# Brand New to Archery and No family Do it either



## aread (Dec 25, 2009)

The Whitetail was a popular bow in it's day. A lot of deer were taken with them. Today they are popular again for people who want to convert them to recurve bows with the ILF limbs. 

However, you seem to want to shoot it as a compound. 

The first thing to do is to have it checked out by a competent tech. Sometimes these are few & far between, so ask around to find somebody who knows what they are doing.

Also, have the tech set the bow to your draw length and at a comfortable draw weight for you. Hopefully the bow can be set to fit you. You are probably still growing, so this may have to be adjusted in the future.

You will also need a few arrows. There are charts that the tech can use to look up the right arrow for this bow and your draw length. If money is tight, aluminum arrows are available at a reasonable price. Unfortunately, aluminum can be damaged fairly easily, so be prepared to buy more in the near future. An alternate is inexpensive carbon arrows, but these can be damaged too. Just not quite as easily as aluminum.

You may also want to buy a release aid. You can be much more accurate than shooting off of your fingers. Try not to go cheap here. A bad release can cause a lot of problems with your shooting.

You will also need an arrow rest. There are some economical ones available. Maybe the tech has an old one that he will sell you cheap. Old doesn't necessarily mean bad.

Then get Larry Wise's book "Core Archery". It's a pretty good primer on shooting form and it's only $12.00. However, if you can find a good coach, that would be a much better option. It will be money well spent to avoid the bad habits that self coached archers almost always fall into. 

Check out the local laws where you live to find out where you can shoot. The laws vary significantly and there seems to be no logic to them. Some jurisdictions even treat a bow the same as a firearm. 

Find an archery club. There seem to be a lot of MN shooters on AT, so there a probably a few clubs up there. A club can offer competition, friendship and support. I've found these to be important, but some don't care to be members of a club. Your choice.

Then go have fun.

Good luck,
Allen


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## Stubby'smom (Mar 20, 2010)

Where in MN are you? There are lots of clubs and pro shops in the state which are very good.


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