Bow Hunting for Beginners

Bow-hunting is not an inexpensive sport, unless you are blessed, as we have been, with a benefactor. It’s still expensive, of course, it’s just that we did not pay the fiscal cost. Our benefactor is my husband’s former boss, an avid hunter who has taken our son under his wing. He had several reasons for doing this:

1. He really likes my husband, but as his boss felt it was inappropriate to give such gifts to his employee. His employee’s son, however…
2. Many avid hunters love to pass on their lore to young huntsmen so the sport does not die out.
3. He likes hunting on our property, and he liked training the future owner of the property on the ways, means, and reasons for keeping the property hunter friendly, which means deer friendly.
4. He hates dressing his own meat, and he made it clear that once he’d trained the boy (and training included supplying him with an incredibly expensive bow- I have owned cars that cost less)- then the Boy would be dressing his deer, too.

How To: Choose a Bow

The Boy sent me the above link to an article on bow-hunting that he likes. Here’s an excerpt:

While one of the most exciting and challenging methods of pursuing game, bow hunting can intimidate newcomers. But you shouldn’t let the immense lexicon of jargon, mathematical equations and technical variables dissuade you from getting involved in the up close-and-personal world of archery.

Here’s what you need to know when weighing the numerous options available at a bow shop or big-box store.

 

Upfront Costs
Sticker shock might dissuade you from getting involved in archery, and while it’s true that you can spend just about as much as you want outfitting a bow, you can also get by on the cheap.

There are two main components that you will want to sink your hard-earned cash into: the actual bow you choose to shoot and all the accessories used to outfit it. Getting by on the cheap means spending at least $300 on a bow and $100 on accessories; but don’t expect a great-shooting piece of equipment or a consistent experience.

“You can get started for $400 for everything, but that’s the cheapest. Anticipate $300 for decent components, and that means everything-arrows, a loop, peep, release, sights, etc., and about $600 is what you should be spending for a bow. There are some decent bows out there in the $400 to $500 range,” said Josh Jones of Spokane Valley Archery in Greenacres, Wash. “In today’s market; I tell people that if they can’t afford to spend $600 on a bow that quite honestly they should save their money until they can. You’re getting into a good bow at that price point; below that and you start running into cost-saving measures.”

As you can tell, I take Jones advice, says the Boy.

Actually, he thinks more highly of me than he should.

I can’t tell at all.