By Carolee Anita Boyles,
Contributing Editor

So you've decided you want to take up archery. Congratulations! You're about to enter a sport that is exciting, frustrating, challenging, and rewarding, all rolled into one.
Exciting, because the pump of competitive archery (or bringing down your quarry, if you're hunting) can get your blood racing.

Frustrating, because of the incredible detail it can take to get your bow and your arrows tuned just right so you make consistent shots and hit the same point every time.

Challenging, because archery teaches you many new skills, and tests a lot of the skills you already have.

Rewarding, because when everything comes together and you make that perfect shot, you know that in that moment you've been the best archer you can be.

When you start into the world of archery, the very first thing you need to do is find a good archery shop. In general, archery shops are very receptive to women, and will treat you right. If the first one you go into doesn't, take your business elsewhere. That said, although I've been in some "good ole boy" gun shops, I don't ever recall going into an archery shop where I wasn't treated with the utmost courtesy.

Before you can start shooting, you're going to need several pieces of equipment. First is a bow. Since there are several different types of bows you may want to shoot, let's take a quick look at them.

Keep in mind that what I'm giving you here are generalities. When you decide what kind of bow you want to shoot, and what kind of shooting you want to do, you'll get down to many details that we don't have room to cover here.

The first kind of bow-and the oldest-is a traditional bow. This may be a recurve bow or a longbow, but it's essentially the same kind of bow archers have been using for centuries. There are no wheels, no axles, no bells or whistles. They are, in my experience, very difficult to shoot. However, archers who shoot them well love them, and there are challenges associated with shooting them that you won't find anywhere else in the sport of archery.

Many more archers shoot a compound bow than a traditional bow. Today's compound bows are high-tech bows that are much easier to shoot than traditional bows. Cams and wheels provide "let-off," meaning that the draw weight-the amount you have to pull-doesn't continue to increase as you get closer and closer to full draw. Instead, there's a "rollover" point where the amount of tension you have to keep on the string decreases dramatically, making this kind of bow much easier for anyone-especially a woman-to draw.

Third is a crossbow. This is actually a very old style of bow, but for a long time it wasn't very popular, particularly with the bowhunting crowd. There have been many misconceptions about the capabilities of crossbows that caused both bowhunters and game and fish commissions to look down on them. However, education is erasing the stigma associated with hunting with crossbows, and many states now have some kind of crossbow season, with more adding new seasons each year.

Then there's the matter of arrows (or bolts, if you're shooting a crossbow). Arrow shafts come in aluminum and a variety of carbon and carbon/alloy combinations. In addition, they come in a wide range of diameters and stiffness (which is called spine). After you choose a bow, the staff person in the archery shop will help you select the arrow size and spine that best suits the bow you are shooting, and also will cut the arrow shafts to the right length for the length of your arms and the size of your bow.

There are some other pieces of equipment you'll need-an arm guard, a release, practice points, broadheads (if you're hunting) and a few other things-but your sales person will help you sort out what's right for you. And if you have a place of your own you can practice, you'll need a target; again, your sales person can help you.

Before you buy a bow, there's one other decision you need to make: are you going to shoot targets or hunt?

Although I'm referring mainly to compound bows at this point, the same general principles apply to traditional bows and crossbows as well.

Which bow you purchase depends a great deal on how you're going to use it. If you're going to both hunt and shoot targets, you probably can get away with using your hunting bow for both. But that doesn't work in reverse; if you're going to bowhunt, you don't want a bright red or bright blue bow like one you'd use for target shooting.

The differences between hunting bows and target bows go beyond just a paint job. The biggest difference is draw weight; usually a hunting bow has a heavier draw weight.

Much of the reason for the difference in draw weight has to do with how many arrows a target archer shoots at a single competition. In target shooting, an archer often shoots many arrows repetitively; a lower-poundage bow is a lot more comfortable in a target situation.

Beyond draw weight, the biggest difference between hunting and target bows is the color. A target bow is usually pretty colorful, while a hunting bow is normally in a camo pattern.

If you decide you're strictly going to be a target shooter, then there are a number of kinds of target shooting in which you can participate. First, check with your archery shop to see if they run a shooting league; many of them do, which means you'll have a place to practice and competition when you're ready for it.

There are a number of different styles of target shooting. One is FITA-style archery, which is what Olympic archers shoot. FITA stands for Federation Internationale de Tir à l'Arc, known in English-speaking countries as the International Archery Federation. This type of archery is popular worldwide, and is the same kind of archery that children and youth in JOAD-the Junior Olympic Archery Development program of the National Archery Association-shoot.

Remember watching the Olympics? That's FITA-style shooting. And recall that those targets looked impossibly far away. Targets are set at distances out to 90 meters, or just over 100 yards.

Another type of competitive archery is NFAA-National Field Archery Association-style. In NFAA tournaments, you shoot at bullseye type targets that are at a known distance. Within field archery, you'll find a lot of classes and divisions, depending on what kind of equipment you shoot, your gender, your age, and other factors.

One style of competitive archery that's grown in popularity in the past few years is 3-D archery. Archers shoot at 3-D animal-type targets at unknown distances, but not beyond 50 yards. Think of it this way: field archery is more like trap and skeet shooting; 3-D tournaments are more similar to sporting clays. Like field archery, 3-D archery tournaments have a lot of divisions for many different kinds of shooters.

Unlike many sports, archery is a game for the entire family. It's a place to hone your shooting skills, and to get your kids, their friends, and your significant other playing the game with you. Check the list of resources to find an archery club near you, and enjoy matching your shooting skills against other archers in your area.