Second Amendment Defender asked:
First of all, I know very little about bow hunting.
First of all, I know very little about bow hunting.
My 10yr daughter told me she wants to try it.
So I bought her a cheap bow ($50.00) and some target arrows.
Right out the gate she is hitting in pie plate area in the target at 50 foot.
My question is, now what.
How do I continue to keep her interested?
Should I consider a stronger bow?
She has a 30# pull and has no problem with it.
In the Houston area, are there any location/clubs that I could take her so she can get proper training.
Tags: Houston Area, Houston Clubs, Target Arrows
THERE SHOLD BE AN ARCHERY CLUB THERE,, OK GET HER A RECURVE PROPER ARROWS,, AND SOUNDS LIKE SHE WILL BE FINE OK THANKS EDDIE
There should definelty be a club in Houston. Try longer distances. Keep her interested and encourage her to get smaller and smaller groupings. Once she is strong enough and old enough then move up to a stronger bow. I wouldn’t spend to much because she will out grow it real quick. I shoot everday 10 shots at each range 20, 30, 40, and 50 yards. Although I won’t shoot at a deer over 40 yards practicing at 50 makes the 40 yard shot a little easier
first congrats on the ladies skill,,now take her to a BOW shop and let her try a few bows get one fitted to her draw length ,,it doesn’t have to the best but it has to fit her ,,get her some sights and start moving the target out about 5yardstill shes at 100′,, than try heaver arrows and for fun ,,flueflues,,arrows with feathers over 1/3 the length of the shaft ,, they are used for birds and rolling targets like rabbits
Is she ready for a stronger bow? How easy can she draw it? How tight are her groups? Try moving the target farther away.does she still hit consistently? The best way to keep her interested, how bout getting your self a bow and learning with her. Could be a lot of fun, I know i love to practice with my son. Except he’s starting to get a little better than me.
Next spring/summer, take her out to the woods (or wherever) and do some “roving” — shooting at whatever happens to present itself as a target (such as leaves, twigs, dirt clods, etc; not animals, as most are not “in season” then) — with blunt tips. make a “game” out of it: Challenge her to improve in skill first — then think about getting her a stronger bow.
Being consistently accurate (and accuracy depends on consistency) is far more important than going up in draw weight because the bow currently being used is “too easy”. It is much easier to learn that consistency when the bow is “too easy” than when it is “too hard” — so if she can easily draw 30 lbs, that’s more than enough for now (and it’s probably too much).
Along with skill/consistency, the arrows are also important: They need to be made for her draw length and her bow. If the bow is rated “30 lbs @ 24 inches” and her draw length is only 23 inches, her arrows need to be made for 27.5 lbs draw weight — and preferably no more than 25 inches in length. It also helps to have them matched in actual weight, too. Even the most expensive bow isn’t worth the money if the arrows are crappy.
In the meantime, you can set up a range in the basement, or an empty room, and she can practice there with blunt tips; make sure there is a good backstop behind the target, and in front of the wall. Just make sure you or another responsible adult is there when she practices — just in case something “bad” happens (such as she gets hurt – God forbid – or she decides to treat the bow as toy; all bows should be treated as potentially lethal weapons – even “kiddie bows”) and to make sure she knows what she is doing.
For more in-depth help on “knowing what she is doing”, see the “sources” below; it’s instruction in basic archery technique, or “form”. Also, there is a link to U.S. Archery, a National-level organization, and to the Texas State Archery Association, both of which should have a list of archery clubs/ranges in Texas (if not in Houston).
I agree that you should get a bow and some arrows for yourself, and practice along side your daughter (adds more challenge to the “game”). Everything about the arrows and learning with a low-poundage bow — or a high let-off, if you go for a compound bow — applies to you, as well. Consistency in form and accuracy always suffer when the archer cannot properly handle the bow.
Hope this helps. Oh yeah…”flu-flu” arrows have over-sized fletching — the fletches are not trimmed down in height, or the feather is wrapped around the shaft in a spiral — not necessarily fletching that extends over 1/3 of the shaft length. I’ve seen many old arrows with 7 & 8 inch long fletches, and they most definitely are not flu-flu arrows; the fletches are only 1/4 inch high on those arrows. I wouldn’t use a flu-flu on rabbits, those rodents move too fast and the effective range of a flu-flu is generally around 10-15 yards…