I am very new to bow hunting. Any advice helps!

You've gotten great advice.
There are many, many good bow manufacturers. I'm with VAbowman, go with what has the specs you want and feels good when you test shoot it. My current bowtech Carbon Knight was a 2 year hold over when I bought it, and cost $500 bare bow. Reviews I read about it said it had a horrible grip feel, yet it is actually one of my favorites out of all my bows. It just works for me, so don't let reviews on things like that deter you, try it out yourself anyway. I've never owned a flagship bow in my 35 or so years of enjoying archery. Search around for bow shops in your area and then visit them. I'd also wait until after x-mas. A good bow shop, besides being knowledgeable, will be willing to give some beginner advice on form and gear, will set up and let you shoot some of the bows that fit your needs, and won't be pushy about which bow or gear to buy. They will spend the time giving you some beginner form advice, dialing in your draw length, setting the bow up with a peep, quiver, sight, rest, and stabilizer (nice, but optional in the beginning if money is tight), help you choose properly spined arrows with proper hunting weight, recommend a release aid, and tune your new bow (most times by paper tuning) so the arrows fly straight. When they paper tune it should involve more than just rest adjustments.
Be aware of your state's laws regarding what broad heads are legal to use before you buy.
Choose the bow that has the specs you want (speed, axle to axle, limbs in draw weight range you want, brace height, overall weight) and feels the best to you when you shoot it. Of course draw length has to fit you. As a beginner a bow with an adjustable draw length isn't a bad idea to consider, being measured in a shop isn't an end-all-be-all accurate draw length measurement. Tweaking a 1/2" longer or shorter may feel much better to you once you develop your form. Brace height is fairly important to consider. A shorter brace height, such as 6", will be more critical of form flaws to be able to shoot accurately/consistently, a longer brace height like 7" will be more "forgiving" of form flaws. Since you're a beginner bow hunter I'd highly recommend a 7" brace height to start out.
The only bow I'd avoid is 2013 to 2016 Bowtech models that have duel/split limbs. Many of them were prone to delaminating/cracking. The solid limb models didn't seem to have that problem. There are several theories as to why, I won't bore you by going down that rabbit hole. My 2014 Bowtech with solid limbs has had no issues.

 

Any update to this? Also a new bow hunter and would love to hear a success story!


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Ashley, if you don't mind, how old are you?
There are quite a few members here from Ohio that may take you out hunting.
Some of ,y bestest memories are taking women n young out.

 

Thank you,, I appreciate the offer but my boyfriend and I hunt together.

 

Congrats on soon to be graduating from Tx A&M, have you checked out the Archery shop there yet? Also check out TexasBowhunter.com, many locals will have there bows for sale there and are close by. Bryan also has a great archery club there and 3d range maybe check it out and make some contacts, you'll never know . Good Luck.