Archery - As a Hobby

Starting to get back into archery after a cough cough long layoff (30 years) son sort of interested but he's backwards for holding a bow (i am lefty he is righty) heh, will be hitting a range in a week or so after i do the intial sight/pull/draw dialin in my backyard.

snagged a "beginner bow" from diamond archery that got good reviews. the edge sb1, 380 dollars, 7 to 70lb pull & 15 to 30 in draw length- both adjustable with just an allen wrench no bow press needed.

That's cool. The new bows that adjust a wide range of draw length and pull weight would be a big deal for a lot of new people and younger people. Gone are the daws of a draw length range of almost nothing and draw weight of 15 pounds at most.

Shoot compound

update since i have had the bow for a month: bow works pretty damn well.

need to tweak draw length, i think it is currently a bit low (came set for 26" currently) i have to measure but i think i will end up a bit longer- 26 works but i want to make sure i get the "proper" length for form etc. i think 27 or 28 is what i will end up with. also have to start to up the pull from where it started (~40lbs) going to go up another notch to 50lbs(40 getting easy) and re-sight the pins saturday(rain permitting).

I thought it was standard at 29". I drag right at 30". 28" seems pretty short. What is your wingspan? I think a lot of people get a shorter draw length because they use a release and expact it to be in front of them instead of up near the jaw like I learned back in the dark ages.

Looked on my chat. It's 29" for 6' as a starting point. I guess I have longer arms as I'm just over 6'. The chart showed a starting point of windspan divided by 2.5 , as a starting point. If you bought it an archery shop they should have a deal to draw a test bow back and it slides and measures it.

Wingspan/2.5 is the formula everyone I have researched says. I am 5'7"ish, my Wingspan is 67.5"

67.5/2.5= 27" draw length arrows I have right now are 30" length cuz I had no clue going in, going to drop to 27.5" arrows next order.

Also have to redo the sight alignment, I checked the alignment of the rest to a string dropped along the ctr of the bow and my rest was aligned left, since I aligned my sight to the shot, everything was pushing left (true correct aim was right of target,pins were centered on target. I adjusted my rest so it is centered, which If I did this right will make my groupings tighter since I will have a lot less arrow side to side wobble I was getting. Also got a new sight (Viper Venom 1000 5-Pin .015 Compound Bow Sight, MADE IN AMERICA! | Hunter's Friend) that arrives tomorrow or Tues so will wait until I get that installed to adjust/center my sight. Later in the week since I have my son's freshman orientation at UMAINE Tues and weds.

got everything shooting good right now, my 3 arrow group at 20 yards is an inch right now, arrows are almost all touching,.

Now you can start fletching to fix all your messed up fletching.

And stop shooting one dot. Move to 3+ targets with 1 arrow each.

Brother-in-law wants me to join him hunting this fall. Will if I think I can shoot well enough at 30+ yards. @20 yards I think I am improving as I practice. 30 yards I have to improve more, groups are getting tighter as I learn to stand, breath and focus

the SB-1 is apparently the best selling diamond bow ever,,,and is one of the best beginning bows on the market due to it's extreme variable settings without needing a bow press.

1- blue loctite, use it when you adjust draw length or adjust any screws
2- the dots on the side of the poundage screw are 7lb marks lowest setting is 7 max is 70, every dot between is ~7lbs
3- videos on how to tune your bow- watch them- or pay someone to do it for you at a proshop to get the peep sight set etc. while the bow right out of the box is shootable, it probably is not tuned correctly- mine was not.

get good arrows. there are hundreds of arrow brands and styles out there. what i like you might not, etc. and get the correct spine settings for the pull/draw.

also, get the correct Length arrows for your draw length just shooting the base 31" arrows- while it works- is apparently (according to the videos and stuff i have read) not the way to do it.
i have a ~27-28 " draw length (i have still fiddling with the draw length settings since i switched to a thumb release-but it has been too damn hot out to practice) going to check 28" draw length this weekend. (it takes 2 minutes to change on the SB-1)

typically a person gets a shaft length at the draw length or an inch longer - i am shooting 28" shafts with points and nock that puts my arrows at just over 29" total length. a 29" draw length will use 29 or30" arrows typically. a 30" will use 30 or 31,


