Is Archery Expensive? Complete Breakdown Of All Costs

Do you want to know if archery is expensive? That’s what you will find out in this article. Here you will exact information on how expensive archery is for beginners and advanced archers as well.

Here is the main takeaway from the entire article.

As a general rule, the cost of doing archery is between 60$ and 500$. A beginner archer can get all of the basic archery gear for just 60 dollars. While intermediate to advanced archers can spend up to 500 dollars and more on better bows and specialized equipment.

Archery Costs You Can Expect

Here is the breakdown of the costs you can expect as a beginner and as a more advanced archer. So that you can picture it more clearly.

If this looks like a lot, don’t worry. We will discuss ways to reduce these costs further.

Now let’s break down the costs.

The Cost Of A Bow For Beginners

As a beginner, this isn’t something you should concern yourself with as much. Take a normal recurve bow, with low draw weight, and focus on firing as many arrows with as perfect of a form as you can.

The cost of a beginner’s recurve bow is 56,99$. The cool thing with beginner bows is that they usually come in a set, where you get ready-made arrows for that bow. This means you can get a bow and a set of beginner arrows for less than 60$.

Arrows themselves are perishable. They get damaged, you will likely lose some. So it will come a time when you will have to buy new arrows. You can get decent ones for 25,99$. Before you go and buy yourself new arrows make sure you either consult someone at your local archery range or read this article on how to choose the best arrows.

The Cost Of A Bow For Advanced Archers

With advanced bows, the price jumps up substantially. As you continue your practice and improve your skill you will soon outgrow your beginner’s bow. It will likely work just as fine if you maintain it but you will want to test out other ones.

So, here you get to the more advanced and usually more expensive compound bows. They can cost from 229,99$ all the way to 500$ and beyond.

Here, your budget is the only limit. The most expensive types of bows tend to be the ones used by professionals.

How Much Does An Olympic Bow Cost?

Olympic bows cost upwards of 2000$. The added cost comes from specialized equipment such as sights, risers, limbs, arrows, etc.

But do bear in mind, if you are professional, there is a team of sponsors behind you paying for all those extra upgrades. Most of us archers won’t need anything as high-tech as the professionals are using.

The Cost Of Arrows For Beginners

Arrows used by beginners do not cost a lot. Most beginner bows are provided with a set of arrows that match the bow. The key phrase here is “arrows that match the bow”. When you inevitably destroy and lose some or all of the arrows, which you will the replacement costs are quite low.

Less than 30 dollars for a set of 12 arrows. And as you can see in this article here. You don’t need many arrows, to begin with.

Be careful when buying your first set of arrows! Make sure you know the draw weight of your bow, the draw length, and the recommended spine for your arrows.

Based on those factors you should know what kind of arrows you need.

Cost Of Arrows For Advanced Archers

Well, the cost here differs. Not, by much. You most likely won’t be just buying your arrows but some of you will be tunning your arrows and your bow. Now, I won’t be going into the costs associated with tunning, just the equipment.

You can get a set of well-designed arrows for 35$. As always be careful as to what kind of arrows you are choosing.

The Cost of Protection For Archers

This one is the same for both advanced and beginners. If you are practicing target archery investing in a forearm protector or an “armguard” is a good move. String slaps are no joke.

Here it is.

One way to protect yourself from that is a forearm protector which will only set you back 10 bucks. It’s a no-brainer. So, get yourself one.

On top of that, you will get yourself an archery glove. The main job of which is to protect your fingers from the pressure of the bowstring.

Now the more advanced archers will probably play around with archery release aids. Those can cost between 20 and 40 dollars. As you can see here.

If you are a beginner stick with the glove in the beginning as you progress test out release aids and see how they work for you.

The Cost Of A Quiver In Archery

A quiver in archery is a transportation aid whose sole purpose is to safeguard your arrows and make it easier for you to transport them.

That’s it. So if you have a 20 dollar quiver or a 50 dollar quiver, it won’t make any difference in your shooting practice.

The only exception is bowhunters. They need specialized equipment, so with them, even the quiver matters.

For archers, beginner or intermediate you can a decent quiver for 20 bucks all the way up to 50 dollars. Due to the low-cost many archers have two quivers with 6 arrows in each.

One tends to be the hip quiver the other the back quiver. And they choose which one they will carry based on their preference on that particular day.

If you are crafty enough, you can follow the instructions in this article and make a quiver from scratch.

How Much Do Archery Classes Cost?

Archery classes in a group cost up to 140$. You get full-on instructions from an archery coach over many hours. After the beginner lessons, you will be able to consistently shoot arrows with proper form.

You could get individual lessons but those are much more expensive. Get a full quote at your local archery range. Suffice to say, if you are a beginner go with group lessons.

Now, the more advanced archers could get something out of individual classes. They can get those for between 20$ and 40$ a lesson.

How Expensive Are Archery Range Fees

In my area, you get an annual pass at the local archery range for 120$. This is consistent with what I’ve seen across the country.

Archery ranges are incredibly cheap. Get yourself an annual pass for between 120$ and 140$ and you can shoot to your heart’s content.

You can test out an archery range with a day pass which will cost you 10 dollars.

You can find out the cost in your local area simply by typing into Google archery ranges (my city). Give them a call. Most of the people I’ve talked to are super nice.

If you want to find an archery store nearby then click here. You type in your zip code and you will get the closest archery shop in your area.

How To Reduce The Cost Of Archery?

Well if you are a beginner, you can simply avoid buying your own equipment until you finished your beginner’s lessons. Your archery coach will provide you with the equipment you need to finish your lessons.

After that you can simply ask anyone at your local archery range if they have a good bow back home they are willing to sell to you.

So, buying a second-hand bow is an option. Most of the archers you will see at your local archery range probably have graduated from their beginner bows to something more solid. Which means you can take their beginner bow off their hands. It should translate to lower costs for you.

Roaming E-bay might also be an option. Though to be honest, I have had no success there.

In Conclusion

So, is archery expensive?

Archery is an inexpensive hobby to start. A beginner can start his archery journey for just 140$. As you progress, you buy your own equipment sure, but at most you won’t be spending more than 300$ after your archery lessons are complete.

And if you take care of your equipment you can be certain your bow will last you a long time. The only thing that will get damaged over time is your arrows. Which is fine. That is to be expected. And happens to every archer. The vanes get damaged, the shaft snaps or your arrow tip gets damaged.

Changing your arrows every once in a while won’t cost you more than 35$.

Remember: It is not the equipment that makes the archer, it’s the skill of the archer that makes the archer. So don’t go crazy buying every expensive riser, sight, and other nonsense. Most of the time, you don’t need it.

To see how often you should practice archery if you want to get good then go here.

If you are interested in seeing how popular archery is then read this article.

And lastly, if you want to see what archers do and how they do it then feel free to check this out.

Take care.