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[Nathan]

Hey iam just new and in progress of taking up archery. Ok iam 14 years old and my eldest brothers friend dose archery (shoots recurve) and he offered to take me out for a bit at a range.

He has told me about some archery centres with beginers programs and so on but i was really wanting to know which you think i should start on. Compound or Recurve. I tried out my friends 36lb recurve (first time using bow) i liked it but needed alot of pointers. Ive always liked compound bows for their looks and ive read up about them and with the pound draw back seems more "flexiable" in weight(i mean you can vary the pounds more. hope iam right :oops: )

i was also wondering is it tru then you only have to pull compounds back and when you get to a certain place the weight sort of locks in so its easier to keap it back for longer... sorry still very new at this but i would like to change that and get into it. So what would you recomend Recurve or Compound and do you have any certain bows in mind which you find great for a beginer. I would like only to spend in the $500-$600.

Cheers
Nathan

[alexvpaq]

Hey welcome! :D
go there you'l have a lot of good info you'll need
http://www.archery-forum.com/viewtopic.php?t=92944
Ok after this you'll have a good basic,

[Nathan]

yer like i said i already know of places around me... anyway which do you think is better for a beginner?

[bobzila]

mate with that much money i would recomend getting a martin jag (compound) :D

[Patchy]

Nathan for the first few weeks, get your self to a club have a shot with their gear to see wheather you can stay interested. then If you want to fork out the bucks go with a used high end bow and buy the best gear you possibly can, cut no corners or expenses. Its far cheaper to fork out big once than learn the hard way on the cheaper junk.
Due to your age I would say you would have a quite a short draw have a look around for any used Mathews Mustangs, LX, icon etc.
Theres always a good few floating around from shooters who have upgraded there bows.

hope that helps :D

[tombutt]

dont spend the big money most clubs have bows you can use for a while i would recomend trying to use them for as long as you can some where around the 2 month mark then try some peoples bows before ou decide what sort of bow you like

[Nathan]

ok well ive had a try of a low pound recurve and i got to say i like it but i havent tried a compound yet but i think i would rather a compound. Its my birthday on the 12th so i will just ask for money so i can go buy a bow myself :D

[Hannah]

ok well ive had a try of a low pound recurve and i got to say i like it but i havent tried a compound yet but i think i would rather a compound. Its my birthday on the 12th so i will just ask for money so i can go buy a bow myself :D

I hope you haven't gotten a compound yet...and I hope I am not too late! I can tell you that what the guys say about trying out a clubs bow is completely accurate...you do NOT want to be forking out that much money on a bow you haven't even tried! When my husband and I started, my husband thought he would do exactly the same thing so that when we first went to the club we had all of our own equipment...six months down the track:
a) we were not able to recoup the costs on spending only $400 odd on compound bows, and indeed still have a bow that we just cannot sell.
b) I prob would have attempted recurve but had never tried either so was stuck with what my overexuberant (but well intentioned) husband thought was best (having said that, there is a lot of joy in shooting either - each have their own advantages and disadvantages).
c) I am now shooting a long term borrowed bow because I could not afford anything else, and was shooting well, but not seeing the results because the bow was not right for me.

All in all:
a) although you do not have your own equipment, you are able to really feel (and thus understand) the difference between shooting poorer quality bows and better ones without forking out anything.
b) you have a much better idea of what it is that each bow could offer you and even the qualities of the different types of compound (and I presume recurve) bows - there is such a wide selection!

Honestly, try other people's bows (both compound AND recurve) and ask as many questions about different cam systems, different grips, different sights, scopes, arrow rests etc...it is an investment that you don't want to spend money on and then six months down the track regret it - I know, I have already been there and done that!

[Nathan]

yer next time i go to the range iam gonna see if i can get my hands on someones compound (with their permission) and shoot afew off.. also would compounds last longer then recurve because i hear alot of people breaking limbs or are in need of new limbs so in the long run would a compound be cheaper?

[Hannah]

also would compounds last longer then recurve because i hear alot of people breaking limbs or are in need of new limbs so in the long run would a compound be cheaper?

Of this, I am not sure...but I can tell you that I wouldn't have thought it would make much difference. Do not think that compound bows are impervious to splintering/breaking etc, there are just - from what I understand - different ways of dealing with both. For instance, I have heard of a number of compound bows' limbs cracking/splintering/breaking, but have not heard of as many recurve ones. Having said that, I am not really in the recurve scene, so it may be that it is just not mentioned because it is not relevant. In terms of cost, I honestly would not have thought there would be much difference both short term and long term and if I were you, I wouldn't make any decision on this basis. At the end of the day, as long as you look after your equipment well, you should not have any major hassles with either.

Hope this helps!

[ninevalleys]

hey,

when it comes to limbs and stuff breaking, you dont have to worry, that stuff mostly only happens if the owner takes bad care of the gear. yes there are times when they can fail due to the manufacturing but its not too common. now on the decision about recurve and compound, either is great, each have their strong points adn each haev their weak points. everyone has to make the decison when starting (well not everyone), you find like me that eventually you want to change to the other style for variety. no matter which one you pick you should enjoy it.

cheers NV

[Jay.G]

yes as from above gears are pretty hard to break unless you really abuse them like throwing them on the wall and such... but if you do take care of them its pretty hard to break a pair of limbs. Well mainly just DON'T DRY FIRE IT!!!

[hoyt for life 2]

They get chiped really easrly though, just hitting you scope as the bow rolls over in your hand after release can take a nice chunk out of the outside coating(ive got about 10 on my g3's)