We are shopping for a bow for our son. He has about one hour of archery experiance with someone that was rather new to the sport.
The shooping would have been over last week at the first store we went to except that our son is left handed!!! Oh my gosh, you would think that left handed people are banned from archery.
Do any of you have recommendations for a bow? We would want it to last him as long as possible but at the same time, all the other Christmas shopping for the family has been done and the money has dwindled down to very almost nothing.

 

We have a sales paper called the IWanna & it's free for folks to sell or place a wanted ad. It cost a buck to buy however you may get lucky & find a used youths recurve to get started.

With Kids the first thing to keep in mind is not to go and buy top of the line anything until they prove they like it & want to stay at it. Another thought is archery shops & archery clubs they may have a lefty for a kid for pennies.

Not knowing how large your son is I can only say if he is not going to hunt 20 to 30 lbs should work well. My Wife is a south paw in everything but archery, for some reason she shoots better with a right hand bow.

I am for chosing a Gun or bow by your dominate eye, mine is right eye & I shoot right handed. Kids unless they pick up a right hand bow & shoot well should get a left hand bow.

Anyone else got any ideas or an old lefthand bow you would part with?

 

I'm not sure about a left handed bow but I would stay away from the cheap "Barnett" Little sioux bow. It's garbage. Try some of the small shops that specialize in hunting equipment and you can probably find a nice used youth compound bow.

 

My first bow was a Bear Super Grisley 52 AMO. It broke after 18 years of hard hunting I was depresed to say the least.

My 2nd Bow was a PSE Phaser II. After I had it replaced due to my draw length not falling into it's adjustment range the parts needed to just shoot the Bow was another 70 some bucks.

My 3rd Bow a Bear Super Kodiak 62 AMO I hope it last 18 years

My point is a recurve & they have become popular once more fit you son as he grows & compound must be adjusted until his draw length no longer fits.

At one time the Compound almost made it impossable to find feathers or the right spined arrow, strings for recurves. It almost seemed the Compound had made the recurve obsolete.

Today there are pleanty of Recurves, arrows, feathers for refletching your arrows & pleanty of premade strings. I don't know what changed but it great for me.

Why I sold my only Compound. I sold my PSE after 1 hunting season because I did not like the weight & while many other hunters carried a spare Bow. I had already enjoyed the light weight the spare string I could mount afield & the feel of a recurve as my bow built up power.

I believe your son will enjoy the gadget free Recurve Bow as he builds the his back up as he shoots the Bow. A glove, good set of feather fletched arrows & no sights. Some may not agree about the sights however let me explain.

There was a giant ARMY NAVY Surplus & Sporting goods store outside of Marion OH. One Saturday my Wife & I were headed out Fishing when we saw the store just packed with Cars & Trucks.

To make a long story short it was Fread Bear & some friends teaching & letting people watch them spear ping pong balls in midair. I hung on every word Fred Bear said & got him as my teacher. I learned how to release the string & never use a sight if you can learn to do it & many do.

Well Sir I am slower & older today, but you can if you can see me stalking the Mountains in my backyard with a Recurve & the glove I made from my first deer & still no sights. My Son & I still have fun shooting at night, at a flashlight spot on the target, we can shoot in total darkness because we use no sights. Sounds silly but you learn to think the arrow into a spot you want to hit.

That's the best advice I can offer, & I still believe a young person should start on a recurve Bow. It teaches the basics of Archery that they will never forget no matter the type of Bow they shoot.

 

Wow, I'm impress with all the wisdom out there and I appreciate all of you sharing it.
After going to every posible place in town, but one, and even going to Denver to ask around up there, (Granders ~~WHAT A STORE!!!) I finally realized that my brain was only getting more muddled. I sent my husband to the last store here in Colorado Springs and he got great service and all his questions answered (I had been completely ignored at one store here while men got helped before me ) He brought home a bow (not a compound one) a bunch of arrows and a promise from the store owners to spend awhile with our son on the range to teach him how to properly use the bow. Hubby only doubled the amount we had agreed to spend on this gift but after seeing just how expensive bows get I think he did pretty well.
Our son reminded me again just how much he wants a bow and I did the motherly acting and now he is convinced that he will not be getting one, at least not this year.
I love doing that to the kids!!

 

I know one young Man who is going to be very happy come Christmas Morn What a great Mom & Dad he has.

 

Gosh, Marturo, you're making me blush.
I do agree he is going to be pretty happy. He is a person that takes everything deeply to heart. His sense of right/wrong is very strong. He will actually start off upset at being lied to but once I remind him that gift giving occasions are an acceptable time to lie in order to preserve a surprise then he will lighten up. Actually, his being upset will be his second reaction. His first will be to jump up and down and scream how cool it is that he got a bow. Once his brain settles down then he will realize that he was lied to. I'm just glad that I have him figured out.
Now to figure out his 14 year-old brother in the midst of puberty.
Have a Merry Christmas!

 

Bow was received very well. My son is too smart for his own good. He took one look at the boxes, one was for the arrows and the other for the bow, and he guessed right away what they were. He is VERY excited to have them. Thankfull he has been very careful handeling them and is really excited to go to the archery range soon.
Thanks to all who gave advice and help!

 

By getting your young shooter a Bow & arrow you have shown him that you have trust in his training & his judgement. Our Children will some day be the leaders of our Country & the free World.

I believe we will be in good hands, take a look at our brave young Warriors in Afganistan & Iraq they make us proud.

Have a Happy healthy New Year.