Youth Bow questions

[EyesOnThePrize]

So both kids put a bow on their christams list. Of course one is a lefty and the other is a righty so now I have to buy two youth bows and am looking for recomendations.

I am open to looking at used bows to get better quality (but you never know about dry fires with kids...). I want to get in around $150 per kid.

My son is 7 years old (but a small 7). I have no idea what he was shooting with at the shop but it was obviously not too big. I was looking at this:

Whisper Creek Phantom Youth Bow

Any thoughts? I've found some for around $160 - they include fiber optic sites, 3 arrows, arm gaurd and quiver. Obviously nothing top of the line for that price. I haven't found many reviews but a few people saying they thought it was a good first bow.

My daughter is 10 (the lefty). She was shooting a Mathews Genesis and was doing fairly well with it. This one has no letoff so the draw lenght is continual - I think to 25". I see them online for around $160 but without anything.

So what are your experiences/recommendations?

Thanks

Bill

[DonBo]

Whatever you get just make sure it is adjustable so the bow can keep growing with the kid for at least a couple years.

[sticknstring]

I'd recommend the Genesis line. Great bow that can't be outgrown. Let the kids pick the color!

[Deitz Dittrich]

The Genesis is a great bow.. Its what is used for all the AITS(archery in the schools) programs.. Another good youth bow I have seen is the Mathews Ignition.

[bmc]

My dad runs an archery pro shop and I would think the small Genesis bow would work for your son. If your daughter is thinking about hunting, you should look at the Darton Ranger III. Very adjustable draw weight and arrow length. Granted the price range will be above what you are looking for, but you would probably save alot of money in the long run as she'll be able to use this bow well into her teenaged years.

Great to see that you've got them both hooked on archery, what a great sport for a kid to get involved with!

Brian

[sticknstring]

Brian - What's the name of the shop your dad runs?

[bmc]

Itasca Archery Supply. He also has a HSOforum under that name.

Brian

[sticknstring]

Tell Gary to increase his archery buying volume! Joking aside, he runs a great shop. I'm on the supply end of things. I recall a story of my grandpa telling Gary where 3 PY bucks were living up by Pughole back in the day... not sure if he ever followed up though. How's the bowhunting been up in the Rapids area?

[Sorgy]

Both of my kids started shooting 4 years ago. My daughter was 12 and my son was ll. I ended up buying my daughter a Parker Micro Pheonix---50 lb max and my son who was 11 a Browning Micro Adrenalin. Both have been good bows my daughters uses moduals to adjust the draw length and my son's you just loosen a screw or two and move the plastic mod.

I spent a lot more on my daughters bow because I figured she would not outgrow it. It has been a solid bow.

My son's bow I bought with the cheap accessories and they were JUNK. I replaced both factory strings with Pro-Strings after the first year or two. The Browning string was twisting imensely. But with the aftermarket string we have not had a prolem since.

The only regret I have is that I bought the junk accessories for the Browning. It shoots well- It just is not as high a caliber of bow as the model I bought for my daughter.

In your case I would look for used Browning Micro Midas bows and put some older sights/ rests on them. There is a site called Archery #### TAlk that has a good used bow section. You could also put something on the classified section here. Both of my kids started w/50 lb bows turned down quite a bit. Yours are younger so they could probably work w/ a 40lb bow.

Good Luck

Steve

[Scott Stein]

my first bow was a browning micro midas loved that thing 30-40lbs

[Joe15]

The matthews genisis is an excellent bow. My bother and i both started on one and passed it down to my youngest brother who is just about to grow out of it but it as an excellent bow for beginners. Also try an alpine micro for the 10 yr old...very adjustable bow

[Traxxx]

Sounds like their won't be a shortage of venison, in your'e household, for years to come.

[Mike Wallace]

I would put in another vote for the Genesis.

I teach the NASP (National Archery in the Schools Program) and we run about 600 kids a year through it in our district (Westonka, just north of you). All of our kids use the Genesis of course, and all have learned to shoot barebow with fingers and focus on form. I may be opening a can of worms here but if kids are just starting out, I think it is good for their brain development to learn barebow/instinctive shooting. It is always easy to move to sights later and less expensive to start. I have had good success with the kids learning to have excellent form on their shot and have 3rd and 4th graders shooting 240/300 within a couple years of starting on the Genesis.

I your kids are probably not going to hunt, then the Genesis will suit them through high school. If they are going to hunt deer or turkey, they will need a higher poundage than the Genesis can deliver.

We start our third graders on the Genesis and most can handle it with the poundage turned down about 6 turns (to about 12 lbs).

Does your children's school run the NASP? That may be a factor as well.

Mike Wallace

Hilltop Primary School

Minnetrista, MN

2006, 2007, 2008 MN State NASP Elem. Champs

[Boosey]

I recently bought a used Micro Midas off a popular on-line site. I think I paid $125 all set up. Very happy with it. I chose it for price, adjustablity, and let-off. My son is also 7 and for the first couple times out, I had to pull it back, but he could hold it no problem. I put some balloons on the buck decoy and the block and he was popping them right away. If only all deer had balloons for aiming spots! Happy hunting.