Can anyone give me some beginner archery tips?

At the moment I’m not worried about the actual hunt. I’m more interested now in learning to shoot and get really good at it. I received a Fred Bear Element compound bow for Christmas set at 28" 60-70lb draw. The archery shop I got set up at set the bow at like 55lbs to start me out…Is this ok since the bow weight says 60-70? Any other advice would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Compound bows are very adjustable in draw-weight, so don’t worry too much about it. As for learning how to use the bow…

There a few forums I can recommend; they are "populated" by some very intelligent, informative people. If you are looking for a book to use, there are also a few of those I can recommend.

First, though, let me say that there is no "One Right Way" to do archery; there may be some small differences in methods, and some methods may be better than others — but what works for one person does not neccesarily work for everyone else. Find what works for YOU, specifically, and stick with it; constantly changing from one method to another is the absolute worst thing you can do. And don’t worry about the "low" draw weight of your bow; 55 lbs is pretty much nominal for most archers, yet still fairly high for a beginner (even for a compound user). Since you are using a compound bow, what you really need to consider is the "let-off" — the percentage of draw-weight you will actually be holding when you are at "full draw" (a 55 lb bow with 80% let-off means you will hold only 11 lbs at full draw – but that amount of let-off is rather high). Just relax and enjoy the archery!

Note: Any "hard to find" books, just do a websearch for them. Some are available on-line. If you have any questions, just ask. I will do what I can to provide you with the answer.