# How did you get started?



## phaesporia (Jan 4, 2018)

Typically people learn archery from their male family members. As a young female, my story is a bit different. While working at a camp program, I headed over to the archery range to see what type of program they were running with the kids. Typically the instructors are underpaid college students, but at this camp they were "hardcore" archers. After shooting a bit, they said I had a real knack for the sport and should try it out sometime. That thought stayed with me for a while.

Two summers ago, I found myself in a local archery shop with an idea of purchasing a bow. I did a little bit of research before walking in, but at the time thought a compound was what I needed. The owner of the shop was so friendly and welcoming and spent a lot of time talking about various ways to get started. I eventually came to the conclusion to go the traditional recurve route so I could test to see if I like the sport. Plus I could walk out of the store with a bow, arrows, arm guard, and glove for $150. Sounded like a good first step. 

The shop also suggested I join a local club to shoot since I didn't feel comfortable (nor was it legal?) to shoot in my suburban back yard. Joining the club, as a young female, was incredible intimidating, but in hindsight it was the best decision I ever made. Once I was accepted into the club, I went often to practice. The club members (majority male) gave advice left and right. It was helpful and overwhelming at the same time. Who knew there was more to archery than just a stick and string!?!

A month later, a member suggested I join their winter spot league. This is where it all changed! Turns out there aren't a lot of females in the league, nor are there female lefties. Kept my head high and shot my 28lb recurve bow at a one spot target. I was pretty bare frills at the time - shooting off the shelf - but each week my score would increase. (Thankfully it was a handicap league too.) 

It's a year later and I'm back shooting in the winter spot league. This time I have a Prime STX36 and my highest score so far is a 351 (out of 360). I have met so many great people through this sport and I'm grateful to the friendliness of fellow archers who welcomed me into the sport and shared their knowledge with me. Without their help I wouldn't have harvested my first deer this past October - 6 pointer! - or my first bear! What an incredible first year of archery.

Tell me, how did you get started?


----------



## akfeathers82 (Jan 4, 2015)

Okay, so, I have this employee who had a huge crush on my sister. He decided that he wanted to get into archery, bought a 28 lb OMP recurve and started shooting. A couple of months later he decided to show off and invited my sister, and his brother, to the range to shoot. Well, within two or three trips to the range she was out-shooting him and getting tired of having three people sharing the bow, so the tech at the range set her up on a compound. She loved it. So fast forward a couple of months, she decides to buy a compound. I've always been interested in archery so I bought a PSE Razorback, she picked up Cabelas Bowtech and everything that we needed and off we went. In the three years since then the employee who got us started has upgraded his bow(Bear Kodiak 50 lbs) but doesn't shoot very much, my sister has pretty much stopped shooting, I think she's been out once in the last year. I've upgraded to a full Olympic recurve (details in my signature), I've won the Alaska State 3 spot twice, Alaska State 5 spot twice (not a lot of competition up here in my division but so long as my scores keep going up I'm happy) and Northwest Sectionals twice. I plan on shooting Vegas at some point in the future, and would love to coach some day. My son wants to shoot like mommy and I can't wait to pass this on. Oh! And I'm thinking about picking up compound sometime in the next year as well.


----------



## junchoone (Jan 23, 2018)

Had a nasty medical incident where I nearly bled to death in the hospital. The recovery was long and horrible and I couldn't do any of my regular hobbies (running, swimming, cycling, etc) without getting horribly winded or totally exhausted for the rest of the day. Picked up archery because I decided I needed a new, lower cardiovascular stress hobby and I'd always wanted to do it but had before never lived anywhere I could do it regularly easily. I started with an Olympic recurve and competed at the state and local level before switching to longbow this year. I love shooting barebow and am going to teach myself to make arrows this year. I love archery and all the pretty rad folks I've met through archery


----------



## sprinke (Jul 9, 2015)

I was a fantasy nerd as a kid. Skip ahead 30 years and my son loves Minecraft. He wanted a Minecraft theme party and I thought it would be a fun game to get a toy bow and arrow and make a skeleton target for the kids to shoot at (he was turning 8). A few weeks before his birthday, I asked him if he wanted to try shooting a real bow and arrow, and he said yes. I discovered the local range had a free first class and took him to it. The next week I took the class myself. Now I shoot longbow, Olympic recurve, and compound; am the secretary of the club and a Level 3-NTS certified coach, and will be headed to the Vegas Shoot for the second time on Thursday. Oh, and my son still shoots too.


