Well,
My son (stepson actually) wants to try archery. He gets really excited when we see deer and has helped me in tracking hit animals. Usually he' ll come out to watch when I' m out in the yard shooting. I finally got him to tell us that he would like to try this himself. Problem is, is that he is very small for his age, 16. My wife is 5' and 120. His biological father is 5' 4 and 140. Now Todd is about 4' 10" and 90 pounds. He is finally able to pull an old bow of mine back which I set down to 35 pounds. It' s way too big for him so we' ll have to git him something new. I haven' t taken him to the bow shop yet to get a draw length but I' m guessing maybe 23" .

What do the rest of you fathers out there suggest? I don' t want to spend $500 on his first bow to see if he indeed will like it and stick with it. (He is a professional at PlayStation games) Anything I can do to get him away from the damn thing is a bonus. What do you all say????

Thanks for your time.

He' s not left handed by any chance is he?

Here' s a few : http://www.biggameproshop.com/youth-bows.htm

I think Hoyt makes the Banshee for kids too.

Charlie P, nope he' s right handed.
JeramyK, thanks for the link.

I Spoke to Ted Nugent himself about this very question. He said make sure it' s mushy enough for the kid to pull easly, and second, have them shoot feathers since most youth bows use flipper type rest. He also told me Don' t use sights, and have them shoot fingers.
Now this was being applied to my 6 year old daugther who weighs less than 50 pounds and won' t be hunting for a while but this should apply for any beginer.
The 1st bow I got her was a $20 cheapy compound to make sure she was going to enjoy archery and so far she likes it.
Now for something closer to real bow I just picked up her Nov 12 birthday present. I got her a Mathews Genesis.

A Mathews genesis is around $150.00, dose not require a set draw length, and shoots from 10 to 20 lbs. But at 20 lbs it shoots like a 40 lb recurve.

This is a great training Bow not a hunting bow. I feel the kid has to like archery itself before they like archery hunting. I would be wary of something with heavy draw weight to start, if a kid has to struggle with drawing it takes alot of the fun out of it. Good luck with our new student. Jim

I got my boy a Browning Micro-Adrenaline. It goes from 35-50# and is adjustable from 22-27" . It' s light, 32" long, came with a sight and 3 arrows, and spits them out pretty good. They are on e-bay all the time for about $125-150+

Most definately the Browning Micro Midas. It has 10 inches of draw length adjustment and 20-30 lbs. of draw weight adjustment. It can be a learning bow and easily be hunted with once they get to 40 lb. pull or more. It is also lightweight. You can buy bow alone for well under $200 or as a kit for a little more.

RCD, i know where a mathews genisis bow is setting right now for 80 bucks plobaly a 24 or 25 draw length i havent really looked it over but would be an excalint bow for him i think the draw weight is like at 35 or 40 its at a pawn shop needs sights and stabilizer it has the rest on it give me a holler if your interested

Browning MicroMidas........got one for my girl friend who is doing quite well with it. Draw length 22-27, pulls 30-45 lb.s. Lots of room for him to grow into it. ...dabow