My soon to be 6 year old daughter loves archery. She has got a few toy bow and arrows but when asked what she wants for her birthday said a proper bow. I know nothing about archery apart from trying it as a kid but am willing to learn and quite fancy a go myself. We went to a summer show at the weekend and a group were doing archery so she had a go with a recurve then a compound bow. She found the compound much easier so its a compound I would like to get her. I cant seem to find one for her size and failed to note the one she used at the show but i know it had an adjustable draw weight. I have emailed a couple of local shops both specialists but neither have got back to me and have popped to the closest one a few times but it has always been shut. I will also get a proper target and stand. We have also looked at the decathlon sets with the suckers but she didn’t have the strength to pull it back and it was probably too tall.
I have also looked to see if there are any local clubs which there are but they only take children over 12 so that’s a no go.

Safety wise it will only be used under my supervision and we have a sandy bank at the back of the garden which will be used as a backstop.

The only one I have seen that would seem suitable is the Matthews mini genesis but are there other options?

Thanks

We use Petron Stealth leisure bows for the kids at work. Dead simple, but possibly a little long for younger kids.
Pretty sure that it is Petron also do the adjustable compound bow too.

Also some good looking options here http://www.archerysuppliesdirect.co.uk/categories/Youth-Archery-Bows/Compound-Bows/

Field Archery is the best IMO….but I’, biased 😉

Join a club.

Then after while decide on a bow from good archery shop.

We cant join any local clubs because she is only 6. The minimum age seemed to be 12.

Decathlon.
They do specific kits for those smaller in stature 😆

Probably not what you want, but Aldi have an archery set in next week. Bow, arrows and target for £20, looks very similar to the decathlon sucker set.

Do you know anybody in the scouts, they often have archery sets specifically for children.

I have just been looking over the last few mins and have found a very local club that has no mention of an age limit. I have emailed them. The meet on a Tuesday night so I might just take her down later and see whats what.

We have pretty much tried everything in decathlon but she struggled with all of them. I do like the idea of the sucker ones for safety reasons and you get the complete kit on one box.

She joined beavers last week and they are doing archery in a couple of weeks. I’m in no rush to buy anything so I may find out what they use and how she gets on with it. I would rather wait and get her the right thing first time.

Where are you Andy ?

Stourbridge, West Midlands

West Midlands…. heaps of FA clubs around there.

http://www.nfas.net/clubs.asp

Home

http://www.scoa.org.uk/

I bought my son this when he was going on about it a couple of years ago:

http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/bear-archery-goblin-bow-kit.html

Shoots reasonably straight.

You got my bo selecta reference then!
Non of the nfas clubs are close enough to get to really with school and bed time and the scoa has a minimum age of 12. It the frank bowman club I’m going to take her to tonight and see what they say.

Thanks

The more I look the more I fancy a go myself. Some of the compound bows look like works of art.

I haven’t done archery for many many years, but I started with a conventional flat bow made by Slazenger, still got it upstairs along with the arrows, quiver, arm brace and finger protection.
I do feel that it’s best to learn with a basic flat bow, as that teaches you how to aim without artificial aids, learning about windage, ballistics, etc, without a complex bow getting in the way. As a sight we used to put a bit of Elastoplast on the side of the bow and stick a glass-headed pin in it, adjusting it a bit up and down until you were getting a neat consistent group. Simple, but effective.
Not that I don’t love compound and composite bows, they’re beautiful things, but the absolute simplicity of a flat bow/long bow is what archery is all about.
Just done a quick Google and found this: http://www.merlinarchery.co.uk/bear-archery-1st-shot-bow-set-orange.html
Got all the bits, seems about the right size and age range, and they do plenty of more whizzy stuff if she really gets the bug.
Cheap as, too. 😀

A) I see little point in a compound bow for a six year old, she’ll grow out of it in a month.

B) I’m not aware of any compounds with adjustable weight unless tech has changed since I last shot.

C) join a club.

D) what redthunder said.

E) learn to shoot recurve, you’ll be a far better archer in the long run (would you learn mtb on a full sus?)

F) join her.

As Cougar says 🙂

Tricky shot 😉

[url=https://flic.kr/p/JugkVD]Field Archery[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/HEE8gW]Field Archery Target[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GWBQLi]Nanka Target[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

60 Yards 🙂

[url=https://flic.kr/p/GuUaS8]Broken Arrow UK[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

I cant tell you how much fun Field Archery is.. :-)))))))))))

[url=https://flic.kr/p/BYmMe7]Archery Faces[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/v6zous]Druids Archery 20th June 2015[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/v6zjY9]Druids Archery 20th June 2015[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/p41XRu]Broken Arrow Targets – Lynx[/url] by SGMTB, on Flickr

As said, find a local club, my two daughters joined our local club and used the clubs kit for a good while until they got the hang of it and we knew it wasn’t a flash in the pan pastime.
I then bought them a bow, (recurve), arrows and the rest of the bits and bobs from an archery shop, who measured them up for the correct length of riser, limbs and arrows.
They’ve been shooting for about two years now and both moved to sighted recurve, they thoroughly enjoy it, both the indoor and field archery and have taken part in a few competitions. I’ve found it has helped them with concentration, attention span and learning to take care of stuff!

Is field archery a bit like HFT (hunting field target) in air rifle shooting?

Anyway, one of these. If she doesn’t like it I dare say you will. (may or may not be legal here)

Thanks for all the advice. I took her last night to the local club who don’t have a minimum age limit. We had a great night and both ended up having a go and staying for the whole session. Now I have found a club she we can go too I wont be buying any equipment yet which is really what I wanted all along. I can see if she really likes it and choose what to buy when we know more.

great, as above I’d recommend NFAS as it’s really laid back and very child friendly

I shoot with my 9 y.o. (she wanted to do it) and the 6 year old will start when she can be trusted to do as she is told. It’s one of the few sports where you can compete side by side and everyone is very supportive of kids

@andysredmini

Result 🙂