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So I have been under the weather the whole week.. wen't to the Dr and ended up I had strep throat. She gave me some antibiotics and a magical cough medicine called promethazine-codeine. I was out cold for 2 days straight....

Today I'm finally feeling ok, and went to a buddies house to study. I started admiring his collections of bows and whatnot, and we went out back to shoot them. I have never shot a bow before, but it is a lot more intuitive than I thought it would be.. and fun! After an hour, I am addicted. I've got to have a bow. He had 3 compounds and a couple of long-bows that he had made himself. Jake was quite a bit taller and lankier than I am, so the draw-length of the bow was a little too long, but I managed.

So my question: Are any of y'all experienced with bows? Can you steer me to some good brands, and the one's to stay clear of? Price is going to be less than $500.. I basically want a nice compound bow to get started and learn on.

I just got in to bows last year. You'll find out that there as many gadgets and doo-dads as there are for shooting! :)

I have a PSE and I love it. Martin, Matthews, and Hoyt make great rigs as well. Some of them can get really expensive. Bear might be a good brand as I believe they have some beginner setups.

Just make sure you take it to a shop and get fitted for the correct draw.

There are other good brands out there but if I were looking at buying a new bow right now, I would take a good hard look at Diamond. Imo, they are great bows for the money.

Just remember one thing. Just like owning a gun, the bow is far from the only expense. Sights, rests, releases, arrows, broadheads if you hunt, targets...

I would highly recommend something like the block, a layered foam target. They work great and are very easy to remove arrows from. Bag targets tend to not stop well around the edges and broadheads will blow right through them. 3D targets are great but pulling arrows can be a bit tough. Btw, they make a tool for this that is worth it's weight in gold. It is basically just a rubber cylinder with a slit in it but it makes removing arrows from a 3D target much easier.

Also, some places, I know Cabelas does this, will actually let you try out their bows before buying. When I bought my son's bow, I was originally going to get a Parker since that is what I shoot but after trying them out, it was no contest. The diamond was a much nicer bow. Just like a gun, if you can try before you buy, definitely do.

Also, a few things to think about. A big thing now is to make bows as short and light as possible and usually, you will pay more for a shorter lighter bow that doesn't shoot any better. The advantages are primarily for hunting from a tree stand. Also, you will pay for speed. Speed is great for taking longer shots at game and covering up very minor errors in range estimation but it makes little difference shooting targets in the back yard. Smooth, on the other hand does make a difference as does a bow with a solid stop at the end of the draw. Pick a few up and draw them. Pay attention to what you feel at the end of the draw. You will see right away what I am talking about. A solid stop will result in a more consistent release point which will result in better accuracy. Also, if you are not hunting big game, and even if you are, don't worry about impressing anyone with a heavy draw weight. You will come out ahead to go with a draw weight you are more comfortable with and you will shoot MUCH better.

SRH78 wrote:Also, some places, I know Cabelas does this, will actually let you try out their bows before buying. When I bought my son's bow, I was originally going to get a Parker since that is what I shoot but after trying them out, it was no contest. The diamond was a much nicer bow. Just like a gun, if you can try before you buy, definitely do.

Also, a few things to think about. A big thing now is to make bows as short and light as possible and usually, you will pay more for a shorter lighter bow that doesn't shoot any better. The advantages are primarily for hunting from a tree stand. Also, you will pay for speed. Speed is great for taking longer shots at game and covering up very minor errors in range estimation but it makes little difference shooting targets in the back yard. Smooth, on the other hand does make a difference as does a bow with a solid stop at the end of the draw. Pick a few up and draw them. Pay attention to what you feel at the end of the draw. You will see right away what I am talking about. A solid stop will result in a more consistent release point which will result in better accuracy. Also, if you are not hunting big game, and even if you are, don't worry about impressing anyone with a heavy draw weight. You will come out ahead to go with a draw weight you are more comfortable with and you will shoot MUCH better.

Noted. His was set at 70 lbs.. or the one I really liked anyway. It also had a very definite and obvious stop to it.. but no lie.. that 70 draw wasn't that easy, especially with the length of the draw and my short arms. I would be using this for white tail and pig.. more pig than anything else. What weight should I be looking at?

I keep mine at 55...nothing impressive, but it allows me to have a greater control on my draw.

