Hi All
I'm thinking of expanding my hunting experiences by perhaps getting into some bowhunting in the future.

I have little to no experience with bows aside from the high school firbreglass recurve jobs firing cheap cedar shafts of about 30 years ago, so go easy on me ok.

As a left hander, it seems conventional wisdom says to simply get a left handed setup.
I am right eye dominant but have no trouble shooting my rifles left handed (scope or open sights) by closing my right eye, so this is not an issue for me.

Would it be any problem for me to purchase a right handed bow and shoot it left handed (provided of course the grip is a neutral or amidexterous one and will allow it)?
Are there any issue I'm overlooking about shooting a RH bow from a LH position, are there any real world differences between L and R handed setups ?

RH bows and accessories are so much easier to obtain it seems.


Thanks in advance.

Actually there are a lot of people who will tell you to shoot right handed because you are right eye dominate.

If you are talking about buying a compound bow, I couldn't imagine anybody shooting a right hand bow left handed. The cables are more than likely be in the way and interfere with a proper grip. The grip it's self is contured to fit the other hand. A quiver of any sort would get in the way and you wouldn't even be able to grip the bow.

Best option is to try shooting right handed, if you don't like it order a left handed bow.

yeah, go to a properly equipped archery shop and shoot both right and left.

Assuming you choose to shoot a compound,& you are right eye dominant, you will likely find it easier to shoot right handed (bow held in your extended left arm, draw with right hand). If you use as peep (as most folks do with compounds), it will provide a much more consistent sight picture & require less effort if your anchor is on the right side of your face. I have a right handed, left eye dominant nephew that I taught to shoot & hunt, & he couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with the right handed bow I originally bought him. when we switched to a left handed setup (to match his eye dominance), the improvement was amazing & immediate. I'd recommend starting with a right handed setup.
You cannot shoot most modern compounds or recurves from either side - the sight window & rest will either be on the left side of the bow (as you are holding it) for right handed shooters, or the right side for left handed shooters. Some longbows can be shot from either side.

OK. Thanks for your thoughts and inputs guys.

Looks like I need head off and get a RH setup.
Unfortunately there are only 2 places in my state that cater for archery and they are a couple of hours drive away, I might have to order something over the web.

Thanks again.

If you are left handed, but right eye dominent, then by all means, get a right hand bow.

Because it sounds like you're not overly experienced with archery equipment, I wouldn't order a bow over the internet or mailorder quite yet.

I know it's a couple hour drive for you, but my suggestion is to take the day and head to a good archery pro shop. Any good shop will let you test fire different bows. You'll find that while all the bows look great in a catalog or on a web page, some will feel better to you than others. You want to find a bow that feels right and fits you properly.

Then, what is your draw length? The bow has to be sized to YOUR draw length and while many bows have adjustable draw lengths, many times it requires a bow press to do that adjustment properly.

Then, are you going to shoot with fingers or are you going to use a release aid? A bow that will be shot with fingers needs a longer axle to axle measurement than one designed to be shot with a release aid. Most compounds today are following a trend of shorter and shorter axle to axle measurements and are meant to be shot with a release.

Are you going to have sights on the bow? If so, then you'll probably also have to have a peep sight of some sort installed in the string. This too is a task that is more easily done with the aid of a bow press. And once adjusted properly, the peep must be served (secured) into the string. Do you know how to serve a string?

Also, with modern compound bows, you don't just set the arrow on the shelf of the riser and let fly. There has to be a rest installed and the rest has to be tuned to the bow and adjusted for "centershot". Do you know how to do that?

Do yourself a HUGE favor and spend the time and money to go to a good archery shop. They can measure your draw length, explain the differences in various bows, let you shoot them to see which one fits you best, explain the different types of arrow rests and sighting systems. You can try various release aids to see what you prefer.

They can properly match the correct spine arrow shafts to your bow, cut them to the proper length, install the inserts and get your bow set up and tuned properly.

Then, if they're REALLY a good shop, they'll work with you a little bit on the range to show you how to properly draw, aim and release the arrow.

I watched one of the guys at the shop I get my archery equipment from take someone that had never shot a bow before and within thirty minutes, had them shooting six arrows into a five inch circle at twenty yards.

I've also seen guys that didn't want to spend "Pro Shop Prices," didn't know what they were doing, bought mismatched, improperly adjusted equipment and were unable to put six arrows into a twelve inch target at twenty yards three months after getting their bow.

These are the guys that give up archery and go back to rifle hunting, because "I just couldn't get the hang of that whole bow thing...."

Ok thanks for that.
Some good questions there that I'll need to think and ask about.
I know my draw length is 29" but I have no idea how to serve a string or adjust the the arrow rest but I think I can work this sort of thing out as I become more experienced. I figure that this kind of thing is all part of the journey that I'm preparing to make.
I'm planing on using a release of some description with a compound bow and have played with a guy from works compound who had whole a series of releases for me to try out. The one that caught my eye and felt really good was one by Cobra with a rubber pistol grip type hand grip. It felt the most natural by far to me.
I will take your advice and make the trip into the city to check out the local shops. There seems to be so much gear out there and it's hard to make informed choices.

Thanks again
Ken

There is a lot of gear out there, and simply reading descriptions/looking at pictures doesn't always help, at least not me. I'm the type of guy that needs to actually handle the item before I'm comfortable putting money down.

I'm NOT saying you couldn't get a good deal over the internet and figure out how to get it set up properly, but....

If you can get to a good pro shop, get outfitted for the proper fitting equipment. Then explain the situation to the shop owner that you do live hours away, and see if he'll let you watch and possibly participate in setting up the bow so that you know how to make all the adjustments.

When you buy your archery setup, make sure that you also get a bow square and a good nock pliers. As you shoot your bow, the new string will stretch. Sometimes this can cause a previously great shooting bow to lose accuracy. This can be remedied by having the square and nock pliers and re-setting your nock point.

And I'm glad I was able to help.

Shof is giving you very good advice. Between the web, books , & friends, you can probably figure out the "setup & tuning thing", but a shop with a really good & experienced owner/pro will save you tons of time & you will probably end up with a setup that suits you best. Particularly with the right eye dominance & left handedness, I think it would benefit you to try several options with advice & assistance from someone who can help you get started right.

My son is left handed, right eye dominate. He shot both right and left handed bows before settling on the left hand version. Again, a good pro shop should help you do just that, then you decide which is best for you.

The only drawback is we cannot find left handed arrows anywhere!

Jack-As long as you guys smoke left handed cigarettes it will not matter about the left handed arrows!