Starting with archery as a teenager is one of the most important factors if you wish to become a professional bowhunter or just want to compete in archery. Because of that manufacturers made compound bows for youths. These bows are made to be fun. Because of that, they are easy to shoot and are ideal for kids. Compound bows for kids need to be attractive with lots of fancy colors, easy to use and overall they need to give pleasure at shooting. If these factors are covered with a bow, then it is a high chance that this young archer will stay in archery sportsmanship and continue with bow hunting when he becomes an adult. And then you as a father can go bow hunting with your kid.
How to choose a proper bow for your kid. I know you would like to go with the best compound bow with lots of fancy features made by best bow brands. But in reality, you need to bring your kid, and he needs to choose a bow he likes. Maybe he will want a wild colors bow that is perhaps not even the best in the category, but that bow will make the kid happy. If a young archer is happy, he will not stop shooting, and if he grows up shooting, then you can be sure that he will never stop shooting bows.
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In a hurry? Our Best Youth Compound Bow for 2022 is:
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Bear Archery Brave Youth Bow – Black
- 26” axle-to-axle introductory bow comes ready to shoot with two Safetyglass arrows
- Set also includes Whisker Biscuit, 1-pin sight, finger rollers, armguard, and arrow quiver
- Whisker Biscuit is the safest rest in archery industry and a 40 dollar value.Care-hand wash
- 26” axle-to-axle introductory bow comes ready to shoot with two Safetyglass arrows
- Set also includes Whisker Biscuit, 1-pin sight, finger rollers, armguard, and arrow quiver
- Whisker Biscuit is the safest rest in archery industry and a 40 dollar value.Care-hand wash
When Choosing the Best Youth Compound Bow Look at These Important Factors
- Childs Size and Age
This factor is crucial because not all kids are alike. Some kids will use a bigger bow because they can handle it but some kids will require smaller bow because they are small. Manufacturers put on each bow age recommendations, and that is a good way to decide the proper size for the right age. Kid needs to enjoy shooting the bow because of that, bow needs to fit the kid, and in that way, a child will not establish wrong habits. As your kid grows up and is ready to handle bigger bows, you will need to go and buy a bigger bow. That is the only way to make your kid like archery as a sport and enjoy every shot.
- Draw Length
For children between three and ten years recommendations are 14 to 25 inches draw length. But this is not fit to all range. If your kid is tall, you will need to look for a more considerable draw length, maybe up to 30 inches. With a proper draw length kids will improve they archery skills and in the long run, will develop good shooting habits. Before you know sufficient draw length for your kid, you need to measure arm span. Then after that, you divide arm span by 2.5 inches, and you will get perfect draw length for your kid.
- Draw Weight
Draw weight is the extremely important factor because if you buy a compound bow with too large draw weight, your kid will probably hate archery because each shot will be painful and they will just stop shooting and leave archery. So keep in mind to make sure that your kid can handle the draw weight without too much hassle.
- Draw Weight Recommendations:
- Small Kids (50 – 70 pounds and 3 to 8 years old) can go with a draw weight of 6 to 10 pounds.
- Average Size kids (70 to 100 pounds and 4 to 9 years) recommended draw weight is from 10 to 30 pounds.
- Older Kids (9 to 18 years old with 100 to 130 pounds weight) can handle 15 to 50 draw weight.
When using these recommendations keep in mind, that age is not relevant because some kids can be larger in early years and because of that watch the body weight and make a decision based on body weight recommendation.
- Total Bow Weight
One of the most critical factors for youth compound bow is mass. Bow needs to be light and make sure youths are not getting fatigue too fast with it because heavy bows are hard to handle and if kids don’t have fun with a sport, they will abandon it. I won’t go into bow weight recommendations because not all kids are same. If your kid can handle the more massive bow, then go for it, but you need to let the kid choose the proper weight.
- Let-Off
Let-off is a very important feature of the compound bow. With low let-off, the kid will not need to pull full draw weight. For example, a 60% let-off compound bow will need only 60% of draw weight to be pulled, meaning a kid can focus more on aiming than fighting the massive draw weight. Having a bow that is easy to draw is one of the crucial factors to help your kid stays in an archery sport for a long time. Let-Off is one of the features that makes compound bows better than other types of bows for young archers.
- Price
Price is something that should always be considered when purchasing. I know the situation in the world is not great and many people can’t afford the professional bows, especially for young kids who may or may not stay in the archery sport. Because of that, I am highly suggesting to pick a decent starter package that includes everything a young bowman needs to start shooting. By choosing a compound bow package, you are saving money. Later on, if your kid loves archery, then you can buy him a better bow. It is important to say that starter bows are considerably cheaper than adult bows, but you also need to know that starter bows are just that, a starter bow, you will not find high-quality bow among starter bows.
