CHARACTERISTICS OF THE RIGHT COMPOUND BOW FOR YOU
CAM SYSTEM
[Updated on 1 June 2020] There are a number of compound bow cam systems (eccentrics) available in the market and innovation in the technology has more coming out every year. Common configurations are single, dual, hybrid and binary. Each cam configuration with advantage and trade-offs as well.
OVERALL WEIGHT
Heavier bows are more stable than lighter bows and are much easier to shoot accurately. Too light of a bow is likely to veer off your target every time you draw.
DRAW WEIGHT
More weight makes faster arrow speed, better trajectory, and more energy. But more weight also becomes harder to draw especially in an awkward position. If target shooting, this is not as big of a concern, but if you are hunting and need to quickly draw your bow, you may not have an accurate shot.
BRACE HEIGHT
A bow with a shorter brace height makes an arrow fly faster out of the bow, but it also makes the bow less forgiving and magnifies archer mistakes during draw and release.
AXLE TO AXLE (A2A) LENGTH
Longer bows are more accurate. Longer bows are easier to hold it steady at full draw towards a target. A2A length greatly affects the let off of the bow as well as it’s the size.
DRAW LENGTH
A draw length differs from archer to archer. To determine your ideal draw length.
- Spread your arms wide apart and measure your middle finger from tip to tip.
- Take note your arm span and divide the number by 2.5.
Boss Targets
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3 Comments
I am looking to buy a compound bow. I was wondering what brands to look at and what price range I should look into.
The best value compound bow is one that suits the archer and his or her needs. After the basics are covered, you should look at each bow’s unique features and decide which one is better suited for your needs. For example, one bow might contain a regular sight where another offers a red dot sight which may help you for dim light applications.
When I first came into archery, I hadn’t a clue about anything. All I know was that I needed my own compound bow (because the local archery range didn’t have any to rent out and that I knew that I had to set it up to suit just me personally)… so naturally I gravitated towards the definition of ‘sexy’ at the time – full camo hunting bows.
Had no idea what axle length, brace height, cam type etc would suit me. All I knew was that the draw length & draw weight had to have a huge range of adjustability so that I was almost guaranteed to be able to shoot it somehow. Turned out it was a good bet!
So I got a cheap Chinese one, the most decent one for what little money I was willing to throw at it. And only in the months of actually shooting the bow (lots of coaching & shooting) could I finally relate to all the info being presented here.
Not before.
I outgrew the bow towards the end of the year. But by then that cheap bow had taught me enough, not just merely in theory but in practical terms, to know exactly what specs I need to look for in my next one.