Outdoors Blog » How to Buy a Bow

You have never bought a bow before?

Let us help you out.

What type of shooting will you be doing?

Knowing what type of shooting you will be doing, is crucial to how you select a bow. If you are target shooting, target bows tend to be longer with lighter draw weights. This is helpful when you will be taking many shots in a day.

On the other hand, hunting, compound bows tend to be shorter with heavier draw weights. This is because when hunting, you may only shoot a couple times a day and you need the strongest shot possible.

Know your draw length:

A common mistake new archers do when purchasing a bow is getting one that has a longer draw strength than needed. Have someone measure your draw length, either a friend that knows how or go to a pro shop.

You can also do this yourself. Completely draw the bow back and the string should come just past your jawline. That should be the ideal place for your draw length.

Length:

Usually length doesn’t play a major issue with target bows, but keep it into consideration when you’re buying a bow for hunting. When moving through brush and the woods, your bow can get caught and snagged on branches and other objects, so take that into consideration.

Draw Weight:

Pull the bow back a few times and see how long it takes for you to get tired. If its too hard and you get too tired too quickly, it may not be a match for you.

You get what you pay for:

Judging by how much you want to spend, there are a few different styles of bows on the market and they all come with a different price range. Compound bows tend to be the most expensive and harder to pull back at first, but get easier once you pull back far enough. Longbows and recurve bows are the least expensive, but the hardest to draw back.