----------



## CoralK (Feb 8, 2018)

I brought my 8 year old daughter to an intro to archer class a in November. She took to it instantly, and bought herself a recurve right before Christmas. Archery is something I remember fondly from childhood so I decided to give it a try. After a few lessons on club gear, decide I was hooked and jumped in. I have a feeling my younger sons and husband will be following suit soon!


----------



## Goldenjera (Jul 10, 2017)

Archery was a school sport where I went to highschool. There was an indoor range down the road from the school. There I discovered I was a right handed left eye dominant, and that with a left handed bow in my hands I could actually shoot in the vicinity of what I was aiming for. It was nice being good at a sport for once. While the school sport session tended to be fairly male heavy, the general public sessions were about an even split of genders.

I kept at it for the rest of highschool, didn't have much time for it in university, but am trying to get back into the sport now that I've finished university and got a job.

My original range was full of bowhunters, so of course I shot target recurve. Now that I'm at a World Archery style range (in a different state, I miss my old range) I have moved to compound. After ten years of recurve, the change to compound was a lot of fun.


----------



## Don_Parsons (Feb 9, 2018)

I got a plastic bow as a child, I remember shooting it day in and day out at our family farm, in the winter time we would shoot the bow in the Hay Loft in the top part of the barn,,, the farm cats weren't to keen on this as they didn't like the sound of the bow being shot. 

The years pasted by and more important things showed up in life, feeding and bedding cattle, field work, driving tractors and hauling grain in the farm trucks, 4-H, horse riding, and who would forget that first set of wheels. LOL. That took up alot of time,,, school and friends. 

Archery days were long forgotten by that time. 
Then along come the full time jobs in the work force,,, one of the fellows at work was a big game hunter, so everyone at work enjoyed listening to his stories about the big one that got away,,, so all of us bought rifles. 

The next season we found out that we could get a jump on these critters if we bought bow & arrows since the season give us a 2 month head start over general rifle. So all of us bought compound bows since it was the happening thing, one of the fellows bought a Recurve Bow,,, we all laughed at him since he was taking on things the hard way,,, "at least we thought this was the case."

As the years passed by we watched our simple frugal friend become a master game Harvesters with that simple stick bow,,, it bothered me to think that something so simple worked so good. 

So last year I was on one of my simple trips in Western Canada visiting family and friends along the way,,, I stopped in at a sporting goods store to find some equipment for my complicated compound bow I was packing on the trip. 

I was walking out the door when I spotted a rack of 3 peace take-down bows,,, $119 & there was a sale on arrows at $49 for 12.

Low and behold I entered a re-newal of traditional archery once again. 
A 40+ stint in-between. 

Last winter I but a spring / plunger rest on it,,, removed the sights,,, and put together a take me every where pack. 

Life is now a 24/7 365 day thing at any time at my choosing. 
It by far has been the most rewarding experience in good times. 

Plane, Simple, Easy, Fun, Frugal, and Life Mentoring. 

My set-up is for fun shooting, it's all about sharing this with others I cross paths with. 

I compete & challange my self every time I pull it out,,, and I practic shooting it Right & Left. 

Traditional archery is the teacher, it teaches us who we are, "hopefully" we reap the rewards as the student that learns something about our selves. 
If we participate in this fully then "all" of lifes challanges become easier. 

It teaches us to be Humble, Self Worth, Of Value, Structure of Ones Tasks, Brings out the Best in Us. Principles of Life, and much much more. 

This words would most likely come from Al Henderson the Olympic couch of the USA team in 1977 if I recall. 

Life is grand if we take it to task. 

Small town Boy from Western Canada.

Don


----------



## vito9999 (Jun 30, 2009)

In 1966 visiting a friend on their FARM. He told me if I could find the string to his 30 lb Ben Pearson I could have the bow., found it outside the barn in some weeds in less than 5 min. Rest is history, ancient as it is..


