mayot

Hello all,

I have a few questions that I’m sure you guys get all the time. I’m 33 years old and grew up in a small town in Tennessee and am now living in Indiana with my wife and 3-year-old son and a 4-week-old baby girl.

I’ve never been hunting, nor do I even own anything that’s camouflage, but I’ve always said that if I ever decided take up hunting it would be Bowhunting. It just seems like it would be more of a challenge in my opinion, hunting deer and turkey with a bow. I know it would be a good sport to get my son, daughter and maybe even my wife involved in, and a good opportunity to spend some good quality time with them, all the while enjoying mother nature and all she has to offer.

I haven’t been to any archery shops, b/c I don’t wanna feel pressured into buying anything expensive, especially since I’m living on a shoestring budget and know nothing about bows. I’d like some information about some bows before I venture into an archery shop, particular what to look for in a bow for someone that’s illiterate when it comes to bowhunting. I thought about looking on ebay for a cheap bow, but I’m not sure what to look for.

If anyone has a favorite bowhunting website that may be some help or any suggestions, I’d much appreciate it. I've searched this website, but I'm still sorta lost. I would love to start hunting next fall of ’05.

One other question, since I’ve never been hunting before, you can guess that I’ve never eaten any deer meat or wild turkey. I’ve never field dressed a deer, so I’m clueless on that subject as well. And to be honest, I’m easily “grossed out” with blood and guts, but I think I can field dress a deer if I needed to, with some help. Would it be a good idea to find someone, maybe in my Church to tag along with on a few hunting trips to see if this is a sport I’d like to invest in? How would you as a hunter feel about someone going with you on a hunting trip to get a feel for hunting?

ButchA

Welcome, Mayot!

This board and the whole "Hunting.net" site is awesome! There are countless people on here with decades of experience who are friendly, knowledgeable, and overall great people.

I started out roughly 4 years ago myself. I have a buddy who has an old Browning bow, and I got my start by learning the basics from him.

Bows can be WICKEDLY EXPENSIVE from a newcomers standpoint. There are bows out there that are $500 - $600 bucks easily!

First thing you have to do before you even think of doing anything else, is get yourself measured at a pro shop. You have to know your draw length so you can get a bow with that size. A pro shop will know instantly in 0.2 seconds that you are a newcomer and want to look at a few bows. They will help you out and check your draw length for you (free). I remember when I did it. I went to a local sporting goods store and asked about it. The guy had a long bow with a big wooden dowl permanently attached to the bow string. It had 1/2" markings all the way down it too. He told me to pull it back (he helped me with my form at the same time) and hold it steady. I was an exact 30" draw length.

Anyway, I saw the prices of new bows and listened to countless sales pitches. I mulled it all over and then checked Ebay. I found an old PSE bow on Ebay for only $70 bucks versus paying hundreds and hundreds of bucks for one. Long story short, I got the bow, had it properly setup for me (at another sporting goods store), and hooked up with a few other guys that I know and away I went.

I have not scored a nice buck (yet), but, have seen bucks and does up close and personal in the beds of pickups and it doesn't bother me, neither would the blood, guts, and gore of field dressing.

Good luck to you and again WELCOME ABOARD!!!!!!

Butch A.

WisHunt

Welcome to the group- If you are accepted you will now find yourself the target of the United States' most awsome marketing machine- "The Bowhunting Industry" ha ha ha ahhhh

Really here are my 2cents

#1 Take a hunters safety course, wait take two! Do the bowhunting one also. Just because you aren't going to hunt with a gun you should still learn the saftey issues surounding hunting and the appreciation for how increadibly dangerous it is and how increadibly safe we all make it!

#2 Go to the local Rod & Gun club and ask where the best pro shops are that carry used gear and have a shooting range. Tell them that you are interested in learning about bow-hunting but don't have a big budget. Someone, no 10 guys will pipe up and you now have 10 resourses to call or ask about gear, land access, licensing etc.

