Help

[Timmay]

I am really new to the sport. My brother gave me his old compound bow. I dont know what type it is, but he says its a 45 pound pull. I have no idea what that means. But i know that it is nothing near as nice as the bows ive seen in the cabelas catalog. I really want to take up bowhunting, but im lost and i dont know the first thing about archery. All i do is shoot at a fake deer from across my backyard, which ive gotten pretty accurate at doing. Please Help!

[Black Mamba]

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm has some easy to understand tips. Also Cabelas buyers guide (a little dated on some bows mentioned) has tips on selecting bows. There are several books on bowhunting that go over the basics or you can find a local club and talk with a member about getting started and set up. Most bowhunters are glad to help a new person get started. Hope this helps.

For archery bowhunting books visit. http://www.bowhunting.net/bookstore/default.htm

[The Shizzle]

Hey.
Welcome aboard the ever addicting train to bowhunting.

Check out the Outdoor Info part of the Cabela's site for info. There's a lot more than buyer's guides and the newest info is there too. I wouldn't hesitate to go into your nearest archery shop too.

Having the newest, most high-tech gear isn't all that important. Shoot it, become comfortable and upgrade as needed. My father-in-law has killed more deer with a bow than just about anyone I know and he uses an older bow that is slow by modern standards. For his type of hunting, he says, "The faster the arrow is going, that's just that much further the arrow goes into the ground on the other side of the deer."

[Timmay]

about the pund pull thing, i did some research an from what ive gathered, thats how much you have to pull the string back. 45 is really easy, but if i went for something stronger like between 60-90 lets just say. Is that fairly easy, or am i gonna have to pump some iron to be able to bowhunt???

[norseman_hunter]

The poundage is dependent on you. Set the weight to what you can pull smoothly, slowly and comfortably. I personally pull 60 lbs. but my younger brother only pulls 55 lbs. May not sound like a big differance, but it is.

[Timmay]

i went to a local store today to try out some bows. I liked some of the PSE bows, and a 70 pound pull feels pretty good. I hope to be out hunting soon. thanks everyone for all the help.

[Booger]

Timmay,

Before you buy another bow, it might be a good idea to shoot the one you have, just to make sure you know what you want and that you enjoy shooting a bow.

First of all, all compound bows are adjustable for draw weight. The minimum/maximum adjustable draw is listed on the bow. If the bow says 45/55, then it is adjustable between those two numbers. All you have to do is tighten down the allenhead screws that attach the bow's limbs to the riser. You need to make sure that you tighten both the same number of turns so that the bow's timing isn't thrown out. Timing is relative to the two cams. They should roll over at the same time so that you don't get one ahead of the other. This will throw off your shot.

How much weight you can or should be pulling should be determined by how long you can hold the bow at full draw. Compounds have varying degrees of letoff, meaning that once you draw the bow back, you'll feel it drop into a valley and the pressure required to hold it back is reduced, compared to the draw to that point. Let off is important, because it allows you to hold the bow at full draw until the opportunity to shoot is right. You have to draw when a deer isn't looking, which often means that you do it while they are looking away or stepping behind a tree or bushes. This means that you need to hold it until they step from behind the obstruction. Often deer will hestiate behind cover and you may need to hold for several minutes.

Many novice bow hunters make the mistake of setting their draw weight to the maximum they can pull, hold for a few seconds and release. Problem is, you can't practice for any length of time before that weight becomes too much to pull, and when you get caught at full draw and have to hold for a long time the game is over. When you have to let down, chances are you'll either make a noise sliding the arrow down the rest or alert the deer by dropping the arrow or it will catch the movement.

My advice is to shoot the bow you have for a while, determine what you're comfortable holding for several minutes and decide if you want to stay with the sport. Archery is a lot of fun, a very rewarding hunting method and very challenging as well, but it's not for everyone. For those who enjoy it, there's nothing that hold the intrigue of stick and string.

Enjoy

Booger

[mbauman]

i went to a local store today to try out some bows. I liked some of the PSE bows, and a 70 pound pull feels pretty good. I hope to be out hunting soon. thanks everyone for all the help.
I pull 60 pounds and have never not found my deer. 70 sounds like a lot to me make sure you are confortable and can hold it back

[RNTbomb]

I shoot a 70 pound single cam that has a pretty good power stroke to it. I think that alot of people should not shoot a 70 or higher. Don't get caught up in the public opinion of bow draw weights. I shoot every 3 to 4 days all year long... I feel very comfortable shooting that poundage. If you are a shooter that get ready one month before the season I would go with a 60 pounder. Remember that just like Booger said you may have to hold your bow back for a while. Even a 80% let off is alot to hold back and not get "shakey" after a min.

[Timmay]

Thanks for the tip, i went over to my friends house who bowhunts, and he has a 70 pound pull bow. He is pretty strong, he plays football. Well, i could pull back the the bow pretty easy, but then i tried to hold it and after about 20 seconds, i couldn't hold back the string. So i'm definatly gonna go for something less. And by the way, the 45lb bow i have, i can hold back the string for like 10 minutes if i wanted to waste the time. But im really grateful from all the help ive gotten. And this weekend im goin bowhunting with my friend, im so excited!!!! wish me luck.

EDIT: This will be my first time hunting period, so my terminology will be pretty bad when i tell the story of my hunting trip when i get back.

[RNTbomb]

Well when you do get a bow I would love to know what you decided on. And remember that archery is like buying trucks, anybody in the sport thinks that what they have is the best toyota, ford, chevy, dodge, nissan, same with bows Hoyt (Reflex), Mathews, PSE, Parker, Bowtech (diamond) they are alot of bows on the market and do not go into the market with only a certain brand in mind look over all of them and get what you like. Anymore even a cheap cheap pse can be made to shoot if you can take your time on tuning it correctly.


P.S. I have to throw in there that I have a Hoyt sticker on my truck window but I will not tell you my bias toward bows!!!