----------



## Chelseaa (Feb 19, 2018)

14 years ago, I was a senior at a new High School for me. The girls were threatened by me (not nice). The only friends I had were some guys that would hang out at the Archery Shop/Bow range that was across the street from the High School. The more I hung out there, they wound up putting me to work. Answering the phone, cleaning the lodge, fletching arrows, turning on the techno hunt (back when it was on a floppy disk the size if your face!), keeping track of tournament scores. They would let me shoot too! I was using the owners 11yo daughters youth browning bow. The DL was too short, but I didn't know any better. I went away to college and only stopped by the shop on breaks. I stopped shooting for years, until recently when my husband started showing interest in archery again. He had a similar story, shot some in HS, kinda gave it up not long after that, when he sold his bow (Jennings Buckmaster 2000, he got new LOL). I was trying to get my DW up, and find a bow. So in the meantime I immersed myself in the Nock On youtube channel and podcasts. I also hit up my long lost female archery tech friend, who sadly moved too many states over. She has been a life saver. Found my bow, made the string from scratch. I know she is on here, somewhere...


----------



## cdloff (Mar 26, 2016)

I got into archery when I was about 11 - I got sent to summer camp and we had archery. A few years later, we had archery in my high school gym class. I always enjoyed it so after that, my brother and I got cheap long bows (that's what they gave kids to use back in those remote days) and shot on our property every evening except dead of winter. We lived out in the country so no one minded. 

Well, I got married and we moved from New Jersey to Winnipeg, Canada. I went to university to get a Bachelors and was a housewife. Forgot about archery. Eventually got several grad degrees in psychology - no time for much else during those years. So between work, school, and housewifery, forgot about archery completely.

About 3 years ago, I was recovering from breast cancer and wanted to get back in shape and get out and do some fun stuff. I joined a Meet Up group for women to go out and do outdoors stuff - hiking, fishing, and so on. They started offering archery meets at a local archery range - I'd often driven by the place and thought it would be nice to get back into archery, but between being busy and not knowing anyone there... well, never got round to it. But I figured, here was the ideal opportunity! We started meeting every Saturday at the range and by the second meet, I bought a compound. That seems to be what people often start on around here, particularly the women. I shot that all winter. 

About a month after I re-started archery, I said to my husband, why don't you come in and practice with me and try it out? He is not particularly "outdoorsy" but I've dragged him out camping, hiking, snowshoeing and you name it. So he said "OK" and went to the lanes with me. He tried a recurve and didn't like it so he tried a compound and like that. Archery "grabbed" him too so I bought him a compound for Christmas and we started coming in 3 to 4 times a week to shoot besides my shooting with the Meet Up group.

Unfortunately, the Meet Up group archery go cancelled in the spring, but of us women who enjoyed coming in, we formed our own club and we meet monthly now at the lanes. Plus I belong to a women's only archery club that meets biweekly. So I'm out shooting about 3 to 4 times a week with someone. My husband and I had met all the "regulars" at the lanes and we're part of a big social group that meets there almost everyday.

In the spring of that first year (that would be about 3 years ago now), I had a hankering to shoot a long bow again. So I bought an inexpensive Baer. I went to the lanes and started shooting and OH! I was instantly transported back to my youth shooting a long bow - at last, I felt, this was really shooting a bow! Although I like compound, it's not really the same...

A few months later, I got an inexpensive recurve, and shot that for about a year. I was definitely "in love" with trad archery by now! When my husband saw how much fun I was having with the recurve, he got one too - by now, he was as hooked on archery as I was! Eventually, I got an olympic- type bow, Hoyt Epic riser and 840 carbon limbs that I shoot now. I like the way you can tune the bow better and having the plunger. But I shoot strictly bare bow - no stabilizers or sights, etc. I've still got the compound and I keep saying I've got to get it out and try it again, but I find bare bow so endlessly fascinating that I just never get round to it. Yeah, hubby got the Olympic-type recurve too and shoots bare bow with me - how can you do better with such a great life partner?! 

My husband and I spend a lot of our time down at the archery lanes - a great way to spend out time, since we're "retired" - and most of the people we've met lately are archers. I'm loving the whole thing all over again!


----------



## dresden (Jan 30, 2018)

Got into it because of The Hunger Games. Apparently it's much harder than I thought it was. There's also an archery range near where I live so I thought I'd give it a try.


----------



## SouthernSass (Mar 13, 2018)

There was a marksmanship show that used to come on TV called Top Shot. I absolutely loved this show. There were several episodes that had the contestants shooting archery related equipment and it fascinated me!!! I initially wanted to shoot a cross bow and found a used one at a pawn shop. However, the draw on it was so heavy that I could not handle it at all. So the day after Christmas I went and bought my first compound bow. I got it with the intent of learning how to hunt. I soon fell in love with the discipline of shooting targets. I found my coach about a year after I'd taken beginner lessons with someone at a pro-shop. After I started learning from a USA Archery certified Level-4 coach I started competing on the state, regional, and national levels. I'm blessed to shoot on the Bowtech pro-staff along with several other companies. Archery is my therapy!


