DescentBB

Well, my Dad likes to take me out shooting, but I find the sport rather expensive with ammo and I always feel uneasy with a gun. I am more into older weapons myself. If I knew of some local classes for swordsmanship, I would take them but I don't. Personally, I would like to learn how to use duel katanas.


For now, I will have to settle for something a little more subtle. I was walking through the store the other day and noticed some compact bows on sale and found myself somewhat interested in them. Heck, I love longbow and crossbows in various games. I figured why not, I don't have to deal with the annoying bang and you can re-use the ammo if your just doing target practice. A lot of people around here like to use bows out in the baseball field that I live just an alley away from, so I think it could be pretty fun.


Any recommendation on bows or arrows?

I'll probably use compact because it has more power and requires less pull. I may move into something else later when I gain more arm strength.

You mean compound bow?
http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm

See if you can find an archery range in your area that rents the equipment and try several models.

Try different draw weights and such... there's a lot of differences in the way bows shoot.

Ask the owner of the range and shooters for advice and before you start shooting get some safety training.

People in the sport are generally very willing to help you out and get you set up properly.

Many of my friends bow hunt. It takes much more skill to stalk and succesfully drop an animal at 15 yards with a bow, than a rifle/scope at 150 yards.

Hope this helps.

Doh! Compound bow. Pardon me. I'm mostly familiar with crossbows and longbows.

There aren't any archery ranges around where I live. Mostly you just go out in the desert and shoot whatever.


I also don't personally know anyone that uses one but I've seen a few people every once in a while go out and shoot in the baseball feild at various targets that they, themselves, set up.


I'm not really into hunting myself, nor is my Dad at his age so I'm mostly interested in just shooting at targets such as cans. For the bow, that may be an actual target though.


Anyway, thanks for the link, I'll give it a read.

Canuck wrote:Many of my friends bow hunt. It takes much more skill to stalk and succesfully drop an animal at 15 yards with a bow, than a rifle/scope at 150 yards.

i'm wondering how hard it would be with dual katanas

/me pictures MobMess running after an elk with swords. "YAAAAAAAAAARRR!!"*

*[sorry i only know the warcry for a broadsword weilder. maybe a katana weilder would have less "A"s]

I have a compound bow and some experience shooting, both with my dad's and with my own, puny 15-pound-draw bow. My recommendation to you: try out the bow before you buy it. Don't get one out of an online store, and make sure that you either get a bow with an adjustable draw weight or one that you can take back within 60 days.

When I started with my bow, I could barely draw it. It was a 10-pound draw. Granted, I was 10 at the time, but STILL! I'm now 16, can pick up over 200 pound objects, and can BARELY draw my dad's 65-pound-draw bow. I certainly can't draw it more than twice in a row. This is after having used my bow for a long time, mind you.

The muscles you'll use for drawing a bow are entirely different from the muscles commonly used in everyday life. Compound bows are better about this because they don't require NEARLY as much effort to hold at a drawn position as a regular bow, but still, they will be very hard on your arms for quite a while. Try to get out as often as you can to shoot an arrow or two, just to strengthen up your arms, or if you can't do that, get a bow that you can draw without too much strain on your arms. If you're going to do this as a recreational activity, you don't want to come home every time you shoot a few arrows with a strained muscle or ligament. If you want to practice an exercise that will help you with the muscles used to draw a bow, find a weight set that lets you do butterfly exercises. Mostly stuff that works out the muscles UNDERNEATH your arm. You'll need a lot of range of motion and strength in order to draw a bow repeatedly.

If you're going to buy a compound bow, make sure it's one designed for target, not hunting. Unless of course, you plan to hunt. You definitely dont want to pull a hunting bow 100 times in a target session.

It might be cool to try an olympic stlye recurve bow. They can be broken down into 3 peices, so they're very portable. I'm sure they're very accurate and perhaps less expensive than a compound. I've heard that PSE (Precision Shooting Equipment) bows are pretty good. Try www.cabelas.com for a selection.

I have an old browning compound. I had the same idea you did a long time ago. Bought a compound to shoot targets and ended up hating it because the damn thing was set up to kill deer, not shoot targets.

While not up on the newer compounds, I do have a Jennings Arrowstar that I bought about 20 years age. This bow has 4 pulleys and has a range of draw weights that you can adjust it to. Remember the advantage of a compund is the "let off" of the draw weight once you pull back beyond a certain point.

Off track a little but since you mention cost of ammo as being a reason for going to a bow, have you thought of air rifles/pistols? Air guns are inexpensive to shoot, highly accurate and come in a wide price range to fit your budget.

Never, ever fire it point-blank.

Forget the compound bow; why not try out an English longbow that's taller than you are? You can go all Battle of Agincourt style on somebody.

Sergeant Thorne wrote:Never, ever fire it point-blank.

Or dry fire. Pulling back the string and letting it go without an arrow in it.

Don't forget a glove and wrist/forearm protector...

Top gun, an English longbow had about a 150 pound draw. You had to train from childhood to use the dang things!

Details, details...

A friend in Highschool had one, I drew it and could almost feel the vertebrae seperating in my back

Look for a cheap target bow, you could probably pick something up with a 35# draw for $35-$70.

compounds are PURE EVIL

There's nothing like a wood-and-sinew recurve in your hands, with just hte right tiller, feeling the power all down your back as the draw angle changes perfectly until your hand is on your cheeck.

Pulleys and clickers are great innovations and are vastly superior from a mechanical efficiency standpoint... but they're a desecration.

If you want to get into bows for real, buy one to start, but learn to make your own.