Help Me Get Started Bowhunting (Gear Recs)

[Zac]

I have never recorded this before, but if you've got a week I would buy a crossbow. That will easily accomplish your 20-30 yard range. Also should be just as ethical as a shotgun or whatever. A week isn't even enough time to tune broadheads.

 

[Fridaythe13th]

Got a scheels near you.

Diamond Edge 320 Compound Bow. on sale $400​

 

[wayoh22]

2-3 weeks is not enough time. Go to a shop to get measured and setup correctly. If you're going to do something, do it right.

 

[bsnedeker]

I have never recorded this before, but if you've got a week I would buy a crossbow. That will easily accomplish your 20-30 yard range. Also should be just as ethical as a shotgun or whatever. A week isn't even enough time to tune broadheads.

xbows are not legal in MN archery season.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[cured_ham]

At your size go find a Hoyt Double XL, Mathews Atlas, or Mathews Traverse second hand in the classifieds. You will want something that can past 31 with just a mod change so you can figure out where your draw needs to be. Have a good shop set it up. I am 6-4 and shoot mine at 32. Finding bows is hard.

 

[Tyeguy]

I think you should find a bow that you’re comfortable with, whether it’s a PSE or whatever feels good to you. I believe it takes a few weeks of shooting every day to develop a solid anchor point and follow through. You owe it to the animal to be the best shot you can be.

 

[Rick653]

I think before you invest in anything you need to determine how invested in archery you want to be. I would recommend against attempting to tune your own bow at first. But maybe down the road you'll want to. Also, are you going to build your own arrows? Any possibility of shooting in an indoor comp or 3D shoot?

I think a diamond or elite ember would be a decent start if you potentially want to play with the tune in the future

 

[Sleghammer]

This is all good info everyone. I'm jumping into the entry level bow arena right now.

 

[raferalston]

What's the best place to order a ready to hunt package. Hunters Friend and Optics Planet seem to have good deals but I've never purchased from either...

 

[raferalston]

I measured at 74 inch wingspan so all the charts I looked at said 30"

 

[raferalston]

Their is a target course right across the street from me. Don't worry I'm not walking into the woods and just going to start flinging arrows.

 

[bsnedeker]

Their is a target course right across the street from me. Don't worry I'm not walking into the woods and just going to start flinging arrows.

I understand why you think what you think right now....I'll just say that you are on a forum with a LOT of people who take bow hunting very seriously. To those people (myself included) the idea that you are going to practice of 1 week and then go try to shoot an animal is essentially the same as as just walking into the woods and starting to fling arrows. Bow hunting is a process. It starts with buying a bow, learning proper form, practicing that until that form is ingrained into your body. Once you have your form perfected you then need to tune your bow to ensure that your field points and broadheads are hitting in the same place...this ensures you are maximizing the potential energy of every shot into the kinetic energy that will ensure a quick and ethical kill. This process takes more than 1 week.

You feel you are ready to go after a week...I get it. To any serious bow hunter you are at the very least skirting the edge of being an unethical hunter with little regard for the game you are hunting. You are a grown man, you can make your own decisions obviously. Personally I think you should wait until next year.

 

[raferalston]

I think that you are right and I appreciate what you are saying. Thanks for taking the time to write that.

 

[Rob5589]

I've purchased and had great luck using Hunters Friend. You couldn't pay me to use optics planet.

 

[houghton_hunter]

Fellow MN hunter here.

A decent used bow set up from a pro-shop will go a long way to taking some of the rise out of the learning curve. I do my own work now, but for my first 4 years I had to have a relationship with a pro-shop, asking questions, understanding the equipment, etc.

I as well had about a 10 year break when I got back into archery 8 years ago, and compared to what I was using before, archery might as well have been a different sport.

The technology moves fast enough that many folks rarely keep a bow past 3-4 years, that's great for someone getting into the sport, great equipment typically at steep discounts. A pro-shop is going to get you set up in a way that most of the bigger retailers could not. Best advice I got was buy once cry once. The components such as a rest, release, bow sight, even your arrows can last many years, so what seems expensive today can be discounted quite a bit into the future.

Everyone has more or less said what you need, and I get wanting to start now, but give that Christmas cash to someone you trust to hold for a few more months, and keep saving. There are opportunities for late season rifle/shotgun hunts in MN because of CWD control, so you can still get a hunt in.

Late CWD season

Information about late CWD hunts

www.dnr.state.mn.us

Go to a pro-shop and get equipment that is tuned and fitted to you properly.

September 2022 will be here before you know it, and you'll have great hunts all the way to December 31.

 

[Zac]

Last thing I would ever do as a new archer is order a bow online. No shop is going to want to touch that thing. At your size the chance of getting the right bow is almost zero as well. You are paying for knowledge and assistance down the line with a pro shop. Also it will be much easier to warranty equipment when the need comes.