What is a good starter bow???
#1
Thread Starter
Join Date: May 2004
Location:
Posts: 1,148
What is a good starter bow???
My son has been pestering me to get into bow shooting/hunting since he started shooting. I must admit, while I have hunted a ton of game and killed everything from whitetails to Yukon Moose, I have never even shot a bow.
It seems incredibly technical and incredibly expensive, but I suspect that like flyfishing, while the higher end stuff is nice, it may not be the best for a beginner due to the preicision required to get the most out of the best gear.
So, what is a good starter system out there for a guy about six foot tall and needs to be a 70-lb bow to hunt moose up here.
It seems incredibly technical and incredibly expensive, but I suspect that like flyfishing, while the higher end stuff is nice, it may not be the best for a beginner due to the preicision required to get the most out of the best gear.
So, what is a good starter system out there for a guy about six foot tall and needs to be a 70-lb bow to hunt moose up here.
#3
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Bradford, Ontario
Posts: 2,205
RE: What is a good starter bow???
I will also second the Huntersfriend.com suggestion. Right now they have some real good clearance deals. A good bargain is a Reflex Grizzly which is a 37" bow which based on your size would likely feel pretty good to you but like everybody will tell you personal feel is everything. The Diamond line is also very good value fo the money.
#4
Giant Nontypical
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 9,175
RE: What is a good starter bow???
If you're worried about a bow being too 'technical' and expensive, then I agree with you. Most of the bows out there today are way too expensive and way too intensive when it comes to maintenance.
If I lived somewhere that didn't have an archery shop handy, I'd never even consider a compound. If I were going to be hunting miles from camp, I'd never consider a compound. Too much stuff can go wrong. Stuff that can either cut hours out of a day's hunt, or end a hunt altogether. A broken string, for instance... Even if you have a replacement string and tools handy, it's going to take a serious amount of re-tuning, maybe a couple of hours worth,before the bow is ready to hunt again.
What if you drop the bow and snap off a cable guard orbend a cam?That bow is out of commission until the part is replaced. Not many people pack spare cams and cable guards in their bow maintenance kit.
Even serious 3D shooters don't go to a tournament without taking at least one backup bow. That speaks volumes about how confident they are in the compound's reliability.
I suggest going with a recurve instead. Break a string on a recurve and you've got it replaced and tuned up again in less than 10 minutes. Unless you need 70 pounds draw to meet some legal minimum draw weight, you don't need to pull 70 pounds. A 55-60 pound recurve will kill anything in North America as long as the shooter does his part, putting a razor sharp broadhead where it needs to be. Try a ChekMate Falcon. www.recurves.com
If I lived somewhere that didn't have an archery shop handy, I'd never even consider a compound. If I were going to be hunting miles from camp, I'd never consider a compound. Too much stuff can go wrong. Stuff that can either cut hours out of a day's hunt, or end a hunt altogether. A broken string, for instance... Even if you have a replacement string and tools handy, it's going to take a serious amount of re-tuning, maybe a couple of hours worth,before the bow is ready to hunt again.
What if you drop the bow and snap off a cable guard orbend a cam?That bow is out of commission until the part is replaced. Not many people pack spare cams and cable guards in their bow maintenance kit.
Even serious 3D shooters don't go to a tournament without taking at least one backup bow. That speaks volumes about how confident they are in the compound's reliability.
I suggest going with a recurve instead. Break a string on a recurve and you've got it replaced and tuned up again in less than 10 minutes. Unless you need 70 pounds draw to meet some legal minimum draw weight, you don't need to pull 70 pounds. A 55-60 pound recurve will kill anything in North America as long as the shooter does his part, putting a razor sharp broadhead where it needs to be. Try a ChekMate Falcon. www.recurves.com