Long-term goal of being a bow hunter. I've never hunted or shot a bow. What are some good recommendations on building a target practice to work on bow accuracy? What are some recommendations for bows to learn the mechanics and practice in preparation of a long-term goal of hunting?

Welcome to the addiction!

When it comes to bow hunting, you're jumping into the most advanced stage of hunting one can do. That doesn't mean you should do it another way, just know that most people take a more progressive approach with rifle hunting first and then learn to bow hunt. Many of the the things you learn during rifle hunting you have to refine and improve to be better at with a bow. All of that can be learned without the rifle stage just wanted to share that.

Regarding learning to use a bow - I would find your nearest archery shop with a range and get some lessons. Get fitted for a bow to you and learn how to shoot from guys that do this everyday. Perfect your ability to shoot in a controlled environment first and then gradually incorporate more challenging environments - if you have access to something outdoors and can stretch out the bow and/or create "stress" shots.

Back to the learning to hunt part - do you have any friends that currently hunt or are on deer leases? It can be hard sometimes to get yourself an invite to someone's place but being willing to help and just wanting to learn will more than likely get you an invite outdoors, even if it is in the off-season. Spending time around experienced hunters is probably one of the most important things you can do! You need to translate their knowledge into your own experience, which will consist of many teaching moments aka "failures".

With youtube and other resources nowadays, a novice can probably set foot in the woods way more equipped and ready. But as with most things, time actually in the field is irreplaceable.

TLDR:

Learn how to shoot at bow show - get a bow, get lessons, shoot often
Make friends with people that are hunters - learn from them, help them, find an opportunity to get in the field
Research - this board and many other places are full of knowledge

Solid advice! Just barely beat me

Thank you, all. Great advice

Don't chase speed with a bow, or get into an ego contest over draw weight. Get fit for draw length.

You will shoot a lighter draw better -- particularly in a field situation where you might be in an awkward position and have to hold a draw while waiting for a deer to clear a tree. You can always upgrade once you build muscles you don't normally use. Or just start at the lowest weight you can turn down the bow, and crank it up as you get more confident.

It doesn't take 320 fps to through-and-through a deer.

Super fast and super short bows tend to have short brace heights, which means small margins for error.

A double-lunged deer hit at 180 fps will usually drop inside 100 yards. Less if you hit the heart.

Gut shoot one at 340 fps and he will still run into the next county.

The premium for accuracy is MUCH higher with a bow -- and be realistic about how far you can shoot when you are shaking like a leaf pulling on a 10-point buck broadside at 40 yards.

There's bow clubs and silhouette matches all over. Get involved with them. A HS friend of mine that I could outshoot back in the day, is now in Texas bow hunters HOF. He still shoots silhouette matches in and around San Antonio.

He is still successfully hunting with 45# bow.

Don't forget to have a special shoe brand too!!

John Dudley Shares a ton of advice. He has a great back story as well.

Follow him one step at a time. He has so much content out there it would be months or more trying to watch it all pick what you need.



I have a great bow for sale if your interested RH 70# Bowtech Solutions SS. Cant recall if I put it classifieds or not but it is listed on Archery Talk. PM if interested. I am in the Hill country and have range in the backyard.

I started at age 49 - bought the "best rated" bargain bow from a F&S issue after a lot of research - A Bear Encounter. Still shoot the same bow today with an upgrade to the sight.

Lots of good advice above - and lots of good articles out there. I have found the most important part of accuracy is your anchor point needs to be repeatable which is much easier said than done.

Lots of target practice before you hint and just know that this won't prepare you for the adrenaline rush/ panic when you pull back on your first deer. I learned the hard way to always have your trigger finger behind the trigger when pulling back on a bow - I put back to back arrows between the legs of a great buck because I kept tripping the trigger on the pull back - never happened during target practice. And your aim point is further back from the shoulder than with a gun - need more margin for error - the best buck I ever hit was a just a little to far forward and the arrow went through the front shoulder and snapped in two when he ran. It wasn't a fatal hit and I searched for hours trying to find that buck.

Good luck with your new hobby - it is addictive.

Been a lot of good advice offered. Here is my perspective from taking this up 35+ years ago. There is so much more available now to help beginners than when I started. Bought my first bow from Walmart, shot aluminum arrows with fingers, and tried to learn on my own. Developed some bad habits and got frustrated trying this on my own. Luckily, I had lots of friends that were bow hunters that helped a lot. You didn't say where you live and that would help a lot for some on here to suggest bow shops that might be close to you or maybe someone to take you under their wing to help you get started. First, IMHO, you need to learn the basic terminology so you will know what folks are talking about- draw length, draw weight, anchor point, etc. Many bow shops will take trade ins for new bows and I would start with a used bow, simply because you can break the bank on a buying a new bow when you may find out it isn't what you thought it would be.

