So you've seen the Lord of the Rings or the Hunger Games
or you've always wanted to give archery a shot.
So, where do you begin?
As the first point of contact for an archery club, I always get this question
And it's a very good question.
So for those of you sitting at home
here's some quick advice on how to get started in archery.
The best thing you can do is to find your local archery club
and ask about their programs.
You can search online, you can look up your local archery organisations
even archery stores have contacts for archery clubs.
Archery clubs will almost always have some sort of beginner program
designed just for the sake of introducing you to archery.
Often, these are one-off sessions with no mid-term or long-term commitments.
Different clubs have different structured programs.
Some will have a prescribed program that they'll teach you from.
Others will let you shoot and learn on a casual basis.
Taking lessons from a club is a good pathway for the following reasons.
You will learn the fundamentals of archery
including equipment, technique and safety.
All the equipment is provided for you.
Training is provided to you by experts.
You'll get a feel for whether or not you like archery at minimal cost.
You'll be around other people with the same interest.
And meeting people is one of the big hooks for people to get into archery.
Plus, you can get advice from more experienced archers
about what to get and where to go.
So, if you don't know much about archery and you just want to give it a go
this is the place to do so.
Many people have the impression that you need to get a bow
in order to do archery.
And it kind of makes sense - I mean, how do you do archery without a bow?
So, you start looking up things and doing research
and asking for recommendations.
My recommendation is to actually not get a bow to begin with.
If you're taking lessons from a club
the club will provide the equipment for you.
You could buy your own bow, but the entry level stuff you can buy
is probably the same things they will use at the club.
It's the same as how you don't have to own your own golf clubs
or bowling balls in order to try out golf or bowling.
Nor do you have to own a gun to go to a shooting range.
So it's kind of a waste of money to buy equipment that you can already use.
Another reason why you should hold off on getting a bow
is that you probably won't know whether you'll take up archery
as a pursuit until you've had a few sessions of archery.
Many people will invest in a bow
but they find they lack the time, passion and commitment
to continue archery.
Additionally, you probably haven't spent much time
thinking about what style of archery you want to do.
After you've had a few sessions and spoken to different people
you'll be able to make a better judgement
as to why you actually want to do archery.
For example, you may take up archery as a recreational activity
or a sport or to go hunting.
You might develop a preference for compound or recurve or longbow.
One you figure that out, you'll be able to make specific decisions
about what you want.
Essentially, don't feel like you have to get a bow early.
You can save a bit of stress and perhaps a bit of money
if you take the time, get a feel for archery before you invest in equipment.
But let's say you just want a bow.
Maybe you just want something to mess around with in your backyard.
Maybe you can't find a club.
Or you might want to get something for your partner or for your kids
to see if they are interested in archery.
While it's easy to search up cheap bows on Amazon or Ebay
many of these bows are budget buys
that are more like toys than archery equipment.
If you really want to give someone a good taste of archery
and getting decent gear, I recommend getting a takedown bow.
These cost around $100-$200 and popular examples include
the Samick Sage, the Fuse Focus, the SF Optimo and the PSE Razorback
but there are dozens of these and they are all very similar.
While you can find these on Amazon or Ebay
it's usually a better idea to purchase from an archery store.
If you don't have one nearby, buying online is a good option.
Some popular stores include Lancaster Archery in the US
Merlin Archery in the UK and Abbey Archery in Australia.
But there are dozens of stores you can find online.
Google is your friend.
Archery stores have a much wider range of options for beginners
and advanced archers and often have packages to get someone started.
Additionally, they can tailor a kit just for you
so you have the things that you need.
Stores are used to dealing with beginners all the time
and they will happily walk you through the things that you need.
If you're in doubt, don't hesitate to send them an email
or give them a call.
You can find some seemingly good bargains on Amazon or Ebay
like these fiberglass bows or junior kits
that can go under $50 and they have positive reviews
so they look like good buys.
I'll be honest here.
As an archer, I find it hard to recommend these.
It's not that they're bad, it's that they're aimed at people
who aren't archers.
The positive reviews usually come from people with little to no archery experience.
Whereas someone who is actually experienced in archery
will go ...eh
And a lot of the time, archery stores don't bother stocking these items.
You can only buy them off sites like Amazon.
A situation where getting this wouldn't be a bad idea
would be if you have kids who want to try archery
but you know they don't want to actually commit to it.
So they fill in that curiosity niche.
The kids have something to shoot and they grow out of.
But in that sense, we're talking about something
that is a glorified toy.
So, if you just want something that you can
bring out to your backyard, they're okay.
But understand that you get what you pay for.
Shooting a cheap plastic or fiberglass bow
isn't as satisfying as shooting the real thing.
Now, I'm expecting a bit of hate for that comment
but look, if you've got one of these bows and you love it
that's fair.
All I'm saying is that you probably won't find these bows
in the field or on the range.
So to sum up, if you want to get into archery
there are a couple of ways to go about this.
You could buy your own bow and have a bit of a shot with it.
You can spend $150 to $200 on a takedown recurve
and that will last you for a while.
Or you can go for a much cheaper bow
to satisfy a short term interest.
Or you can take lessons from an archery club
and get a feel for what archery is.
If you do that, you can skip these lower tiers
and start thinking about your first serious archery investment.
But above all, have fun.
Whether you join the club scene or you're messing around at home
there's no point investing in archery if you don't enjoy it.
So, hope this was helpful. Thanks for watching
and I'll see you next time.