Stickbow Target Archery Forums

Welcome to the Wonderful World of Stickbow Archery, grimlad!
Be sure to look over that Pearson Cougar carefully - you're looking for any signs of fiberglass splinters or lifted or missing glass, checking, chrysals (sharp fiberglass etched lines that run perpendicular to the length of the limbs), dings - most of these boo-boos can be repaired with a good grade of slow set epoxy and bit of fine sandpaper.
Only use a Dacron string with this bow. 12 to 14 strands. A length that will yield a brace height of 7" to 8" should be good for starters. After it's braced, sight down the limbs and see if they're reasonably straight and not skewed - if so, see if you can gently bend the crooked limb back into correct braced limb alignment.

You can surely buy pre-crafted wood arrows, but you'll find making your own - in the long run - will be cheaper and far more rewarding. However, you might want to try several different arrow spines, lenghs, point weights, feather lengths - some will just fly better and shoot straighter for you. You may see your draw length changing, too.

I think that one of the best little booklets on barebow archery is "Become the Arrow" by Byron Ferguson. His shooting info is excellent, IMO. Typically sells for $13 at Amazon.

I think you'll find this STAF forum a good resource for answering your archery questions!n
Most of all - have fun!

Grimlad, you might want to contact Paul Jalon at Elite Arrows (www.fairchase.com/elitearrows/). He sells a test kit of wood arrows in various spines that would probably help you in selecting the proper arrow for your bow. He makes all my arrows and they are as good as any I've seen and reasonably priced. His arrows have also taken 1st or 2nd Place at the IBO Outdoor Worlds and Indoor Worlds for the last several years, all with different archers.