pulling to a draw weight as opposed to a draw length,,??

[bradsmith2010]

    this is something that develped over the years for me,, and I am just now able to put it into words,,,,
well I shoot alot of different size bows,, so have shot alot of different draw lengths,,,,
what I have found is if I have a draw weight that is comfortable,, I will default to that,, no matter what the bow lenght is,, say 50#,,
   I have been shooting some shorter bows today,,and 50 is about all I can handle at the shorter draws,, well I am pulling to a weight more than a draw length or anchor,,,, I pull the bow back till if feels 50 ish,, and let it go,, I have no anchor at the shorter draws,, and for that style shooting it works well for me,, even at a short 20 inch draw,, at 15 yards ,,, with very little practice,, accurate enough to be confident hunting at close range,,
    I am wondering,, did our ancestors put as much emphasis on a certain draw length, or did they pull to a draw weight,, especially the shorter bows,, of course you would not be able to over draw a bow and would need to now what the limit was, a mark on the arrow till you learned the bow,,
     I guess my point is, I am amazed at the consistancy or accuracy that a short bow or draw can develope,, and understand more why the short horse bows,, worked well for that application,,
      I plan on keeping up my practice and trying to shoot a deer with one of my shorter hunting bows this year,, it almost seems like shooting a sling shot,, and is very easy to  execute the shot ,, when you are only drawing so short,, and totally eliminate a need to settle in on a anchor,, I really like it,, and it feels very natural too me,,, dont get me wrong if you want me to hit something at 60 yards I gonna draw a longer bow to an anchor and shoot like that,,
but for close range I enjoy the simple shot process of the short draw bow,,

[Pat B]

I doubt draw length mattered much for primitive man. Pulling to a comfortable or familiar weight seems more practical to me. I doubt they thought of or fretted over half the crap we fret over these days. Something had to be done, they just did it.
 Most of the bows I've built in the last 10 years have almost all come out at 56#@26", long, short, didn't matter. That's just the weight they came out to be and I was very comfortable with that weight. I haven't shot in a while so I'm sure that weight would be less now.

[BowEd]

In a lot of ways I feel and see the the same.To me 48 @ 28 feels and has a nice ring to it.

[bjrogg]

I feel the same way Brad. I also feel like when drawing in odd positions a short draw is easier to reach. It also seems to keep arrow under my eye. I think drawing to weight is probably a pretty consistent anchor.  I suspect but certainly am no expert in the area that Primitive man did short draw to for many reasons.
Bjrogg

[willie]

I have often wondered if more primitive archers tried to adjust arrow spine to what shoots well at the usual weight rather than length. sounds tricky to our modern way of thinking, but for someone who might have learned a more instinctive way of archery, different arrows in the quiver, made for different purposes, might be best shot well, knowing how much oomph to put into the draw.

[steve b.]

Makes sense to me.  Do whatever works.

[DC]

I remember seeing a picture of an arrow with a band of sinew in a spot that didn't need any reinforcement. I wonder if they shot their arrows at different draw lengths and then marked the arrow where it flew the best.

[bradsmith2010]

I never thought of that , about the sinew wrap ,, but it does make sense,,
Wille that seems like that would work, just cut the arrow so it shoots good out of the bow,, and not to a specific length,, I am sure there were variations on the theme,, that suited specific needs,, based on practicality,, or real life application,,