new to bow hunting

[RadSav]

duckman nale - You can sort of see my point.  Once you shoot through the chrony the obsession of speed starts to take all the fun out of it.  Next thing you know your concerned more about the size of your weiner than you are about having fun shooting the bow.

Proper fit first!  Learn and have fun second.  Measure your weiner later.

[Johnb317]

To your first question, try out as many bows as you can and pick the one that feels good to you.   The elk I killed with a hand me down Parker magnum was a full pass through at 35-40 yards, same as the elk I got with my fancy new bow.   Great articles out there on speed, arrow weight, and kinetic energy.    Personally I wouldn't want to hunt with a light arrow unless hunting rabbits        But that would be another discussion I guess.     

[Button Nubbs]

At 29" 5.5gpp my 82nd airborne spits them out at 326fps. Add 10fps for the 1" draw length and your at 336 another couple fps if I got it right down to ibo specs and I'm over 340. That's at 60lbs. Totally possible with a monster.

On that note I'm with bean counter don't get hung up on speed for your first bow. It will create nothing but a big headache. I STRONGLY recommend you take a shooting lesson or two. It will cut your learning curve in half.

[npaull]

Archery in general has WAY, WAY too much focus on speed.

I abandoned compounds long ago and shoot a longbow and love it. I doubt it tops 200 fps (never measured, don't care) but I've put arrows straight through deer, caribou and moose and into the ground behind them.

[Special T]

Get a bow and join an archery club. You will learn more shooting with other experienced shooters than anything else.
http://washingtonarchery.org/about-us/clubs--shops/
This is not a complete list of shops and clubs but it is pretty good. Good luck and welcome to the sport of Kings!

[Mathews Heli m]

Archery in general has WAY, WAY too much focus on speed.

  agreed! i shot a cow at 45 yards with a 54 lb bow and 27 in draw this year and she ran 20 yards and piled up. it is all about placement. if you hit them where you are supposed it doesn't matter how fast your bow is!!!
also, can u say haha  no need for arguing.

[Mathews Heli m]

Also, mathews bows are sweet and i would reccomend a Heli M. i love mine
http://hunting-washington.com/smf/index.php?topic=92998.msg1191259#msg1191259

[Snapshot]

duckman nale - You can sort of see my point.  Once you shoot through the chrony the obsession of speed starts to take all the fun out of it.  Next thing you know your concerned more about the size of your weiner than you are about having fun shooting the bow.

Proper fit first!  Learn and have fun second.  Measure your weiner later.

That there is FUNNY!

[BOWHUNTER45]

RadSav... your a nut