----------



## DixieRoseTX (Feb 25, 2018)

I'm still really new but I got into it because I wanted a more challenging hunt than sitting in a blind waiting for the deer to walk in front of my rifle. 
I have been rifle hunting with my family(all male) for many years. I was always facinated by bowhunting so two years ago I started researching it. The only person I know that bowhunted was a female boss I had a decade ago. I guess because of that it never even crossed my mind that there were less female hunters than male. I researched shops in the area that offered lessons. I took two lessons and just took to it like a duck to water. I bought my bow back in January and now I am practicing almost every day in my back yard prepping for next season 🙂


----------



## DogWoman (Sep 9, 2011)

Tell me more about your recurve. I started shooting recurve barebow (Samack) and love it. I compete with Compound but am looking at barebow or Olympic Recurve. My thought is to get the riser and limbs and shoot barebow for a while and then play with stabilizers, etc. How did you decide on the riser and limbs? I looked at the MK Riser at Vegas and (wow!!!!) and may go that route but have to save $$$. (Yep, I do the Vegas shoot!) 
Any advice you have is appreciated.


----------



## laur (Sep 6, 2017)

I had been deer hunting for a long time (shotgun). My new at the time significant other introduced me to bow hunting. And tree stands. I always hunted on the ground before that.


----------



## SouthernSass (Mar 13, 2018)

My interest in archery started while I was watching the marksmanship TV show called Top Shot. I really wanted to shoot a cross bow. I found one in a pawn shop and tried my best to use it but the draw weight was incredibly heavy and it was like pulling dead weight. I ended up buying a compound bow for a Christmas present to myself. I had every notion of learning how to hunt. However, that quickly faded when I absolutely fell in love with the discipline of target archery. I found my coach a little over a year later and started elite level training. I shoot FITA-style, 3D, some field, and I absolutely LOVE indoor!


----------



## bowhuntxt (Jul 24, 2012)

Got a cheap plastic bow in boy scouts. My dad spent a lot of time in the local bar when I was a kid, the bar owner was into archery and the rest is history. Many years later and still great friends with the guy and very thankful for meeting him and all he has done for me with archery plus so much more. By far the best thing that came out of my dads situation back then.


----------



## Sara-s (Mar 2, 2014)

A coupl of hundred years ago, I was in college, majoring in Physical Education. Knowing that you can not always predict what you will be expected to teach, I chose to take classes in sports with which I had no prior knowledge. Archery was one of them. I even shot for the school team. It was fun, but I really didn’t pursue it after college. I was too busy figuring out adulthood.

Fast forward to my fifties; happily married, but with arthritic knees. My husband, knowing I missed athletic pursuits and recalling my fondness for archery, persuaded me to look at bows in a store and then to take lessons at a local club. Well, that did it; I was hooked. In a matter of weeks, I bought my first bow. Within less than a year, I was competing, taking the NFAA intructor’s course and getting my husband to join in.


----------



## TheArdentArcher (Jun 11, 2017)

I have been obsessed with archery since i was a kid. But I never had the support I needed to pursue it. Now I’m married and have a loving and supportive husband, I really couldn't have asked for a better one! Anyway, I had been talking about wanting to do archery for about a year. And one Christmas, my husband surprised me with my first bow! It was a Samick Sage with arrows and all the accompanying accessories to get started. I fell in love and after only 4 months in I decided I wanted to get more serious about archery. So I dove head first into olympic style and I have been obsessed ever since. I've been shooting my new bow for about a year now. I was very intimidated at first by all the guys that shot so much better than me and there's only one other female that shoots olympic style at my club. But the archery community is truly the kindest and friendliest bunch I've ever met! I've gotten lots if help and advice from my fellow archers and a few of them even turned into good friends.


----------



## hinson_16 (Aug 3, 2017)

Very similar from camps when I was younger. I remember having some old recurve bow at our house that my older brother and I would practice all the time. 

I ended up mostly being brought up around guns. I met my boyfriend a few years ago who was always shooting at the bow range and I would just sit and watch. 

This is where my story becomes typical. The guys got me interested and I got a crossbow. I would shoot when they **** their compound and hunted that year for whitetail. 

