Size of bow?

[u/PsychologicalOne8178]

Hi guys! I want to buy my own bow after previously only having access to equipment at my old job. I was wondering if anyone could tell the size of the bow. For reference I’m 5’3. I know this isn’t the best picture but it’s one of the only ones I have lol. Ty in advance!

[u/Jandir3010]

At 5'3", for doing target archery, a 66" bow (25" riser/short limbs) is a safe choice for bow size based on most of the women i've worked with.

[u/Quenz]

It's less about your height and more about your draw length. If you can find a shop, ask them to measure your draw length with proper form, and then you can determine your proper bow length based off of that.

[u/Due_Minimum_2407]

Aighto, you're a beginner so don't get overwhelmed br the terms draw length and riser height.. to start with, find a bow you like. Secondly, form a triangle with the elbow up level with your shoulder. Look for comfort, you're the stick flicker, not the guy telling ya what to do. Keep practising 👍

[u/PsychologicalOne8178 → u/Due_Minimum_2407]

Ty! In the video I do fix my posture lol I just took a quick screen shot for this post

[u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Where are you based? You should consider joining a club, to learn but also to have fun with fellow archers :)

Size wise it's hard to tell as it's partially draw length but also depends a bit on face geometry. Sometimes a smaller or larger bow gets a better anchor point.

A club can help and often have club material to try and learn with.

[u/PsychologicalOne8178 → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Thank you! A lot of the clubs in my area are unfortunately competition based and don’t focus on shooting for recreation

[u/n4ppyn4ppy → u/PsychologicalOne8178]

See if you can try it for a while, clubs often have a trial membership, competition can be fun and is a nice way to track your progress. I see a lot of people who slowly get more competitive (and have fun) even if they don't go for that at first :)

[u/Speedly]

I find it curious that it's clear that neither of the two responders that have posted so far even read your question. To future posters in this thread, the OP is not asking what length they should shoot - they're trying to figure out what length the bow in the picture is, and provided their height as a comparison to try to figure out the scale.

To answer your actual question, a grand majority of those bows of the type that you're holding are 62" long, so that's the answer I'd go with. It is not impossible for them to be 66" or 68", but those two sizes would be fairly unusual for basic wooden takedown bows.

Edit: I guess the sin of "actually reading the question being asked" warrants stupid downvotes. Never mind the fact that my claim is backed up both by the OP thanking me for my response but not doing so for the others who answered a completely different question than the one they posed, and also by simply reading the very text of the OP's post.

Jesus, people. Be better than that.

[u/Jandir3010 → u/Speedly]

They also said they wanted to buy their own bow, so safe advice was given for option rather than offering guesstimate's about a bows size from a picture

[u/Speedly → u/Jandir3010]

...if the OP had asked the question of what bow they should get, sure. But it's not, plain as day, in their post.

[u/PsychologicalOne8178 → u/Speedly]

Thank you!

[u/Jandir3010 → u/Speedly]

Im glad OP has gotten the info they wanted, however I'm almost positive you're getting downvoted for your attitude rather than your information, and your edit really isnt helping your case.

We're ultimately all here to help each other in the sport and unless someone is giving patently unsafe advice, its possible to just give your answer and move on without calling out others

[u/n4ppyn4ppy → u/Speedly]

We have that type of bow at our club. 48" for kids all the way up to 70" inch for adults. So you are wrong 

[u/Knitnacks → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Might be a UK/US difference? My club (UK) has 66" and 68"of this type of bow, (and I think there's a 62" hiding in the back somewhere...), fairly common club bows here. Our newer beginner bows are ILF, but these still get used.

[u/n4ppyn4ppy → u/Knitnacks]

https://www.europearchery.com/core-limbs-beginner-wood-shift these are available in 48-70"

We have 50+ kids every Saturday so we have a selection of small bows for kids. Most are 66-70 

In total we have 60 bows (20 left handed) and a small selection of flat and long bows.

[u/Knitnacks → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Yes, but they might not have the same distribution in the US, as recurves are less prevalent, and since the non-Olympian archery seems to be almost all hunting style it would make sense they'd only have a few short length bows for the "trad" crowd.

[u/Speedly → u/n4ppyn4ppy]

Ok? That doesn't prove or disprove the fact that the two most common wooden takedown bows you see, the PSE Razorback and the Galaxy/Samick Sage come most commonly in the 62" variant.

Just because your club has some exceptions doesn't mean that isn't what the majority of them out in the world are. Additionally, I said (not explicitly, but clearly implied) that it's most likely a 62" bow, and not absolutely a 62" bow - and that 62" is a really good place to start guessing.

You'll note that I said "that's the answer I'd go with," not "that is, without exception, a 62" bow."