Many sports require big initial investments to even try them. But shooting your first arrow is easy. Just call a nearby archery store and you’ll be on your way to trying and enjoying a sport that fascinates people for life.

Archery shops are hubs for archery knowledge, equipment repairs, and everything you need to get started. Most shops offer lessons. If they don’t, their pro can refer you to an instructor.

Building a relationship with a shop is important. The store’s experts are your go-to resources for all things archery. It’s tempting to score “great deals” online, but be careful what you wish for. You can’t simply pull a bow from its box and start shooting. You need an expert to set it up to fit you.

You can find a nearby archery shop with a quick internet search.

Once you find a shop, ask about lessons and programs. Many shops rent bows you can use for lessons. That’s a great way to try the sport and get instructions without jumping in and buying gear.

A 30-minute one-on-one lesson is a great introduction. As you progress, you might want to extend your lessons to one hour. Group lessons are a fun option for trying archery. Shops offer beginner group lessons for adults and youths.

Another way to try archery is through a program. Consider Explore Archery, Junior Olympic Archery Development, Scholastic 3D Archery, National Archery in the Schools Program, and Olympic Archery in the Schools.

When you attend your introductory lesson, you’ll find an instructor who’s excited to help. You’ll shoot your first arrows at close distances while learning archery’s basic techniques. As your skills increase, your accuracy will improve and you’ll shoot increasingly farther.

You won’t run laps or break a heavy sweat shooting archery, but you should dress appropriately. Wear closed-toed shoes like sneakers. If your lesson is outdoors, dress for the weather but avoid baggy clothes that can catch the bowstring. If you have long hair, wear it in a ponytail or pull it away from your face. You’ll draw the bowstring back to your face, and you don’t want it to catch your hair when releasing the arrow.

Once you’ve tried archery, you’ll be hooked and want to make it part of your life. Continue taking lessons, and think about the type of bow you want to shoot as you explore archery’s many disciplines.

COMMON TYPES OF BOWS

You’ll find many great options when you go bow shopping. The difficulty comes in selecting the right type of bow. Much depends on your needs and tastes. Some people choose bow styles based on what looks cool. Others select a bow based on their goals and how they’ll use it. Let’s explore some options to help you select “the one.”

Olympic Recurve

Compound Bow

Traditional Archery and Barebow Archery

The crowd’s roar fades as your national anthem plays. The medal around your neck represents years of hard work and sacrifice, but earning this amazing moment was worth it. If that’s your dream, an Olympic recurve might be in your future. That’s the type of bow Olympians use, and it’s also the bow thousands of recreational archers prefer. Recurve shooting is a fantastic, challenging discipline, and Olympic archery combines exercise and mental discipline.

These bows can be used for 3D, target, indoor and field archery. In outdoor target tournaments, including the Olympics, adults shoot targets at 70 meters. To shoot that far accurately, your Olympic bow needs different accessories than those used on other recurves.

Olympic recurves have three main pieces: a riser and two limbs. The bow disassembles for customization and transportation. You grip the bow’s riser, which is also where its sight and arrow rest attach. The bow’s limbs create its power, and bend in unison when drawn. When archers release the bowstring, the limbs snap forward, propelling the arrow to the target.

Long rods jut from an Olympic bow’s riser. These stabilizers help archers steady the bow for precise aiming. Its other accessories are a sight, clicker and arrow rest.

Your target is 50 meters away. You dial your sight to the exact distance and prepare to shoot. At full draw, you can see the target in crisp detail through your magnified scope. You apply steady pressure to your release-aid until it “breaks” and releases the bowstring, launching your arrow into the 10-ring.

If you love precision marksmanship, consider a compound bow. These bows can be incredibly accurate. With lessons, you’ll consistently hit the center. You can shoot compounds for recreation, competition or bowhunting.

Different compound bows have different uses. Target compound bows have one job: accuracy. They provide excellent shooting experiences. You can trick them out and accessorize them for maximum accuracy. Their target accessories include long stabilizers and finely adjustable magnified sights.

Hunting compounds must be accurate and portable, so they’re smaller and lighter than target bows. Their accessories are usually more durable to withstand outdoor hazards. That doesn’t mean you can’t compete or shoot targets with hunting bows. In fact, you’ll find competitive divisions for them, or you can change a few accessories and compete with target archers.

If you like recreational archery, you have your choice of compounds. You can even custom-design your bow. If you like a target sight’s adjustability and the portability of a hunting bow, you can choose a compound that meets your preferences.

You’re hiking in a woods that looks like something out of Thoreau’s “Walden.” But this isn’t a typical hike. You have your bow in hand and a quiver of arrows. You’re stump-shooting, a game where the woods provide a target-rich environment, and your fun is limited only by your imagination.

Stump-shooting is one of many ways to have fun with traditional bows. Traditional and barebow archery provide ultimate challenges, but their added reward is extreme fun. Traditional bows are a stripped-down archery form that’s simple, elegant and romantic.

These bows take you back to the sport’s roots, when all you needed was a bow and a full quiver. The challenge of shooting bull’s-eyes with them is extremely rewarding. They’re simple bows, but capable of incredible accuracy. You’ll find endless bow styles, but traditional archery’s three main categories are longbow, recurve and barebow.

A recurve bow’s swept tips curve away from the archer, and it shoots arrows at faster speeds than what straight-limbed longbows can deliver. The longbow lacks the recurve’s curved tips, but it’s steeped in history and bends gracefully in classic design when strung.

A typical barebow resembles an Olympic recurve, but without sights, stabilizers or other accuracy-enhancing gear. The barebow division is growing in competitive archery because it draws people to the bow’s challenge and simplicity.