Bow for wife

[Fire_9]

After tagging along at out annual traditional shoot in MT and listening to me talk about ordering our 2 year old a Mad Dog pup longbow, my wife has demanded that she needs a bow. Not a bad problem to have but I’m having a tough time deciding what direction to go. The first question is compound or traditional? We all know things are more fun when you can hit what you’re aiming at but we also know a single string bow is way more fun. On the traditional side I was leaning towards an ILF setup but she may want a pretty wood bow. Either way I think a 3 piece is a must so I can start her light. I’ve got a sammick sage I can throw some lighter limbs on but I’m worried it’ll be a little bulky for her.

I know the best answer is going to be to put as many bows in her hand as I can but I figured I would start here. So for those of you that have wives and daughters that shoot, how did you start them out and what are they shooting?

Thanks!

 

[oldgoat]

Start her out light, but unless she's taller and has monkey arms like my wife, she won't be pulling 28", so take that into account on the bow weight, get light arrows, bow won't be shooting that hard and thus won't break them. Probably 800 spine. Sage will be fine to start, my daughter has Burger King hands and she didn't have any problems with it

 

[LostArra]

Grip size and feel is important for archers with smaller hands
Overall weight of bow
Low draw weight but with good performance

I have a high performance one piece 32# reflex/deflex longbow (essentially a recurve) built by Bill Matlock for his wife
Every woman who shoots it, loves it.

I've got 4 adult daughters and their many friends who have been introduced to archery with that bow.
My one serious hunting daughter started as an adult shooting the Matlock but moved to a compound for accuracy purposes. Her job limited her practice time.

 

[Fire_9]

Ended up ordering her a Samick little fox with 25# limbs. I figured the smaller riser would be a little better for her and I think the 25# limbs should be light enough but we’ll see. Now I need to build a bigger backstop behind my targets...

 

[Superkodiak38]

First off, good job involving the whole family. Archery is great fun, as you know. One question is did you verify her eye dominance ? I ask because that is the first thing I do with a new shooter. If she is right handed and left eye dominant, like my wife, it can be an issue. If you don't know how to or are unsure have her look at an object like a door knob or a flower, something small. With both eyes open extend her arms and make a triangle by overlapping her thumbs and fingers. The triangle should be just a little bigger than the object, then with both eyes open have her move the triangle towards her face keeping the object in the center of the triangle. It will naturally move to the dominant side while staying in focus. If her eye dominance matches her handedness you are good, if not you might want to consider changing bows before the frustration kicks in. My wife said she was lined up, shot and the arrow "jumped" and missed the target. I got her a lefty and it cleared it right up. Good luck and I hope you guys have fun shooting together... also popping balloons is great for new shooters and kids love it !

 

[bobinmi]

Start her off with s 25-30lb sage. If she likes it, she will progress into heavier limbs. Its more than adequate for hunting and will allow her to figure out what she likes and what she doesn't like before she buys a "nicer" bow that is exactly what she wants. Your other option would be to buy a nice ILF riser and cheap limbs. She can work into more expensive heavier limbs as she progresses without breaking the bank.

2. If she is anything like my wife, get her a coach or have someone other than yourself coach her. I showed my wife the basics and realized quickly that although I'm a fairly decent shot and I understand the fundamentals better than most it doesn't mean anything if she isn't listening.

3. Take everything I just said with a grain of salt. None of it worked for me and my wife now shoots a compound and enjoys it very much.

 

[mibighntr]

I started my daughter and wife with a Sage, but I would suggest one of the Black Hunters as they have a slimmer and trimmed grip and all around.