Archery for kids

[Tim K]

I have been trying to get my daughter interested in archery for years. She just took her first class in PE at school and came home all excited.

I shot for many years, but it was many years ago. I have no idea what is out there these days. Where should I luck and what should I look for? She is 12 and tall and strong for her age.

I will probably need a bowl for myself, as well. My last compound bow was purchased in 1983. The most recent bowl I owned was a long bow I bought about 1990. You could say I?m a little behind the times.

[Erni]

Let me know if you are interested in traditional bows and what size. My kids don?t use their gear and honestly grew out of it. Probably should sell it off before I forget about it for another year.

[encorehunter]

I learned instinctive shooting with a long bow and recurve. When I won the state YHEC for archery, my parents bought me a Browning compound bow. I have since moved to a Mathews. For her, I would stay wife a recurve. If she wants to get into a conpound, Mathews Genesis is kids bow that is a 12-24 inch draw with the weight around 25 lbs. I taught a lot of kids in YHEC, 4H and the Boy Scouts with all three types of bows. I prefer them to shoot woth now sights for a while, only concentrating on technique.

My bow is a Mathews SQ2 and I have no plans on upgrading. It is probably 20 years old, but it is still an amazing piece of technology.

[CS1983]

Tag for later. I have some ideas for you but I need to put the resources together.

[CS1983]

Re: youth archery

Do you know if her school is doing NASP, JOAD, or a different archery program/homegrown? If NASP, they have one bow that they approve for competition (NASP Genesis). They're not really expensive and are used at all levels of their program. (https://www.naspschools.org/gear/equipment-information)

JOAD differs depending on which class one shoots.

As far as her size and strength, her size could impact which size bow she gets (assuming there isn't an equipment requirement), but in general you want to start with a lower poundage. If she isn't limited by NASP requirements, or wanting to compete (which would impact depending on class), the sky is the limit.

Local shops:

Pellegrino's (https://thearcheryhut.com/) or Archery School of the Rockies (https://archeryschooloftherockies.com/) are the local go-to for this stuff. ASR is closer to you, being right off hwy 24 and 21st st, and they have a youth program that would be good to get her involved in if she wants lessons.

Bow type:

If you want to get a bow to shoot with her, I'd recommend you get whatever general type she does (recurve if recurve, compound if compound) so you can have real competition.

My go-to compound these days is the Elite Kure. It has what they call "SET" Technology that takes a lot of traditional bow press needs off the table (cable twisting/yoke tuning/etc.). Bowtech has what they call "smart bow" tech which is similar in ease of use/tuning.

[Tim K]

Re: youth archery

Do you know if her school is doing NASP, JOAD, or a different archery program/homegrown? If NASP, they have one bow that they approve for competition (NASP Genesis). They're not really expensive and are used at all levels of their program. (https://www.naspschools.org/gear/equipment-information)

JOAD differs depending on which class one shoots.

As far as her size and strength, her size could impact which size bow she gets (assuming there isn't an equipment requirement), but in general you want to start with a lower poundage. If she isn't limited by NASP requirements, or wanting to compete (which would impact depending on class), the sky is the limit.

Local shops:

Pellegrino's (https://thearcheryhut.com/) or Archery School of the Rockies (https://archeryschooloftherockies.com/) are the local go-to for this stuff. ASR is closer to you, being right off hwy 24 and 21st st, and they have a youth program that would be good to get her involved in if she wants lessons.

Bow type:

If you want to get a bow to shoot with her, I'd recommend you get whatever general type she does (recurve if recurve, compound if compound) so you can have real competition.

My go-to compound these days is the Elite Kure. It has what they call "SET" Technology that takes a lot of traditional bow press needs off the table (cable twisting/yoke tuning/etc.). Bowtech has what they call "smart bow" tech which is similar in ease of use/tuning.

Perfect. That's exactly what I was hoping for. With all this Wuhan Flu crap, I really want to spend my money locally.

[def90]

High Altitude Archery in Longmont has youth classes and leagues, they are more target archery oriented. No Limits Archery has leagues as well but are more hunting oriented as a shop. Both are good to go. High Altitude with their classes will have gear that your kid can use to learn on so that they can get an idea of what they might want or need before you go and spend a ton of money.

[Holger Danske]

My 13yo shoots JOAD and 4H in the Springs. Hit me up on IM if you have questions.

[Tim K]

Thanks again to all. I have a friend with a closet full of kids stuff he's going to loan me to see if she really has an interest.

[whitewalrus]

When you go to buy the bows, shoot a few different brands. They will all have different feels to them. Don?t be so set on one brand or something that you overlook another that you shoot better. Any local shop will gladly setup a few different ones that will work and let you shoot them to see - or at least they did pre COVID.


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