kidrogers

Will be buying my first bow from cabelas this winter. (have to go there, got a couple hundred in gift cards) any adivce on which brand or model I should look at? Have never fired a bow before but will have great teachers. Will be in the 450-650ish price range.

bcvd45

Diamonds are nice. If you wanted to go cheaper. I shoot a Martin and it is really nice for as cheap as you can get them. Then you could save that money because, arrows, broadheads, bow setup, will all come next and that can get pricey too. Also I would say look at the classifieds forum on here in the archery section. You can get a great deal on some Bowtechs, Mathews, PSE's, or Hoyt's which are all great bows.

Black Stick

Technically, you should shoot all the bows in that price range, but I have set so many beginners up with the following setup, that I am confidant you won't be sorry. IMO, the best beginner bow on the market is the Fred Bear Lights Out which costs $330 for the bow alone. The reason so many beginners like it is because of the ultra forgiving brace height of 8.75 inches. You will be very impressed. I am an hard core Bowtech/ Diamond loyalist, and I have to admit that, for the price, the lights out blows the beginner Bowtech/ Diamond bows out of the water.

Now you need some accessories. Let's start with the sight. What you want to look for in a sight: First, is the housing (the part that you look through) perfectly round? This is necessary to properly line up your round peep sight. Second, is there a level? You need this to develop good form in the range and apply it to the rest of your shooting including hunting. Third, are the pins bright enough? If you are going to use your bow for hunting, you are going to need to e able to see your pins in low light situations. Often times, the best solution is a light kit, which will brighten you pins even in the middle of the night. Now, if you are looking for a more advances sight, there are other factors you will want to consider when choosing a sight, but this is a good place to start. I recommend that you try the Truglo Tru-Site Xtreme Five-Pin Sight with Light. It costs $50.

Next, let's move to the rest, Many beginners start with a Wisker Biscuit (WB). Personally, I discourage this because beginners tend to have poor form and need the most forgiving setup available. Put simply, it is a lot easier to be consistently accurate with a drop away rest than a WB. You may like the WB, and I am certain that some people will reply that the WB is the right choice. I simply disagree. For drop aways, I recommend either the Trophy Taker Shakey Hunter SL Arrow Rest, which costs $60 and is a great product. Note: you should always set up the arrow with the cock fletch up with any drop away.

Now, we should talk about a stabilizer. The stabilizer adds forward wight to help with follow through as well as adding weight in general to help you hold steadier when shooting. The farther away the weight is, the steadier you will hold. That is why competitive target shooters have super long stabilizers. You won't want a super long stabilizer. You will want something 5"-12" in length. For this reason, I recommend the 8" Carbon Express Ultra Shock Carbon Stabilizer, which costs $20. That is a great deal.

How about a quiver. At the beginner level, the only thing that you are going to really want is a quiver that can be easily removed and installed. I recommend the Alpine Archery Bear Claw 5-Arrow Quiver, which costs $25.

I have to go now, but I will finish later. With all of these parts and the bow, you are now at $485.

Dopler

Black Stick, I think those are allreally good recommendations except for the bow. A bow with a brace height of almost 9" long is a bit long in my opinion. I think 7" to 7.5" is a more realistic brace height for any beginner. It's true that a 9" brace height is going to be more forgiving but mostly because it's losing 2" of power stroke which is going to slow down the arrow and simply have less kinetic energy which is going to make the bow more forgiving by virtue of power loss. I understand that there is less torque on a longer brace height but the good teachers he has will set up his form correctly from the beginning so that should not be an issue.

I recommend that a beginner archer reduce draw weight over leaving power stoke energy on the table. 2" of power stoke left on the table equates to about 10Lbs of draw weight loss, which means a guy has to pull 7-10 more pounds to get the same kinetic energy/speed back.I think there are a ton of bargains out there for beginner archers but I don't think you gave us enough information to be able to recommend some bow models to try. 1. How old are you, are you going to need a bow that's going to grow with you? 2. What poundage range are you looking to first get into. 3. What's your draw length? Answer those questions and it will narrow the field.

Black Stick

Doppler--True, but a beginner is not necessarily looking for a super bow. For that price range, the Lights Out is great. If he had a higher price range, I would recommend the Fred Bear Game Over, which has a longer power stroke, but is not exactly what I would consider a beginner bow.

sngehl01

The bow still produces an IBO of 300 fps. A 7" brace is too short for beginners, IMO. All it takes is one shot to the arm to produce bad form that takes a long time to fix. You get string-slapped once and you remember it for a long time.

If he's just gonna do 3d and hunt whitetail, that bow will be perfectly capable. If he is gonna hunt larger game, I agree he'll want something with a little more "umph" behind it.

Best thing to do is just shoot bows until he likes how one shoots and fits his budget. By the looks of that Fred Bear, it will be hard to beat for that price.

sngehl01

you might want to check out the diamond rock too. I like it, although I would rather see you get a bow with a longer brace height. Pretty good bow for the price I think. Check craigslist.com to see if anyone has one used close to you so you would get to see it and shoot it before you bought it.

good luck in your endeavor

Black Stick

Continued:

Now, I would like to strongly encourage you to get a release because if you start with fingers, it is extremely difficult to switch to a release. Believe me, I know. A release is so much more consistent than your fingers. You will want one that straps onto your wrist. I know those back-tension releases look cool, but you will do much better with a strap especially when you are hunting. I recommend the Tru-Fire Hurricane Extreme Buckle Release, which costs $40.

On to arrows. This is very hard to do because you gave so little information. You will want to get carbon fiber for sure, mainly because they do not bend as easily as aluminum. I started will Easton Fatties and bent all six of them shooting into a hay bail after only 30 shots. The thing to look for in arrows is the straightness (the lower, the better, but also the more expensive). To be completely honest, it would be stupid to try to recommend a specific arrow with so little information. I would need to know your draw length, draw weight, and what you are planning to use your arrows for (hunting, spots, 3D).

Next, you are going to need a case for your bow and arrows. IMO, the best cheap case on the market is the Plano Protector Bow Case, which costs $35. I promise that it will protect you bow. I recently rolled my jeep down a hill three times. The case fell out of the roof when it broke off and everything in my case was perfect.

I am estimating $50 a half dozen ready to shoot arrows, so that brings your total to $580. Add a D-loop ($5) and peep sight ($10), and you got yourself $595 before tax. This is not counting installation. I don't know about Cabella's, but you will probably end up paying for them to install all of your accessories, which should cost about $15. Now you are at $610 before tax. Factor the tax in and you are right at $650.

Black Stick

I included links to Cabela's for the products I listed. Just click on the name of the product.

Black Stick

I have sold many Rocks as well, but I truly think that the Bear is the best bow in the Beginner Range. However, that is only what I think. You need to go out and try them all.