The archery industry offers a wide selection of bows: compound bows, traditional bows, youth bows, take-down bows, and many others.

Each one has advantages and disadvantages and some are suited to one of the three major areas of archery: field archery, archery hunting, or target archery. In addition, archery bows are made by a ton of different manufacturers.

With all this variety, you might believe that each bow is quite different. In actuality, they all have basically the same parts: string, notches, upper and lower limbs, sight windows, brace height, and an arrow shelf. Compound bows have a few additional parts, specifically cams and cables. These are necessary due to the design of compound bows. Compound bows have become increasing popular because they allow the shooter to hold more weight in their draw. This is because the weight of the draw actually reduces when the shooter is preparing to shoot. This translates into a smoother arrow shot for archers.

Traditional bows were the mainstay of the archery industry for many years, before compound bows popularity overtook them. They are still quite useful and offer a farther range shooting than compound bows. Take down bows can take both forms of traditional and compound bows, but there difference is the limbs can be taken off. This makes them great for storage and traveling. Finally, youth bows are designed for younger children and adults with smaller weights to fit their growing frames. They offer younger people an opportunity to grow into the sport from their youth.

Additional parts can be added to any bow to improve your accuracy. This is especially important in target archery. One piece of equipment type are stabilizers. These can be placed on the bow and reduce the vibration of the bow while it is being fired. This helps get off a smoother shot and improves your accuracy. Another common feature on some bows is the use of release aids. These are designed as an alternative to actually gripping the string. This feature allows you to concentrate more on the shot than your draw allowing a more consistent shot.

Armed with the information in this section, you should have a good foundation of the basics of archery bows. With just a little more research, you should be ready to pick the archery bow that is just right for you.

Archery And Bow Safety

Archery is a fun and addictive sport, that is enjoyed by countless people. What some people tend to forget however is that while archery is fun it can be deadly as well if you're not careful and keep safety in mind. Every year there are people injured from being careless or just not knowing about the "do not's" of shooting a bow. This article will provide you with the knowledge you need in order to keep yourself from getting injured or injuring somebody else.

-A lot of people when they draw their bows back aim it way up in the air in order to make it easier for them to draw it. You tend to see this with a lot of beginners or especially individuals trying to pull too much weight.

The problem with drawing the bow in this way is that the release that you use is mechanical and they have been known to let go randomly. This means that if you're in the middle of drawing your bow and your release misfires, your arrow is going to be launched off into the sky where there is no telling what and where it is going to hit when it comes down.

This next point happens all the time and is one of the biggest causes of bow damage. It is very important that you NEVER NEVER dry fire (shoot a bow without an arrow loaded in it) a bow. When a bow is shot without the arrow, the limbs and axles/cams are thrown back much more violently and with a lot more force often causing damage such as cracked limbs, bent cams/axles, broken strings and cables, and more seriously potential broken parts that could come back and hit you.

As I have stated before bows are not toys, they can cause serious injury and even death. That being re-stated, you should always be sure of your target as well as its ability to stop your arrow, before you fire your bow. This is especially true for hunters when in the early morning or late evening. If you are even a little uncertain as to your target DO NOT shoot, you can end up creating more problems for yourself than is necessary.

When drawing back your bow, it is good to remember that releases are mechanical devices that could fail at anytime and without warning. It is because of this that you do not want to draw your bow back at face level as well as have your finger in front of the trigger.

The reason being that if you're pulling 50-60lbs and your release lets go, your hand and release are going to sky rocket back into your face. This is not a very pleasant experience at all, and has been known to even knock people out cold. Keeping your hand behind and pressed up against the back of the trigger can help reduce the chances of mis-firing.

Although arrows are expensive,it is never a good idea to shoot an arrow that is damaged, no matter how insignificant the damage may look. When an arrow is shot out of a bow it has a huge amount of stress on it, and it bends back and forth. If there are stress cracks, or splinters, or any other kind of structural damage to the arrow shaft, upon firing the arrow shaft could shatter and send hundreds of pieces of carbon fiber sailing into your arms and hands.

It is important to keep these warnings in mind each and every time you shoot your bow. Keeping these warnings in mind will help to ensure the safety of not only yourself but of the others around you as well.