Asking a bunch of bow hunters to suggest a brand of bow is like asking a bunch of gun hunters what the best gun/caliber to deer hunt with is- you will get as many answers as folks you ask. Most reputable bow shops will let you shoot different bows to find one that feels right to you. Make sure they know you are a newbie so they set the poundage low enough for you to practice with because it will take a while to develop the strength and muscle memory to be consistent- being good with a bow is all about repetition and consistency. Like what was mentioned earlier..don't get caught up being macho and trying to pull too great a poundage early on- if you can't sit flat on the ground and draw your bow without pointing the arrow towards the sky then your poundage is too high. Also, get used to quitting when you start to get tired- early on it may only be five or ten arrows but when you get tired is when you develop bad habits.

Once you start to get comfortable with your ability and accuracy, see if you can find someone with a lease or property with hogs to go hunt. One of the best pieces of advice I got from a veteran bow hunter was to go somewhere with a target rich environment and start shooting at critters- get used to the angles to wait for and especially what angles to not take a shot.

That's my ten or twelve cents worth- take it for what it's worth. At 68 I am still hitting the woods in October and never get tired of the adrenalin rush.

Also, there are a number of blog websites you can go to and get advice- Archerytalk was mentioned and Texasbowhunter.com is another.

Learn the shooting part, techniques, release styles, etc. Then learn concealment and scent control, I want to be in a tree at least 15 ft up with the wind in my face. When you shoot a deer, stay in your stand for 1 hour minimum. It ain't like rifle hunting, takes much longer for them to bleed out. I spooked my first bow buck too early after the shot (didn't know any better) and never found him.

I'm out of practice with my bow these days so do mostly rifle hunting, but I still use my bow stand in trees up close and personal, because it's more enjoyable that way.

Great advice here already. All I can add is I found using an app called bow hunt simulator (may be better ones now) helped me to visualize shot placement. May seem cheesy and it is no substitute for the real deal but you can get in some reps without losing arrows and deer. Also like watching the hunting public videos for getting familiar with different situations. Other than that, T&P for your bank account and spouse.

Live by "aim small, miss small" and stay in practice.

The rush you get from being inside of 20 yards of any game animal is unmatched.

I'm not experienced, I'm probably one month ahead of you in the process.

I followed similar advice to what's listed above, except I suspect my bow tech was feeling rushed and didn't want to adjust my draw weight to what I should have started with.

"You handled 55lbs no problem, we'll just leave it there."

Yeah, but I did it with terrible technique and after my first practice session I had to rest my shoulder for 2 weeks and rehab then pre-hab my rotator cuff.

A couple of other thoughts, in addition to the bow/shooting conversation.

Get in the woods. You can do that now, without a bow. Practice walking quietly, slowly. A couple of steps, then pause to looking around. Freeze in whatever awkward position you're in when you see something. Learn to spot game without it seeing you. You may not be spending a lot of time stalking at first, but you'll be very close to deer when taking a shot and you need to learn to watch their eyes and behavior when you're that close. You'll have to be able to draw on a deer that's 10 - 15 yards away from you, and you're close enough to smell him.

Learn to track. This is just as important as taking the shot. You don't get the benefit of the shock of a 130 grain bullet hitting them at 3000 FPS, killing them nearly instantly. Many times deer won't even know they're hit by an arrow, and they bleed out while they run off startled from your movements, or they'll get thirsty and wander downhill looking for water.

Someone said waiting an hour after you shoot, but once you get down from your stand you still can't go walking off in the direction the deer ran and expect to find him easily. Get a good light because you'll probably be doing this on a dark night in the rain. Some kind of material (toilet paper is fine) to mark every drop of blood you find, or fresh scuffs and prints in the soil.

Mark where the deer was when you took your shot, and then follow the trail very carefully and slowly. If you start making circles and tread on it, its gone.

Obviously you'd learn best from someone experienced, so make friends! When you do, offer to help track and skin out game. Stay behind them, and watch what they do.

Western Colorado, public land, learn to stalk & track...you're welcome.

I can throw a rock in any direction near the grand mesa, & hit a Mule deer. There's pronghorn, bighorn sheep, elk, wild turkey (especially out on the uncompaghre), and mountain lions everywhere. I've known several novice bow hunters who bag something decent every year out there.

You need dogs to hunt the cats though. Mountain lions have small lungs, and are easy to tree; but nearly impossible to find.

Bear is always exciting, but I had a coworker who has had tags every year for most of his life, and the closest he got to a black or brown bear was a pile of feces. I've heard their fat makes incredibly good biscuits though.

You just got a find a water hole that they like...

When shooting a bow there's a big difference in 25 and 35 yards. So something I do pretty much every day is practice judging distance. When I'm walking to my truck in the parking lot I'll estimate the distance then pace it off. But be careful with this if you have OCD tendencies. I know.