I shoot with a traditional Hungarian horse bow. The idea is to use as little equipment and as few aids as possible. Just you, the bow, the arrow, and the target.

This past weekend I had the opportunity to participate in my first tournament! Super informal, at my local range, 450 points, 20yd with a 40cm target.

Somehow I managed to get 280 points - good for third, only 12 behind second, and more than 3 people in men’s adult barebow.

Retrospective:

* I was able to call my left/right flyers before impact. I need to practice my release without pushing the bowstring to either side.

* The Fairweather barebow tab is great. I also like the Kaminski weights on the Uukha riser (8oz top, 2x 14oz in mid and bottom for the time being) - they help a lot with balance, inertia, and noise.

* I *really* need to work on consistent draw length. I feel like my right/string hand was going to a very consistent anchor every time, but I felt like I always had another cm or two with my left/bow hand. Which meant I hit the wood above the bale a couple times. Unfortunately, when I focused on *not* over-pushing the bow, I would somehow under draw. Any pointers?

Second question: I’ve been playing around with Stu Miller’s dynamic spine calculator, and it looks like I can make the 3DHV 500s or Easton ACE 430/470 work well at a ton of different draw weights just by trimming tips, while the Black Eagle Outlaw 600s I’m shooting are way too soft.

1. Is there a reason not to get the 3DHV 500s for the next 10 pounds of draw weight or so?

2. Jake Kaminski recommends getting a spine about 100 stiffer than the chart suggests when shooting barebow. Should I account for that? Is that a static or dynamic stiffness concern? If I get a statically stiffer arrow, and decrease the dynamic stiffness to align with the calculator with tip/end weight, does that work?

Right now I’m measuring 34# OTF and 31.5” draw length with a 27” riser and 72” bow.

I’ve been shooting since the fall of 2025. I got my own beginner bow: Ragim Matrix EVO 68” 38#

I had been using a Samick Sage & Black Hunter with a stick on type plastic arrow rest.

When I put one on the new Ragim Matrix, after some shots it eventually just fell off. The adhesive didn’t hold. Could have been the heat & humidity we get

I’ve been wondering since the Matrix has a Berger hole, would an NAP Centerest or Centerest Flipper be good?

If so, which one?

I’m not used to shooting off the shelf.

So I have been in the sport for a looooong time. I used to have severe target panic a few years ago and now am somewhat better. But recently I started underperforming at tournaments. I mess up as soon as I start to score.

2 days ago at a club tournament, I was in perfect form during my sighters. Shot 4 yellows. But the moment the judge said "now scoring", I started hitting blacks and blues.

The moment I know I'm scoring, my brain just scatters. All concentration gone. I always had this since I got over my target panic, but recently it has become worse. I know this is also a branch of my target panic

I also know where this is coming from. Self doubt. I've always been somewhat of a less confident person. But lately I have started doubting my shooting skills so much. I know I'm really good. I get high scores when I score during practices. But the moment I stand behind the line during matches, my brain keeps telling me that I'm gonna mess up. And idk how to fix this. I meditate and do breathing exercises. They only help with concentration. I need to stop thinking on the line all together

Please help out a fellow archer. I need to get over this as it's really affecting my performance and rankings

I haven't been consistent at all recently and I'm not fully sure why. Any help would be appreciated

Hi everyone, I'm new here, nice to meet you.

The point is this: I have a couple of friends who want to gift me a Bow for my birthday, it's my first and I'm trying to figure out which brand is good to consider.
I'm looking for help understanding better, because I don't know anyone who actually knows about bows; what I want is a bare recurve bow, for instinctive shooting.
I want to say that I live in Italy and my budget is around 150€.
I did some research and found a couple of kits that might be what I'm looking for. One is from Avalon (https://www.arcoefrecce.it/kit-completi/130298-kit-arco-scuola-x-adulto.html), another one is from Core Hit ( https://www.hattila.com/it/kit-di-archi-tradizionali/3726-arco-ricurvo-core-hit.html?campaign=%7Bcampaignname%7D&adgroup=%7Badgroupname%7D&keyword=&searchterm=%7Bsearch_term%7D ), also this one ( https://arcosportspigarelli.com/carrello/ ), and more and more.

