[quatin]

I'm looking for a bow for the wife. She doesn't want to hunt, but just to shoot. We are clueless when it comes to bows as in what to look for. She likes the look of a longbow and dislikes the compound bow. We're looking for something inexpensive to start out with....is there a guide somewhere or someone care to share what to look for in a bow?

[jeep-2]

the best thing to do with her or anyone who wants a bow is take them to a store that has plenty of choices and let them pick one that is comfortable to them. I bought a bow for my 21 yr old son for Xmas and know i should have gave him the 500 bucks instead as the bow may not fit him. just keeping my fingers crossed for 6 more days.
don't settle for one that feels almost right, go to the next store and try more.

['Card]

There are a ton of great resources on the web for aspiring archers. Trust me on this one. Archers are about the only people I've seen who are even more n00b-friendly and n00b-helpful than gun folks.

Two good sites to get you started:
Hunter's Friend (http://www.huntersfriend.com) is a commercial site (meaning they sell stuff) and I buy a lot from them, but the best thing about their website is the 'Articles & Help' section. Most of it relates to compounds more than recurves or longbows, but there's still a tremendous amount of good info in there. You can read 'til you wear your eyeballs out and still be learning things.
Archery Talk (http://www.archerytalk.com) is one of the more n00b-friendly archery forums. Search before you ask, though. Odds are that if you're wondering about something specific, someone has already asked (and answered) the question.

Once you've done some reading and educated yourself, your best bet when it comes to finding your wife a bow is just going to a good archery shop and let her try out some things. Don't be intimidated about it or anything. Most archery shop owners are very friendly and very good at walking people through the selection process - they pretty much have to be if they're going to stay in business.

[1911 guy]

Bow fit is important to learning to shoot. An experienced archer can manage around poor fit to an extent, but why handicap a beginner.

What your wife is looking for is called a recurve bow. Is has no cams or pulleys, just limbs (the parts that flex) a riser (the handgrip area) and a string. The recurve name comes from the shape. The ends of the bow curve toward the front of the bow, away from the shooter. This, opposite the wide curve of the limbs, makes it curve and re-curve. Hence, recurve. It gives a bit of added "oomph" to the release.

Fiberglass will be your cheapest option for a bow. Minimal maintenance, too. Wood and wood laminates are more expensive, but are more attractive, too.

Two things to consider in buying a bow are limb height (how long is the bow from one end to the other) and draw length. Limb height is personal preference. For hunting, shorter is better for mobility, but extremely short bows can be picky about tuning. Tuning is mainly a factor with compound bows, longbows and recurves are tuned at the factory by removing material from one limb to balance release force with the other limb. The other factor is draw length. This one is set in stone. This is how far your wifes fingers holding the string are from the bow at full draw. Bows are made in different draw lengths and different draw weights, or how hard they are to pull back.

If this is a Christmas gift, the best bet may be to get her a gift certificate from the local archery shop. Bow setup and fit is a very subjective thing and if she plans to take archery very seriously at all, she'd be better of with someone knowledgeable helping her select a bow than finding a random height, length and weight bow under the tree.

When I turned 16, back when the earth was cooling, my parents turned me loose in a bow shop. Birthday and Christmas combined. I got a bow, quiver, stabilizer, cut to length arrows, wristguard, shooting tab, tube of cable lube, all the fixings. I shot that bow for almost ten years before I outgrew it. Good fit makes your money go farther.

[Magwa45]

I picked up a used Bear Kodiak Magnum for about $175 last spring. It is a great bow for learning how to shoot traditional archery, i.e. instinctive shooting. It has a 45 lbs. draw weight and I got some flu flu arrows for small game. I shoot in my basement all the time and it is a lot of fun. Check out some of your archery or bowhunting clubs. One of our clubs outside Baltimore hosts a big show every year with vendors from all over the country. You can pick up a used bow at a good price. You probably have something like that in your area.

[Glenn Kelley]

If your any where near Kalamazoo Michigan check out the bowhunting expo at the fairgrounds.Jan.26,27,28.Lots of trad bows and supplies.There are a lot of custom builders there that can help her figure out what she wants.

[MatthewVanitas]

Oi Quatin:

Archery Country, 8910 and Research in Austin, (512) 452-1222
Might want to drop by and see what they have in stock.

Maybe your wife would like a smaller recurve bow? She's a bit small, so maybe a youth-sized bow might fit her? That'd be a very good reason to visit a local store, where they can fit a bow to her size/strength properly.

http://www.robertsonstykbow.com/images/Recurve_iso.jpg

-MV

[22-rimfire]

If you get a recurve bow for your wife, don't go over 35 lbs pull as she is unlikely to be able to pull a 45 lb draw bow very comfortably. Hence she won't shoot it. 25 lb is real common for women. You can go a bit more with compounds, but you still don't want a heavy drawing bow for her.