Buying my first compound bow - advice please

[Woodchuck Dan]

Hi Folks,

2024 will be my second rifle season and I am thoroughly enjoying the overwhelming process of learning how to hunt. I practice shooting weekly and am slowly making some good progress.

I'm ready to also expand into learning how to shoot a compound bow and am going to be purchasing one in the near future. I have a couple questions if some people wouldn't mind helping me out:

So typically the way I was brought up is to buy something of middling quality, learn how to use it and make sure you are fully committed and then buy more quality gear. I went and talked to a fella in a local gear shop and he suggested something along these lines:

https://www.canadaarcheryonline.com/...t-compound-bow

Questions:

1. It's about $750, this seem like a reasonable place to start?
2. I believe the poundage on the bow is around 50 - 70. Should I assume that I can pull a bow at 50 pounds? I'm 5'9 and maybe 180 pounds, in reasonable shape. Although I do cardio regularly I have zero strength training in my week.

I also asked him if there were modifications that he liked personally - His opinion:

- upgrade the rest to drop away
- use a 3 pin slider

^^ thoughts?

[Hunter gatherer]

The ready to shoot packages usually have low end accessories. A drop away rest( VT are very easy to set up) and even your basic HHA one pin slider is very good. A good release is very beneficial,like a good trigger on a rifle. I would recommend going to a shop and getting set up as far as draw length ( very important) goes. Since you are new a lesson from a coach or someone that knows would also help you to get started. Good luck.

[ian745]

go to an actual archery store and handle a bunch, they are like rifles and all have a different feel to them, i personally like the feeling of my mid to high range matthews and lower end pse..the apparent ultra high-end stuff like hoyt just doesn't feel or fit me right to me that is, and if think rifles are a rabbit hole to fall into you haven't even broached archery..lol

my best advise would be go to an archery store though, get hands on with a few get the proper draw length ( most have a dummy bow you can pull back that has a rod or something in place of an arrow that will give you your draw length


as for the weight, get something adjustable, you don't want to buy something to heavy to start, it`ll ruin your archery intro as it wont be enjoyable to shoot

look into local archery clubs that usually have an open house where you can hands on a few different types and there's always the old liars club, i think every range has one of the seasoned veterans that hang about..filter through the war stories and they usually have a some great info to pass along

[KBC]

Don’t buy a Bear. Although the resale value always drops a lot on bows, it’s even worse for Bear bows.
inwould look at going to a shop and getting set up. They may have a really good used bow for the same price. The tech hasn’t changed much in 10 years.
You need to have it set up for you so that’s why I recommend going to a good shop.

[Hunter gatherer]

Just to add when guys say a good shop we don't mean Cabelas.

[mike31154]

Have you considered trying a more traditional bow 1st? I've never shot or owned a compound so have no advice to offer, but it all looks too complicated to me. I do know that once you overcome the stated draw weight, you can hold the draw easily. Decent quality takedown recurve bows are a good way to get into archery. You can start with lighter limbs to get your form & then move on to heavier limbs for hunting. I believe 40 lbs within the archers draw length is the legal limit for most hunting situations. A good trad bow draw weight to get started for the average adult will be in the 25 to 35 lb range.

[Woodchuck Dan]

as for the weight, get something adjustable, you don't want to buy something to heavy to start, it`ll ruin your archery intro as it wont be enjoyable to shoot

Thanks I will go to other local shop in the area and pick their brain as well - specifically for weight I was planning on getting something adjustable in the 40 - 70 pound range, start on the low end and slowly work my way up - Is starting with 40 or 50 pounds too ambitious? I'm quite patient and don't mind long periods of training with small incremental gains

KBC - Okay I will stay clear and poke around more - I'm quite bad for impulsively buying gear and am trying to break the habit.

Hunter/Gather - I hear you about getting lessons - I've been shooting weekly with my rifle and would love some instruction - The kootenays are fairly isolated although there is definitely a bow hunting community here.

Mike - If anything I would go in the opposite direction. I want to be competent with a compound before moving to a traditional bow

[KBC]

If you are in reasonable shape, you should be ok pulling over 50lbs on a compound. My first compound was a 60-70lb bow with the limb bolts backed off. It was mid 50s and it wasn’t long before I was cranking it up.

[ian745]

you dont need to pull a ton of weight to start out, proper draw length and form are way more important then power at first, ive been shooting bows for awhile ) just not the latest one no time these days)

i went big weight at first cause i thought it was the way to go, started at 70lbs, and settled down after awhile currently i`m 60lbs and happy to be there..lol

[donny.brooke]

There is a lot of great deals out there on 1-3 year old high end archery gear, save about half from buying new. Archery buy and sell pages on Facebook are a great way to start. There is also a Canadian buy and sell forum on ArcheryTalk forum. There may even be some good deals on this forums buy and sell page.