Some tips for newcomers to archery

When I was in third grade, my family moved to a house on a dead-end road in Pottsville. At the end of the road the woods began. It was a place where my brother and I built tree forts. It also was a place where I could find the young trees — I know now they were ash trees — for making bows. I just used regular white string and worked it into a notch I’d cut into either end of the stick. I made the arrows, too, just plain sticks with a pointy end. That’s how I got started in archery.

I knew then, and especially now - if you have kids or know kids that want to get started in archery, the worst thing you can do is have children try to shoot bows that don’t fit them. It’s like sending them onto a soccer field with shoes that are too big. If they try to shoot a bow that doesn’t fit, they won’t have any fun because they won’t be able to get good at it. Your best bet is to go to an archery shop, where the owner will make sure your child gets the right bow.

Get Them Properly Fitted

On the first trip to an archery shop, there are two important measurements that a shop owner will make. One is called draw length, roughly the distance from one hand to the other when the bowstring is pulled all the way back (that’s called being at full draw). Most shops have a bow made just for measuring draw length, affixed with an arrow, which has inch markings on it. Once you know that number, you can shop for bows — the draw length is marked on them on a label near the handgrip.

The other measurement is draw weight, which is how many pounds you’re pulling against when you pull the bowstring all the way back. It’s better to start out with a low draw weight, which allows lots of practice shots without tiring. Plus, if it’s a struggle to pull the bow back, your shooting form won’t be good. You can change the draw weight gradually as those muscles get stronger.

You can begin with a compound bow, with a bowstring that goes around wheels at either end. One big advantage to the compound bow is called “let-off”. Because of bow mechanics, the draw weight drops off at full draw. That means it gets easy to hold the bowstring back and take time to aim.

There is a certain size arrow to match each draw length and draw weight. It’s a tricky formula, but fortunately those calculations have been done for us. Arrows are measured by their length and also by the distance around — on both their outside and inside (they’re hollow). That’s called the arrow’s spine strength. If the arrow doesn’t match the measurements, it won’t fly right. Arrows are made of either carbon or aluminum, both hollow, and sometimes solid wood for the recurve bows.

The archers wears a piece of equipment called a release, which has “jaws” that attach to the bow string. There will be a trigger that you touch that opens the jaws, releases the string, and sends the arrow on its way.

The most important thing to stress to newcomers is that shooting a bow and arrows can be just as dangerous as shooting a gun. Targets should have good backstops, something that will stop the arrow if it misses the target. Arrows should be carried in a quiver, which covers the points of your arrows.

Once a newcomer is accurately shooting, there’s lots more to learn – proper form shooting from a treestand, shot placement, many safety tips, trailing animals and scent control, to name a few.

If you’re thinking about trying archery – as a shooing sport and/or hunting – now you know some terminology to get your started on your quest.