Bought my first bow, I'm a noob, and I have proof.

Status
Not open for further replies.
rduchateau2954

rduchateau2954

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
757
Location
Green Bay, WI
Just bought a NIB Bear Gameover, 6 carbon arrows, and a block to shoot at.

1st shot - String hits arm
2nd shot - String hits arm, right after I flinch like a little girl, miss the block, hitting the only piece of metal in the whole freaking backyard, and shatter the brand new arrow.

Went better after that, was shooting at roughly 30 yrds, just before the skeeters chased me inside the house, I managed to hit my arm one more time.

32AA7437-5937-428E-BDA8-229820FA1A67-4752-0000041F12BA96E6_zpsc7ff62d6.jpg
58D86983-AB72-4D63-94EA-D1875C4A4D88-4752-0000041ED006A8AB_zpsa572ee93.jpg

The bruise is bigger than it looks, a decent amount of arm flesh around the bruise is swollen up like an egg when you whack your head into something.

Shot about 25 arrows, groups were all about the same size.
18A7A107-26D8-41D8-BE71-7FDB38CBB8DF-4752-0000041EDB14FFA5_zpsf3e3d5e6.jpg
 
i did the same thing when o got my first about 2 years ago. keep it up, its gets better and quick. as far as the arm goes get an arm gaurd of make sure your draw isnt longer than what you should have. and no long draws are not just for tall people. im 6'3" and shoot a 29 inch draw. my bud is 5'9"-5'10" and shoots a 32....
 
i guess i should cap that with he has freakish long arms and i prefer to shoot a slightly shorter draw than what was recomended to me.
 
I'm shooting a 31" draw which is what was recommended by my local shop, I was keeping my elbow locked when I took the first few shots.
 
start a lot closer to your target then slowly move back and of course pick up an arm guard till you learn not to torque the bow... :)


Its addictive.
 
Locking your elbow forces that arm out into the path of the string. Your elbow should be just before lock. If there is a club near by I would suggest becoming a member and finding a mentor who can help you learn the basics of shooting.
 
Agree with the recommendation for an arm guard - it can be great fun to show off those colorful red and purple bruises tho - many will gasp and ask what happened. I recently killed my first arrow by "knocking" it - hitting an arrow already stuck in the target from behind with a successive arrow.
 
I roll my elbow out just enough at full draw to keep my arm clear and not affect torque on the bow. You will learn this over time.

Welcome to the wonderful world of archery. Once you get everything set up and are comfortable shooting, research 3D shoots in your area. These type of shoots benefit hunters as it helps your shooting, yardage judgements and the fact that not every shot is clear of obstructions.

Enjoy.
 
3D shoots are a kick in the pants. So is shooting ground squirrels. I don't know what was cooler, shooting an elk at 5 feet or a ground squirrel at 50 yards.

Until you get the hang of it shooting ground squirrels will cost you a lot of arrows, but you will have a lot more confidence about shooting big game animals
 
MCgunner said:
To keep that draw consistent until you get used to it, you might try a kisser button. I have an arm guard, but i don't need it for my compound. My recurves will sting me without it, though.
Click to expand...
I actually bought one but I was told it wouldn't work. Even with the bow cranked up to 31" my release is my "cam kisser"
 
Last edited:
grubbylabs said:
Locking your elbow forces that arm out into the path of the string. Your elbow should be just before lock. If there is a club near by I would suggest becoming a member and finding a mentor who can help you learn the basics of shooting.
Click to expand...
I've got a work buddy that has been shooting for 20 years. He taught me correct form, I just threw it all out the window when I took those first few shots.
 
Lennyjoe said:
I roll my elbow out just enough at full draw to keep my arm clear and not affect torque on the bow. You will learn this over time.

Welcome to the wonderful world of archery. Once you get everything set up and are comfortable shooting, research 3D shoots in your area. These type of shoots benefit hunters as it helps your shooting, yardage judgements and the fact that not every shot is clear of obstructions.

Enjoy.
Click to expand...
There are several of these around town. I can't wait to be proficient enough to go!

There is also a lot of land around here that is legal to bowhunt that isn't legal to gun hunt.

I also haven't been deer hunting in a long time just because of the density of yahoos wandering public land with rifles anywhere within an hour of my house. Used to have private family land but family greed took that away after my grandfather passed. If I get good enough by this bow season, I can actually go deer hunting in peace again! It's pretty much all I have been thinking about for a few weeks now!
 
grubbylabs said:
3D shoots are a kick in the pants. So is shooting ground squirrels. I don't know what was cooler, shooting an elk at 5 feet or a ground squirrel at 50 yards.

Until you get the hang of it shooting ground squirrels will cost you a lot of arrows, but you will have a lot more confidence about shooting big game animals
Click to expand...
Eesh, with the cost of carbon arrows, I'm not sure how many I am willing to sacrifice.
 
Greetings
For simple practice building your consistent draw do not think you must use carbon. I have used aluminum arrows since I started with a Shakespear fiberglass bow 50 years ago.
I still use cheap aluminum arrows for bunny hunting and practice. Two weeks before deer season I switch to older carbon arrows for practice. Then 3 days before season I switch to the carbon arrows I will hunt with with the same weight blunt point attached. I use recurves with no gizmos attatched. But I will say just starting out a simple sight will help. I did not know about a sight when I was a kid. But hundreds of hours of prctice taught me what I needed.
Mike in Peru
 
I actually bought one but I was told it wouldn't work. Even with the bow cranked up to 31" my release is my "cam kisser"
Click to expand...

