advice for a beginner bowhunter

[moosehunt89]

Hey fellow gunnutz! So im thinking of trying out bow hunting next year but know nothing about compound bows and were to start. What is a good brand for a beginner aswell as any other gear that would be benificial. Rifle hunted for many years and want to mix it up. Give me your advice!

 

[Stevebot-7]

The best advice is to get to a physical bow shop. Specifically a specialty shop, not just a shop that sells bows because the things you'll hear at the Wholesale Sports archery counter...

Compound bows are a bit trickier to get set up properly for you and that's why it's best to get some hands on to get some accurate measurements. Draw length is a very important thing, too long or too short and it's going to give you problems with consistency and form.

Second, don't fall into the draw weight hype. You do not need a 70# bow as a starter. Unless you are freakishly muscular a 30-40# bow is quite plenty to start with and practice on. Even if you're a strong guy drawing a bow uses different muscle groups that generally don't get developed with generic exercise. Unless you pull start a lot of motors and do so many pushups, then you might be ahead of the game.

I seriously could not even get a 60# bow to half draw when I started archery. That said, if you do happen to find your dream bow and it has a heavy draw weight it's not the end of the world, you can still buy it and work your way into it.

This is why I love takedown traditional bows, it's very easy to swap limbs around to upgrade rather than buying an entire new bow.

 

[scruffee]

My best 2 advices, watch the wind and know your distances... That's it the rest is just location location location...

 

[Bigfoot 870]

Ask archers in your area (if you don't know any, contact the local archery club) to recommend an archery shop. Go there, and have them set you up. Do not buy from a box store or online. Good luck...great sport.

 

[blasted_saber]

Get really good at judging distance. And practice. A lot.

 

[Dobbin19]

I agree with stevebot-7 that a heavy draw weight is not necessary at all, shot placement is much more crucial then speed, but make sure if you do buy a compound bow that you check your provincial hunting regulations on minimum draw weight required for large game hunting. (Here in new brunswick I believe it is 45#) , in my opinion I would go to a local bow shop or ask an experienced bow hunter to get your draw length and try out as many bows as you possibly can before you purchase one. All makes are different and you really dont know what you want until you try one out. And I also wouldnt purchase brand new, there are lots of quality ready-to-shoot bow packages for $500-$600. Ive purchased two off cgn that are great value and will last a long time, just have to replace the strings once in a while.

A comfortable draw weight range imo would be 50-60# , that would do anything you would ever need. And go for comfort and lightweight over speed.

Best of luck!

 

[moosehunt89]

Wow lots of replies! Thanks fellas for the info, got in contact through a grape vine with a experienced bow hunter whose going let me try a variation of bows. Also trying to find a bowshop other then wholesale in the area.

 

[Zanelike]

Check out Boormam's in New West. Lots of different bows to try and lots of experience. They even put on archery courses.

 

[Fire306]

Once you get the bowhunting bug, its hard to shake. Having game within bow range, <40 yards, is a very exciting and gratifying thing. Whether you get a chance to shoot or not, it doesn't matter, just knowing you outsmarted, or hunted your way inside bow range is awesome.

I agree with the above posts, don't get caught up in the hype that you "need" a 70# draw weight bow. A 50-60 pound one is plenty, you can turn it down to 50 and slowly work your way up if you desire. 30-40 is too low in my opinion, and in some provinces (Ontario for sure) you need a minimum of 45 to hunt big game legally.
If you need to lower or raise the bow away from where you are aiming in order to draw it, you are shooting too much draw weight.

Also try not to get caught up in the speed bow craze. Yes, fast arrows shoot flatter, but a fast bows are trickier to tune and harder to keep quiet. A slower, heavier arrow hits harder, penetrates better and makes a bow quieter.

When you find a bow that you like, with your friend, or at a reputable shop, if you are trying to save some $ getting started up, check the EE or shop for a used bow. Lot's of guys (including myself in the past, not so much anymore) constantly upgrade to the newest models, and there is lots of really great bows available in the used market.