I'm not sure there will be much traffic in this group. Most people that use this site are not beginners. Just my 2 cents. Brian
I feel this would be a good group, that's why I created it. You would not believe the number of telephone calls I get from parents and even adults wanting to know how to get started. Beginners should not go to places like wal-mart. This would be extremely bad. You will most likely not get fitted properly. This will cause huge problems in shooting accuracy and you will probably get discouraged. Find a real pro shop. If you don't know of any pro shops, find an Archery Club near you. They should be able to point you to a real pro shop. If you don't know how to find an Archery club near you go here and click one one of the Club search links. Proper fit is probably the number one problem in archery shooting today. Many people have bows with draw lengths that are too long. In the beginning, I too used to shoot a 30" draw. I currently am shooting 29" and I'm 6'1" tall. If your 5' 8" you do not have a 30" draw. I just hope this group will provide the necessary information to get beginners started. If you are a beginner, no question is a dumb question. If you start this sport right, it will become a life long passion. Please ask questions, we'll help you.
Dang skippy, Chris. We all started out as newbies. We learned from people just like ourselves. People that were kind enuf pass along their knowledge. There is only one dumb question. That is the question that was never asked!
I couldn't agree more. When I was in the military I was told there was never a dumb question if you don't know the answer. As for newbies I'm 50, never picked up a bow till Dec 2003. I don't have the benifit of a good pro shop in my area yet so I relied on forums such as these to find answers to problems I was having and recieved some very good advice, and a fair share of smartass answers. I just attributed those to stupidity from the person that replyed. If you need help, you need help and you won't get it unless you do ask. Just weed thru the comments and filter out the ones that show they are acting like god and and full of themselves. You will find good advice from most.
Hey guys thats what i like to hear because just about everything i've learned in life not just (Archery) i've learned from great people just like yourselves, by asking. I've been bow hunting for many many years now, but i would like to get into the sport of 3D thats is why i joined this board. I'll have lots more stupid and maybe not so stupid questions to come. Thanks Everybody. RM
Besides, one never knows when a "simple" question will point out that we really don't know as much as we thought we did.
rm, I like your attitude. Believe me son, we all started somewhere. The guy that doesn't ask his "dumb" questions rarely learns. Bring 'em on. Even us experienced guys learn every day. That's why I checked out his thread.
I find myself in the revisitation of old hobbies. I kinda got tired of saying "I used to do that . . . ", I had a Bear 30# when I was eight, but dropped the habit by high school. Now, 20-odd years later, I feel the itch to get callouses on my fingers and having a sore forearm, go fig. So, I got myself a recurve and am in the process of finding a local range . . . I wonder if it will be legal to set up targets at the local park. I do look forward to pestering you folk with questions here. btw, am I correct in assuming you are mostly compound users?
Welcome to our forum and welcome back to an extremely fun hobby. I would check with your local park district before shooting in any parks. No use getting fined. Some areas are fortunate to have archery ranges. Another possibility is to call any local archery shop and ask them about ranges and clubs near you.
I have been a compound shooter for several years. I started with a recurve, but, followed the trend to compounds and the use of sights. I can truthfully say that I harvest more deer with the compound and sights. I will hunt with a compound this season. But........ About a year ago I got the itch to shoot instinctive again. That led me back to the recurve bow. I looked at the custom wood bows and boy are they sweet. But, they are also pricey. I finally decided on the PSE "Coyote" take down bow. Anyhow, I am really enjoying the recurve bow and the instinctive shooting. I am not so good at it yet that I feel comfortable hunting deer with the bow. But, I hope to be proficient with it for next year. At 10 steps I am right on. But, just stepping out to 15 yards I see that I stand a better chance of missing the deer, or worse, scoring a bad hit. The latter being the worst. I have been shooting with some traditional archers and they have been a big help to me. They have helped me past the sore fingers and bruised forearm. Have fun and Good Shootin'
beginners I am a beginner. I have been shooting less than 6 months now. I've never had a question go unanswered by pro's or anyone else in the sport. I've never met a group of people better than the people I find on these forums. There isn't very many groups where the professionals are kind and considerate and take the time to help out others like there are in archery and I'm very glad I got into archery. I love my PSE Durango. I haven't started in 3-d shoots yet but plan on doing so in the very near future. I also would like to try turkey hunting with my bow. I read the posts and ask what I don't understand and have learned alot. I appreciate people like yourselves and places like this forum that help us "newbies". Ginny