IF you really like it, get yourself an arrow cutting jig- you can buy a professional one for about 130ish dollars....OR if you have a dremel or a zip tool...and some flat boards- you can make one for the cost of materials just double check the measurements before cutting anything, and adjust if necessary.

for arrows i have used
Easton Helios @28" length (ordered them from huntersfriend.com)
Victory buck busters - amazon 60 bucks for a dozen
also just got a set of carbon express maxima reds(local proshop) (one of the best arrows around for hunting supposedly -80bucks for 6 arrows fletched) that i trimmed to length and will try this weekend.


i made a jig last week to cut all my shafts to the same length. i have a zip tool and use the dremel metal cutting disk in it. can do about 6 arrows a minute.


now the question for me....what Broadhead style for this upcoming hunting season
i am thinking of going nonmechanical but there are sooo many styles and types, do i go single bevel "2" blade or do i do a 3 blade...or 4 blade,,,aaarrrggghhh.

i have a wasp archery havalon(45 dollars for 3) to try and Ordered a set of bone broadhead single bevel(70 dollars for 3)- but the order takes about 5 weeks though.

DAMN THAT is sweet looking

since practicing a few weeks at ~56ish lbs i adjusted my poundage again to about 63lbs. my sight at 20 yards i think it is dialed in, hitting essentially within an inch of where i want and and 2 arrow groups of 3 arrows were together- with 2 of the 3 arrows essentially touching (CE maxima red arrows) and the victory BB arrows were about 3 inches apart.

i am still tweaking my 30yd pin here is the last group i shot saturday at 27" draw length. 3 of the CE maxima reds 3 of the victory's- i noticed one of the victory arrows was flying right at 30 yards, but i did not switch it out. so if you exclude that one the rest of the arrows at 30 yards was about the size of my hand once i do a bit more tweaking it will get better.
just the maxima reds vertically about a 1.5 inch spread and horizontal 4" i have to tweak the pin about 1/16"(or less) up to lower the shot just a touch i hit about 2 inches high.



didn't get a chance to test 28" draw length because of a misfire -my fault- i adjusted to 28" and dry pulled to see if it felt ok positioning and hit the release by accident) which caused the string to jump off the cams no damage to anything-luckily. i was like SHIIIIIT, but then i realized,,,,bow can go down to 7lbs, so i just dropped the setting on the limb bolt to min and was able to put the string back on. but JUST in case, i am ordering a complete replacement strings today. Going to go with a Set of Gas Bowstrings, debating as too which set to get, i think i might just say fuck it and get their Ghost XV strings - with either Flo orange or flo Green servings (bow string color is ONLY avail in white-thus the name ghost).

Jackie Treehorn said:

My Hoyt Carbon Matrix G3. I haven’t taken it out in many months.

I’ve barely shot it with the Lite King Pin or the drop away rest. Isn’t even dialed in yet. I really need to take the time to go out with it more.

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I bought a Defiant two years ago and then got lazy and never took it out. Been meaning to go out to Briones but I'm just so lazy.

so, gonna go hunting this fall for the first time. bowhunting of course

and there are SOOOO many fucking brands of clothes.. what do you all recommend for brands.
hitting cabelas up saturday to buy...stuff.

at a minimum what should i have, this is what i have gotten so far/thinking of getting

base layer - chose merino wool midweight top and bottoms
merino wool socks
that is it so far

thinking on my list
boots- thinking cabela's sneaker boot or something similar

camo pants of some sort
a lightweight/midweight hunting hoodie -
vest
hunting backpack of some sort
hunting/skinning/gutting knife

Clothes will be largely impacted on where you hunt. Here in bow season it's not unusual to be 60-90F. So that cuts down on the need for heavy clothes unless you hunt real late season around the first of the year.

Wash your clothes a few times and get them kind of soft. Practice with your bow a few times with your hunting clothes on to avoid any suprises on your first hunt. Like odd noises, rubbing in wierd places, or just flat hard to draw.

My area hunting season-deer- starts Oct 7 and runs thru to the end of the year If you buy the stamps. Otherwise Dec 1.

Shotgun is first 2 weeks if dec but bow is concurrent with shotgun. Last 2 weeks of dec
Is primative weapons muzzle loader/ archery. Crossbow is illegal in MA except for "disabled" people.

The merino base layer arrived and is very soft...

And my bow string arrived today so besides shopping for gear, and getting a massage, I'll be installing the new strings