You would probably like reading "Instinctive Shooting" by G. Fred Asbell. Eventually, if you would like to hunt in Canada some day, you probably will want a take-down bow, which would be easier to ship, but that probably won't be the first bow you buy, so maybe that doesn't matter. It would be good if you were able to shoot a few bows in order to know what poundage you feel comfortable with, although if you're brand new to the sport, it doesn't take much shooting to feel comfortable with something 5 lbs heavier than you start with. Most people could get used to something in the 50-60 lb range for a hunting bow, where you don't shoot as many shots. I've never been happy with anything I first bought when starting a new hobby, so if you think you could be the same, it would be well not to sink too much money in your first bow. Probably you will be able to find something in your price range that will work to get you started, either used or on the lower-end new market. Probably you should start with something in the 40-50 lb range, which will enable you to shoot many shots as you develop good form, planning to move up to a heavier bow later on if you decide you really want to hunt.
Remember that the arrow is really more important than the bow. Finding an arrow that is tuned to your bow will make a cheap bow shoot great, while a mismatched arrow will make an expensive bow shoot poorly. Probably the best thing you could do is to look on this forum or other places until you see a used bow for sale in your price range, like jacobsladder said. As far as the brand of bow, snoop on this forum and you will notice the names that come up again and again. Maybe the person who is selling it has already tuned arrows for it and can get you started on the right foot. You may be able to buy a good traditional bow from a store, but don't expect them, unless you buy from the bowyer himself, to give you any good advice about arrows. They just don't know, which is made worse by the fact that they think they do. Of course, buying the bow is only the first step in learning to shoot it, which involves learning good form and learning to tune your own arrows, which fortunately you can learn to do at the same time. Oh yea, and then you have to learn to hunt!
Topic: where do i start? (Read 885 times)
