Whisper Creek Youth Bows

Whisper Creek Youth Bows I was about 3 or 4 when my Dad gave me my first bow. A bear re-curve that he had in his closet for as long as I could remember. I would sneak into his room and try to figure out how to put that "way to short" string on it. I was bound and determined to get it on and show Dad that I was ready to go out and shoot with him. Once he taught me the proper way to string the bow without decapitating myself or getting whacked in the nose I was on a roll. The problem was that my Dad had this awesome bow with these cool wheels on the ends and he didn't have to put that stupid string on it every time he wanted to shoot. Not only that, but his was CAMO! Unfortunately there was no bow that was anything like my Dad's bow that would fit me, let alone not "build character" as my Dad would say, by whacking me in the face when I tried to string it. It wasn't until I was 10 when I could finally pull back my Mom's bow and hunt with Dad. The bow was nowhere near my size, but I wasn't going back to getting whacked for anything.
Fast forward a few years and I found myself in a very familiar place. I have two sons. Isaac age 11 and Austin age 6. At the age of 3 I gave both of them the same "whack you in the face" bows I had when I was their age. They would come out and shoot with me every day. I saw the same wants and pains in their faces as I did with myself when I was their age.
So when Isaac turned 7 I started really looking for the "starter bow" for him. I started going to every sporting goods store in town. I found several nice bows but not one that would be anywhere close to fitting a kid his size. Every bow I found started at 22" draw length. That wouldn't work for a his 15 inch draw. I found a little cheap bow at one store that had a 19 inch draw. At least it was CAMO! That was a plus for him. The problem was even at fully pounded the bow couldn't get the arrows anywhere near the target. It was very frustrating for him. After a year of shooting with this every Dad's worst fear started to take place. My son didn't want to have anything to do with shooting anymore. The frustration of not having a bow that would fit him was driving my son into becoming a Xbox, TV, and anything else that was handy, kid. I needed something to get him excited again.
That is when I discovered Whisper Creek Archery. I was talking to a good friend of mine about the problems with youth bows when he told me about Whisper Creek's line of youth bows. I went straight to outdoorsman.com and looked the bows up. Sure enough there it was, the answer to my prayers. The Panther by Whisper Creek. I ordered one right away not knowing if I was going to get another cheap throw away bow or the real deal.
The Panther was perfect. Not only would the draw work but it is a complete package for a young hunter. To say the least Isaac has become a hunting and shooting fanatic. He is out there every day shooting again. The Panther's draw length adjusts from 17" to 27". The legal draw weight to hunt in Arizona is 40 lbs. The Panther covers that with weight adjustments of 20 to 50 lbs. The bow has the new Kings Camo pattern on it making it perfect for the woods. The bow also comes with a fiber optic sight, quiver, rest and arm guard. From a bow that is in the $250 range, you get a lot for your money. The best part is that I can adjust everything myself on this bow without a bow press. The draw length can be adjusted with a quick change of a couple of screws. It took me all of 5 minutes to put the bow together and set it up for Isaac.
After my son received his bow he started telling all his friends about it. There is a young man in my neighborhood that just turned 16. He was one merit badge away from getting his Eagle Scout award. After talking with Isaac, he wanted a bow bad. I made a deal with him that if he would finish his Eagle Scout, I would get him his own bow and take him out on his first archery hunt. He was so excited that within a few months we were ordering his first bow. Something to note here is there is almost a foot and a half difference in height between the two boys. The Panther covers both boys with room to grow! That is unheard of in the archery world. So what happens when the two older boys get there bows? That's right, Austin my 6 year old jumps on the band wagon. He started begging for a "Daddy bow" just like Isaac has.
Whisper Creek also makes a bow for even younger shooters, the Phantom. The Phantom is just right for the little guys. It comes with a draw length of 14" to 24", and a draw weight of 10 to 25+ lbs. The best part is that it looks just like brothers only a little smaller. The price on the Phantom is in the $160 range. The bow comes with a full package including a quiver, arrows, sight, rest, and arm guard. Everything Austin needs to get rolling. I didn't have to spend any more money on all the extras like I would with a normal bow. That made Mom happy.
If I could improve the bows, I would add or change only a few things. First I would change all the servings on the string. They are not served with a quality serving string and wear out very fast. Putting a string loop on fixes this. Next I would recommend that all set screws be made of better quality. It doesn't take much to strip these out.
Since I first found out about Whisper Creek, I have brought 4 kids into the archery hunting world. They were all great kids before, but now they are hooked on the outdoors. In today's world I can't say enough about that. If our kids aren't getting involved then our future for the hunting goes out the window.
All and all I give Whisper Creek's line of youth bows a thumbs up. Finally a company came out and gave us something that will actually work for our kids and get them in the spirit of the hunt. I know I will be looking forward to my daughters getting their first bows. My oldest daughter is 3 and she has already told me that I have to get her a "princess bow" just like her brothers. I wonder if I can get Kings Camo in pink?