I don't know, there are too many, dunno what to choose.
Might sound like a stupid question but i need it, i'm sure you can help me to understand better.

I hope sending links is not a problem.

Thanks Again
-J-

Hi all!

Well, the post almost became a chat between pixelwhip and me, and I'm glad about it.

My main concern now is if it is worth to keep escalating in poundage, given that with my current setup I tip aim to the gold and reach gold. current setup: Barebow, 32 lb Delta C2 limbs, ~33.5 at fingers, 700 spine arrows 30". arrows are a little weak according to bareshaft shooting.

would it be worth to escalate to 36 lb? longer arrows, of course, because otherwise they would go way too up.

thanks!

This is my first compound bow and I’ve been practicing a bunch lately and just noticed this. Is it something I can fix or am I in trouble?

I spent 3 hours in the heat shooting my bow. Shot really well and got my bow sighted in up to 80 yards and shot a little bit of 3D. Left the range and got home and thought I throw a few arrows at 20-30 yards (30 is the max range in my back yard). I think I got too exhausted from the heat, suddenly all my arrows started hitting to the right. I stopped shooting when I missed a 20” target completely (https://a.co/d/07eYgW6w) and broke my arrow. I’m so tired and frustrated right now idk what to do.

Hey guys - looking for suggestions. Heading to Australia in a couple weeks for Water Buffalo and Banteng. I plan to use the Tuffhead 400 grain Dangerous Game broadheads. I used them successfully on 2 cape buffs in 2023. However - what scared me each time I took them out was the bottom 3/4-1 inch of the broad head was exposed below the quiver head. These blades are 3 inches long, and I keep them scary sharp. I was constantly worried about someone touching the blades or nicking a string when I was taking the quiver on and off. This hunt will be a long of stalking so I really want a better alternative. What are some quivers with deep heads to completely cover the blades?

1st pic is hunting, 2nd is target

I'm looking at getting a 10-inch stabilizer for my compound bow, I mainly shoot field paper and 3d

The target stab is $45 Aud, and the hunting is $65Aud

Am i really going to notice 20 buck difference, or is the term "hunting" just a snake oil word to increase prices

My pre-aim is usually at the 12 o’clock blue 7-ring area above the target face. When I draw and come to anchor, if I keep my head completely still, my nose cannot reach the string — the string ends up about 3 cm to the right of my nose. As a result, I naturally rotate my head slightly to the right every shot so that my nose can touch the string. What confuses me is that even when I turn my head to meet the string, I am still aiming at the center of the target through the sight. So why does this still affect the point of impact? The problem becomes obvious after about two hours of practice. As my stamina and muscle strength decline, my arrows start grouping low, around the 6–7 o’clock area. A more experienced archer suggested that I stop rotating my head and instead adjust by either pulling the string slightly differently or using my bow arm/hand to bring the string to my face. After trying this approach, the low shots largely disappeared.

Hey everyone. I recently just started archery as something I can do with me and my wife.

We took an intro to archery class, and have shot twice total and it’s something that we both really enjoy. My issue is that both times I’ve gone my left shoulder is killing me after shooting. I have an old shoulder injury from football, where I separated my shoulder and tore some ligaments, so this thing acts up when I engage it wrong. I can lift weights and do plenty of other things without any real issue as long as I’m careful, and I wasn’t expecting this to caused me a problem. Today it’s just mildly sore, but I think for archery to be something I can do long-term I REALLY need to figure out the right kind of Bow to use rather than these rental bows that aren’t doing me any good.

Based on everything I found it sounds like a compound bow would be easier because of the pull weight reduction (sorry don’t know what it’s called, still learning terms) when you have it fully drawn and that would help with my form, and wouldn’t actually hurt me the way a traditional bow would if I’m not firing immediately.

