Can someone help me out with a bow?

[fast-eddie]

I know nothing about bows. I just baught a Darten SL30 from a friend for $30 dollars. It seems to be in good working order and if there were any problems I could get my money back. I don't know how to tell what the pound rating (see know nothing) is.

I figure that I'll use it and practice for the next 6 months or so and buy a new one for next Deer hunting season. May be my step son could step up to this one later.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Like I say I know nothing, I'm even curious what the basic gear is to I need go along with the bow and what practice arrows to use.

(Well after a little reserch I think I should go to a pro and measure the draw length for what size arrows to use.)

[castnblast]

You are right on - go visit a pro shop. You need to make sure it fits your draw, or you will develop horrible habits and will have a very difficult time shooting accurately. hopefully the bow will fit you. Fit is not a problem for recurves, as the draw lenth has not stops. It is a problem for compounds which they have stopping points. If the pro shop says it does not fit, save yourself a lot of headaches, and get one that does. If it does fit, GREAT! you can shoot any bow accurately that fits you. You don't need a 800.00 bow to shoot tight groups. Just one that fits. Also, make sure you buy arrows that are spined for your draw weight and lenght. I like Easton Epics, they are not that expensive, and they are very high quality for the price. The other thing I like about them is they are on the heavy side for carbon arrows. I have punched through every deer I have shot, that includes a double shoulder blades. I have also killed two javelinas w/ one shot @ 35 yds. went through one shoulder blade, exited behind the left shoulder, and double lunged the one behind it, The arrow stuck in the ground even after all of that. Both hoggies were dead and barely went 20 yds.

[ZeroJunk]

You can measure the draw weight by using a hanging scale capable of measuring up to 80 pounds or so and just hooikng thestring over it and pulling down. You should reach a high point and then let off to 50% or less at full draw.


It won't hurt you to pull the bow back and see if you can hold it comfortably with your thumb knuckle against the back of your jaw bone. That's as good an anchor point as any if you are starting out.
If you run out of pull before you get there the bow is set up too short for you. You can feel where the let off transition is and if the bow is not letting you get past it to the point you are in a strain keeping it from rolling over then it is set up too long for you.
There is some length adjustment in a lot of these bows.If it is a dual cam bow then it needs to be timed correctly, so like the previous advice it would be good to find a local archery shop and have them set it up for you, replace serving as neccessary, etc.

Personally, I don't like these new ultra short bows and still hunt with a Darton that is 15 years old.

[Brian Pfleuger]

1) Go to a pro shop.

2) Ask them if they have a pro who will teach you to shoot back-tension.

3) If they say "no", repeat 1) and 2), if "yes" go to 4)

4)That bow will serve you just fine. Have the bow shop that says "Yes" to question 2) get it set up for you, and then learn to shoot. Within a few months you'll be able to outshoot 99% of other archers with $1200 worth of 2009 equipment and 20 years of "experience" if they aren't using back-tension.

[fast-eddie]

Thank you guys, I book marked this page and I'll follow all of your advice to the world. This foray into the world of bows is more about my kids being interested, I figure I had better learn as as much as possible. Thank you guys, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.

[castnblast]

You'll be hooked. I shoot a PSE Carerra that is 9 years old. Still shoots great.

[Brian Pfleuger]

You'll be hooked. I shoot a PSE Carerra that is 9 years old. Still shoots great.

I shot a York until it was 17 years old.... just this year I finally upgraded. Mainly because it was having some serious cam lean going on. There are some definite advantages to SOME of the newer equipment. Oddly, none of the true advantages are what "they" talk about in all the ads. In fact, the "latest and greatest" new advancements are more likely to be a detriment to the average shooter than an advantage.

[Swampghost]

Bow hunting central for Southerners. http://www.downsouthhuntingforums.com/index.php Have fun!

[NikonHunter]

I'm even curious what the basic gear is to I need go along with the bow and what practice arrows to use.

You will be using the same arrows for practice that you do for hunting. The only difference is the tips. Most of you practice will be with field points and your hunting will involve broadheads.

Basic gear:

Glove or mechanical release to draw and release string.
Arrow rest.
Sights.
String peepsight.
Front stabilizer.
Arrow quiver.
Arrows.

Helps to use string silencers too which helps to keep the string noise down after/during the shot.

NikonHunter

[wyobohunter]

Consider one without the training wheels. I started out with a compound that cost $$$ with all the goodies that cost $$. Turns out, my trad bows are much more fun to shoot and are much more durable and lighter to pack around. Not that I'm against wheel bows, just sayin' you should try a recurve or long bow before spending a pile of cash on a compound.

[ZeroJunk]

just sayin' you should try a recurve or long bow before

I have a friend that started making his own bows and he is as addicted to it as if it was crystal meth or something.

He is uncanny accurate with it but he messes with the things several hours a day.

