Beginner: how to choose your first bow?

Beginner: how to choose your first bow?

Archery, everyone knows it! Many of us have tinkered with small bows and arrows, and let's not forget the hero Robin Hood! In short, archery is a bit like a Proustian madeleine!

So, when you decide to get into it, whether for leisure at home, for hunting, or within a structure for a more sporting practice, choosing your first bow is a delicate step.

To help you in this process, find in this article our various tips for choosing your first bow well.

The 3 essential criteria to consider when choosing your bow.

Regardless of the bow you choose, you'll need to consider your handedness, your draw length, and the power you can draw.

Handedness:

Left-handed or right-handed? That's the first question to ask yourself! Be careful, just because you write with your right hand doesn't mean you'll be right-handed for archery! 

In this sport, we'll talk about the "dominant eye": which eye do you aim with?

To determine your dominant eye, here's a simple trick:

With both eyes open, point your thumb at an object at a distance of 5 m. Then close your left eye.

• If your thumb remains centered on the target, it means that your right eye is your dominant eye.
• If your thumb shifts to the left of the target, it means your left eye is your dominant eye.

Generally, a right-handed archer aims with their right eye, holds the bow with their left hand, and pulls the string with their right hand. For a left-handed archer, it's the opposite!

A right-handed person should therefore opt for a right-handed bow (RH for "Right handed") and a left-handed person, for an LH bow ("Left handed").

What is draw length?

The draw length corresponds to the length measured in shooting position between you and your bow. More precisely, between the string that you pull to your face anchors and the center of your grip, this handle by which you hold your bow.

It is obviously different from one archer to another depending on their build, height, amplitude...

In archery, measurements are Anglo-Saxon, so we don't talk about centimeters, but inches (symbolized by "). Note that you need to divide centimeters by 2.54 to find the equivalent in inches.

Finally, to choose equipment, particularly arrows, an international common rule has been established. We refer to the AMO (Archery Manufacturers Organization) draw length, which is the length found at the pivot point (grip hollow) plus 1.75''.

It's by starting with your draw length that you can determine the size of the bow or some of its mechanical characteristics that will be suitable for you.

How to measure your draw length? Some advice here!

The power of the bow

We don't talk in kilograms, but in pounds represented by the symbol #.

For recurve bows, the power is established every 2#. For compound bows, we can have power ranges, and finally, for traditional bows, the fixed power will be calibrated every 5#.

The power of the bow will therefore depend on your physical capabilities.

Our advice: your practice will evolve, your power too! So, don't start with too much power at the beginning because you might not be able to control it, worse yet, you could injure yourself!

The different types of bows

When you decide to invest in your first bow, you will already have a choice between 3 types of bows:

It should be noted that these 3 main types of bows are further divided into several families:

• Recurve bows WITH or WITHOUT sight
• TARGET or HUNTING compound bows
• ONE-PIECE RECURVE bows, TAKEDOWN bows, LONGBOWS, or even HORSEBOWS for traditional bows.

As you can understand, your choice will be a difficult one!

Classical bows (or recurve bows)

This is the Olympic bow. It is also the most commonly used bow currently and the one that clubs use for training.

Takedown, it consists at minimum of a handle (which can be made of wood, aluminum, carbon), a pair of limbs which can also be composed of different materials (wood, foam, fiberglass, carbon), an arrow rest and a string.

The price of the equipment will depend on the materials used and the brand.

Additionally, depending on the discipline you wish to practice, you can equip it with a sight, a plunger button, stabilization, a clicker. You can also leave it 'bare' for barebow shooting.

The recurve bow is an evolving bow used for leisure or club practice, for all archers wanting equipment that allows reliable and accurate shooting.

Compound bows

These are the most mechanized bows in archery that require archers to have at least a minimal interest in tuning techniques.

This non-takedown bow has 2 pulleys at its ends. It is also equipped with a string and cables. The whole system, when activated, allows for drawing a higher power thanks to a lever effect.

By pulling on the string, the archer will activate the pulleys and cables, which will require an initial effort to be made on the maximum power called the peak. 

