First Time Buying a Bow

[MooseBell]

Last time I shot a bow and arrow was in the Boy Scouts. I am now 24 and looking at doing an early season archery elk hunt. I have briefly read up on let off, draw length, draw weight, and cams on compound bows. However, all of it seems a bit much when I begin to discern which brand of bow I want to buy.

I come here asking for tips and stories about your first experience buying a bow.

Any feedback is greatly appreciated.

 

[p_ham]

The best thing you can do is go to a shop and shoot everything you can get your hands on. Don't go right for 70lbs, shoot whatever weight is comfortable. If you can't handle a higher weight, you'll only end up missing faster.
When you find a bow that feels right you will know.

 

[genesis273]

^^^what p_ham said. A good bow shop will set you up once you find one that you like. Alot of shops will try to steer you to a particular bow/brand, like any car salesman would. But try to see what you like.
If you haven't shot since Boy Scouts, you will be pleasantly surprised once you shoot your first arrow at the shop.
Like mentioned above, shoot a comfortable draw weight starting out. You have plenty of time until Sept!

 

[JDH]

You are about the age that I was when I bought my first bow. A guy I work with set me up with a good shop that had many different brands to try. I think that was the key to finding a bow that I felt confident in shooting.

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

Good advice above. Just make sure that you set a spending limit and stick to it. Bow setups can nickle and dime you if you're not careful. Just remember that the bow itself is just part of the package you need. You'll also need an arrow rest, sight, possibly a stabilizer, release mechanism, etc. It's a bit more complicated than getting a rifle set up for hunting.

Also, the lower end bows that you can get right now are fully adequate for hunting. They're not going to be extra cool, but you can spend $200-$300 on a bow that'll kill anything you shoot just as well with practice.

 

[genesis273]

Also, the lower end bows that you can get right now are fully adequate for hunting. They're not going to be extra cool, but you can spend $200-$300 on a bow that'll kill anything you shoot just as well with practice.

I agree! Before going elk hunting for the first time, I was using a bow the was maybe $350 wrapped up in it, but had killed a good amount of deer with it, and I did have 30 years of bowhunting experience. The guy that I was going with had killed alot of elk, so I told him up front that I had a low-end bow. His reply was "can you shoot it?"! The second afternoon of our hunt, I had a 300" bull laying dead less than 100 yards from me!
The high-end bows do have their perks though!

 

[JDMickTX]

I just went through this about a month ago, as I’m also new to it. While I’d like to get a nice Mathews or something down the road, I paid a great deal less for my Bear Wild and plan to hunt with it for a couple of years at least to make sure I’m using it often enough to justify spending more money, or whether I even need to upgrade. Find a good local archery shop that is friendly and knowledgable, and have them measure your draw length and comfortable draw weight. Then shoot a few different bows and see what you like. Once you get a bow, have them help you sight it in, then practice often. I’m personally keeping my stock sight, stabilizer, etc. until I gain more experience and feel more comfortable customizing my bow if necessary.

I bought some mid-level arrows to get started on, and skipped broadheads for now as I won’t be hunting with it until September. I’ll select broadheads and maybe a higher-quality arrow this summer. If I’m being honest, I have enough other things going on that it may be a long while (if ever) before I’m tuning my own bow, fletching my own arrows, or tweaking things like that. My immediate goal is to just work on my form and get good enough that I can make ethical shots on whitetails this fall.

 

[Whyztler]

I'm going through this my self now. I have what i want picked out and just as JDH said, I had a friend at work steer me toward a good local shop to sort out all the things I had no clue about. I used to hunt when I was younger but a lot has changed in the last 20 years.

 

[rexster32]

I will repeat what others have said: go to a pro shop. I would stay away from the big box stores. They rarely have bow technicians that know what they are doing. Try lots of bows and try this tip: when you shoot at bail, shoot from very close and close your eyes after you acquire the target and before you release. You need to feel the bow. Feel the draw, the release, the vibration, the valley and backwall. Buy the one that feels the best to you and fits your budget. But like someone else said, remember the bow price is only a portion of the cost. Factor in rest, stab, release, peep, d-loop, sight, arrows, field points, string wax, quiver etc. A good pro shop will put extras on free and even set your draw length and weight.

 

[Bigjav]

A pro shop is the way to go to get you set up, even if you buy a bow at a big box store take it to a pro shop to get it setup for you. I would personally look at either a PSE or Bear as a beginner, mainly just because they seem to have the most ready to shoot packages. Most importantly you MUST PRACTICE. A $1700 top of the line Mathews or Hoyt is useless unless the person behind it is proficient.

