Is your young one constantly nagging to have a shot of your bow, and your getting annoyed at the constant nagging? Then don’t think of it as a bad thing, see it as an opprtunity to create a family legacy built upon the outdoors. An opportunity to bond and build close relationships. That’s why we’ve put together our best youth compound bow picks on the market at current, to help steer your young ones in the right direction of that legacy.
The first and most important step of getting the younger generation to continue on with that legacy, is getting the right gear. If you buy them the wrong gear, that’s difficult to use and doesn’t have the right adjustments for their age, strength, and draw length, then it will most likely get frustrated, have a bad experience, and decide not to continue on with the sport. On the contrary, if you get them the right gear to start with, be very patient with them, and provide a positive experience, the will most likely fall in love with the sport and want to continue with it, and pass it onto their family.
So, on that note, we’re going to delve deep into the most important steps to choosing a youth bow.
CONTENTS
- Let the kid learn
- Age & Size
- Draw weight
- Draw length
- Bow Weight
- RTH, RTS, or Bare bow?
- Best Youth Compound Bows
- Genesis Original Youth Bow
- Barnett Vortex
- Velocity Youth Race 4×4
- Diamond Prism Compound Bow Package
- Quest Radical Compound Bow
- PSE Mini Burner
- Diamond Archery Infinite Edge Pro
- Bear Archery Brave
- Diamond Archery Edge Sb-1
- Barnett Tomcat Youth Bow
- Bear Archery Cruzer G2
- Wrapping things up…
Let the kid learn
Forget what you know, or what you think you know. Even if your a well experienced bow hunter and done it your whole life, let the kid learn for him or her self. Truth is, you dont need some top of the line compound bow for a child’s first bow. In my personal opinion, cheaper is better. Quiet frankly, it’s most likely going to cop a hiding, and they’re going to want it in all sorts of weird and wonderful colors. They’ll pump thousands of arrows down range, give it extremely poor maintenance. Long periods of not being shot, and then long periods of being absolutely obsessed with nothing else but bow shooting. Their kids, they need to learn their own way, and unfortunately you can try to steer them in the right direction, but ultimately they need to learn for themselves.
In saying that, their are some great bows at a budget price that have extreme draw weight and draw length ranges. I believe that this is a good way to try steer the youth, as some of these bows can cop a good beating and the adjustable ranges are so large that the bow can literally last a lifetime.
Keep reading to see these types of bows
Age & Size
When it comes to youth bows, there’s no right or wrong answer in what bow a child should start with. This is where age and size can start to play a vital role in helping to steer your young one in the direction of a bow that will suit him or her.
Let’s take a five year old for example.
Their a bows out there that could technically drop the draw weight to a weight that a 5 year old could manage, but the real drama is, is that half the bows on the market would be damn near as tall as the kid, and almost weigh a much as them to (exaggeration). They might be able to draw it, but half of them wont be able to hold it steady enough to pull decent groupings.
Their’s nothing wrong with starting them at that age. Matter of fact, the younger the better. But take a common sense approach, make sure you choose a bow that they’re capable of holding steady, has a short enough axle to axle length, and they’re able to draw.
Draw weight
This is really where those bows with extreme draw weight and length range variations take the cake. Their are recommendations out there as to draw weight for certain ages. Quiet frankly though, I take it with a grain of salt. Reason being, is if you take say two 10 year old kids. One may be able to pull 20 pound bow, while the other may only be able to pull 10 pound. This is why I highly recommend bows with a large variation of draw weight range, this way they’ll be able to continuously advance until they max out the bow in their adult years.
Draw length
Once again, as above, it’s recommended to go with a bow that has a large range of draw length capability. This way as the child grows the can continue to increase their draw length.
Bow Weight
Theirs no hard and fast rule here, and this is where you really need to let your child have a feel for whats around. My suggestion is to let them hold your bow, and gauge the bow weight from their. You’ll know if they can quiet comfortably hold a bow thats fully kitted out ready to hunt, then their quiet comfortably going to hold most bows on the market. If they struggle however, you may have to start to look at some of the more purpose built bows that take weight high into consideration.
Obviously common sense applies here, a five year old is not going to be able to comfortably hold a fully kitted out compound bow complete with all the bells and whistles.
RTH, RTS, or Bare bow?
First of all, for those who dont know, RTH means Read to Hunt and RTS means Ready to Shoot. Bare bow means a bow that still requires out fitting before being able to shoot.
Personally in my opinion, when it comes to youth bows you want to get a RTH or RTS bow.
When your young one gets there bow, there going to be so exited that they’ll just want to get out there and start shooting.