Well, a kisser button helped my consistency. I don't use a release. I've gotten used to putting the web of my thumb onto my lower jaw, now, is my "kisser button".

I don't use carbon arrows at all and plan to hunt with aluminum. I buy Easton 2117s at Academy for under 4 bucks a pop. I'm so cheap, if I bend one, I'll sit on the couch while watching TV and straighten 'em best I can for practice. I have new arrows with broadheads for hunting. They're sitting there on my old gun rack just waiting. I'm 60 years old and will be bow hunting first time seriously. So, I've been shooting a long time, but I've not hunted. I've got leafy wear mesh camo and plenty of inserts for my thermocell. :D
 
Your brace hight is almost 8" you should not be hitting your arm... are you sure your sized right? This page has some great info on sizing just remember if you use a loop that will shorten your bows draw lenght.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bow_sizing_adjustment_guide.html
http://www.huntersfriend.com/compound_bow_draw_length_discussion.html

With your bow shooting around 300fps I would not be shooting bent arrows not that you said you were going to. Your in GB so I know you just had a Cableas open up by you so you could look at the GoldTip arrows they are not that expensive and are a great arrow that I've used for years, I've lost track of how many deer I've killed with them.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt...SBC;MM;cat104693580;cat104192280;cat103856580

The thing that wories me is with the lenght of your brace hight your string should never get that close to your arm. I shoot an Elite Pulse with a six inch brace hight and the string has never hit my arm. I know you said your let your form slip for a couple of shots but again with that BH that should never happen even with bad form. My wingspan from the link above is 73 divided by 2.5 -1" for my loop makes the drawlenght on my bow 28".
 
Eesh, with the cost of carbon arrows, I'm not sure how many I am willing to sacrifice.
Click to expand...

still quite a bit cheaper than bullets. Breaking them doesnt bother me as I can generally scavenge parts.. Loosing them however chaps my hide.
 
Carmmond said:
Your brace hight is almost 8" you should not be hitting your arm... are you sure your sized right? This page has some great info on sizing just remember if you use a loop that will shorten your bows draw lenght.

http://www.huntersfriend.com/bow_sizing_adjustment_guide.html
http://www.huntersfriend.com/compound_bow_draw_length_discussion.html

With your bow shooting around 300fps I would not be shooting bent arrows not that you said you were going to. Your in GB so I know you just had a Cableas open up by you so you could look at the GoldTip arrows they are not that expensive and are a great arrow that I've used for years, I've lost track of how many deer I've killed with them.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Hunt...SBC;MM;cat104693580;cat104192280;cat103856580

The thing that wories me is with the lenght of your brace hight your string should never get that close to your arm. I shoot an Elite Pulse with a six inch brace hight and the string has never hit my arm. I know you said your let your form slip for a couple of shots but again with that BH that should never happen even with bad form. My wingspan from the link above is 73 divided by 2.5 -1" for my loop makes the drawlenght on my bow 28".
Click to expand...
The bow is set up right, I was shooting the wrong way.

With my first two shots I was holding the bow wrong with my right hand (shooting lefty) with a tight fist straight up and down. This turned my forearm in to my string and resulted in me hitting my arm.

As far as the arrows go, I didn't think carbon arrows could bend. The one in the first picture is shattered, no way I could shoot that again.

There is a cabelas that just opened, I have held off for the sake of my bank account.
 
Nope thats for 6 of them.

He has a 31" draw so if he is not using an overdraw thats going to be a long arrow:what: I like to keep my broadhead in front of my hand but with a 31" draw thats going to be hard to do.
 
The price of arrows ranger from a little under a 100 per dozen up to you don't want to know.

With modern compound bows it is very important that you shoot the correct arrow for your bow. It needs to way enough so no less than IBO weight (your proshop can explain this a little more in depth.) and they should be in good order, as in not bent cracked or other wise damaged or bent. Having a carbon arrow explode in your bow is not only scary but dangerous. You should always flex the arrow before you use it again, if you hear or feel any thing funny like crunching or grinding you should toss the arrow.

As far as aluminum goes, their is nothing wrong with them other than its really hard to get light ones that are spined for a full size man drawing 60+ pounds. I would wager your final arrow weight would ideally be about 400 - 425 grains plus or minus a few grains. With aluminum you could be 100 grains more easy enough.

Shooting 3D shoots will also cost you quite a few arrows as you learn to judge yardage and all the tricks they do to mess with you, like putting a few similar sized targets about the same distance out and then putting a smaller or larger one out about the same distance as the last few. Or having you shoot over a small draw or ravine.

Beaman and a few others like Gold Tip make some nice inexpensive arrows that will get you going for under a hundred a dozen.
 
Last edited:
Half the reason why I prefer bowhunting is that you don't have a thousand yahoo's running around with a gun on public land trying to shoot anything that moves.

The other half is the thrill of the hunt and getting within 50 yards (my max allowable shooting distance) of game.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

jcerillo70
  • Locked
What is this piece called that broke off my bow?
Replies
22
Views
3K
jbkebert
J
Ranger Roberts
  • Locked
Re-curve bow and my terrible technique
Replies
19
Views
2K
Hookeye
H
Dave Markowitz
  • Locked
Takedown Recurve from China Archery Supplies
Replies
6
Views
1K
Dave Markowitz
Dave Markowitz
C
  • Locked
So I bought another revolver… 2nd one this month! (very long)
Replies
12
Views
1K
Cousin Mike
C
H
  • Locked
Me and My AK-47....A journo goes gun shopping
2
Replies
30
Views
2K
Open Carry
O
Back
Top