night about midnight by the light of a full moon. It was a tad shy of 30 yards, perfect head shot.

You can spend thousands of dollars for a fancy custom stickbow, but you can also get customs made for wellunder $300. Get a quiver, shooting glove and armguard, a bow stringer, bow square anda dozen arrows and you're set.

Used recurves and longbows don't have most of the potential problems that compounds do. You can get a good used recurve from Ebay for a very reasonable price. I got a late 60's vintagePearson Cougar for $45 a couple months ago. So it's entirely possible that you canget set up for $200 and have change left over.

Best thing is you can do everything you need to do for maintenance on a stickbow yourself. No need to haul it down to the shop every time you need a string replaced, for instance. Stickbows are just like compounds in one area... They are only as effective as the guy pulling the string but, within the shooter's limits, they are just asdeadly on gameas any compound.

Now the stickbow might not be your meat. I'm simply pointing out there is an alternative for you to consider. If it's something that sounds like it might appeal to you though, drop on down to the traditional forum and give 'em a shout.

RE: Getting into bowhunting and sticker shock!!
 

I would wait to buy until aftert he first of the year. Bows are just like cars, new models come out and the older models, which are still brand new, drop significantly in price because they are last years moddels. I picked up a brand new Hoyt Razortecin the mid 400s simply because it was last years model and being dicontinued. Keep your eye open and you can find some of the packages really discounted.