Daughter and archery?

[farrier!]

My daughter has always expressed an interest in archery. She is 13 now. Any idea how much it costs to set her up with a bow and stuff?
Are most of the archery groups teen friendly? Can she learn this with no one close to her an archer?

 

[Chickenmaven]

My DD had the opportunity to try archery through 4-H. That might be an option.

 

[Goat_Walker]

Yep. Im a few years older than your daughter and my sister and I do archery. Bows are from $85 - $300 at Bass pro , but i use one of my dad's old ones. You can also just use one of the foam targets from walmart. I have a 75 lb draw string and the arrow doesnt go threw it.Though I do have a man's bow. Ive never been on an archery team, But I did get interested because we had archery at my old middle school. I think you should let her! It taught me some patience, as well as gave my arms and back a good work out.
You can always buy the frame and such at fleamarkets and yardsales fro her first one and then replace the string / cord. Go for it!

 

[GrayDragon]

I highly recommend you go somewhere that actually has an archery guy on staff and who will help her find a comfortable draw. The tiny variances in each bow do add up for the comfort level, and the archery guy (or gal) will be able to steer you towards a bow that is right for her draw, strength, height, all to achieve the very important goal of 'the string won't hit you in the side of the boob when you fire'. It will also help with the whole 'ability to hit the target well and consistently thing'.

I can draw my uncle's heavy traditional long bow, but I can't hold it steady long enough to get a good aim. He actually broke my lightweight target bow because he drew it back way to far.

 

[sparkles2307]

I LOVED archery!!! My vrother and I were in classes for a few years around age 10.

 

[seismic wonder2]

There's a lot of difference between a target bow and hunting bow. One should not confuse the two, they are NOT interchangeable in my opinion. Be careful what you buy. I DON"T recommend fleamarket bows because you never know how it was cared for and when a compound bow comes from together to apart it can be bad for anyone within 6 feet of the thing.

Really, Find out what she want's to do. Target shooting? Hunting? Dreams of joining the olympics? or is there a cute guy on the shooting team.....

Then go to a real archery shop. Most good ones have a shooting range in the store where she can actually SHOOT the bow and arrow combination and the store staff can match her-to the bow--to the arrowshaft--to the fletching--to the arrowhead.
*******They ALL must match in order to get a accurate shot at any distance more than a few feet. ***** If the salesmen don't know this then go someplace else!!!!!

If she's not SERIOUS about shooting then any combo set from K-mart should do fine. If you get the cheap ones and she really gets serious about it you can sell it on E-bay or what ever and get her an upgrade at the archery shop.

What ever route you go, buy an extra set of arrows, Trust me, a beginner will go through a dozen in no time at all.
and NO... you cannot just bend an arrow shaft back when it gets bent. The pro's can, but even I don't try. It's not worth shooting an arrow that does corkscrews on the way to the target. At 10 feet it's not so bad but at 45 yards it's absolutely dangerous.

EDITED:::
Oh I forgot....BUY A "CHEST" PROTECTOR!!!! I can't count the number of girls that will NEVER pick up another bow because their boyfriend let her shoot his 50lb bow and clipped her "parts". Getting whacked every once in a while is one drawback of this sport....and it WILL happen.

 

[HLAC]

What part of Southern Illinois are you in?

Getting set up with the right bow (draw length, draw weight, eye dominance) is really important.
A bow like the Diamond Razor Edge is not too expensive and accomodating to wide variety of shooters.

There are some NASP schools in IL. (National Archery in the Schools Program) They will teach archery as a class in school.

Local archery clubs usually are very willing to teach new archers too.

I'm president of the Illinois Bowfishers Club. We teach archery at certain events and we host bowfishing tournaments and fun shoots around the state. I might know someone in your area that can point you in the right direction as far as shops and local clubs. You can pm me or email me at; [email protected]

-Christine

 

[seismic wonder2]

Not to Hijack the post but HLAC! Your Avitar looks just like the Eagle on the Muppet show....I'm still laughing!
Way Cool!

 

[Hillbilly Rooster]

My son just sold his Micro youth bow they can grow into it and learn the poundage is adjustable and the draw length. There are several mom and pop hunting stores that go threw and resell. I believe that is the best way and if she is going to hunt then she needs a hunting bow.

Target or competive bows are different. With 4-H you can use a hunting bow for your computitions and after she grows out of it the hunting bow is easier to resell.

That is my opinion.

 

[HLAC]

Quote:
That's what the photo reminds me of too.
It's a picture of my mutt hen Lucy when she was just starting to feather out. She was one of the few chickens I've seen who would look you in the eyes. She was such a funny chicken.