Stupid Archery Question

[N80]

I got my 16 year old son a bow for Christmas. He wants one just for target shooting and playing around. I got him an inexpensive recurve bow ($120) and it came in the mail today.

When I ordered it the form asked if I wanted a left hand or right hand model. Well, my son is right handed so I ordered right handed. I'm assuming a person that is right handed holds the bow in his left hand and draws with his right.

Well, this bow fits fine in my left hand the way I would have expected. But, there is a little shelf, just above where my hand is that I assume is where the arrow rests. I would have thought this shelf would have been on the right side of the grip but it is on the left side of the grip. Is this correct? It just seems a little awkward to me, but then I haven't had a bow of any kind in my hand in 30 years.

 

[Gatorboy]

You've got the right bow. The arrow needs to be placed on the LEFT side of bow.

 

[jdbower]

You may also want to check which eye is dominant. Even though I'm a righty, I'm very left eye dominant (not usual, typically right-handedness follows right eye dominance). It took some convincing to get my archery teacher in college to let me shoot lefty

 

[N80]

Thanks guys. I know I'm right eye dominant (to the extreme) and I think my son is too. But I'll check.

The bow I got him is a lot like the one in Gatorboy's photo. It is a youth model but I think it is 62". Feels fine to me and I'm 6'4". It has 28" draw at 36 pounds. I think this will be fine for target shooting.

My son hunts deer with a rifle but has never expressed any interest in bowhunting. This may get him interested in that, I don't know. We'll see.

 

[MossRoad]

You may also want to check which eye is dominant. Even though I'm a righty, I'm very left eye dominant (not usual, typically right-handedness follows right eye dominance). It took some convincing to get my archery teacher in college to let me shoot lefty

Eye dominance is a funny thing. The first time I picked up a rifle I put it to my right shoulder and started firing away. It just felt right. But I am left handed. How was that possible? I found out I am right eye dominant.

However, when I picked up a bow, I grabbed it with my right hand and pulled the string back with my left hand which is my power arm. I couldn't hit squat! That's because I was still aiming with my right eye. I had to train myself to close my right eye and sight with my left.

I point with my right hand, and cut with a table knife right handed, but carve and whittle with my left hand. I cast a fishing rod with BOTH hands(left hand leads) and have a tough time doing it one handed. I crank the reel with my right hand. I catch and bat baseball left handed.

I thighten screws right handed and loosen them left handed.

Most importantly, I am ambidextrous when it comes to drinking cold beverages.

 

[N80]

My wife's younger brother is that way. Golfs, shoots and throws left handed. Writes and eats right handed.

I'm an obligate right hander, right eye dominant. I've tried mounting a rifle on my left shoulder to get a bead on a deer that is way to my right. I can get the gun up but can't get my left eye to see down the scope.

 

[czechsonofagun]

As Gatorboy says - my reasoning for it is to balance the fingers on the string. If you had the arrow on the right side of the bow, the way the string slips from fingers would turn it to the right.

But as a boy I shot my bow with the arrow on the right - I was always slow on picking up skills

 

[N80]

But as a boy I shot my bow with the arrow on the right - I was always slow on picking up skills

I think I probably did the same thing on bows made for left and right handed users. I Googled 'archery pictures' and saw a fair amount of photos of right handed people shooting with the arrow on the right. However, they almost all looked like kids. All of the pictures of pro's and competitions showed the people shooting with the arrow on the left.

 

[Sigarms]

My son hunts deer with a rifle but has never expressed any interest in bowhunting. This may get him interested in that, I don't know. We'll see.

It should. I hunted some time with guns until a friend in W.V got me into bow hunting. Now, if I had to make a choice between the two, I'd stay with the bow.

Couple reasons why he might like bow hunting.

1. Gives you a new perspective of shooting at a target at only 30 yards away.
2. If you live in a cold climate and have keys to a warehouse, you already have your indoor range.
3. Neighbors won't complain of noise when your shooting.
5. Don't have to clean your bow everytime you get done shooting it.
6. 3D targets last a lot longer with a bow than cans and bottles with with a gun.
7. Shooting at 3D target at 80 yards (40 yards is my max with game) is like shooting at a target 600 yards with a gun.
8. You learn that you actually have to get close to the game.
9. You realize how easy guys with guns have it.

 

[Gatorboy]

Which eye is dominant really doesn't matter. You want to shoot with your strong arm doing the pulling. With the peep site on the string, you will be aiming with only one eye and dominance should not make a difference.

If you want to bowhunt, I suggest getting a compound bow for that. Compound bows allow you to pull the bow back and hold it much longer than a recurve.

One more idea ... look into finding a local archery club. Field Archery is a great sport and can really hone your skills. Shooting field archery is similar to golf, where you go from target to target (28 in total) at various distances.

Links:
National Field Archery Association
Links to State Associations