newbe bow hunter

[ncboy]

Just wanted to let you know I bought a bow and will try my hand at getting one for the freezer with it. Cant wait. BTW I screwed up last night and accidentally dry fire my bow,urinated me off, anyway I dont see any damage and I will be more careful in the future.

[KwackWacker]

Take it to a bow shop and let them check it out. By your own admittance , you know very little about bows so you looking it over won't tell you very much. If that thing explodes in your face it could seriously injure you. Don't be stupid and take a chance. Go have it checked out. They'll do it for free.

[Bowhunters]

Good advice by Kwackwacker on taking it to a bow shop, they will know what to look at.

Also good luck on your hunting this fall, its true you really need to watch that dry fire stuff, I look at it as playing in a messed up lottery.

I look at it that you could get away with dry firing a bow once, maybe even a few times but sooner or later your number will come up and the bow will either just get damaged or you could have a bow pretty much blow up in your face on you and you could end up at the emergency room of a hospital near you.

Years ago I remember reading about a guy that got an eye taken out by a dry fired bow, the bow blew up and one of the metal swedges on the end of the bows cables that connects to the bowstring hit him in an eye and he was permanently blinded on that one side.

[DouglasSpear]

Also, just a quick note: Have them tell you the draw length, draw weight, cam to cam measurement, fps shooting speed, and let off. Knowing these will help you when buying arrows, replacement strings, tweaking your bow to fit you, and when purchasing a new bow 'x' number of years down the road.

Draw Length:
How far you pull back the bow string to steady shooting position. Typically your arm span in inches divided by 2.5

Draw Weight:
How heavy the pull of the bow string is (most people I know use anywhere from 55-70 lbs.)

Cam to Cam measurement:
The measurement from one cam or "axle" to the other. This mainly just helps when bow string replacement.

FPS Shooting Speed:
Foot Per Second of arrow flight. Good to know to make sure you have heavy enough poundage when shooting to ensure a lethal shot. It also helps to know when purchasing arrows and broad heads.

Let Off:
The percentage of let off of the weight provided by the cams (axle) when you are in full draw.

[ncboy]

Thanks for all the advice, I will sure do that.