Bow Hunting Part II: Picking Out Equipment

Today I present to you the second part in Roberts Bow Hunting series. I am loving this series and learning so much. Let’s just get right to it then. -James

Picking Out Equipment

The first thing you have to consider, when picking out equipment, is your budget. You can easily find really nice used equipment for 1/3 the price of brand new equipment. When I decided to try out archery hunting I found a good used cross bow, I paid $200 with bolts and it was already sighted in, so it was ready to hunt. In Wyoming it is legal to hunt with a crossbow, in some states it is not, so check your laws before buying one. The next thing to consider is what type of bow you want to shoot. Your choices are, “traditional” recurve and long bow or “new age” compound and crossbow, there are traditional style crossbows, but I am speaking of crossbows with cams.

Traditional bows are built with a certain draw length and draw weight such as a Bear Grizzly

or a Turkish long bow.

These style bows are very simple and very trust worthy. You can get a couple extra strings and a dozen arrows and you will be set up for years to come. They make recurve backpack (takedown) bows, which are very good to add to your preps because of how small you can break them down and how light they are. They are very versatile and you can take all sorts of game with them .

Now we can talk about compound bows, they come in many shapes and sizes so I will just give you a basic picture of how versatile they are. You can buy a youth model bow that has an adjustable draw length from 13” to 27” and draw weight from 12# to 40# which encompasses most young children to adult age people. This is a very good tool for a beginner of any age to get used to drawing and work on form. Women’s bows usually range from 40# to 50# or 50# to 60# and 23” to 28” draw length.

There may be some difference in weights mentioned but most vary 10 pounds. You can find some older bows that vary 15 pounds as well, but those are few and far between. Standard men’s bows vary from 50# to 60# or 60# to 70# and a draw length that ranges from 26” to 30” on average. You can buy heavier draw weight limbs for your bow that can go up to 90 pounds, but if you ask me (I’m a big guy) that’s just over kill, because you will have to buy all sorts of extra expensive crap to be able to shoot it, so in turn it is not economic.

Now let’s talk about crossbows. I’m talking about hunting crossbows, not what Darrell shoots on The Walking Dead. You can get a crossbow at 125# 150# 175# all of them are pretty much equal on shooting ability, you just need to go with what suits you best. Check with your local archery shop and they will help you determine what suits you best, as well as installing a crank if necessary. Crossbows come in 14”, 16”, 18” and 20” bolt lengths.

Now we can talk about speed. The crossbow is of course going to fly faster than all of them, but new compound bows are coming close to crossbows, with some having a FPS (feet per second) rating at 365 FPS and on average crossbows shoot around 380 FPS. This is what I mentioned in my last article when talking about new speed bows. Compound bows took a huge step when they developed the new single cam design, they are much easier too shoot than the 2 cam design and it brought about the age of speed bows. I have shot some older bows (made in the late 90’s) that don’t even compare to the speed rating of the newer bows, but they were still getting it done with kinetic energy (The energy possessed by a body because of its motion, equal to one half the mass of the body times the square of it’s speed.). Older style bows were getting it done because they were shooting aluminum arrows, which are much heavier than the new carbon arrows. I’m an advocate for kinetic energy. To me it is not about how fast my bow shoots, it’s how hard my arrow hits. I shoot a Bear Anarchy that is rated at 340 FPS but with my heavy arrows and broadheads it shoots right around 310 FPS and my arrow hits with 110# of kinetic energy.

Let’s talk about arrows. There are literally hundreds of different brands and types of arrows, which includes, carbon, fiberglass, wood, and aluminum. They all have different ratings on what they can handle, draw length and weight etc. There are target arrows, hunting arrows, bow fishing arrows (we will get into bow fishing in the upcoming practice article), and several other types.

So in conclusion, if you decide to take up archery, you have some choices to make but don’t be overwhelmed, take it one step at a time and you will be fine. Start by looking for a used bow and save some money when you are starting out. Don’t forget what I mentioned earlier about getting a better deal on used equipment, since most archers take good care of it . When you do find one, make sure it’s a good fit and if there is any wear around the axle and cam or in the limb pockets just walk away from it and don’t turn back because that can get dangerous very fast. If you question anything on it, take it to a shop where they will help you look it over and give you pointers on knowing what to look for, so you don’t get hurt physically or financially. When you are at the shop have them help you determine your draw length. If you want to do it yourself just use this little guide, (To measure your draw length, determine the length of your arm-span in inches. Stand with your arms out and palms facing forward. Don’t stretch when measuring. Just stand naturally. Have someone else help you, and measure from the tip of one middle finger to the other. Then simply divide that number by 2.5. The quotient is your proper draw length (in inches) for your body size). Remember, if you’re not sure, go a little less draw length, too many people go with too much and end up hitting themselves or have bad form or a combination of both. The guy at the shop can help you choose to use a release or a glove. I would shoot with a release, unless you are going to go traditional then use a glove. Whichever style you decide to go with, I know you will be as hooked as I am, the first time you shoot.

Have a good day and may God let your arrow fly straight!

(p.s. be watching for the next article on survival punk.com)

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