Say "Uncle"

Over this thanksgiving weekend I received wonderful news to give thanks for. My sister is going to have a baby!! I am so thrilled for her and Danny. They are going to make great parents, and hopefully I can be a great uncle. (Great as in fantastic, not great as in old :) )

In hearing this news, I realize that I will be going back to Central Minnesota more often to visit my new niece or nephew. This means more hunting for me, which is why I want to buy a bow and arrow. The season lasts from mid-September to late-December. This equates to many weekends of hunting and playing with the new baby in the family. I am really excited!

I have never even shot a bow and arrow before, but I have always wanted to start the sport. There are many things to consider when buying a compound bow and arrow. I spent some time researching about what to look for today and found some valueable insights. Specifically this website: http://www.huntersfriend.com/bowselection.htm

The important thing is to find a bow that fits my body. Everyone is different and one of the most important things to be successful is to have a bow that I am comfortable shooting. This will give me better form, which turns into better shooting. From this I am to choose the draw length and draw weight. That is how far back the string is pulled and how much weight it takes to pull the string back. Draw length can be estimated based on height, but it comes down to what is most comfy for me. A rule of thumb is my wingspan divided by 2.5, which is about 30" for me. The longer the draw length, the more power the bow will have because more of my energy will be converted to potential energy as I draw the bow. The draw weight is a major component in the power of the bow as well. Obviously the higher the weight, the more power. I will probably find a bow in the 50-60lb class. This should produce plenty of power to take down a whitetail with today's bow and arrows.

Another important thing to consider is brace height. This is the length from the arrow shelf to where the string is in the resting position. A larger brace height allows for a more forgiving bow. The reason for this is because with a smaller brace height, the distance required for me to draw the bow is greater. When I let go of the string, my body might flinch or twitch or move somehow. With a larger brace height, the string has less distance to travel back to rest which means it gets there quicker, which means there is less time for me to make a mistake. Average brace heights are around 7". I will probably look for a bow with a brace height more than 7.5".

Other less important factors when looking for a bow are split limb vs. solid limb. I am indifferent as to these 2. I will choose the cheaper of the 2. Cam aggression is also a thing to consider. An aggressive cam provides more power, but is more difficult to control. The cams affect the smoothness of the draw back and the tolerance between holding the string back and firing the bow. An aggressive cam will reach higher power faster, but this means that the hunter can not let the string forward when holding a draw back because it will want to fire quicker. I will go with a moderate cam. Then there is letoff %. This is the % of the draw weight that is let off when at full draw. For instance, if I have a 50lb draw weight and 80% letoff, it will feel like 10lbs when holding the string at full draw. This is nice because it gives more time to aim because it is not as difficult to hold back the string. The axle height is the distance from axle to axle, basically how tall the bow is. This affects how forgiving the bow is as well. The taller bow will have more forgiveness. I will look for a bow with a little more axle height probably around 34".

The last thing I will talk about is the recoil. This was really interesting to me. Even a bow and arrow will have recoil, the same way a shotgun has recoil. It is simply physics. Most of the energy released will go to the arrow which gives the arrow motion forward. However, some of the energy is absorbed by the bow, giving it recoil. This energy is exerted on the limbs of the bow. The old type of bow has vertical limbs, which when fired the stored energy will cause the bow to want to go the same direction as the arrow. The way bow and arrow manufacters solved this problem is by making the limbs horizontal so when the bow is fired the limbs go up and down which means the top limb is going up and bottom limb is going down and the 2 forces cancel each other out leaving less recoil. This is genius and I will be sure to look out for it when I am purchasing my first bow and arrow.

There is so much more to learn about the right bow and arrow for me. I haven't even mentioned arrow size and broadhead. However, I am going to start shopping so that I can get out in the woods earlier next year and spend more time hunting that trophy buck.

I went on so long about this because I wanted to make sure I knew what I was talking about before I actually went out to look for a bow and arrow. I wanted to make sure I learned what I read earlier today. You know that you learned something if you can rephrase it in your own words and it still makes sense.

One Love,
Danger