Compound Bow
Pro Shops Only?

All of the advice about buying a compound bow that you read in books, magazines, on the internet and even hear on the television advises you to go to your local pro shop to purchase your bow from a professional. This is very sound advice and I would even agree that in most circumstances this is the best way to purchase a new compound bow, but there are some circumstances or situations when buying over the internet is applicable.

You may find that the brand of bow that you want to buy is not offered at the local shop. Some shops carry a limited variety and do not have many in stock. In this instance you may need to travel to find a shop that has what you want or buy from the internet.

You cannot trust that every archery shop owner is qualified. Do not just assume that they know what they are talking about because they own a shop. I’m sure most are very knowledgeable but listen to make sure that what they are saying makes good sense.

Some people would just rather buy over the internet than go to a pro shop. I do not know why this is but I have bought my last three compound bows out of catalogs. Maybe we just feel like we will be pressured to buy something that we don’t want by a salesman. I think that I just like to sit and mull over it for a long time before I spend that kind of money. My wife just tells me that I’m cheap.

I don’t think that there are any real problems with buying a bow over the internet. I think that you could buy most any brand name compound bow made and shoot quite well with it as long as you set it up correctly and practice. Competition shooting on the other hand may be a different story.

Correctly setting a compound bow up is not difficult. The basics involve getting just a few things right.

I feel that the most important steps are making sure your arrow will be at a right angle with the string and lined up with the centerline of the bow; the fletching does not hit any part of your rest; correctly installing your rest so that it performs as designed; and using the correct arrow spline(stiffness). These are the basics and more fine tuning of the nock, rest and limbs will likely be done once you start shooting. You will most likely add more accessories as well.

One problem that is often made is buying a bow with too heavy of a draw weight. This is where standing in a store and actually drawing back a bow comes in real handy. You do not need an excessively high poundage bow to shoot a whitetail deer.

Also make sure that you determine your correct draw length. You can do this by measuring from fingertip to fingertip with your arms outstretched and referring to the following:

Wingspan [Inches]	Draw Length [Inches]
69	27
70	27.5
71	28
72	28 1/2
73	29
74	29 1/2
75	30
76	30 1/2
77	31
(Add or subtract ½ inch for every inch over 77 inches or under 69 inches)

Overall I feel that a good qualified pro shop is the place to purchase a new bow, but some of us will just to continue to have them mailed to us.

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