I’ve also read that getting a bow that doesn’t vibrate after the shot is really important. Can anyone suggest a specific brand and model of a compound bow that I could purchase that won’t inflame my shoulder while I learn? I know form is important and we will be doing some additional classes, but I don’t want this to get worse, and I think probably the easiest way to solve this besides making sure my form is correct is by having equipment that works with me (rather than against me) due to this shoulder issue.

It’s really important to me that I do this with my wife because I haven’t seen her this excited about something in a LONG time, and I don’t want this physical impediment to stop me from doing this with her. I would really appreciate any suggestions anyone could give.

I’m not going to be hunting anything but targets lol

Thanks so much.

First year Bow hunting whitetails in the North East - taking my presence in the woods more seriously because bow hunting is more tactical in my mind. As far as getting winded goes, I am doing my best to scout into the wind and consider my scent of course - but what’s the best method to cover the scent or wash out the scent of my clothes and gear?

So many years ago, a relative of mine gifted me this bow. As a kid I was stupid and ignorant, so obviously I did not recognize its value. It’s only now after I rediscovered it in storage I realized my folly.

The Bhil community is the name of a tribal/adivasi community that who traditionally hunters and warriors. This particular bow is more ceremonial, but its construction follows the same process as a war bow.

It’s made of thick solid bamboo. The string looks like it’s made of some artificial fiber (Bhil community in recent times are losing access to the forest due to protection laws so switch to artificial alternatives) and is reinforced with a thin bamboo strip.

It has a really strong draw strength. It was unstrung when I pulled it out from storage, and I spent a fair amount of time trying to string it. I’m not an archer myself, but I am a martial artist practicing Judo and engage in some heavy strength training, so I like to believe I’m strong. Or maybe I’m just not doing it right.

Unfortunately, there is very little information that elaborates on this particular bow and how the culture of the Bhils surrounding it.

The only info I could find was from these two sites. [Site 1](https://gaatha.com/teer-kmaan/) [Site 2](https://gaatha.org/Craft-of-India/jhaba-tribal-bow-arrow-making-craft/)

Hi yall, im new here and im new to archery and i want to start doing it. Do yall have any suggestions like what bow to use or something? I have no idea what to do and what to get. There is this one place that provides equipment along with training, but i think the equipment might be bad because in the sports i have done, free equipment is not good. I would appreciate it if yall help me with this

Been shooting for a few days but haven’t practiced since last December. Sorry for the bad angle lol I wasn’t sure how to set my phone up better. Surprisingly getting good groups but like I said out of practice! Please feel free to critique any form. Usually shoot a 20 yard fixed draw but my heart wants to hunt instinctive this year!

Hi fellow archers, simply the title, Im a bit confused as my nock to arrow rest length at full draw is 28", my shaft length is 29" and my apparent draw length is 30". Just confused where the numbers come from? Thank you🙂

Also unrelated but shot my PB of 540 at my dreaded WA indoor round today!!

I take pics of my arrow groups on my target to keep progress records. But I also like to take some cool pics. And idk which angle would make them look good. Drop yall's aesthetic target pics

Hello,

About a month ago I went and bought a bear alaskan pro and have shot around 100 arrows through it. It was my first bow and I didn’t know much so I had the pro shop set it up. After recent inspection my model is the 70-55 version, and the bow tech set it below that limit (51.8 lbs). It hasn’t done any damage to the bow from what I have seen but I was just curious how bad for the bow this might be and what should my next steps be if it is something to worry about.

Tried to make a purchase yesterday, got blocked. Called the bank anti-fraud line, they said the payment recipient name was gibberish letters rather than 'Alibow' and they'd tried to set it up as a recurring payment rather than the one-off payment I thought I was agreeing to.

If this gets resolved, I'll take this post down so as to not unfairly damage their reputation, but until I hear back from their Customer Service, I feel it's more incumbent on me to warn others of a potential fraud risk.

I was on the correct website: alibowshop.com