My girl friend/future wife has shown an interest in shooting with me. She is 5' 1" 110 lbs and kind of weak in the upper body. What would be a good starting weight to get her? It would be for backyard practice and 3D. I was thinking a Quinn maybe so I could get new limbs later for hunting if she likes it and wants to go hog hunting with me sometime in the near future.
TIA
110 sounds about right. They usually fatten up with time. Just kidding, 30 -35 lbs should be comfortable.
My wife's about that size and I got her a #30er from Maddog Archery. She didn't like TD's, said they were too heavy. Mike makes a nice bow for the money. Good luck..
My wife started with a 30# TD recurve but shot poorly with it and got discouraged. Then when I received my Blackfeather TD longbow she picked it up and tried it. She shot great with it but it was too heavy for her for more than a couple shots. I found her a second hand Blackfeather TD longbow that is 40# at her draw length and now she shoots great with it. She even felt confident enough to shoot in her first 3D shoot a month or so ago. Her problem with the lighter bow was that she could not get a clean release. The extra weight solved that problem and more importantly it solved the "mental" problem of anticipating a poor shot when shooting the 30# bow.
My wife is a little taller; but not especially strong.........she does not shoot often and has no problem with a 35# 1959 Bear Grizzly I gave her.
Get somewhere,where she can draw bows of severall weights and let her tell you what is right for her.If that is not possible,then imo it is best to error on the lighter side,than heavier.Go with a 25 to 30 lber.
I would guess between 25 and 35 pounds. The best thing to do would be to go somewhere where you can rent or borrow a bow for her and shoot together. If it is too heavy, you will see the tremors and short-drawing, but hopefully, she will just tell you. The trick is, can she shoot it more than just ten or fifteen times before tiring? Heck, I can pull seventy pounds, but not more than four or five times!
Killdeer :wavey:
that's a similiar build to my wife she has about a 27" draw and shoots a 35# recurve well. So around 30# should be a good start.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v445/Drewsifer/March2008022.jpg)
My wife is 6ft 2 and shoots 35lb at her 32 inch draw.
I like em around 130 lbs, oh, the bow you mean?
Don't be put off by a 20-25# bow either. Learning her form and having it easy/fun to draw will go a long ways to having her be successful and enjoying shooting.
Yep,My wife shoots 25# much better than 35lbs.She loves the looks of her 35 lb bow but when we go to a shoot she takes her ugly 25lb.
Start with 20-25 you can always go heavier later.She will shoot much better if she doesn't even have to think about the weight.She may be able to pull and hold much more but that doesn't mean she should start with that much.
um...about 350#
Guys it's not fair chase when it's that easy. It's like shooting a button buck.
My daughter easily shoots a 25# at 24" bow and she is 5'4", 110# and 13 years old. I'd guess 25-30# but have her shoot some bows and see what's comfortable for her.
My wife has a 20# recurve and loves it, she doesn't want to go any heavier. Jazz 1416 zing out of it.
Mike,
My wife is a 5' 2 1/2" kindergarten teacher. Dale Karch at 3 Rivers built one of his Tomahawks for her.... 25# @ 26" ..... she's never struggled with it, and has fun 'stumpin' with me.
Mmmmmmm, button bucks, fork tender.
Started Marsha with a 25# Black Rhino and she quickly moved up to a 33# MOAB. I believe most women can shoot 40-45 if they want to work into it, but no reason to unless they plan to hunt deer and up.
My wife is shootin a Zipper curve I got her for X-Mas last year 40# @ 28", but she is 5'9 150# farm girl tuff and draws 29", witch is more than I can comfortable draw. Short draws suck, go light if your not going to hunt, makes it more fun when fatigue is not a factor and she can shoot more arrows. good luck !
I made my wife several bows that were 35#@22". She shot them for years but rarely hit anchor.
I made her a special bow with 3/8th tips, timber rattler backed and 25#@22". She comes to anchor with it and shoots much better than her other bows. It actually is much faster than her higher poundage bows because of the low limb mass.
I ended up with a bear - panda that is 25 lbs and I was surprised how fast it shot an arrow. It's right handed and my wife shoots left (when she does) or I would set her up with that.
The worst thing you can do is get her a bow that is to strong for her.
My wife shoots about 25 pounds - she shoots a WARF recurve that James Wrenn made. It's 64" long and she can shoot it like you wouldn't believe. She had a custom recurve made for her that was about 35 lbs and she couldn't shoot it as well as the 25 pounder cause she was struggling with the weight.
She won the state championship last year, 3rd this year so that proves the lower poundage will be sufficient to be competitive.
Also, make sure you get the right spined, high quality arrows - just like you would do for yourself.
She'll enjoy the sport a lot more with equipment she can handle and that is high quality. The Quinn would not be a bad choice.
I feel very lucky my wife enjoys shooting 3D's with me - encourage your girl as much as you can as you'll get a lot of enjoyment with her participating in this great sport alongside you.
I prefer my girlfriends around 100 lbs:)
Thx for all the advice/replies & humor(some of you need to keep your day jobs)she got a chuckle from some of the replies.. ;)
There is no place around here I know of to try some bows out, the ones I do know of are all heavy I couldn't find one under #45.
From the replies it sounds like #25 is a good place to start. If she likes it hopefully she can work up to a heavier weight and I can talk her into going Turkey & Hog hunting with me. Right now I'm just happy she shows an interest and wants to go 3D and stumping with me.
I just saw a sponsor here: Maddog http://tradstore.com/mta/
Nice looking bows and nice pricing...anyone shoot any of his bows? Comments?
I've put a bunch of Mike's bows into beginner hands. A very good choice IMO.
Just started my buddies wife off with a 20 pounder and she was sore after about 2 dozen shots. I'd go with 25-30 lbs.