I was hooked then and wanted a challenge so bought a Hoyt klash for my first compound bow and did 3D shoots with them for practice. I shot pretty well and won several shoots for women. I now shoot a Mathews Avail and might enjoy Achery more than the boyfriend


----------



## CarrieP (Mar 3, 2018)

Loved reading this thread. I have been interested in archery but have yet to take it up but this has given me inspiration. I am right handed, left eye dominant...when I shoot a rifle I shoot right and just adjust over to use my dominant eye. Would I do the same with a bow or shoot left?


----------



## Sara-s (Mar 2, 2014)

I recommend finding a local club or shop, where you can take lessons. Though I am inclined to recommend shooting leftie, based on what you have said, lessons will give you a chance to try shooting both ways, before committing to your own gear.


----------



## pointyend (Apr 28, 2018)

Through Girl Scouts.


----------



## minnie3 (Jul 28, 2009)

Met up with a fishing friend in the supermarket who told us that he hadn't been fishing much as he'd got involved with 3d archery over the winter months, at an archery club up in the state forest 5 minutes away. Didn't know about the club and had never met an archer or a bowhunter. My partner and I went up for a look on a 3d club shoot day and 2 older traditional shooters got us shooting the club recurves.
I went back the following week and a woman there had me shooting a genesis. I didn't know until a while later that the older trad shooter was a European Field Champion many years ago and the woman was a well respected Australian competition compound target shooter.
The club grounds are really beautiful with areas of rainforest, plantation pine and a creek for swimming, birds and wildlife,less than 5km from the Pacific Ocean and my home. 
An achilles rupture not long after had me retire from playing tennis, netball and touch football and I went with 3d archery competition as a beginner in the barebow compound division.
As I improved, I took up the challenge of IFAA and WA field and the longer distances and technical aspects involved.
A Recurve friend showed me stringwalking for barebow, and I gave this a try at indoor, then decided to try indoor barebow recurve with a very light beginner recurve.
Eventually I became confident enough to shoot barebow recurve in 3d competition (IBO style) and I now shoot WA field barebow recurve which is my main competition interest.
I continue to enjoy shooting my club's beautiful 12 target WA field range and welcome beginners to join me.


----------



## ggarcher (Sep 18, 2016)

I caught the archery bug when asked if I wanted to shoot at a Girl Scout Camporee I was the director of in 2005 (age 48). The instructor determined I was left eye dominant and seemed impressed with how quickly I caught on to shooting that recurve bow. 

By 2007 I took Archery Rangemaster training myself through Boy Scouts. In Oct. 2008 I bought my first recurve bow and started shooting more regularly with my kids. We shot at the local Boy Scout camp range mostly, until we discovered an archery store in town and started shooting there. In 2009 I became a USA Level 1 Archery Instructor - for Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts. 
In Jan. 2010, I convinced my husband to try archery and he was hooked immediately. Soon after, we discovered an Archery Club (Santa Cruz Archers) with 28 target outdoor range and 20 yard indoor range just 15 minutes drive from home and started shooting there regularly. In 2011 we joined the club and the NFAA and also bought our first compound bows. 

I became a USA Archery Level 2 Archery Instructor in 2014 and have taught four Level 1 Instructor classes to date, with another scheduled for June 2018. 

I have been the Store Manager for Bullseye Archery in Scotts Valley since it opened March 2015, and teach beginning archery there regularly. We are the only archery store in Santa Cruz County at this time. My husband and I shoot together most weekends and many Friday evenings for the indoor club shoots. See what happens when you try archery and are good at it the first time?  So much fun. 

I love any type of outdoor archery the most and compete in many club, regional and state events. I became the California State Champion in the 900 Round in 2017 in my division - Silver Senior Female, BHFS (at age 60). 

I loved reading everyone's stories. All of our stories are different. There are still not enough women archers. I get great joy teaching archery - especially to girls and women.


----------



## Reelrydor (Jan 5, 2010)

I was a suburban child w city parents n family--But something was there-to make me sharpen the wooden arrows that came with my toy bow. I shot a recurve as a teen n young adult. Only frogs rabbits and squirrels to my credit, but was definitely labeled the weird one in my area. Then as a 50+ I lived in an area that had deer--not alot--but deer--older now but still love bowhunting. I have many hunts on my bucket list


----------



## kelsschn (Jun 10, 2018)

I was first introduced about two years ago when the pro shop in the town advertised their beginner course in our community education booklet. My sister and I did it on a whim, using club equipment. I absolutely love it almost immediately despite me and her being the oldest in the class! Unfortunately my family did not have the finances to support such a hobby at that time.

