Like anything!! Research the bows you like and pin down the likes and dis-likes. I was a huge Bear/Jennings lover and was for decades. I use to go into the pro shop and buy bows. They BEAR thought that it was better for dealers to have close-outs and not returning customers. So I sold my Bear and Jennings bows and now I am a PSE man. I would learn as much as you can and even take pictures of the bow you like. Then go to some local pro shops and get some feed back as to the bow you like.
It depends on the design. Compound bows have the pulley system and Olympic recurve bows are modern recurves made from metals and carbon composites. Traditional bows however are very varied. Bear Archery makes bare bows (as in they are bare and have nothing on them) and compounds. The main things to describe most traditional bows is the shape of the wood, how curvy they are, and how long it is, you can figure out most types of bows from that. To talk about the difference between a horse bow, english longbow, and other like things would take a while.
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