Basics For Archery Bows

The archery industry offers a wide selection of bows: compound bows, traditional bows, youth bows, take-down bows, and many others.

Each one has advantages and disadvantages and some are suited to one of the three major areas of archery: field archery, archery hunting, or target archery. In addition, archery bows are made by a ton of different manufacturers.

With all this variety, you might believe that each bow is quite different. In actuality, they all have basically the same parts: string, notches, upper and lower limbs, sight windows, brace height, and an arrow shelf. Compound bows have a few additional parts, specifically cams and cables. These are necessary due to the design of compound bows. Compound bows have become increasing popular because they allow the shooter to hold more weight in their draw. This is because the weight of the draw actually reduces when the shooter is preparing to shoot. This translates into a smoother arrow shot for archers. Traditional bows were the mainstay of the archery industry for many years, before compound bows popularity overtook them. They are still quite useful and offer a farther range shooting than compound bows. Take down bows can take both forms of traditional and compound bows, but there difference is the limbs can be taken off. This makes them great for storage and traveling. Finally, youth bows are designed for younger children and adults with smaller weights to fit their growing frames. They offer younger people an opportunity to grow into the sport from their youth.

Additional parts can be added to any bow to improve your accuracy. This is especially important in target archery. One piece of equipment type are stabilizers. These can be placed on the bow and reduce the vibration of the bow while it is being fired. This helps get off a smoother shot and improves your accuracy. Another common feature on some bows is the use of release aids. These are designed as an alternative to actually gripping the string. This feature allows you to concentrate more on the shot than your draw allowing a more consistent shot.