Even waiting to get set up for the right right draw length is going to be a hassle in their eyes.
Do them a favor, and get a bow that has all the bells and whistles straight out of the box.
It doesn’t matter if the accessories aren’t top of the line. Matter of fact, it’s better if they aren’t, because their going to get flogged. They just need to do the intended job, and these days all package bows come with accessories that do just that. Their not flash and fancy, but they do the job, and are perfect to form the building blocks to a solid foundation of technique.
Best Youth Compound Bows
So, now that we’ve got that out the way, lets crack on and check out some of the best youth compound bows on the market in 2018.
Genesis Original Youth Bow
The Genesis Original Bows simplistic design and user friendliness make it the perfect youth bow.
Because of it’s simplistic design the bow can be used by any youth, and for the matter, even by adults if they wanted to.
The reason this is possible is because the bow doesn’t actually have draw lengths. Making it possible for any child to be able to use it.
The genesis has a draw weight of of around 10-20lbs, which makes it well within the youth range.
If your aiming to get your young ones into hunting, and looking for a hinting outfit, then this isn’t the best choice, reason being is the low draw weight won’t provide enough energy to humanely take game. The genesis is great however, for forming a solid foundation of technique.
Matter of fact this bow has been named the official bow of NASP (National Archery Schools Program). This really goes to show just how effective the bow is as a youth bow.
Let’s have a look at the specs.
The Genesis runs in at 35.5″ axel to axel and runs a brace height of 7 5/8″.
The bow utelises a aluminium riser, which keeps the overall weight significantly low.
The bow has an extremely smooth draw and this is made possible because of the single cam system it utelises.
With a price tag of a touch under $200 it’s a dirt cheap deal for what your getting.
Another upside is that the bow is ambidextrous, meaning it doesn’t matter if your child is left or right handed.
All in all, the bows a top choice for the young ones.
Barnett Vortex
The Vortex made by Barnett makes a great first bow for the young ones out there. I wouldn’t really recommend this as a bow for children that want to upgrade though. The bow is more so designed for the first timers in mind.
The bow utelises the power of cutting away all the fancy bells and whistles, and instead focuses on giving a solid built bow that can take a bit of a abuse while your young ones are sorting through what styles and techniques work best for them.
The bow shoots reasonably well for a youth bow, and pumps out arrows at 188fps, making it good enough for small game.
All in all the bows a good shooter for the first timers.
Draw weight ranges from 19 – 45lbs, which gives most youths plenty of adjustment to grow into, but you will have to replace it eventually.
Velocity Youth Race 4×4
A big standout for the velocity youth is just how light the bow is, making it perfect for the young bow hunter.
The draw weight on this bow comes in at 19 – 29″ and draw weight 15 – 55lbs, giving the young bow hunter plenty of room to move.
An upside to this bow is it is a RTS bow, meaning you’re young ones going to spend less time nagging at you to hurry and get the bow set up, and more time out there sling arrows down range.
Its been reported that the Velocity youth runs some pretty decent accessories, which is good to know considering a lot of RTH & RTS bows will skimp out on accessories.
Adjusting the bow is user friendly, and with a couple of lessons you’ll have your lil’ bow hunting buddy on track to be able to make the adjustments them selves.
The bow has a sweet price tag as well, coming in at under $200 usually.
Available in a range of different colors, your young one will most certainly find a color or pattern that suits them.
Diamond Prism Compound Bow Package
You’ll notice we’ve reviewed several Diamond bows several times on this site, and that’s because they offer top quality for the price you pay.
Based off the diamond edge, the prism doesn’t disappoint and upholds the same high reputation.
OK, here’s where the bow really excels, and I really love bows like this.
The bow has a adjustable draw weight of 5-55lbs, and draw length range of 18″-30″, making it a perfect choice for the up and coming bow hunters starting to venture into their more serious hunting bows.
The bow comes with all the usual accessories, but you’ll still need to buy arrows before it’s ready to shoot.
The prism has a let off of 80%, making it no dramas for the young ones to hold steady at full draw.
The bow weighs in at 3.2lbs and has a 31″ axel to axel length.
While the bow is good to go, there have been complaints of the accessories being below average, which is the case more then often with RTH and RTS bows. This isn’t a huge issue though and be quickly rectified by upgrading some of your accessories.
Spitting out arrows at a decent speed of 295 fps, the bow will handle up to medium game with good shot placement.
The Prism is available in Left and Right hand models, so if your young ones a Lefty, this bow may be a good choice.
All in all, the bow makes a great choice for those going into their teen years, and looking to upgrade to a more serious hunting bow.
