My oldest boy turns 10 in September and he wants a Recurve.  He has been shooting a bow that a made out of pvc pipe for about 6 months now and it time for an upgrade (surprisingly the pvc bow shoots pretty good).  What would be a good bow for him and for a family on a budget? I have been looking at some of the youth recurves on 3 rivers archery.

Check out Maddog bows.  Mike builds a great bow for kids of all ages.  He built a couple for my boys last Christmas.  They are a terrific value.
S.

If you are on a budget and because he is still growing, I would go with the 3-Rivers.  I have gotten two or three for kids, they cannot be beaten for quality.  Bill

sorno, what kind of money are we talking about for a kids bow, longbow or recurve?

Go to the sponsor list above and check out Maddog archery. You won't be disappointed.

Maddog would be my vote.

Elk Ridge Archery is worth checking out !!!!

I would try finding a used recurve in good shape that pulls about 35 pounds at 28", since you're on a limited budget. Not that there's anything wrong with the bows mentioned above, but if you need something less expensive, I wouldn't hesitate looking for a used bow. It's not at all unusual to find one for around a hundred bucks or less.

At a short draw length of around 23", that puts his holding weight at around 20-25# with a 35#@28" bow. I would look for a bow about 54" to 58 or 60" maximum AMO bow length since he is likely to be relatively short compared to an adult.