I just started shooting in June 2020, and I packed a rifle last hunting season as there was no way I was packing a bow. This year I am leaving the rifle at home, over the winter I have purchased a new ILF bow and another high-end custom wood bow. My shooting has improved to where I am confident using a bow out to 20 yards or so, and I know it will only get better.
My take aways are this:
-progress seems glacier slow, but try to have prospective and look back to when you started once and a while. I have improved dramatically, but it often doesn't feel like it. This isn't something you become proficient at over night.
-Buy a cheap bow to start, low poundage and focus on form and slinging arrows down range. I bought a 40lbs recurve from a garage sale for my first bow. You are going to do things to that bow that probably aren't right and could potentially damage it, so best that it isn't a $1000 custom bow. In addition, you won't know what you like until you shoot a bit a develope an opinion. I am on my fourth bow, I like a straighter grip, smooth draw cycle with a longer bow and 45lbs is my happy place for poundage. All things I knew nothing about at the start.
-Research and watch videos before you ever pull the bow string. I got home from the garage sale, strung my new bow and started trying to shoot my new target, put all 6 arrows through the side of my garden shed (slow learner). Learn about brace height, nock height, waxing the string, silencers for the string, grip and the fundamentals of good form.
Just some stuff I wish I knew when I started this journey. It is also one of the most addictive things you can do. I have a hard time putting the bow down for a day and resting.
My take aways are this:
-progress seems glacier slow, but try to have prospective and look back to when you started once and a while. I have improved dramatically, but it often doesn't feel like it. This isn't something you become proficient at over night.
-Buy a cheap bow to start, low poundage and focus on form and slinging arrows down range. I bought a 40lbs recurve from a garage sale for my first bow. You are going to do things to that bow that probably aren't right and could potentially damage it, so best that it isn't a $1000 custom bow. In addition, you won't know what you like until you shoot a bit a develope an opinion. I am on my fourth bow, I like a straighter grip, smooth draw cycle with a longer bow and 45lbs is my happy place for poundage. All things I knew nothing about at the start.
-Research and watch videos before you ever pull the bow string. I got home from the garage sale, strung my new bow and started trying to shoot my new target, put all 6 arrows through the side of my garden shed (slow learner). Learn about brace height, nock height, waxing the string, silencers for the string, grip and the fundamentals of good form.
Just some stuff I wish I knew when I started this journey. It is also one of the most addictive things you can do. I have a hard time putting the bow down for a day and resting.