Quest Radical Compound Bow
The Quest runs a draw length of 17.5″- 30″ and a draw weight of 15 – 70 pound, making it another perfect choice for the up and coming bow hunter heading into their teenage years.
Bows of this style are a great choice for a youth bow, because they can quiet literally last a hunter a lifetime. That type of user adjustablity can’t be outgrown.
The bow weighs a touch under 4lbs, which personally to me puts it a bit more on the heavy side. Usually this isn’t a huge deal, but when it comes to youth bows, bow weight should play a vital role.
Adjustments are hassle free and user friendly, being able to be performed with just a couple of allen keys and no bow press.
the axel to axel length runs in at 29.25″, which is nice and short and may be a bonus for youth bow hunters.
In line with axel to axel length brace height comes in at reasonably short 7.125″.
The bow is hurling arrows at a whopping 295fps, which is more then enough for any youth, and makes the bow perfectly capable of mid size game take downs with correct shot placement.
The bow is a little on the pricey side compared to other youth bows, but as we start to review these more hunter style compound youth bows you’ll notice thats a common theme among them. It’s fair enough to, as theirs a lot more work goes into making a hunting bow then this is a plain old compound, like the genesis (Absolutely nothing against the Genesis Compound Bow, we’ve recommended it here on our page).
All in all, another great choice for young bow hunters.
PSE Mini Burner
Personally, I believe there’s much better choices in this post, but hey, we’re here to give you reviews on the best youth bows and the Mini burner fits that category. More by default, rather then being one of the best.
Anyway, lets crack on with the stats.
The Mini burner has an adjustable draw length of 16 – 25″ and an adjustable draw weight range of 29 – 40lbs.
In my opinion it’s just versatile enough, and while I might cop some shit, I would highly recommend not to waste your money, as it will be a matter of a couple of years (if that) and you’ll be upgrading to a bow that offers a higher draw weight.
In saying all this, we’re talking about PSE here, so I’m not going to completely rag on them. They do make high quality products.
I see what they’ve done, and they’ve tried to design a serious style hunters bow in a youth version, complete with the unique PSE split limb system, and complete with all the bells and whistles making it ready to shoot. Personally I just think theirs better value for money in the youth range.
Admittingly the bow shoots exceptionally well, like their adult models. It’s reported to have an extremely smooth draw, and the stabilizer helps to make the bow almost silent due to absorbing excessive vibration.
All in all, I think you may have gathered my stance on this particular bow. The die hard PSE fans are probably going to jump on this, but remember what I said at the start, let the kid choose what he wants.
Diamond Archery Infinite Edge Pro
The Infinite edge pro has met quiet a few of our reviews now, and thats cause it’s one hell of a bow. Extremely versatile and at a great price as well.
We’ll crack straight into the nitty gritty.
Draw length range of 13″ – 31″, and a draw weight range of 15 – 70 pounds. The bow weighs in at a slim 3.2lbs.
This bow is probably one of the most versatile bows on the market at the moment. Admittingly, at a minimum 15lbs draw weight, its not really designed for little kids but for the bigger kids it’s fair game.
What i really love about this bow is it’s huge range draw length. 13″ is extremely short, and well 31″ is a fairly long draw.
I think what would really top this bow off is if they could bring the 15lbs down to 5lbs, then it would be an absolute beast of a bow for versatility.
The bow is RTH model making it a prefect choice for the little hunters out there.
The infinite edge pro comes with a wrist sling, peep sight, stabilizer, arrow rest, quiver and bow sight.
Personally I believe this bow is one of the best for youths on the market at current.
Bear Archery Brave
The Bear archery brave is similar to the PSE Mini burner, and you’ll notice when looking at them they have very similar features to. Is it similar in the way that you shouldn’t waste your money? Yes, no, sort of, maybe.
Now, let me clarify. Bear & PSE make some of the best bows in the bow hunting game, and matter of fact I absolutely love their bows, as you’ll notice if you read some of my other posts, but their kids bows I just dont feel are the best bang for buck.
However, where Bear takes the cake for a true childs bow, is the nice cheap price they’ve got the brave selling for. The mini burner was just a bit to pricey for my liking, but the Brave can be purchased for as little as $40.
Draw weight and draw length ranges are adjustable, but like the mini burner, not by much. Draw weight range on the Bear brave is 15 -25lb.
The bow comes as a package and has a built in quiver, whisker biscuit arrow rest, 1 pin sight, arm guard, and two arrows.
All in all, Bear has certainly got PSE on price point alone hear. So, if you were opting for a true childs bow, then I would opt for the bear brave, as your getting much much better value for money. Kids will out grow this bow very quickly though, due to it’s lack of adjustability.
