Chrisvst

I want to buy my nephew/godson his first compound and present it to him when he visits next month. He is 13, but on the small side..

How can I estimate what poundage he can pull back ?
How can I estimate his draw length - I can ask his mother to take some measurements and tell him it is for a jacket..but what measurements?
Which model children' s bow should I look at... I want it to be good, but he will also outgrow in short order so not too $$..
Your thoughts, experiences appreciated....
Chrisvst

BobCo19-65

I highly advocate starting youngsers off with a recurve or longbow. It' s amazing to me how well and fast they pick up skills required to shoot them. A lot faster then adults. I have my son who is now eight shooting a 15 pound longbow pretty well. The poundage is just right for him this year. It was a little heavy for him two years ago. I' d say for a 13 year old shooting longbow/recurve to look in the area of about 20 to 25 pounds. You could buy the bow with a few inches more then his actual draw length with either bow and let him grow into it with no problems.

TWIG69

I have two sons age 11 & 12 they both outgrow everything in a week it seems!!!! But I went and got both of them Alpine Micro' s the stalker 2 cam covers 21-28" of draw( no need to use press to change)The usually come with 40# limbs.The limbs have 10# of adjustment and for every in. below 28 a 2# / In. decrease also occurs. The whole set up minus arrows and release cost me $189 plus tax. For youth bows they are very quick and accurate. Later 50# limbs can be purchased for about $50.If he' s small framed (like my 11 yr old) then he' ll probably not outgrow it ever as far as draw length .Check em out @ www.alpinearchery.com . Hope this helps!!!

Jeepnut

If you do go with a compound I would suggest checking out the Browning Rage. It' s designed to grow with younger archers by providing a full 10" of draw length adjustment (21-31" ). It' s available in either 45-55 pounds or 55-65 pounds with a 70% let off. The bow has a 35" axle to axle length and an 8" brace height which should help make it a little more forgiving to shoot. It' s available in a combo that includes sight, rest, peep, & quiver.

I recently met up with a local high school teacher who shoots for Browning. He had an opportunity last year to teach archery to his students for 2 weeks. They all received a Browning Rage to shoot during the class & to take home afterwards. (Check out www.Browning-Archery.com under " current events" for the full story.) The bottom line is that these kids were of all different shapes & sizes (and many had never even held a bow before) and because of the adjustability of the Rage it was able to be set up for each of them. I had an opportunity to shoot with some of the students and check out the Rage firsthand & I was definitely impressed. It looks like a great bow. The listed 292 fps may be a little optimistic, but it' s still a great shooting bow none the less.