#3 Find someone with an Eastmans Bowhunters Journal magazine. This one publishes articles by hunters for hunters. If you find it uninteresting or it gets in your craw, you may not enjoy the sport and then go buy a Cannon - camera that is.

#4 Go to the pro shops and look at the used gear, right now is a good time to start looking for gear that guys are upgrading. Here is my suggestion.

a single cam bow that is about 4 years old, that fits-
Whisker buiscuit arrow rest
String loop
Peep sight
3 pin sight - CHEAP you will replace it anyways
carbon arrows - CHEAP you will loose and break them
"the bag" style target
100grain tips
a good release.

NO MORE- no broadheads, no bow quivers (a piece of PVC works well for an arrow holder when suck in the ground), no string silencers, no wrist sling, no other crap to get in your way. In fact use just 2 pins to start with 15 yards and 25 yards. This will get you started. (20 yards for a pin if you shoot indoors)

Good luck- Enjoy the practice and you will enjoy the hunt.

tnichols

Mayot

Welcome! I got into bowhunting a few years ago and you have definitely picked a great sport! I love it so much that I sold all of my rifles. Let me give you one piece of advice, Like everything else you get what you pay for...especially in bows. I started out with a bow on ebay and have moved up 2 times since. Save yourself alot of frustration and save some money up and buy you a top notch quality bow. In my opinion Matthews and Bowtech are the best. Yes they do cost between $500 - $650 dollars but like I said you get what you pay for. My Bowtech dealer here had a 90 day pay plan. So you don't have to drop all that cash at once. As far as accessories buy the best you can afford, I would go with a 1 pin sight and buy one that is quality built such as trophy ridge, Spot-hogg, Copper Johns. You don't want to be changing cheap sights out in the middle of the season. For a rest I would go with the wisker biscuit, pretty much bulletproof in my opinion, yes you will have fletching contact but so what, I robinhooded 6 of my carbon arrows over the last year. Speaking of arrows definately go with carbon, yes they are more expensive but the benefits pay off in the long run. As far as target go "the cube" is great for broadheads, I use a bionic buck for target practice from my stand and from the ground. The bionic buck runs over a $100 bucks but arrows are easyyy to pull out of it. Buy a cheap target and you will no what I mean. Broadheads are your choice and there has much debate on this site about them. Research previous post and form your own opinion. I like expandables because they fly better thru my setup at 295FPS. Fixes blades plane to much for my setup.
Good luck in your adventure, wait until seasons start opening up that when the site really fires up!!!!

ldial1973

welcome. you should realy go to the pro shop an get properly fit for the bow. that way you know your draw and a draw weight you are comfortable with. the rest would be up to you an what you want to spend they usualy have some used bows for sale at the shops if not they have fully outfitted bows there that are geared to the new bowhunter. good luck and let them know what you are looking to spend. they will most likely help you to find the bow that is right for you.

Hoofers

Like the others said, go to a pro shop and get fitted. You need to figure out a draw weight and draw length. Then see if they have anything used in your price range. You don't want anything too new or too old. Get something you can grow into. If you buy crap your only going to replace it that much sooner. Why spend big bucks if your not sure your going to stick with it. I'd say for $150-200 you'll get a very good used set up. It should include a rest, a sight and a quiver. You'll need arrows, field points, a release and a target. Then you'll be ready to shoot. If they have nothing then shop around. Are you thinking compound or recurve or long bow? Get a free copy of a mail order achery catalog to get more familar with all of the equipment. Its not a cheap sport but it will grow on you. Soon you'll be wanting to spend every bit of your available time in the woods. Share it with your family and as many other people you can. Welcome to your new addiction and to the board!

Tazman

When selecting a bow it should feel good to you, what I mean by that is when you pick it up and draw it, it should feel comfortable. I do not care what brand or model some one tells you to get, if it does not feel right you will not shoot it as well as one that feels right.