i' ve been hunting with firearms for sixteen years. ive' never held a bow in my life. now that i' m getting older, i' m finally realizing why i never had the desire to hunt with a bow......nobody around me ever bow hunted. i went hunting for the first time with my father when i was 4. i' ve never seen him pick up a bow. since i have relocated from the city into the middle of the allegheny national forest four years ago, i' ve learned that nature is such a beautiful thing. it' s something that most people take for granted everyday of their lives. i come home from work and get the wife and kids and head out to the woods. wether it' s turkey hunting or just a nice hike with the little ones, i hear a new noise in the woods that i' ve never heard before. four years ago, i didn' t know what a beach tree looked like for crying out loud!! i had no concept of scouting. zilch, zero....none!! i was what is called the " rifle hunter" (and still am i might add). scouting helps in any type of hunting, but scouting would be so much more effective during bow season. i forgot to tell you that i just started turkey hunting 3 years ago and didn' t know anything about it. never even heard a gobble before (well atleast i thought i didn' t). since i got " into" it, i' ve killed a bird the last two seasons (called them in myself). i' m not bragging by anymeans, i' m just trying to explain that i loved that concept of being able to talk to animals and it was mind blowing. i would love to be able to scout for deer in that kind of fashion, studying their every move and things like that. going out back and practicing shooting the bow. teaching my kids how to bow hunt. i need information on all aspects of bow hunting. from what' s the best bow for the " beginner" to how close they gotta be to be able to make a kill shot. thanks in advance, and sorry it was sooooooooo long!!!

Well boyscout, where do I start...... read. All the posts on this entire sight. Then ask questions. I appreciate your ambition for bowhunting, but to tell you everything you need to know in a single post would be impossible. Seems like you are well connected with the wild. Learn the bow. Shoot it. Read. It' s really a cool thing. Good luck and God Bless.

i know where you are coming from, 4or 5 years ago i decided to start bow hunting never shot a bow before, read alot of books and subscribed to a lot of magazines, there was no one around to ask, i found a pro shop and began from there. i found this site about 6 months ago and have learned more than all the reading i did, stay here, ask questions-get answers, my transition didn' t happen until i was 49. midlife crisis??????? but i am so glad i chose bowhunting.. satisfaction guarenteed..

Welcome to the best sport on earth!! The best suggestion I can make is to get a bow and a good foam target and shoot, shoot, shoot. When you shoot good get a 3-d target. Shoot the 3-d from all diffrent angles, from trees, from known distances and from unknown distances. Shot, shoot, shoot!
As for hunting I don' t know many people who shoot at deer more than 30 yards out. If you can call in a turkey without getting busted you can get within range of a deer. It sounds to me like you' ll be a great bowhunter. Good luck and if you have questions ask. You' ll be hard pressed to get better info anywhere than right here.

Bow hunting is the most exciting thing in my life and I wouldn' t give it up for anything but my wife.There are alot of sites you can go to that will help you learn the concept of bowhunting.It' s just like rifle hunting only with a bow and alot more personal.

Hmmmmm!

boyscout I gun hunted for over 30 years before I started bowhunting, I still gun hunt, but the bow is the ultimate thrill, it took me 3 full seasons befroe I killed my first so do not get discouraged, take everything you have learned gun hunting and take it to the nth degree and then learn from every mistake you make. The most important thing to remember with a bow is you can not force a shot like you can sometimes with a gun. Good luck and welcome to the best addiction on the face of the earth.