I really suck at killing dragons. I'm a level 18 so I've just started seeing them more often...unfortunately my game spawns them in pairs most of the time as well -_-

Is the bow my only real chance at killing a dragon?

You could also use magic.

I use magic. Before the magic got powerful I used the bow along with lots of running and hiding. A combination of magic, bow and mace will do the trick.. That early on you shouldn't meet any of the more powerful dragons

I used to suck at killing dragons also. Getting the shouts (especially the one which brings them down from the sky) will really help you with defeating them.

I for one found that it's usually most effective to stagger a dragon with a well-timed Shout, then hit them while they're reeling with a blast of magic - or if they decide to land, a greataxe to the nose.

If you perfect Archery you'll get a 50% slow in time and a basic zoom making it a lot easier to shoot them down. I love shooting out their wings and making the craters..

I personally used a bow but thats because I went through the game using a bow for everything. I can see just about anything being viable as long as you time a shout to stagger them when they start their breath so that you dont take an absurd amount of damage trying to fight while getting fire/frost breathed upon you

I use magic to kill dragons Dual casting ftw

You could try taking along a follower to take some of the fire from the dragon. Conjusring an attronach will also grab the dragons attention so you can sit back with a bow if you prefer.

I believe the spell is called Fire Blast. That spell + duel casting = dead dragons. Especially so if you have the Archmage's robes for more mana! :D

I don't know really, I went dual-wield swords and never had any problems with dragons until I modded the game to make them more deadly....

Try getting the
[spoiler] Dragonrend shout from the mainquest... [/spoiler]

Dual casting ice shards killed my dragons pretty quickly.

Hide in a corner until they land then beat them up with swords.

My bow and Magic is at a good skill level right now so I mainly just kill them with bow and Magic.

Bow and magic