Washington Hunter

Don't go to ebay, dont borrow equipment, don't buy from a yardsale.

If you're serious about getting into archery and archery hunting, go to your local pro shop and have them fit you with a bow. You're going to frustrate yourself to no end trying to learn this sport with equipment that isn't fitted to you.

If you can't afford brand new equipment, you can purchase used stuff from your pro shop. Just go have yourself fitted so you know exactly what you need.

Kyle Colburn

I would recommend a PSE bow. They are a great bow for their price. You could check your local pro shop to see what they have and even test them out. For the draw weight. I would shoot for somewhere around 65. 60 is great and 70 is great, but your arm might get a little bit more tired shooting at 70 right away. Remember, you can always increase the poundage as you go on. I am currently pulling 65lbs and it is perfect for me. You will have to go into the pro shop and find what works for you. Hopefully you will pick up some overtime and get a nice bow Can't wait to hear what happens.
-Kyle Colburn

drewm2

I'm new also, your story is exactly the same as my 2nd day of shooting, which was just a few months ago. Now everyone here is gonna talk smack for me saying this but here goes: Just shoot, you'll learn as you go. Check the forums, you'll learn a little about getting your bow set up and proper form, which is helpful. Then you'll hear guys bragging on their nice expensive equipment, telling you how good a shot they are, how you should just spend some money on goodgear, they shootin the bullseye every time etc. Then you realize these guys are shooting from 15 or 20 yards! Walk up that close and try it. I don't care if you're shooting an african blow gun, throwing a boomerang or just trying to hit it with the farts you light up, how can you miss at that range? Try shooting at 80-100 yards (at a target, don't try to shoot an animal that far). When you get to where you have some odds of hitting a paper plate, move back in to 35. It will feel like you're right on top of the target. This is completely opposite to anything else you'll see here, but it has worked for me.
Remember, mankind has hunted with bow and arrow since the beginning of time, only over the past 20-30 years has it gotten so technical, but there's really no need to make it difficult for yourself. Just shoot, you'll get the feel for it.

davewoodrum

Drew,
Thanks for the info as well... though I'm taking it all in... including the advice to get better gear I appreciate also your insights. So you had a similiar first day of practice? How did it go on the third?
An experienced friend of mine suggests 15 minutes a day... I can't always make each day so I try to get 1-4 hours on the days that I can.... I guess I over force myself... truthfully I did start shooting at 15 feet or so the first day as well as attempts to distance shoot...
people would gasp at this point on the board but I was shooting 10 to 20 feet into trees, wooden crates, a cow skull (a COW SKULL!?!), the side of a storage building.... my trailer.... (accidental)... etc....
dad had some bent arse old arrows and I knew I was going into town to buy more at Walmart so I thought why not!?!.... I even shot ones so damaged by my "practice" that they no longer had a tip per say... but rather a jagged end of a shaft... ironically it was one such arrow shaft that went straight through aluminum siding only to jag into the "flesh" of sheet rock...
naturally I've taken a wee bit more care with the shafts and tips that I've bought for "official" practice... okay, a wee bit more....

In a sense I knew the first day I would suck so I demanded to myself that I would exercise on grab, pull, aim..... grab, pull, aim... destroy the old arrows, buy new ones, and work on more of technique the next.... basically I wanted to kill the intimidation of me and the bow....
but today I actually worked on techinque. And saved on arrow life though the fletchings are now looking a bit rough.

davewoodrum

PSE... 65... will definitely check out. Thanks!
This does indeed help... with the stream of crap of information that the net spits out these days, a straight, forward piece of advice is well accepted and well appreciated.

uncballers45

you will shoot a lot better if you dont start at 60 yards. try 15 then 20 then 30

Oneshot7

Dave i will sell you my martin phantom magnum comes with sight arrows wb rest which i reccomend for beginners and 4 arrows just fletched set at 60 lbs. i will throw in three broadheads too. 100 dollars wo shippinggood buy and it wont last long at this price

Kyle Colburn

Whoa!!! 1-4 hours a day?????

davewoodrum

Cool! Let me check my resources though first..... that's the bad part of this, its the middle to end of the month and I just paid out most of the bills (yes, its that bad... I have about enough cash for gas and groceries at this point.... with savings mostly tied up at the moment).... I may get back with you on this.

davewoodrum

Yeah, I was pretty sore yesterday but I pushed myself... got in around 3 hours...
granted, half of that was walking to the end of the yard, looking for stray arrows (a lesson in itself) and walking back up to shooting position.