Wife said she wants a bow! Advice, please!

[rbcorbitt]

My loveky bride of 19 years is intrigued with my trad bow passion, and said that she wanted to give it a try.

She's extremely fit, and strong for her size - all those years of teaching exercise and CrossFit.

I have a nice Morrison ILF 15" riser that I could set up with lighter limbs, but dont know where to start.  Would 35# @ 28" be too high, her draw length is only 22" (she's small, but you know what they say about dynamite and small packages).  Or with such a short draw length would 40 - 45# 2 28" be managable?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[rbcorbitt]

Meant lovely...not loveky.  Time to break down and get some readers   !

[moebow]

With inexpensive ILF limbs available,  Get some but I would suggest starting in the 20-25# range.  This is the best way to learn.  Then once she is shooting comfortably you can start to move up in weight range.  This suggestion is pretty universal among coaches since learning to shoot is much easier and NOT a question of strength but of control and learning the movements without any strain to pull the bow back.

[saumensch]

Listen to Mr. Moe and you wont be on the wrong trail.    

Only thind id like to add, make that 25 #s at her draw length, not at 28" draw. Dont know wich limbs would fit then as im not experienced at all with ILF.

Also, be sure to make her nice lightweight arrows. With that low poundage arrows that are to heavy can get extremely frustrating to start with.

[slivrslingr]

Get her a good, long and comfortable arm guard.  One solid string slap and she'll never shoot again.  I would also check her eye dominance and set her up accordingly.  

[flinthead]

Bob, bring her to the STAR shoot and let her try different poundages. Always lots of bows for sale, and most shooters will let her shoot their bows. Nothing like trying a bow out. Roy

[Bill Carlsen]

Having an ILF riser is great. My wife shoots 45@ 26" and gets great performance due to the nice preload you can get with lighter weight ILF limbs. My wife started out with a 42# long bow, then I got her a used 43# Red Wing Hunter and when she told me she wanted to kill a bear I got her a DAS riser and Win&Win limbs. Keep that riser and as she learns make an investment in a really good set of ILF limbs and you will have a happy woman on your hands. Bob Morrison has some new limbs he is working on....give him a call.

[old_goat2]

Star low and move up and get her some lessons from a qualified instructor. You may know how to shoot well, but teaching is a different animal.

[eminart]

I think the question he's asking, is what 30lbs, 40lbs, etc. at #28 would be at a 22 inch draw.

[AngelDeVille]

subtract about 1.5 LBS per inch of draw lost.

[Sam McMichael]

Listen to moebow and add in a dozen roses. You are very lucky to have a wife who wants to join in your hobby.

[Ray Lyon]

"Any bow, good bow, good arrow heap much work."

Start light as noted above, however make sure you get arrows that fly perfectly from the bow. You want her to see that same smooth flight that we all like to see. You may want to look at some 1816 aluminums to start here with. My youngest daughter uses them out of her bow and they fly like little darts. When she's ready to step up, my older daughter uses Easton Axis 600 size carbon arrows. These also fly well in low weight bows. Leave them long and put a little weight up front.  

Also, make sure you invest in an armguard for her (a good coverage one) BEFORE you start. I don't use an armguard personally, but women have a different structure in their arm and tend to have the elbow bend in and that can produce a nasty zinger. Best to head that off before you even start.

Good luck

[Ray Lyon]

"Any bow, good bow, good arrow heap much work."

Start light as noted above, however make sure you get arrows that fly perfectly from the bow. You want her to see that same smooth flight that we all like to see. You may want to look at some 1816 aluminums to start here with. My youngest daughter uses them out of her bow and they fly like little darts. When she's ready to step up, my older daughter uses Easton Axis 600 size carbon arrows. These also fly well in low weight bows. Leave them long and put a little weight up front.  

Also, make sure you invest in an armguard for her (a good coverage one) BEFORE you start. I don't use an armguard personally, but women have a different structure in their arm and tend to have the elbow bend in and that can produce a nasty zinger. Best to head that off before you even start.

Good luck

[Ray Lyon]

wow, first time in 9 years here that I've had a double post. I really wasn't trying to tell you what I think twice.  :eek:

[Bivyhunter]

I wasn't really intending to announce this yet, but it seems an opportune time. I'm starting a "Bow as you Grow" program for youth and women archers getting into the sport for my static recurves and 3 piece longbows built off of my hybrid riser. Here is how it will work. Purchase a static or take down longbow from me, down the road as the budding archer outgrows the draw weight they may swap out the limbs at no charge for another pair that I have in stock (these may be limbs that have already been through another shooter). If I need to build a set of limbs custom to their draw weight, it would be a $50 charge. This may be repeated up to 2X's per handle. I want to help overcome the financial cost of becoming a new trad archer and encourage new shooters not to "over bow" themselves in the beginning.

[Troy Breeding]

Hot dang South!!!

Now your using that hair covered or hairless covered computer for the best deal I've heard of.

Anyone that will pass up that deal ain't right.

[huntmaster80]

my wife shoots with me, and I love that!!! she started out with a 25@24" rd bow.now she has been shooting for a year and is up to a 36@ 28" BOW.  I would start out light so she doesnt have to work to shoot it.

[59Alaskan]

Listen to moebow.  Moebow knows

[Craig]

One thing guys do wrong is buy there wives a bow made for a guy. I had a bow made for my wife by Hummingbird. His wife is a professional archer and helps out female archers. My wife was shooting a used recurve that I had bought her.
she really only shot 3 or 4 times a year. I then had a Hummingbird custom made for her and she loves to shoot all the time. The bow was made to fit her. Get her a bow that was made for her and not for you.  They will be at Denton Hill or check out there web site.

[rbcorbitt]

Wow!  Neat idea!

Thanks for all the advice, guys!  She is really excited about getting into shooting.