Thinking of getting a bow for target shooting.

Inkyblots

I've been thinking of going up to Outdoor World tomorrow and taking a look at a few bows or possibly a crossbow to use for target shooting (I don't think I'm much of the hunter type). Now I'm not going to buy anything any time soon because I have no idea what I'm doing but I've been digging through google trying to get informed on different things but it's kind of hard to find a starting point. I was hoping there would be someone experienced in this sort of thing who could point me in the right direction or maybe share some of their knowledge with an interested beginner.

At first I wanted a crossbow because you know, they look cool. But compound bows are catching my eye now. I guess the more information I find out the better decision I will make when deciding between them.

FyreWulff

My stepdad bowhunts. Any particular questions you have about it, I could ask him about.

Note: if you want to shoot arrows at targets in your backyard, you can probably do it with a compound bow but not a crossbow. A lot of cities ban crossbows.

Also it seems to be a fairly money heavy hobby, so if you have any stores or friends that would let you try out first, that'd be better than jumping in blind.

MechMantis

I know in my little hamlet, loosing a compound bow is equivalent to firing a firearm.

Which is illegal if done within 500 yards of a dwelling.

Check with your town laws before doing any target shooting, while bows are much much quieter than a gun, it'd still suck to get a ticket cause a cop saw you firing your bow at a target.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

Yeah, I think most cities have ordinances against this. If you're in a rural area, or you know where an actual archery range is, then great.

I recommend a recurve bow. If you want to build proper skills, then something like a recurve will help with that.

When I took an archery class, my instructor's compound bow had a laser sight on it. It was pretty hard to take him seriously.

Rhan9

There are a couple of different approaches people have to bows. One is to splurge on the top of the line compound bows with all extra doodads known to man, which is going to be very expensive and in the end what you're operating is closer to a muscle-powered rifle than an actual bow. The middle of the way is to get a recurve bow, where you can switch the stock or the limbs depending on your future needs, and extra doodads can be added at your leisure. It is significantly cheaper to get a decent recurve bow than a decent compound bow, and the skills you build up are proper generic archery skills instead of the peculiar and specialized compound bow skills. If the money is an issue, or going for the core of archery as a discipline is something that you might fancy, I'd recommend getting a longbow or a flatbow if you manage to find a place that sells them. Good ones are cheaper than many middling recurves, and the way wooden bows and arrows shoot feels very different to the more common recurves and compound bows with their metal and carbon fibre arrows. It's my personal favorite, as it's cheap as far as hobbies go, and you're actually shooting a bow as they were known for almost the entirety of human history.

Sir Carcass

I used to compete in target shooting when I was younger. I shot a compound bow that my dad bought used from somewhere. We weren't wealthy by any stretch of the imagination, so I imagine he got it fairly cheap, so that's something to check on. You'll want to take it to a bow shop (or probably a firearm or hunting store) and have the pull set for your strength, and it's something you'll want to have adjusted occasionally as you get stronger. I think arrows are fairly cheap, and you won't need a whole lot and they'll last a good while. You'll probably want a quiver to keep them in. You can just attach it to a belt.

If you're doing serious target shooting, you'll probably want some sights. I had peephole sights or whatever they're called, basically a plastic tab with a hole on it on the string that you look through, and small metal poles for the sights set for different distances. I'd also recommend an arm guard because occasionally that string will pop you and it can sting a little. You'll also probably want a release, a thing you hold in your hand that latches onto the string, and when you push a button on it, it releases the string. That's about all the equipment I had.

For targets, my dad just bought a huge block of styrofoam from somewhere and painted some targets on it, but you could also just stick paper targets on it. We lived outside the city limits, so I can't tell you about laws related to that.

FyreWulff

Arrows are in fact pretty cheap and durable. I think my stepdad and brother have been shooting the same arrows for the past 3 years now, and have lost like one.

DirtyDirtyVagrant

Don't use a strong bow on a cheap arrow, though. My recurve has like a 90 pound pull, and one time I made the mistake of trying to shoot a cheap wooden arrow out of it. It just exploded in my face.

Inkyblots

That sounds pretty painful! I think I might have to look into those recurve bows, they seem to be a little less expensive and from what you guys say it will help me learn the basics.

Raekreu

Inkyblots wrote: »

That sounds pretty painful! I think I might have to look into those recurve bows, they seem to be a little less expensive and from what you guys say it will help me learn the basics.

ALSO: Unless you're going to buy a crossbow, I highly recommend purchasing a wrist guard of some kind. Seriously. A "weak" bow (say, 30-40 lb draw) can bruise and scratch your forearm/wrist in a pretty serious way. The only way that I know how to describe the injury is that it's like getting punched in the inner forearm by a guy wearing boxing gloves made of scratchy carpet.

Raneados

DEFINITELY get a wrist guard

it is possible to shoot it without one with how you angle your arm, but are you gonna remember that every time? nope

compound bows also are kinda ridiculous these days

draw strengths of >100 pounds, scopes, and yes laser sights

recurve was always more fun to me and always felt like more like actually what i envisioned shooting a bow to be
(this might not be the case at all for you, though)

I suggest going to a range. they always have a few bows to test shoot

Endomatic

DirtyDirtyVagrant wrote: »

When I took an archery class, my instructor's compound bow had a laser sight on it. It was pretty hard to take him seriously.

For when it's dark?

What's the rationality here?
You must have asked.

That's the only reason I can think of that you might have one of those for.

MrOletta

You can find hickory long bows on ebay for $60-70 if you want to just get started without a huge $ investment.

Guffrey

Back when I had my recurve (before the break in, damn vandals), I had a ton of fun target shooting. I'd check if you have any independent archery stores in the area. I bought a used bow from them, and they were very helpful (also buying used got me a very good quality bow for pretty cheap). Also, as mentioned, definitely get the draw strength adjusted to whatever you need (they should be able to help you with this). Finally, and I don't know if this is common, but the store I went to would adjust the size of the arrows you bought to fit your arm length.