Best Compound Bows for Youths
Bear Archery Brave Youth Bow – Black
The most affordable bow on the list is made by Bear Archery. This bow set is delivered as ready to shoot with two safety glass carbon arrows. Axle to axle size is 26 inches. This bow is made for right-handed kids older than eight years. Draw weight is ideal for kids older than 8 years and it is in a range from 5 to 25 LBS. Draw length of this compound bow is 13.5 to 19,5 inches. Any kid no matter of the skill level can handle this bow. The only thing that you should consider is how the kid feels when shooting or holding the bow.
If everything is relaxed and no fatigue is built, then this can be a very good starting bow. In the package you will also get Whisker Biscuit safe rest, 1 pin sight, armguard and arrow quiver. In other words as soon as you unpack you are ready to go shoot some arrows. Keep in mind that recommended age is 8 years or more, but if you have 10-year-old kid, then you should test this bow before buying because the bow may be too small for your kid.
Barnett Tomcat Junior Archery Set, 20-22-Inch, Right Hand Draw
Barnett Tomcat Junior package is ideal for young kids who are just starting with the archery. Draw weight of 16 – 22 LBS and draw length of 20 – 22 inches is suitable for beginners. Soft-touch reinforced grip is additional help for beginners who never shoot arrows before.
But as your kid gets better and better at archery, you can adjust draw length and weight. Because of that features this compound bow is ideal for small kids who never shoot arrows before and they just need to have more focus on fundamentals.
The bow is made just for right-hand usage and recommended age is around 7 years. If your kid is already experienced archer, then maybe this bow is not right choice for him because this is made for beginners. In the package you will receive 3 pin fiber optic sights, two arrows and soft touch finger rollers. To start shooting you won’t need anything else.
Barnett 1278 Tomcat 2 Compound Bow, Ages 8-12 years old
Another bow made by Barnett and as well as a previous one this one is also focused on youth archery beginners. Draw length of Tomcat 2 is 20 – 22 LBS inches just like the draw length of Tomcat Junior. The only difference is in draw weight. Tomcat 2 have draw weight in a range of 17 – 22 LBS while Tomcat Junior has 16 -22 LBS and we can say that this are not important differences.
The biggest difference is in a design and I have no opinion which have a better design. Tomcat 2 comes with 3 pin fiber optic Brighglo sight, two arrows and soft touch finger rollers.
I can recommend this bow to all the kids that are around 7 years old and who are right handed. I am not sure if you would make a mistake by choosing any of the two Tomcat bows because both of them are almost same.
Barnett Vortex Hunter Youth Archery Bow with 40-60 Lbs, Fiber Optic 3 Pin Sight,...
Advantage of Vortex Hunter is an ability to adjust. It can grow with your kid. It has adjustable draw weight between 19 lbs all the way to 45 LBS. On this bow your kid can learn all tips and tricks of modern archery.
This bow is a smaller version of large Barnett bows and when your kid grows up, he will be able to use larger Barnett bows and will already know all tricks that bow offers. One of the important features that this bow offer is ATA and AMO standards and adjustable sight. This Barnett bow has 5 year warranty and is build for right handed archers.
Barnett Vortex hunter set includes three arrows and arrow holder. If you are wondering why 3 Barnett bows on the list, then the only reason for including 3 Barnett bows is a long experience in the archery by Barnett company. they are in archery business for over 50 years and they build bows for hunters as well as young adults. And with that experience comes quality, and that is another reason why including Barnett on the list is a smart move.
Crosman Youth Wild Horn Compound Bow
Crosman makes many bows for small kids all the way to real archers with high archery skill. Wild Horn is made for teens. It has 15 – 29 LBS draw weight and 17 – 26 draw length.
This numbers means that you can use this bow for a long time and with your archery skill growing every day you can adjust the numbers to fit your skill and power.
With this bow teens, kids older than 13 years can adjust their aiming and by that this is age where a young archer will make first steps into real adult archery. And that means that if the young archer gets skilled in this period of his life, then a bow hunting will be part of his life.
Crosman always build durable and long lasting bows. In the package Crosman includes arrows, quiver, arm guard, finger tab and sight optic.
Best Beginner Compound Bows for Youth
PSE ARCHERY Guide Junior Compound Bow Set - for Youth, Kids, & Beginners -...
This bow is ideal for kids older than 10 years. PSE is well known bow manufacturer that produces high quality bows for kids but as well for adults. By buying PSE bow you can be assure that the quality of the bow is not the concern. Draw weight of this model for youths is between 12 and 29 LBS. That’s ideal draw weight that can serve your kid for several years.
Draw length is also wide from 16.5 inches to 26 inches. In this package you will get many additional accessories that can help you if you are a beginner, but as well if you are advanced archer. You will also receive armguard, quiver, 3 finger rollers, pin sight, two fiberglass arrows and arrow rest. All you need you will receive in a package and after that all you need to do is shooting training to become a skilled archer.
Once you get skilled enough, you can outgrow this bow and you can buy a new one. But that should not concern you too much because PSE Youth Heritage Compound Bow Set is extremely affordable and when you outgrow it, you won’t lose too much of an investment.
