sauer14

Hi everyone I am new to the sport of archery and I need some advice in choosing a new bow. I would like something simple, accurate and affordable. Light weight would also be a plus. I would use this for target practice and eventually hunting. I have been practicing with an old bear long bow and I doubt I will ever get good enough to hunt with it. There are so many types and manufactures I really don't even know where to start.
Any advice would be most welcome.

BooneAndCrockett

Your best bet is to go to your local archery shop and shoot different bows. I think I can speak for anyone here that saying which bow is best is just what they feel like and what worked best for them.

Boonerhog

There are many very good bows out there. The lightest bows are carbon but they are also the most expensive. I have hunted with Bowtech, Matthews, Bear, Martin and now have a Hoyt Carbon Element. Guy above was right you need to shoot several different bows and get what feels best for you. Check Pawn Shops and Bow Shops for trade ins and pawned bows for a good deal on top of the line stuff.

WAR EAGLE OUTDOORS

Sometimes going with an older bow can be better option for your check book while your still figuring out the whole archery thing and if and when you decided you wanted to try hunting with it. They have all been killing animals for many years so just because its not the most "coolest" bow dosnt mean it wont do the job. Check out your local craigslist to. I see people selling off old hobbies shot a few times all the time there. But get to a archery shot and shoot some figure our what feels most natural to you. Personally I love shooting prime bows. They are amazing but they can get pricey. So I shoot older prime bows until the new ones fall in my price range. Best of Luck and let us know what you settle on!

stalkingbear

What works for me or the next guy might not work for you. I'd hazard a guess that 98% of the time we let brand preference cloud our choices,whether right or wrong. I'm going recommend some general guidelines so that you can narrow the bewildering array of bow choices some. To start with, I'd suggest a medium to longer axle to axle length bow. While the current trend of the last 10-12 years or so is towards shorter bows, the longer bows won't have such an acute angle of string at the nock, and to me seem a bit more forgiving than really short bows. Short axle to axle bows are 28"-31", and 32"-34" seem to work better in my experience.

Next if you want to shoot really well the brace height has a TREMENDOUS impact on how well you shoot a bow, or how easy or hard it is to shoot accurately. In a shooting machine, the brace height has no effect on how accurate it is because it's perfectly still and not torqued in any way. Since we're not shooting machines, we have to worry about the bow being easy to shoot. A bow with an extremely low brace height is MUCH harder to shoot as accurately and magnifies aiming/movement bobbles than a bow with a taller brace height. It also means that the taller the brace height is, the shorter the power stroke is so it'll be slower than a bow with shorter brace height. You will have to settle for a compromise between low brace height for speed, and a taller brace height for making it easier to shoot. The generally accepted brace height to be able to shoot accurately is around 7-7.5", at lease for me personally.

You also don't need radical cams just starting out. They do increase speed but being smoother to draw is more important as milder cams offer. Too much hoopla is made about speed. It is nice to have a flatter trajectory, but not at the cost of being fun to shoot or making more noise. Don't get wrapped up in heavy poundage just because you can easily pull it back. If deer is the biggest thing you're going to hunt, a modern bow of 60# maximum draw weight will kill any whitetail that ever walked the earth IF you get close enough for a sure shot. There's a lot of 70# bows out there, and if you get 1 you'll be able to turn it down.

Forget about when people or bow companies saying a fast bow will make the arrow hit before the deer has a chance to jump the string. It's not going to happen. A average human takes about 1/2 second to react, but a deer can react in 1/2 that time. The arrow will have at least 1/2 second if not longer. What's much more important is to watch the deer's body language to see if it's already nervous or not, and make sure your bow setup is as quiet as possible. If it's not already nervous it's probably not going to jump the string.

Also you don't need to pay 900-1800$ to get a bow that will give you years of excellent service. I'd think a decent bow suitable for someone just starting out should be able to buy 1 for 300-500$. It's highly likely to find 1 even cheaper than that or slightly used for less money, possibly even 1/2 that amount. I'm not going to make brand recommendations as we all have our favorite brand/s, AND even if we do have extensive experience with a certain brand we haven't shot all the models they make so are not really qualified to talk about the models we haven't actually shot. A good bow shop will usually carry at least 2-3 major brands of bows, and can likely help you considerably more than all of our posts put together! They'll also help measure you to determine your exact draw length, as well as help you understand everything better and steer you towards a excellent choice.

So we've narrowed your search down to a bow preferably with 32-34" axle to axle length but it's not an absolute deal breaker. The brace height is EXTREMELY important and vital you don't get a bow with short brace height that magnifies torquing or even the smallest movements. 7-7.5" is better all round to start with, and will still shoot fast enough to have decent trajectory. Just about all the bow companies offer cheaper or starter bows and even packages for reasonable price.