After the peak effort, the power will decrease due to the lever effect, allowing the archer to retain all the stored energy and power, but with less effort required (let-off) to maintain power.

Complemented with accessories, this bow, which perfectly combines power and precision, can be used for precision target shooting, but also in hunting situations thanks to compounds specially designed by manufacturers for this discipline.

Traditional bows

These are the bows reserved for instinctive practice: no sight or additional accessories, just the archer, their bow, their arrow, and their target!

In traditional bows, we find longbows, one-piece recurve bows, takedown recurve bows, and horse bows.

They all have this in common: they are simple, often made of wood with a bit of carbon for the more sophisticated ones.

Without an arrow rest, often equipped with a simple carpet, we use arrows with natural feathers with these bows, which gives them greater authenticity.

These are bows that will require practice to develop one's instinctive aiming. Particularly suited for field archery disciplines, they are often powerful bows and less comfortable than classic bows, so be careful when choosing the power at purchase.

Learn more about different types of bows

Which bow for which discipline?

In theory, you can use almost anything for all disciplines!

Now, let's be very clear, some bows are more designed for certain practices than for others.

Recurve bows will be perfect for indoor shooting, outdoor shooting, and field archery. For 3D and nature shooting, it's possible and perfect in barebow, but know that with a sight, you'll be classified like compound bows in the "free style" category, which is much more difficult considering the distances to estimate. For hunting, you'll clearly lack power.

Compound bows are the most "all-terrain", although it's necessary to differentiate between "target" and "hunting" compounds: target compounds are larger for more stability and accuracy, hunting compounds are smaller for more practicality and speed. It's difficult under these conditions to achieve results with the same bow on all terrains.

Traditional bows can be used indoors, not really on stadiums because the distances are long, but it's obviously in the course disciplines that you'll have the most fun truly applying your instinctive shooting!

For hunting, it's the one-piece or takedown recurve that is used because it is shorter, faster than the longbow and more accurate than the horse bow.

To summarize:

How to choose my recurve bow?

First, you will choose the size of the bow (based on your height and draw length)

You will then need to combine the length of the handle and that of the limbs to arrive at the final size of your bow.

To help you, here is some simple information on the size of the bow based on the lengths of the limbs and the handle:

Here are our recommendations based on your draw length: 

To choose a beginner recurve bow, we do not recommend limbs that are too fast and nervous: stick to limbs made of wood, fiberglass, or even with a bit of carbon, but always in the entry-level range (maximum: 150€ - 175€ per pair of limbs)

How to choose my compound bow?

After choosing whether you want to do target shooting or hunting, taking the draw length will allow you to precisely determine the necessary draw that your bow should make.

Also think about the size of the bow: we're talking about axle-to-axle length (ATA or "Axle to Axle").

Target compound bows will be larger and heavier than hunting compound bows.

A larger and heavier bow allows for greater stability for more accuracy, which is the very purpose of a target compound. For hunting, the archer needs a shorter, lighter bow to adapt to all shooting situations. The shot is quick, the distance shorter: the need for stability is less important.

Power and speed (FPS): two elements to consider. 

Hunting compound bows are often faster and more powerful than target compound bows for better penetration into the animal. In terms of power, target compound bows are limited to 60# in federal regulations.

The pulleys (or cams) are also important elements in choosing your bow because certain models confer very different properties (comfort, demand...). Manufacturers constantly innovate in this area, so in case of doubt, don't hesitate to contact us!

How to choose my traditional bow?

Longbows generally measure 68" and can be drawn by anyone, however, for smaller builds, there are smaller models that will allow you better performance.

One-piece and takedown recurve bows have final bow sizes ranging from 58 to 64'' generally. We recommend 64'' bows for very long draw lengths, those really over 30''.

Horse bows are the shortest, but also have the most curved limb profiles, so no worries, all will suit all archer sizes!

Regarding power, be careful: the power is always calculated on a 28" draw length, for all bows.

If you have a longer draw length: you will then develop more power than what is calibrated 

If you have less, you will shoot less powerfully.

Be careful, because depending on the models, it can go quite low and rise... very high!