This summer I found myself unable to continue in marching band due to some medical stuff out of my control, so I decided archery would be something I could do instead! I paid for my bow (compound) and all the stuff outright, but my parents are going to reimburse me 50% of the total cost once they have decided I'm committed enough because I have a history of losing interest pretty quickly. 

I bought my bow on Sunday, June 3rd, and entered the intermediate youth class/league the following day. It was kind of weird to be twice the age of the other kids, but I've still had a ton of fun and got invited to shoot in the women's league! I'm looking forward to doing that when it starts back up later this month along with eventually joining the JOAD team at my club.


----------



## 30xxx (Jan 26, 2018)

Wanted to get into hunting so I went to local shop and got hooked up. The rest is history


----------



## AwkwardArtemis (May 14, 2018)

I shot fiberglass stick recurves with a pinch draw into pizza boxes in the backyard when I was kid. I hadn't really picked up a bow since. My 5yr old wanted a bow for Christmas - so we got him an inexpensive Barnett Lil' Sioux, and ourselves a cheap Samick Sage. My wife and I shared that for a month or two, really enjoying the sport (my son too!), then we found a deal on an ILF bow that she took, and I took the Sage. So began our (my) obsession. She loves range time, but I have bought at least 15-20 bows, and sold half of them. The last few weeks we've gone to the range, we've found ourselves shooting next to someone to whom I'd sold a bow. I love the sport. My family loves it. I love bargain hunting and buying and selling bows...and I haven't lost money on one yet. It's just a fantastic hobby all around.


----------



## agmfan3 (Jul 2, 2018)

My son started shooting in 4H Hot Shots archery, I liked watching, he won a bow at a local tournament, while there picking it up I spotted a Hoyt Ignite, told them to get it down I was buying it. I'm hooked kid is now almost 16 and we shoot together, husband works a lot but he shoots when home. I am working hard to increase my poundage, up to 42lbs now, won a Obsession Turmoil this spring and looking forward to when I can pull it and shoot. Missed a deer last fall due to nerves, but I did get 3 with a rifle, patiently waiting for deer season this year, I will not make a rookie mistake again.


----------



## ariellebgood (Feb 3, 2017)

I've always wanted to try it but I didn't until college. I was just walking by the athletic field and my school's archery club had a "Try Archery" event going on. I tried it and the rest is history.


----------



## ellen7 (Jun 3, 2015)

Mostly got myself into, joined a local 4H archery team and started doing 3D shoots. People were shocked how good I shot when I began, I was 14 years old out shooting guys older than me. Also got into deer hunting, love it all! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## rachelenewman (Jul 25, 2018)

I met my husband and I was all in with him and Archery. Love them both 25 years and counting.


----------



## Corene1 (Apr 27, 2014)

I got my first bow when was about 8 years old , a little fiberglass bow with 3 wood arrows from the Blue Chip stamp store, (dating myself here) and we were inseparable. My mother had a friend whose family was heavily involved in tournament archery so I would go over there and help her with yard work and she would let me shoot her bow, a beautiful Hoyt recurve. Finally got my own recurve at about 13 and spent most of my time out in the fields shooting, I wasn't quite confident enough to go to the tournaments at the time. I got my first compound a Martin Cougar II In the late seventies and finally joined our local archery club and it took off from there. Our club was very hunting oriented and I learned to hunt from them but we were mostly non sighted finger shooters, which is still my favorite style to shoot. I got a job with a company owned by one of the members who was also a nationally ranked shooter as well as his wife so I always had a person to talk archery with as well as learn the fine points of archery from. As my kids grew they also shot bows but my son took it to a much higher level in the Olympic style. We had many good times going to qualifiers and down to the training center and have had the pleasure to meet many fine individuals. We had the privilege to have a training lesson at Jim Easton's house and met Gena Davis there as well when she was trying to get on the women's Olympic team, as well as trips down to the Olympic training center in Chula Vista. So archery has given me many lasting memories through the years. At 63 I am still shooting a recurve non sighted with fingers and totally enjoying it along with my son and grandson.