Diamond Archery Edge Sb-1
As usual, diamond are always pumping out quality gear in the budget bow range, and it just so happens the bow falls into the youth category as well. Well, technically it falls into both the youth adult.
While not a 100% a true child’s bow, its damn near close to it.
The Edge SB1 holds a few main differences from it’s big brother the infinite edge pro.
first on is draw length on the SB1 is 15-30″. Two inches got sacrificed when you have a look at the stats on the Edge pro.
Here’s the kicker though.
While the may have sacrificed on draw length ranges they didn’t sacrifice on draw weight, coming in at a ridiculous 7-70lbs. Now, that’s what I call versatile.
Now at 7lbs almost any child will be able to pull that back. The trouble you’ll have is that this bow is designed with the teenager and adult in mind. So you still need to be conscious of things like weight (3.6lbs) and axel to axel length (31″).
However, this style of bow quiet literally lowers the standard and makes it possible for kids of say, around the 7 & up mark ( maybe even lower depending on strength and height) to have a hunting bow.
The SB1 utelises a binary cam system, which makes for a nice smooth draw, more consistent timing, and easier tuning.
Adjustments are made user friendly on the bow and require only a couple of Allen keys.
The bow is reported as being a little long, and as a youth bow this is one factor that may be a bit of a down fall.
The bow runs in with a brace height of 7″ and axel to axel of 31″.
The bow is an RTS bow.
Overall this bow is extremely versatile and really takes the cake in that area. I would highly recommend it as a youth bow as this is another bow that you just never can grow out of.
Barnett Tomcat Youth Bow
The Barnett Tomcat is more of a specific childs bow, like PSE’s mini Burner and Bears Brave bow set.
Once again it’s extremly low on adjustablilty, but here are the specs.
Draw lenght is 20 -22 inches. Ptty if your child requires more or less.
Draw weight is 16 – 22lbs.
There’s not really much else to say about this then is there really.
Does it get my recomendation? No, not really, but it is a youth bow and that’s why we’re reviewing it. It made the list by default.
It just doesnt have the user adjustablity, and for the price Bears brave bow set is much better value for money if you need to go down this route.
Sorry Barnett, I like your gear and I actually own a Barnett Crossbow, but this gets the thumbs down from me.
Bear Archery Cruzer G2
The Best always gets saved until last, and you’ll see why it’s the best when we start rattling off the specs of this bad boy.
First off, lets start with one word, BEAR. Need I say anymore.
Bear has always pumped out quality gear. usually these brand name bows though have always been a bit more reserved to the die hard bow hunter or one who a bit of cash to burn, and never really catered to much to the budget area.
The Cruzer though, well it damn near ticks every box of a perfect bow. It’s a well know brand, reasonably cheap, can be set up as a youth bow, used by the ladies, will last a lifetime, and can’t be outgrown. Bear Archery, you guys have really outdone your self on this one.
Right then, so what are the specs?
User adjustable draw weight range of a an absolutely cray ridiculous 5-70lbs, and if that’s not enough, then draw length range will put the icing on the cake coming in at 12-30″. This is absolute next level shit man.
This bad boy is spitting arrows a crazy 315fps. That’s running pretty hot.
The bow has a 70% let off witch is more then enough, and will make holding at the wall no dramas at all.
Now, one of the dramas with these types of bows, is there designed more with the teenager through to adult hood in mind, so they can be a little more on the weighty side. The Cruzer however, weighs in at a feather weight of 3lbs. Their is absolutely no reason what so ever that a small child would not be able to handle this bow.
The bow is RTH bow, and comes with all the accessories to put you int he game, supplied by trophy ridge. Trophy Ridge aren’t top of the line, but their a damn sight better then a hell of a lot of the other accessories that come off the shelf in bow packages.
The Cruzer has a nice feel to it, and part of that reason si the unique grip it has, which helps to reduce hand torque.
The only thing you’ll need to do before shooting this bow is to purchase some arrows.
Wrapping things up…
So there you have it folks, there’s some of the best youth compound bows in the game. Of course, not all are the best, but you know what I mean. Probably the most important thing to remember is try to guide your young one with what they want to do, dont try to force them, other wise you’ll enforce an experience they don’t want to be a part of. The key is to make the whole experience as positive as possible. Get them into the sport, then get them out hunting, make memories, and keep the legacy alive. Do all those things the right way, and they will keep the bow hunters dream alive and well, and they’ll pass it onto their kids to.
Till next time,
Have fun huntin’,
Redneck Salvation.
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