I have some suggestions:
Depending on your level of interest, the way I see it, a guy wanting to get (back) into archery today has several options, all of which are good.
-compound bow
-crossbow
-traditional recurve/longbow
-homemade selfbow
For those of us who live in states where crossbow is legal to hunt with, the modern crossbow is a good choice. And there are several options, considering the cost/design/user abilities. I would never buy a brand new crossbow or compound bow, because they are expensive. One guy I talked to recently went to a sportsman's event and WON a compound bow, only to discover that it was the bow only, and he would've had to spend (in his words) "another thousand dollars" to equip it with sights, rest, quiver, etc. etc. I dont know if brand new crossbows/compounds come with all that or not, but he gave it back...
So, if I wanted a crossbow or compound, I would do some research and then scour every pawn shop in the area. Pawn shops generally always have several used items like this, often including arrows, which we will get into in a bit.
Traditional bows are still very popular. Longbows and recurves are in my opinion, the best compromise in modern archery. Simplicity itself. No sights, no gadgets, no expensive things you have to have. Just the bow, string, arrows, quiver. Guys think they need an 80lb pull but you can legally hunt and kill anything in North America with a 40lb bow. For women or younger teens, anything 25-40lb will be fun and easy to shoot. Guys who hunt often use anything from 40-65lb draw. Again, old recurves & longbows can often be found in 2nd hand shops, junk stores & pawn shops. New strings for these are very easily made.
For those who are more do-it-yourself-ers, you can make your own longbow, recurve, selfbow, laminate bow, etc. Since 1998 I have made dozens of homemade bows, and hundreds of arrows. I live in the Ozarks, and Osage Orange/Bois D'arc/hedge is a common tree. I bought a couple dozen 10' corner posts a few years ago, split them, took off the bark & sapwood and the staves have been seasoning and are ready to make bows. A well-made homemade longbow/flatbow/stickbow/recurve will last a lifetime and provide many many years of shooting.
Arrows.
People nowadays just buy carbon fiber arrows & be done with it. But when I started, Port Orford Cedar was, and still is, an excellent material. Aluminum arrows seem to have gone away, but I still have dozens. I have made arrows from every kind of tree & sucker branch around here. My favorite is actually bamboo/river cane. A wooden bow shooting a wooden/bamboo arrow will be the quietest setup. A compound/crossbow makes a loud THUNK! but a traditional setup is extremely quiet.
Fletching.
Plastic, plastic, or plastic? Natural feathers have been used for thousands of years. They work. I like wild turkey feathers I get from local birds. I experimented with everything else I could think of, like duct tape, etc. Nothing works better than natural feathers. In the rain, I use plastic.
My archery journey started with a $40 used compound bow from a flea market, aluminum arrows. Then I went to a recurve. Then I got into a local club and guys there introduced me to making selfbows. Well, then I had to make my own arrows, broadheads, target points. That lead to flintknapping. In 2002 season I took a deer with a homemade bow, cane arrow with a stone point. That lead to learning how to tan deerskins and a whole host of primitive skills. I taught this stuff at the local Boy Scout camp in 2018 -2019.
