How do you shoot a short bow?

[loon]

put a piece of tape on the arrow the draw length you want,,
draw the bow back till you hit the tape,, let it go with a smooth release,,
doesnt matter how tall you are,, you can shoot a short draw just fine,,
with a pinch grip,, when the draw weight gets high it will shoot itself,,
its not that hard,, I think the short draw bows shine at close range,,'
takes very little movement to draw and shoot,, less chance of spooking the game,, and maybe is a bit faster getting the shot off,, giveing you an advantage that drawing to 30 inches does not have,,
time yourself on the short bow release,,and then the long draw release, that half second could put meat in the freezer,,
thats why those guys used them, there was a definite advantage in the right situation,,

could also extend bow hand index finger and use it to feel the arrow head?
and flight bows are often short with shorter draws (26-27"?), no? I guess there may be an optimal length for flight bows..

[bradsmith2010]

Pearl,, maybe if you wrap the tape a bit thicker,, you could just feel the tape,,and not have to look at it,,???

[loon]

Same idea as the "sangsa" in a Korean arrow...

[sleek]

I would try something a little different here. If my draw were too long to shoot a bow, I would tie a loop on the string where the arrow goes, and use a release of some type, making the loop long enough so the bow is full draw when I am too.

[Blind Dog]

put a piece of tape on the arrow the draw length you want,,
draw the bow back till you hit the tape,, let it go with a smooth release,,
doesnt matter how tall you are,, you can shoot a short draw just fine,,
with a pinch grip,, when the draw weight gets high it will shoot itself,,
its not that hard,, I think the short draw bows shine at close range,,'
takes very little movement to draw and shoot,, less chance of spooking the game,, and maybe is a bit faster getting the shot off,, giveing you an advantage that drawing to 30 inches does not have,,
time yourself on the short bow release,,and then the long draw release, that half second could put meat in the freezer,,
thats why those guys used them, there was a definite advantage in the right situation,,

It sounds as if practice is the key. Or in my case, forgetting nearly 50 years of old habits and trying something new. I now live in western Colorado, my goal is to build a Ute style short bow of native juniper and take on local game of mule deer and elk. After you've  seen 60 winters you need new challenges or you waste away...

[DC]

Nothing wrong with being wasted

[bjrogg]

I don't have a lot of experience with real short draws though most of you would say I already have a short draw with my normal anchor point. So far my short draws have been kids bows or my Marshall mini bows. The kids bows where about 19 to 20" draws for them I anchored with a spot on my wrist touching a spot on my chin. I could actually shoot these pretty good one was even a lefty. My mini's both had about 10" draw I mostly used the draw weight for release on these which was much harder for me to shoot and just 1/2" made a huge difference on draw weight on these.
Bjrogg

[bradsmith2010]

once you get out to 24 inches or so,, the power stroke is pretty nice, and you can get a hard shooting bow at that draw,, ( for elk)
the shorter bows dont seem as effecient when you get down to say 20 inches,,
they will shoot hard enough,, but you might have to go up in weight at 20 inches to get the cast for elk,,  the 24 inche draw bow,, will shoot close to a full draw bow,,

[Blind Dog]

Brad,
  How short of a bow can I make and still have a 24" draw length. 48"? I'm thinking using Utah Juniper and sinew backing with a bend at the handle design.

[loon]

I would guess that'd be more than long enough..

[bradsmith2010]

I have not used juniper,, but 48 should be fine with sinew and bend handle,,,,some others with Juniper experience might chime in,,