----------



## nv300rz (Aug 8, 2018)

my siblings went through the stage of archery hunting with compounds, then onto crossbows. I'd always wanted to but didn't think i could because i have a everlasting tennis elbow injury. One day my chiropractor was bragging about how he'd got into bow hunting with compounds and encouraged me to go try one. While, I always had a sweet spot inside for the traditional horn bows, I had connections with a mongolian bow maker to get one imported, but i never did. One day my sister sent her compound bow and to see if i liked archery. Then i realized it was something i wanted to invest my time and money into, so recently i'd upgraded by ordering a mathews halon 32 from here.


----------



## RingLady (Oct 6, 2013)

when I was a kid an arm protector and finger tab came into my possession, then I read Howard Pyle's Robin Hood. In middle school (I watched Robin and Marian cz Robin looked like Dad and Marian looked like Mom) a teacher gave me her old longbow-I put twine on it and arrows were just straight sticks. The bow was lost in a big move. When I was older I found an archery shop/range and started shooting there and eventually bought my bow and arrows. They closed. My stage combat troupe started renting a new facility and I asked if I could shoot there. Sure as long as I set up the catch net and targets. Did that a few times and then Fearless Leader decided to just have Open Archery at the facility every Sunday. Now I just got my Level 2 instructor cert and am gearing up to teach my first class of girl scouts.


----------



## PurpleArcher713 (Sep 5, 2016)

I bought a bow at a pawn shop because it was pretty (purple) for $150 2 years ago. Now, 5 bows later I'm sure my husband would reconsider that pawn shop trip lol


----------



## Just_Jess27 (Sep 10, 2018)

I learned from my dad at age 7. I stopped for 20 years and back at it again with my dad as a archery guru haha


----------



## woof156 (Apr 3, 2018)

Sara-s said:


> I recommend finding a local club or shop, where you can take lessons. Though I am inclined to recommend shooting leftie, based on what you have said, lessons will give you a chance to try shooting both ways, before committing to your own gear.


I know this is a very old thread but more than one person has asked that question. As another poster mentioned you would probably shoot lefty- to compliment your dominate eye. It would be very uncomfortable and highly not recommended to shoot righty and hunch over your bow to use you left eye to sight. That said some left eye dominate shooters find shooting righty more comfortable and just learn to use their right eye. Like ambidextrous handiness some people can use both hands equally well and so it is with eye dominance but for many dominate eye rules. Hope by now you are shooting well and enjoying this great sport.


----------



## Reelrydor (Jan 5, 2010)

No mentor or help just podcasts/hunting shows/bowshop guys and experience


----------



## cowpoly (Jan 10, 2016)

All my coworkers in a former office would hunt and abandon me all alone in the office for a week when season opened. I said, "screw it, I'm gonna buy a bow," and then went to Sportsmans Warehouse and bought a Diamond Infinite Edge kit. I've since upgraded, but damn it was a fun little bow. 

Never did go hunting though.


----------



## garfanatic (Sep 30, 2009)

My first experience was playing cowboys and Indians with my best friend at 10 years old with a kids bow and suction cup arrows. Then in high school we had an archery section in PE , then I was hooked. With my very first paycheck as a teenager I bought a cheap Bear compound bow, a target and some arrows. Then I learned how to adjust draw weight, add a knock point and add silencers myself. The Bear was put in the closet when i experienced a severe depression episode when my dad passed away.

Flash forward 8 years and my hubby decided to try archery. He bought a bow, and I drug the Bear back out of the closet. I was reminded how much I love to shoot, so in 2009 I bought my Hoyt Trykon. Now both my kids are shooting archery, and I am the coordinator for our local 4H shooting sports club. My daughter "stole" my Hoyt, but it's ok because I love to see her be successful at shooting competitions.

Reading everyone's stories has been great. Keep it up ladies!


----------



## Kcarcherymom (Nov 23, 2018)

My 10 yr daughter wanted to try beginner lessons - I agreed. After first lesson, she says "Mom, can you do this with me?" and I said "sure, why not? how hard could it be?". Ha ha. So now we are shooting together, finished intermediate lessons, and are on a monday night league together. She's on to the competitive team at the range. How fun to learn something new when you're 50+? (or really any age). I'm volunteering to help start NASP at her elementary school; it feeds into middle & high school which both have archery teams. We're hooked!