But, the satisfaction of being successful with a recurve or long bow and instinctive shooting requires a lot of work and dedication.

[Newton24b]

Problems of using old bows.
-after 3 model years the companies have changed string material to the point that a 4 or 5 model year old bow cant be used with it.
-replacement parts arent going to be made once model years change.
-the plastic materials used havea definite shelf life. the replacementparts you find in the warehouse after 5 years will be short lifed and expensive.
-the bow limbs themselves will only last a certain number of use cycles, once that is met they shatter baby.

[hogdogs]

[IMG]ARROWS

This ain't anyone I know....
Tap the carbon fiber with yer knuckle listening for a dull sound. I suggest intentionally whacking a new carbon fiber against a tree trunk until it cracks so you can learn the sound to avoid the above injury from a cracked arrow.
Brent

[4winds]

Ask for advice, measurement, pick their ears and BUY something!!! They are their for you and if worth their salt will help you with all your questions, my last proshop owner and I became close friends. I could have saved money from the web on many things, but the advice and lessons learned saved me even more money cuz there are a lot of gizmos and the proshops have seen em all. Check out archerytalk.com it's a great site for info. Good luck to you and be prepared to be hooked!

[Brian Pfleuger]

Originally Posted by Newton24b

Problems of using old bows.
-after 3 model years the companies have changed string material to the point that a 4 or 5 model year old bow cant be used with it.
-replacement parts arent going to be made once model years change.
-the plastic materials used havea definite shelf life. the replacementparts you find in the warehouse after 5 years will be short lifed and expensive.
-the bow limbs themselves will only last a certain number of use cycles, once that is met they shatter baby.

I'll have to address these one by one:

String replacement: Until this year I was using a bow that I bought new in 1992. I had the string replaced every couple of years, last time was 2 years ago. I never had a problem getting a string.

Replacement parts: Bows almost never break. If they do break it is usually not a replaceable part and it is usually because you did something really bad, like repeatedly dry-fire. I've never known anyone who had a problem with replacement parts availability or life span.

The limbs: The bows limbs are EXTREMELY unlikely to "shatter". Aside from severe abuse, like using the bow as a hammer, the far and away the most likely cause of eventual failure is through usage induced fatigue. Unless that bow has been fired 10s of thousands of times and you are going to continue to fire it 10s of thousands of more times, then don't worry about it.


Also, for probably about $50 in shipping costs you can send the bow back to Darton and have them look at it. They'll replace anything that they have available that needs fixing and make sure that everything is in good working order. Many companies will do this work for free or very cheap. The guy at Darton (can't remember his name right now) is very nice and knowledgeable. They may very well offer you a nice discount on a new bow as well. They're good people.... so are the people at most of the other bow companies. They usually get customer service done right.

[ZeroJunk]

I have had two limbs break. They were never dry fired. One was a Darton, can't remember for certain what the other was since at that time I bought a new one every year. One could be heard cracking pulled back on a buck, so I just let off. The other was target shooting and it came apart.
Both were fixed by the dealer, who was a one man bow shop, no questions asked.
This latest bow has had nothing done to it other than have the serving replaced, and I have hunted with it a long time.
Bows have come a long way in the past 30 years. I think the lightweight arrows and heads were a little ahead of the bows capability to withstand such light loading at one time.

[Brian Pfleuger]

I think the lightweight arrows and heads were a little ahead of the bows capability to withstand such light loading at one time.

I agree.

I've known a few guys that shoot arrows so light that they are effectively dry firing the bow every time they shoot. The really stupid part is that they don't even stop to calculate the kinetic energy being produced. Every bow that I've ever personally tested produces more KE with arrows that are a bit on the heavy side, like about 6.2 grains per pound of draw weight, than they do with super-light (under 5gr/lb) arrows. Super-light, ultra-fast arrows have their place in 3D tournaments at unknown distances, but that's about it. At 25 yards on a deer the difference between 265 and 285 fps is not going to make you hit or miss.

[fast-eddie]

Hey fella's, thank you for all of the replies. I went into a shop and got measured for arrows (29") bought six and a new stick on guide. It had a guide for a mechanical realease and the guys said it was "a loud monstrosity" . They said I should learn using a finger tab release for now, but an old timer that was sitting in the shop said to use one that attached to the wrist and had a roach clip type thing on it (the name escapes me).

They set me up and let me shoot in the shop for about an hour and it was fun. I'll be taking the kids in this week to try it out, they'll have a blast I'm sure. I may spring for a private lesson for the family.

I am going to get some recurves for the kids for Christmas, nothing to spendy ($150 tops), any suggestions on what to get or brands to stay away from? I may have caught the bug after the short time there.

The old timer said that my string has a realase so you can change in the field and said that these plastic clips can explode, any dea what he meant?

[davlandrum]

If I may suggest a minor upgrade, get a whisker biskit rest to replace the stick-on.

Have fun!