Help me outfit a disabled vet

[WhiskeyDoc]

Full disclosure: I know nothing about archery. Zero, zip, nada. Well, I know the difference between a crossbow, compound bow, and traditional bow. But nothing beyond that. So forgive any errors. Now to the point….

A friend of mine is a veteran of the war on terror. He’s disabled through the VA, but he can safely use a compound bow. He has wanted for years to get into bow hunting but is very introverted so the events that groups put on for veterans are a no-go for him.

I got a wild hair to try to put something together for him. Bow and accessories, and at least a few arrows.

What accessories are needed to be ready to shoot?

Bow, release, rest, sight, stabilizer, quiver? Is that correct?

Any recommendations on these and especially any deals you know of that would reduce the cost would be awesome! Idk his draw length, and all we have is turkey and whitetail so whatever a fairly light but effective draw weight for that would be? But I can iron out the details as I can piece stuff together.

Thanks for any advice!

 

[Point Man]

As a war vet myself, I would suggest paying a visit with him to an archery shop and having them help you with any questions that you or he may have. It's a safe bet that they will be able to help you out.

 

[5MilesBack]

I did a similar thing recently, and we started at the bow shop to get an exact draw length and let him shoot some bows for feel. Then I found a bow on here for sale for a heck of a deal which just happened to be his brand preference from his shooting session. Then we finalized all the other details for arrows etc, and got him up and running. He's taken to it like a fish to water and is already planning his elk hunting this September. I wanted him to get used to shooting and get it up to weight before doing too much tuning etc. Well, he came to me the other day with some concerns about arrow flight, and I knew it was time to fine tune it. Changed some top hats around and now he's got fixed blade heads within an inch and a half of his FP arrows at 40 yards. I told him to leave that for now, and we'll see if his shooting improves enough to do some more fine tuning.

Also, a release is very personal (use and adjustment). Definitely have a good shop show him some options. I'd also start him out with a standard fixed pin sight.

Good on you.........and good luck with it. He's not a lefty is he?

 

[Ehiggins]

I’ve got a toxonics 5 pin I’d be happy to donate to the cause. Pm me and we can work out the details.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[WhiskeyDoc]

Thanks for the pointers! Bout to send a PM Ehiggins.

No, he’s not a lefty. I thought about taking him to a bow shop. Only problem is the closest one I know of is almost 2 hours away. Still going to try and make it happen if you all think it’s valuable enough. I do know he won’t mind a bit if everything is used or not the high end stuff as long as it’ll work and hold up!

 

[WhiskeyDoc]

Anyone have experience with the Bear Alaskan Bow? I’ve got a limited budget to help with the outfit. Seems like finding a decent used price on one of those might be the ticket.

 

[Yoder]

If you can find out his draw length, some of us may have an old bow lying around. I have an old Parker bow that's in good shape. I think it's a 2002, 60-70lb and I'm not sure the draw length. I think it's 28 but I would have to check. I've shot it maybe 20x since I put a new string on it. I just keep it as a spare. If it would work he can have it. I'll check on the draw length to make sure. I think this bow on Ebay is the same model or very similar:

Parker Ultralite Pro Compound Bow w/ X-Ring Stabilizer, Archers Choice Sight | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Parker Ultralite Pro Compound Bow w/ X-Ring Stabilizer, Archers Choice Sight at the best online prices at eBay! Free shipping for many products!

www.ebay.com

 

[11boo]

Draw length is the first thing we need to know. Gonna be tough without that.

Anyone know a trick to finding that without the 2 hour drive?

 

[Point Man]

Draw length is the first thing we need to know. Gonna be tough without that.

Anyone know a trick to finding that without the 2 hour drive?

There is a formula to figure that out by measuring the wing span of his arms from finger tip to finger tip but if you are off just a fraction, you are off a country mile. Two hour drive is inevitable as I see it.
That Bear Alaskan is getting some good reviews on the youtube.

 

[WhiskeyDoc]

Donations are certainly welcome! Haha. That’d be awesome if someone has an old hand-me-down that would fit the bill.

I did actually search a bit last night and found that formula that’s mentioned. Wingspan/2.5. I took several measurements on him myself. Anywhere from 73 to 73.5 being the absolute shortest and longest. So 29.2 to 29.4 draw length. I’m confident in my measurements but as mentioned I have no archery experience and no bows for him to try out or anything to try to confirm that. I’ve asked around locally a bit and might can get him to try a few that ppl we know have but nothing solid yet. Either way I’m gonna keep seeing if I can piece some stuff together or come across good deals. Thanks all!

 

[5MilesBack]

Donations are certainly welcome! Haha. That’d be awesome if someone has an old hand-me-down that would fit the bill.

That's why I asked if he was LH. Another measurement you can do is have him stand perpendicular to the wall like he's shooting a bow. Form a fist and put it against the wall. Head turned looking at the wall like he's shooting.....and measure the distance from the wall to the corner of his mouth. Just another reference for draw length. I use all three measurements (finger tip to tip divided by 2.5, tip to tip minus 15 divided by 2, and wall to corner of mouth), then usually pick the shortest one if they're all close, at least to start.

 

[WhiskeyDoc]

So just a little update:

Been workin in some PMs. Yoder is being kind enough to help get him situated with a bow. We haven’t been to a pro shop, but we did do several measurements, and also got over to a buddy’s house who has a 30” compound he uses. That 30” was a little bit long. So based on measurements, and testing that out, it seems like 29” is the ticket! Again I’ve been talking to Yoder about a bow option. Might be hitting you all up for arrow recommendations soon once that’s situated. Im trying to read up on the weights and spines and all that! And I thought reloading was complex…