 

[JeremyA]

Just bought my wife her first bow, Diamond Edge bow package $420 out the door with arrows and a release. Great little starter bow. Easy to adjust. It shoots just a well as my 5 year old PSE. I would take this bow to the mountain and hunt with it. There are several options out there. Go try out several bows. See how they fit you and go from that point

 

[JohnCushman]

I bought my wife a PSE Stinger X. It's a wide range of weight and length draw adjustments. Out the door with the bow as a package and 6 arrows I spent about $400. I was so impressed with the bow that I bought one for myself to have a backup bow to my other PSE. I killed an antelope buck with my Stinger and it was great. I'm shooting an average of 289 FPS with a $350 backup bow PSE, Diamond, Mission, Bear...a lot of companies are selling bows like this and they are no joke.

 

[OhHeyThereBen]

^And this is a brand new setup. I can imagine that you could find an excellent used option out there of any of the above mentioned brands, get them tuned up at a shop, and pay quite a bit less.

 

[Horse]

I agree with what others have said above, go to a pro shop and shoot a few different brands of bows to see what you like.. But, once you find what you like, you might want to check C.L for a 1-2 year old "high end" bow than a nice entry bow for the same price. Alot of bow guys upgrade yearly for the new greatest bow. I'd rather shoot a 2yr old Mathews/Bowtech etc, than a new low end or box store brand.

 

[rexster32]

Horse is right except that I would stay away from CL or Eb**. I would shop on Archerytalk. More realistic prices and a very trustworthy group of archers. The highly adjustable bows are cheap and convenient, but that comes with sacrifices: mushy back wall, less accuracy, less forgiving valley are some examples. I would take a used Hoyt, Matthews etc any day over a cheap box store bow. And bow values drop drastically. A one year old bow could be as much as 50% of retail. I just bought my son a 2016 Hoyt carbon Spyder (with less than 200 shots) loaded including extra higher poundage limbs, cams and strings for less than half of new. As a shop pro and instructor I hate to see beginners give up because they started with poor equipment and didn't know any better. Get the absolute best setup you can inside your budget. Getting into archery and/or bowhunting can be intimidating and confusing so do yourself a favor and visit a pro shop, even if you don't buy a bow from them.

 

[SisuHunter]

Great advice here! Shoot every make and model you can until you find the best fit and feel for yourself. So many options and great brands. A pro shop with several makes and models is the best place to start. Besides setting me up, I have appreciated the tips on grip and form that they have given me in the past. I like drop away style rests, which I feel have helped me in situations where my form and release were not the best due to odd shooting positions and heavy clothes. Also dont over bow yourself in terms of draw weight.

 

[rustneversleeps]

Horse is right except that I would stay away from CL or Eb**. I would shop on Archerytalk. More realistic prices and a very trustworthy group of archers. The highly adjustable bows are cheap and convenient, but that comes with sacrifices: mushy back wall, less accuracy, less forgiving valley are some examples. I would take a used Hoyt, Matthews etc any day over a cheap box store bow. And bow values drop drastically. A one year old bow could be as much as 50% of retail. I just bought my son a 2016 Hoyt carbon Spyder (with less than 200 shots) loaded including extra higher poundage limbs, cams and strings for less than half of new. As a shop pro and instructor I hate to see beginners give up because they started with poor equipment and didn't know any better. Get the absolute best setup you can inside your budget. Getting into archery and/or bowhunting can be intimidating and confusing so do yourself a favor and visit a pro shop, even if you don't buy a bow from them.

x2 on Archery talk - lots of bow shops getting rid of old models

 

[Irrelevant]

Ebay. I routinely see last years bows for sale, new-in-box, at basement prices. You do have to know a little bit about what you want. Which is where online research and in-person shooting (at an archery shop) can help. I didn't have a problem going to an archery shop that only sold new stuff, having them work with me to understand what all I needed and wanted in a bow, so that I could buy a good used one. I then took it to them to help set it up, and they've been my go to far all my questions and misc. gear/equipment since.

 

[Brack]

I was in your shoes last year i ended up buying a pse stinger because it's super adjustable and fairly reasonably priced. I think something like that is the way to go so you can see if your even going to enjoy bowhunting.and if you do you can always upgrade to a new bow later thats a little more flashier