----------



## archergirl24703 (Dec 27, 2018)

When I was about four my grandparents bought me a little green recurve and taught me how to shoot it in the driveway. After a while they started taking me with them to 3D shoots in our area and I loved it. Not too long after I started competing, about five or six years old at the time, we upgraded my bow to a little pink camo compound which I shot and continued to compete with for three or four years. About six years ago we upgraded again to a Mission Craze by Mathews. It has been a great bow and I've competed and hunted with it since. The past two or three years my grandmother and I have gotten very into competing and started going to more of the local, and not so local shoots as well as shooting with the IBO. With the increase of competition came the increase of practice and now I practice about two hours a day every day and compete at least once a week.


----------



## Katrocc (Mar 18, 2019)

I moved to a retirement community about 3 years ago. There is an archery range on the property. Before I moved here I never would have thought to get involved with archery as there was only 2 indoor ranges where I lived. Besides I'm not the outdoorsy type. My sister came down to visit me and I showed her the range. She has shot in the past and got her own bow with the intention of going hunting (she never did hunt with it). She said that I should take the required safety classes so that we could shoot there the next time she came to visit. Well, long story short, I took the beginner and advanced classes. I also took Level 1 and Level 2 instructor classes. I practice at the range almost every day. I actually go through a sort of withdrawal if I miss a few days. I joined the archery club here and now participate in the leagues that they run. There are mostly men who shoot here, but I have sort of become one of the guys. I am one of a handful of die hard women that belong to the club and shoot frequently. I enjoy it tremendously.


----------



## Taylorp48 (Aug 29, 2018)

I guess my story is typical, but my first date with my boyfriend was a deer hunt, and the more we went out the more I wanted to try something more challenging other than shooting with a rifle. My boyfriend has always been real big in guns and archery, and he had his first bow set up for me and I slowly started shooting it to see if id even like it and I would get annoyed and mad at it, because I didn't know what to do. He taught me the basics and I started to get better and I decided I wanted my own bow! It took over a month to find a bow that I really enjoyed, and I really wanted the Eva Shockey bow and no shop near me had one and we had to drive out of our way a hour or so just to find a shop that had it. I finally got to shoot the bow and fell in love with it. I ended up getting that bow and I practiced every day and I told myself that ill never shoot a gun again. After hunting season was over and I still wanted to shoot my bow just for the practice and now me and my boyfriend started getting into 3-D archery and I shot my first ever ASA qualifier shoot and ended up qualifying for the state shoot and now we are planning to go the Total Archery Challenge this next weekend in TN. 

When I first started I thought I was all alone until I looked here and started following big huntresses. It's nice to talk to other females about archery rather than sitting at a shop being the only girl and trying to keep up with the boys.


----------



## s.r.patten (Sep 29, 2018)

I got into archery after an injury in the military. There was a group on base for recovering service members so I decided to check it out. That was a year ago and now I'm hooked!


----------



## blrock (Jul 8, 2020)

significant other is a bow technician and bow shop owner... enough said. never grew up knowing any hunters or anything about the sport. I feel super empowered as a female shooter.


----------



## mthoffman (Jul 10, 2020)

My parents bought me a bow when i was 13


----------



## ComicRelief365 (Jul 10, 2020)

Getting my girlfriend into the sport! She has loved her first few lessons and is thinking of getting into a better bow setup after trying out a child's bow. She can probably pull about 30 lbs and mainly wants to recreationally target shoot. Any thoughts on whether to go compound or recurve?


----------



## compound_leida (Jan 18, 2013)

Watching survival shows with my husband and I asked him if he'd seen any episodes where they built a bow from scratch. Next thing I know it is my birthday and he had bought me an intro to archery lesson. After that I just kept going back to the range.


----------



## saschwar00 (Jul 13, 2020)

I was about 12 years old attending a day camp for Campfire Girls. We were introduced to archery. I loved it. I won first place being the only one with a bullseye shot. I didn't pick it up again for many years later. So glad to be back into it, a great opportunity to relieve day-to-day stressors! Just wish I lived in a more rural area so I could just go out to the back yard and shoot anytime I wanted to do so.


----------



## Ashleigh (Jul 9, 2020)

I was the typical girl who learned from her dad. No boys in the family until I was 15 so by then we did everything your average boy did. Now I'm teaching my daughter.


----------



## devonboling (Sep 19, 2011)

25 years ago, told my gun-free family I wanted to hunt. Bow was the only option, learned at a local JOAD club, and the rest is history!


----------

