Kel's Warbow life.

[mullet]

Embarass me with the sir, Making a bow isn't as hard as you might think.

[blackhawk]

Cool..thanks for sharing... if you think shooting elbs is fun try making one I think I like making them more and its a fairly simple bow to make...just start out lighter in weight and learn how to tiller...then you can move up in weight once your skills and eye develop good tiller skills...you definetly don't want one of those high weight bows blowing on ya...ouch!!!! And welcome to pa

[Heffalump]

Some great shots there Kel, I'll have to have a word with Steve if I get him to make me another bow though. I'm all for ye olde "crooked stick", but that one he sold you has got nipples! 

[Del the cat]

Great pics... that lat one is prob' about where I am with my 100# Elm at the moment.
Del

[WillS]

Cool pics Kel!

I'd recognise that red hat anywhere

[Joec123able]

Impressive I definetly couldn't draw it

[1442]

I could draw that! Gimme a pencil and paper and I'll draw it real quick.
LOL
Thanks for the cool post Archeress

[AndiE]

Hi

@Archeress

What is the drawweight of your knobly first Yew bow?

Kind regards
Andi

[Archeress]

hi there Andie...Well its a stratton bow and it will ultimately be 115 pound at 32.  however it has started its life being 132 pound at 32 and has settled in at 127 pound..i assumed it would drop a bit lower but so far it is still milling around 125.. no matter..just means its a testament to the maker making a damn strong bow..got to love that yew.

[AndiE]

Hi

Oh! I thought it had less because you posted it before the 80# bow.

Kind regards
                    Andi

[Atlatlista]

Archeress - you are a beast!  How hard was it to get up to that kind of draw weight?  I've been thinking about doing it myself, but I'm primarily a victorian-style target longbow archer, and I just haven't got the nerve to go much heavier than 45 pounds since I use my bows in competition.

[Archeress]

hi there Atla'..well i didnt primarily start out to move on up the draw weights..i started with a 40 pound ash longbow..then realised i wanted something a bit stronger...70....then i thought maybe an 80 would be fun...used that for 2 years then as facebook allows i made so many warbowing friends..next thing you know i have a bowyer making me a 110 pounder....i got well and truly hooked and now its  got real personal.  Me against "the bow".  its all about confidence..ego..my personal growth as im getting on in years.  I just dont give up on things...when i have this 125 ish yew bow sorted and i am drawing it regular for a few months then i will look at 130 to 135 ish..i will keep going until my body says give it away girl..your nuts. ..so i have been shooting longbows for about 7 years. 

i occasionally shoot 3daaa shoots here in australia and use a 70 pound elm longbow as my weapon of choice. 

[Atlatlista]

hi there Atla'..well i didnt primarily start out to move on up the draw weights..i started with a 40 pound ash longbow..then realised i wanted something a bit stronger...70....then i thought maybe an 80 would be fun...used that for 2 years then as facebook allows i made so many warbowing friends..next thing you know i have a bowyer making me a 110 pounder....i got well and truly hooked and now its  got real personal.  Me against "the bow".  its all about confidence..ego..my personal growth as im getting on in years.  I just dont give up on things...when i have this 125 ish yew bow sorted and i am drawing it regular for a few months then i will look at 130 to 135 ish..i will keep going until my body says give it away girl..your nuts. ..so i have been shooting longbows for about 7 years. 

i occasionally shoot 3daaa shoots here in australia and use a 70 pound elm longbow as my weapon of choice.

70 pounds for target shooting, that's crazy.  Must be a pretty flat trajectory though.  If you ever shoot a field or fita round, let me know how the 70 pound longbow treats you, I'd be really curious to find out.

[Archeress]

no definately not a flat trajectory..well not at 40 metres anyway.  rather a medium arc.  i shoot instinctively..i made a promise to learn this a few years ago..no sights, no weights, no marks..just simply looking at the target the whole time and i let my body do the rest.  howver still in the learning phase so my accuracy is at 50 percent.  wind shears, forest overhang etc manage to stuff me up at times.  steadiness of bow arm..clean release..so many factors.   but on the instinctive side of things..if all the other factors were a big fat zero then my bow arm seems to know what my eyes want. 

[Atlatlista]

no definately not a flat trajectory..well not at 40 metres anyway.  rather a medium arc.  i shoot instinctively..i made a promise to learn this a few years ago..no sights, no weights, no marks..just simply looking at the target the whole time and i let my body do the rest.  howver still in the learning phase so my accuracy is at 50 percent.  wind shears, forest overhang etc manage to stuff me up at times.  steadiness of bow arm..clean release..so many factors.   but on the instinctive side of things..if all the other factors were a big fat zero then my bow arm seems to know what my eyes want.

I tried instinctive for a while, but can't recommend it.  I don't use a sight or weight or marks either, but I pay attention to my sight picture and actively aim my shots.  I find this improves my shooting tremendously.  I was just 8 for 8 on a police silhouette target at 70 yards in a 15 mph crosswind this afternoon, using a simple longbow with wooden arrows.  I could never have dreamed of shooting that accurately with an instinctive (not)aiming method.  Of course, whether aiming carefully is possible with a very heavy bow is a question others are better placed to answer.  I can certainly do it up to 60 pounds of draw, beyond that, I'm not so sure.