Genesis Bow Lost RH
This bow model is an official bow for National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). Because of that, the price and quality of this bow are much more significant than the previously mentioned bows. But don’t be afraid if you decide to go with this official competition bow you can be sure you will receive a high quality product that will serve you for many years.
This bow is ideal for all sizes and ages. You just can’t outgrow this bow. Draw weight is adjustable, comes with 20 LBS by default but it can be adjusted to fit all types of archers. Bow can be used by amateurs but as well as professional young archers. Draw length is also highly adjustable, and that is the beauty of this bow. As you grow, this bow can serve you because of its high adjustments. This bow comes in many different styles and you can pick from various colors.
Another attractive option that this bow offers is for left-handed people; they now can enjoy a perfect bow that is made for them, just make sure when you are buying to select left hand. Bow is build with a single cam technology which means that this bow offers less noise, precise shots, less recoil without tuning issues. Overall this is the most perfect bow you can buy if you are just starting with archery.
PSE Archery Mini Burner Compound Bow-Hunting-Arrow-Set - Right Hand - Black -...
Mini Burner is the first compound bow on the list that we can say is meant for skilled young archers. But that does not mean that beginners can’t try to use this great bow made by PSE. If a new archer feels good at shooting with Mini Burner then without no means let the kid use this advanced bow. But overall this bow is made for kids that have some experience with archery because this bow is made with advanced technology and some new archer will probably have some troubles of using that advanced technology.
But in a hand of a skilled archer this bow becomes a real weapon. Draw weight is adjustable and most abundant is 40 LBS. Draw length is between 16 and 26 inches. These numbers just represent what I said, the bow can be used by younger archers, and even if the archer is not skilled, he can use it. But if he feels bad at using this bow, then do not force the kid. Maybe best plan would be to buy some less costly bow and prepare the kid for this advanced young archery bow. In the package you get 5 arrow quiver, 3 carbon arrows, 3 pin sights and 6 inch stabilizer.
As you see the significant difference is in arrow type, previous bow sets include fiberglass arrows while Mini Burner set by PSE is including carbon arrows which are much better than the fiberglass.
Velocity Youth Archery Race 4x4 Compound Bow Package, Black
The most prominent advantage of this bow is weight. Total weight of the bow is just 3.2 LBS. That low weight makes this bow ideal for all sizes and ages. The only problem is draw weight. Kids who can not handle the least of 19 inch of draw length cannot use this bow. Draw weight is also high and ranging from 15 LBS to all the way up to 55 LBS. If you can handle this bow, then you can be sure that this bow will serve you for many years thanks to the wide range of adjustments.
Axle to axle size is 28 inches. Kids that would love to use same bow for many years can buy this model. This bow will exceed all demands. Design of Velocity Race 4×4 is attractive. Made by combat black finish you will attract many eyes when you pull this bow out from the backpack.
Genesis Youth Archery Compound Bow, Right Hand, Black
Genesis Bows is a famous manufacturer of archery equipment. Genesis is perfect for young archers who likes to shoot with a style. The advantage of this bow is zero let-off feature that allows shooting from fingers upon the release. That makes this bow easy to pull and ideal for all ages. Archery is fast growing sports and kids at the youngest possible age try to get into this sport. And many kids archery career gets ruined by the wrong choice of the first bow.
Genesis Mini kit is an ideal solution for letting your kid love the archery. Comfortable shooting and all the other features that help the kid to have enjoyment in this sport will make sure kid stays in the archery sport for many years. With this bow you can make sure that your child will use this bow for several years because of heavy adjustments. This bow draw weight can be lowered to only 6 LBS which makes this bow ideal for the youngest kids who have no power for handle a higher draw weight.
Draw length is also ideal and range from 14 to 25 inches. In the package you will get adjustable arm guard, five aluminum arrows, hex wrench, bow, belt tube quiver and user manual. This bow is just perfect starting bow at an early age. If you choose this bow for your child, you will for sure not make a mistake. The bow can also be selected from different colors as well as choose a bow for right handed or left handed archers.
Summary
There is no best bow on this list. Some of the bows cost almost as twice more than others, but are they two times better? In the end, it is not essential how much they cost, but how much your kid likes it. Make sure your kid picks a bow he or she loves. If you ask me to pick a bow for my kid and if money does not concern me, I would pick a Genesis Mini Kit. Genesis Mini Kit is very interesting and good looking bow.
Belt tube quiver will make most kids love it. They will look like Robin Hood and that small piece of design can make them stay in sport and become true admirers of archery. But it is up to you to pick the right one. If I don’t want to spend much, then I would pick the cheapest bow set on this list just to see if my kid likes to shoot or no. And if he likes then I would go and spend more money on archery. Many kids will get bored with archery after few weeks, so give them time to decide if they love the sport or no. In the comments below let me know which bow was your kid starter bow.