So You Bought Your First (Used) Compound Bow. Now What?

By: Michael French, Co-Founder at I Hunt Harder

After years of hunting with only rifles and shotguns, I will admit that I was a little intimidated when it came to purchasing and properly setting up my first compound bow. Luckily for me, I had a handful of avid bowhunting friends that I could ask some of the "stupid 101" type questions to. Trust me, I asked plenty more of those when I finally arrived at the local bow shop for my first tune-up.

Long story short, I helped a friend move into his new home and his gift to me was a used High Country Supreme compound bow. It was a little beat up, but this thing was hammering from the first arrow that I fired that day. I was in love because it was camo, so it was an incredible gift. A perfect bow to use to learn this new trade. I knew that I had to make this thing my own and get it up to speed.

Here was my play by play as a novice bowhunter to get into the game and begin practicing:

Step 1: Locate a local bowshop. These guys know their stuff and can assess your bow quickly. Luckily for me, I had a few options that weren't too far away. Make a few phone calls if necessary. Odds are, your choices of shops will be slim, but mostly good.

Step 2: Get the bow assessed during a tune-up to see what needs to be done.

My bow was old, so it needed quite a bit of work. The most tedious part of this, was that I went online and purchased my own custom bow strings and custom buss cables - Most Bow shops will have an affiliation with someone who can get their hands on the proper strings & cables for your make and model. If your bow is more than a few years old, you will likely need new strings (and possibly cables too).You will want to assess your Draw Weight that you'd like to shoot. The associate that helps you at the bow shop can quickly measure your bow's current draw weight with a machine/scale. During your tune-up, they will help you to make sure your draw weight suits you, as this varies based on a few factors.Another important item is to figure out your draw length.  This is generally assessed by measurement of your wingspan. There are a number of factors that could ultimately determine your draw length, but a widely accepted method is (wingspan divided by 2.5). Example: 74" Wingspan divided by 2.5 = 29.6 (so this persons draw would likely be rounded to a 29.5" draw length). Draw Length and Draw Weight ultimately help you in deciding which size and grain arrows that you'll need so that the arrow is cut to the proper length. The bow shop will cut your arrows to the proper length once they understand your draw weight and draw length. As long as the rest of your bow & parts are in good order, you should be able to get by with what came with your bow until you become comfortable with how you are shooting. These things may need tweaking during your tune up, but should be sufficient.There could be other additions or modifications that may need to get done. Those include, but are not limited to: Having a sufficient sight that helps you measure distance and fire an accurate shot. You can spend a fortune on sights, so I would recommend starting with an affordable product that has strong reviews until you begin to decide what you really like or want to get out of your sight.When your bow strings get put on, ask the staff member to put a peep sight on the string (most will do this for you even if you don't ask). This is what you will look through when lining up your shot through you sight. the peep site is a small hollow circle that you look directly through when you have the bow pulled all the way back (at full draw).The last item for your tune up is the arrow rest. There are tons of different arrow rests out there. Again, if you feel like what you have isn't sufficient, get an affordable, highly rated rest to start your bowhunting journey. Last and most importantly, you will not be shooting field tips on your hunt. Those tips on your arrows are used for target practice only. On game day, you will need to shoot a broadhead. There are fixed and mechanical broadheads out there. My preference is fixed blade broadheads, but every hunter and every shop will have their own opinions on this. 

If you get new strings put on, you may need to take your bow back in after 200 shots or so to get it recalibrated, as string can stretch through the break in process. 

Overall, bowhunting is an experience. It is not the equipment that makes you a great bowhunter. It is practice. This is a skill that can take time to really harness. Have patience, employ persistence and research your technique to make sure that you're learning how to use your bow the correct way. 

Are their any other Pro-Tips that should be added to this list? If so, we would love to hear from you.

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