Considering Archery

Greetings: Not sure if anyone will respond to this. The forum seems a bit like a ghost-town. I'm considering taking up archery as a hobby. I'm a smallish-guy, 5'5"and less than 135 lbs. I was seriously considering getting a recurve bow, but most of the forum posts on archery talk are about shooting compounds for competition. I was wondering what the prevailing trend is, these days. I know that those serious about professional shoots, use compound as you can use more aids than recurve, but serious amateurs use recurve as that's all that's allowed in the Olympics. Is there much of a community of target archers? If so, do they have some other online presence because there doesn't seem to much going on here. Not a dig, just an observation.

Thanks.
Namaste

Eugene.

Hey guys, I am all over this one.

Hi Eugene, welcome to our little community!!!

Just for background, I am a dedicated Olympic Recurve target shooter- with absolutley no hope of ever getting to the Olympics. I always disliked being identified as a Olympic shooter as it seems like that is the only reason we would do it.

And yes, the predominant form of shooting in NS would 3D and there you will find Compounds or traditional guys who love what they do. But amongst the ranks we have a dedicated growing group of Target shooters ( which include some record holders and National Champions) and many who crossover and shoot both-sometimes even me) Each form of shooting is its own artform. Traditional guys love the "this is the way it was always done" simplicity and this bow is "just another bone in my arm" thinking. Bowhunters want to improve and mimic hunting, Compounds love the precision of their equipment, and those dedicated to the Olympic style like to pretend "Its all me."

Don't pick your style based on "what the prevailing trend" is. Pick it based on what you enjoy. You will find someone who also likes it too.

The forum ebbs and flows, right now all disciplines are excited to be outdoors again. If you are around central NS PM me and if you are serious I can point you to lots of people who would like to help you.