I have a PSE Mojave That I've used for the past ten years. I got it at an Archery store in Irving which unfortunately is no longer open. I was new to bows and the lady that owned the place had me practice drawing the bow until I started straining on the pull. She then backed the poundage off till the draw was comfortable. The lady's name was Vel and she made my foray into archery pleasant to say the least. No questions were too dumb. When you buy yours hopefully you'll find someone that will help you as much as she helped me.

TxLobo wrote:congrats snatchel.. yet another addiction..


as I sit here looking at the wall with 3 bows, a couple of dozen arrows for each.. 3D quiver.. hunting quiver.. a box full of shafts, vanes, broadheads from 85 grain to 150 grain... yeah.. it's addicting..

Not much in your area, but I've shot 3D down there a couple of times.. There is/used to be a shop called Outdoorsman.

Seemed like they had a lot leaning toward the bare bow or primitive, so that may suit your needs..

Outdoorsman is still open actually. They are the only shop in town I will do business with as well... their customer service is far superior to any other store in town. While strolling around in there, I have happened upon a couple of bows but never paid any attention to the details. I planned on stopping by tomorrow and letting one of the sales associates school me.... but I wanted to ask here first to see if I could get an idea of what to look for.

Used to shoot J.O.A.D. which is junior Olympic archery development. It is a national league. I achieved the rank of master archer (2 points shy of Olympian). Its been quite a few years but anything you want to know about competition recurve shooting i can help. We thumbed our noses at the compound guys with their scopes and mechanical releases.

I shot a Hoyt td 4 at 29" draw length which ended up being 42lbs with no let off. Olympian rank was 290 out of 300 on a 60cm target at 18 meters with 30 arrows. My best was a 288. Firearms and archery require very similar skill sets.

I'm way out of date tech wise but the fundamentals haven't changed in over a thousand years.

snatchel wrote:Noted. His was set at 70 lbs.. or the one I really liked anyway. It also had a very definite and obvious stop to it.. but no lie.. that 70 draw wasn't that easy, especially with the length of the draw and my short arms. I would be using this for white tail and pig.. more pig than anything else. What weight should I be looking at?

That is a very good question. I have actually never taken a hog with my bow, only deer and small game but I do know there is a big difference between a smaller boar or sow and a big boar. Imho, shot selection on a large boar will matter a whole lot more than a few pounds of draw weight. At 70 pounds, my Parker will literally blow right through a whitetail. You could certainly kill them with less, but I would feel comfortable hunting deer with any compound that has a draw weight of 50 pounds or more. With hogs though, it is tough to give a straight answer, largely because distance, angle, size of hog, and boar or sow will make a big difference. For smaller hogs or ideal shots it won't matter much but big boars are different matter as I assume you are well aware. I would suggest to shoot the most weight that you are completely comfortable with. 55 pounds that you can shoot very well is much better than 80 that you have to strain a little with. I would say start whatever bow you get at it's lightest setting and move it up as you get comfortable with it and build up strength. As long as you go through the ribs and not the shoulders, you will be fine. I personally wouldn't really feel comfortable using less than that on hogs though.

I would echo what is said above about not jumping in with too heavy of a draw weight. My first bow (a beautiful Martin Hunter recurve) is currently hanging above me on my office wall. Mainly because it's really too heavy for me to shoot well. I have a couple of 40 lb recurves that I do much better with.

Side note: I would bet there is a correlation between those with a preference for recurves/longbows and those who prefer revolvers.

My brother in law is into bow hunting, and I had a blast when he let me try out his compound bow. Then I started looking into pricing...

I already have a muscle car in pieces, an AR lower to build...

Too many irons in the fire right now, but I'd love to get into bow shooting someday!

Just be careful!

http://hunting.outdoorzy.com/wp-content ... -hand.jpeg

papajohn1964 wrote:Just be careful!

http://hunting.outdoorzy.com/wp-content ... -hand.jpeg

As bad as it must of hurt, he is extremely fortunate that it wasn't a broadhead.


This happened at Cabelas a few years ago. A customer had some work done on his bow and was shooting it on their range to test it. He grabbed an arrow that was too short. When he drew, the arrow came back off the rest and fell onto his hand. The employee asked him to hold still while he raised the arrow so that the customer could let down the bow. Instead of doing this, the customer panicked and pulled the trigger on the release and shot the arrow through his own hand. I assume that is basically how the incident in the picture happened.

Never use an arrow that is too short.
Never ever ever dry fire a bow.
If you are using broadheads be very careful not to cut the string. If you nick the string, it can very easily break when you draw the bow and if it does, the damage it can do is quite impressive.
Never use an arrow that is damaged. It is not worth it.