Youth Bow

[JigStick]

Stopped at my local bow shop today with my youngest son who is 5 1/2yrs old. I went in looking for a basic bow. Something a level up from the toy bows Ive had him practicing with. They recommended to me the Bear Cruzer Lite compound bow. I was shocked to see a compound bow so small. It adjusts from 5-45lb drawl weight and has 70% let off. They set it to 5lbs for him and had him shooting 3 finger.

Have any of you gone down this path? Is this a good bow to get my son involved with? It seems like it can grow with him, and at 45lb it zips arrows in the 240-280fps range. We have a minimum weight of 35lb here in PA.

 

[MountainTracker]

My son is the same age, when he turned 5 we got him a diamond atomic. The adjustability is great, my 4 year old daughter also shoots the bow. I did end up taking the sight off. The only problem is now I don’t get as much time to shoot, if you want to call it a problem . Sorry I don’t have much knowledge on the Bear bow.

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[Bearlodge10]

I have experience with the Bear and the Atomic that MountainTracker mentions. The Atomic was the bow that we initially bought for my oldest son when he was 3 or 4. Great bow and aside from the adjust ability, the light weight allowed him to shoot it and carry it well. My youngest shoots it now and he is 5. We bought the Bear Cruzer with quiver and sight for an upgrade for my oldest who is now turning 8. He likes the bow but to start , it was a bit too heavy for him to aim and shoot well.
I think the Bear is a good bow and definitely one that will grow with him. That said, I would be looking at an upgrade before hunting with it. Just my .02.
I would make sure that your son can carry the bow and shoot it for longer sessions without getting tired. I mention this, mainly from the standpoint of shooting 3D courses but it is handy when shooting in the backyard too.
Nonetheless, enjoy the fun of chasing the 10 Ring

 

[LostArra]

My grandkids love their youth recurve with no-glove finger protector. Pretty simple setup until they reach hunting age.

 

[Brandon_SPC]

Diamond infinite edge or Diamond SB1 would be some other great bows to look into but just make sure they can hold it because sometimes 3.5-4lbs can be heavy.

I think they both adjust from like 5lbs-70lb and draw length from like 13"-31".

 

[Huntmaster]

For a 5.5 yo, I'd go with the Atomic on mass weight alone. My kids shoot an Atomic and the predecessor Nuclear Ice. My 8yo has the nuclear ice bottomed out at 29 lbs and is shooting it very well. I thought about having him bump up to a "bigger" bow, but the cams are designed for short draws and it really creates much more energy than you'd think. I am letting him hunt whitetails this year with a heavy two blade setup and a 15 yard limit. I added a stabilizer, new sight and a new string and the thing flat shoots good out to 20 yards no problem.

 

[jmez]

As has been said, mass weight is the most important factor in a kids bow. I'd recommend a lighter bow for a 5.5 year old. My 9 year old is still shooting a Diamond Atomic. I think the Cruzer is going to be too heavy for a 5 year old. They just can't hold up much weight at arms length.

 

[qwerksc]

My youngest son, 8, is shooting the diamond atomic with a scott buzz release, the kid is deadly accurate, he loves the set up. My oldest son, 10, has shot recurves, self bows and an old bear compound, now he has a Bear Cruzer lite on the way, hopefully friday, he is excited. If we had anything even close to these bows when we were kids, we would be way ahead of the curve. I would go with the Atomic for a real young kid, the bow is sub 2lbs, that alone makes it way easier and ups the fun factor.

 

[Randle]

there is an atomic in classified right now