Thread: Starter Compound Bow Questions

New to bows and have a few questions!
Looking to get a starter compound bow to practice target shooting (and eventually for hunting) and I've gone to Gun City and Hunting & Fishing in Christchurch but they don't really have much of a selection so I can't try anything out. Any recommendations for a good archery store that could set me up in CHCH? I've a rather small frame so would be looking to get something that's smaller and lighter
I'm also not sure how to tell a left-handed from a right-handed bow when looking at pictures of listings on TradeMe. I searched online for examples but still find it very confusing due to the orientation of the bow (which way is up?). Is there an easy to remember, straight-forward method to tell?
When a bow (such as the mankung thorns) states that the draw weight is 30-70lbs, is it fully adjustable within that range without requiring any add-ons? The reason I'm confused is that for something like the PSE bows, the draw weights are stated as 50 lbs., 60 lbs., 70 lbs., 80 lbs and if I'm not wrong, require different limbs to achieve the different ranges.
Also, I saw a 2nd hand Mankung thorns at a pawn shop for $400, was wondering if that is a good buy considering I won't know how much it's previously been used?

Head out to Arrowhead Archery in Darfield. Otherwise I got my first bow from Advanved Archery in Auckland, they were really good to deal with over the phone.

There are two archery places in Canterbury, both part time shops. I’ve dealt with Mathew at Arrowhead out at Darfield and he will set you up right. There is also Paddy at bowhunt.co.nz in Christchurch.
The PSE bows have about 10 bolt turns for the limbs. Wound right in they will be full poundage, but if you wind the bolts out a bit the poundage is reduced. I bought a 70lb bow and wound the bolts out 5 turns, then slowly did them up every couple of weeks until I could back the full poundage.
DONT BUY A BOW UNTIL YOU HAVE SEEN MATHEW OR PADDY. Bows are not like rifles, you have to get one that fits you properly. Personally I wouldn’t buy a mankung, buy a reputable American brand eggs PSE, Hoyt, Mathew, Elite, Bowtech. Buying secondhand can be good, but you need to know what you are looking for.

The www.Huntersfriend.com site has a great buyers guide ghat you should read before you buy. It's compulsory to find a good brick and mortar store when starting out, because fit and tuning will significantly affect your experience and performance. If you want to shorten and flatten the learning curve, get to a good shop!

100% go and see Mathew in Darfeild

mathew is a good guy and wont try to oversell you.
i use a bowtech revolt x. my wife uses a mag kun. she's more than happy with it and mathew says that the string quality is the only issue but its still going strong.
i have spare arrow rests and sights if you need them, be happy to shift them off cheap.
ellesmere archery club is worth joining, most shoot recurve though. give them a call if you want to have a shoot on saturday morning or wednesday evening

@gonetropo have you seen Matthew's sring making jig. He can now make strings for any bow out there

Originally Posted by Billbob

@gonetropo have you seen Matthew's sring making jig. He can now make strings for any bow out there

sure have, i believe he was thinking of relocating premises closer to rolleston last time i saw him.

The other archery club is Canterbury Archers at Living Springs over Lyttleton way. 3d targets spread around the bush. Ranges from 20yds out to 65ish. Takes a couple of hours to get around and shoot 25-30 targets. Really good practice for bowhunting.

3d targets in the bush are fantastic fun, for a beginner its a recipe for losing arrows. best to start on targets and move up

Thanks for the recs. I'd recently bought a Hoyt bow that was going for cheap on TradeMe and turns out I got scammed of $500 so I'm not able to afford a bow for now anymore 😅

@DustyKnees - sorry to hear that. There are some real shitty people out there.

That is really crap, did you pay through Ping? Trademe are supposed to help out if you did

I paid through bank account transfer. I did open a dispute with TradeMe and they got in touch with the seller but I doubt I'm getting the money back as the seller had just been stalling each time (stating he'd send it a week later, and then missing the deadline and saying another week and another week and it's been 3 weeks now)

Go to the police and report it as fraud.