Personally I'd steer away from bow package deals. You'll want the best accs for YOU, and might be widely different from what would benefit you the most. I would DEFINITELY recommend carbon arrows. I found out years ago that carbon arrows are so much more durable than aluminum arrows it's not even a contest. I was shooting aluminum arrows years ago and accidentally hit a tree at a full 40 yards away. It snapped the arrow in 1/2. On the other hand, I had just changed sights another time, after switching to carbon arrows and hit the tree at only 10 yards away. It buried the arrow a few inches into the tree but after a few hours of cutting & digging I got the arrow out of the tree unhurt! A dozen carbon arrows will last typically the same as several dozen aluminum arrows in regards to tearing up, bending, and such.

Dropaway or fallaway rests are the rage these days, and for good reason. There's no chance of the fletching, either feathers or vanes, of touching or contacting the rest and thereby kicking the arrow out at an angle like a older rest could easily do. By ALL MEANS be SURE to get a full containment dropaway rest. Otherwise you'll constantly be aware of the arrow and keeping it from falling off the rest. Full containment rests such as the QAD (MY personal choice) will even let you cock it up into firing position when you load the arrow on the string, and won't drop unless the bow is fired. It won't drop if you have to let it down, only when it's shot.

A good release is 1 of the most important things to choose, unfortunately choice of a release is as bewildering to choose from as the bow will be, and probably even harder. You have a few different types. The hand held, back tension, wrist type, and glove type. If you use a string loop you need to choose a release specifically designed for use with string loops. Most people like the wrist kind, and they are good releases. I personally prefer the glove type that wraps around the hand/wrist as it seems to let you use both arm muscles and back muscles, seeming to make the draw weight lighter.

Bow sights and differences in them cause a LOT of internet fights, and even some in real life! I'd recommend you select a good sight with as much fiber optics as possible, and make sure the construction of the pins are steel and not plastic, even if about all of them do have a cover or guard around them. I'd recommend you choose a sight from single pin, to 3 pins at most! This is VERY important as I've seen even experienced bow hunters experience what I call pin confusion. That happens when a bow sight has from 5 pins on up. You only need 3 pins, and adjust them for 15, 25, and 35, or 15, 30, and 45, depending on how fast your bow is. Too many pins coupled with the excitement of seeing that buck within shooting distance will make you confused about which pin to put behind his shoulder. I could keep going but have to get off for right now. I think yall get the idea.

sauer14

Wow, thx for the information Stalkingbear, I did try out several bows and my oh my were some of them expensive! I did get a Bowtech fuel. It was pretty reasonable in the price and I can shoot it fairly well. At 16 yards it is very accurate. I tried today shooting at about 35yds and it is a whole new ball game. I could only get about Half my arrows in the kill zone but this is my first time shooting at that distance. I really need to figure out how to use my release better, when I release to quick the arrow go astray but when it is smooth the arrows are on target. I am amazed how accurate this thing is, it would have taken my a year or more to shoot this well with my old recurve. It has a single pin sight, a wisker biscuit rest and I am shooting Victory carbon fiber arrows. Is the wisker biscuit has good as the rests you are using? Is this a good bow? As a first time archer I could not see spending a $1000 plus all the extras on a bow when I really don't know what I need.

stalkingbear

There's not a thing wrong with the bow if you can afford it & shoot it well! The suggestions I gave were/are generic and simple guidelines to start out at. I think what you're doing is what most beginners do and even a lot of us that have been shooting a long time does. To begin with, shoot EVERY shot as if it's the ONLY shot you're ever going to shoot and make it 110% PERFECT with dead on form! DO NOT rush the shot, and practice PERFECT form or as close as you can with every shot. Form is EVERYTHING when shooting a bow. Also when you shoot, don't shoot over a couple dozen times in a day or session. No matter how much fun you're having or how well you're shooting, NEVER keep shooting until you start to get the least bit shaky! Instead shoot a couple dozen times per outing or less, then build yourself up later BUT shoot more often- at least 3x a week if you can if not more! Make SURE every shot is done with perfect form. Also NEVER try to hurry up and punch the trigger while the sight/s wander past the bull or spot trying to hit. That's called target panic & extremely common of all archers if you let form vary such as when getting tired.

Also if you switch over to something like QAD Ultra rest full capture dropaway rest I'd be willing to bet your shooting will have higher level of accuracy and be quieter. The rest I'm talking about can be adjusted to support the arrow all the way until barely dropping out of the way just before fletching gets there, nothing to touch arrow at all at time of release. They also have the advantage of not bouncing back up, you can cock them up when you get set and will stay up until you actually fire the bow too!

annahBunek273

NOTE: I always round the calculated draw length up to the nearest 1/2" inch for recurve bows. It is preferable to shoot a longer bow than one that might be too short.

OK, that was pretty straight forward. By determining your proper bow size you now know exactly what size bow you need.

Before you head off to purchase your new bow you should understand that there are two kinds of sales people that you will encounter.

The salesperson that really wants to help you make the right purchase.
The salesperson that just wants you to make a purchase.

You will know when you have met the second type of salesperson because they will do everything to convince you that whatever happens to be in stock, at that very moment, will be the right size bow and the proper draw weight for you.

If you walk out with a bow that is too long, too short or you are overbowed (draw weight is too high) then you will regret your purchase immediately.