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Beginner youth bow

Bdwilliams

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 20, 2018
Messages
261
Anyone have recommendations for youth bows? I have 6 and 8 year old boys and was planning to get them bows for Christmas. They're both small for their ages. I was looking at the Bear Brave and PSE Guide for the 6 and 8 year old, respectively. The older boy has a 19 inch draw length so he's almost too big for the Bear Brave. Are these solid starter bows for poking around the yard? Anyone been through this already and have a better suggestion? So far, the oldest has no interest in hunting so we're not there yet.

Brave https://www.beararchery.com/products/bear-archery-brave-youth-compound-bow

Guide
 
My son is 6 and shoots one of those older bear Cruzer bows. Not well. But he can. Mostly he won't listen to what I tell him to do. Lol. But those smaller adjustable bows are a good thing. I think that one I have goes up to 50lbs. I think you will be happy with the PSE, bear, or diamond archery bows.
 
It's just a cheap play toy. Plastic everything and a coated wire string... I drilled the riser and installed a real sight and he's shooting real carbon arrows i cut down and built for him and he does pretty good but the bow is holding him back...I think any youth traditional bow would be a better choice....I'm not gonna spend a bunch on a something till I know he's interested...if the little bear cruzr is on par with the adult version than I'd probably get him that....I buy the bear stuff because it's made in Florida but I'm sure the other brands are just as good. He's 10 and more interested in shooting guns.....the brave likes efoc arrows...hahaha
 
The Brave and that pse are not great. The diamond is much better and the bear cruzr is ok. The pse mini burner may be alright but I have messed with it much. If the kids are big enough, the Hoyt fire shot is very nice. That would be my top pick
 
It's just a cheap play toy. Plastic everything and a coated wire string... I drilled the riser and installed a real sight and he's shooting real carbon arrows i cut down and built for him and he does pretty good but the bow is holding him back...I think any youth traditional bow would be a better choice
I agree with @Weldabeast that it is plastic (riser, limbs, and sight) and cheap feeling. However, the Brave is a perfect intermediate bow for my 8 year old daughter who can only draw 11lbs right now.

At 11lbs, the sight is pretty worthless past 6 yds so we took it off so she can start visualizing the trajectory of an arrow.
 
I ended up getting two Bear Apprentice bows and some extra 24" arrows. The bows were $23 at Walmart. My oldest is too close to the upper limit of the Brave.

This is the first introduction to archery for both boys. I hope they get into it and I get to buy them real bows soon, though. Any idea how big of a target I'll need? I guess Santa's gonna leave a few straw bales in the backyard, too. Lol.
 
I know nothing about kids bows.... but my son turns 7 soon and this fall I jumped on craigslist and there was a PSE chaos for $50 with everything, release, quiver, rest, sight, so I got it, it looks like brand new, I threw it in the closet and haven’t messed with it yet, it’s for Christmas, I’m assuming I got a good deal, I think the guy had money and just wanted it gone I’m not sure why he was peddling stuff for $50 on craigslist but hey you never know I guess.
 
You should try and get the bow set up as close to possible before Christmas. Lower the pounds and get the draw as close to possible. That way there they might be able to mess with it before it’s set up for them.
 
I started my kids on Genesis mini’s. It’s the same bow used in the archery in the schools program. I can’t think of a better way to build a solid archery foundation. No sight, no peep, no release. Just fingers and fundamentals.

My eleven year old graduated to a Mission Radik. This is her first bow with sight, release, etc. it’s adjustable all the way up to 50 pounds. Most of these starter compounds are heavy, the mass weight of the radik is very manageable.


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Anyone have recommendations for youth bows? I have 6 and 8 year old boys and was planning to get them bows for Christmas. They're both small for their ages. I was looking at the Bear Brave and PSE Guide for the 6 and 8 year old, respectively. The older boy has a 19 inch draw length so he's almost too big for the Bear Brave. Are these solid starter bows for poking around the yard? Anyone been through this already and have a better suggestion? So far, the oldest has no interest in hunting so we're not there yet.

Brave https://www.beararchery.com/products/bear-archery-brave-youth-compound-bow

Guide
Get one of the Bear or the PSE. My son had a bear brave and graduated to the scout. They are great for learning however his draw length is a ridiculous 24.5” at 10 years old but he can only pull 25lbs so next season he’s graduating to an adult bow
 
My boy is about to be 5. Don't think he's quite ready yet but I've looked into this a bunch. I'll look again when the time comes but I had settled on a Bear Cruzer when I last looked. The diamond atomic was another contender.
 
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