Primitive Archer
Main Discussion Area => Shooting and Hunting => Topic started by: jayman448 on September 16, 2016, 02:15:54 am
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hey guys. i haven't pestered you with a question in a long time so i figure its time i throw one at you. i am starting to wonder about a longer bow. currently im shooting a 58 inch bow and was wondering if there is any truth to the notion that a longer bow is easier to shoot. more forgiving or whatever the case may be. if so im thinking of trying out a bow thats maybe 64-66 inches long and seeing how that goes regarding accuracy
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I wonder if it makes sense to practice mostly with a shorter bow or not.. and practice less and hunt with a longer one?
there's a pretty big consensus that longer is more forgiving...
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Bow length is relative to draw length. I draw 28" plus and a "long" bow for me is 68". How far do you draw?
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A longer bow is more stable than a shorter one. IMO, that would make it easier to shoot accurately.
I would suggest that you practice with the bow you plan to hunt with.
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I prefer a 62/64 at my 26 inch draw, I don't shoot shorter as consistent for some reason. :-\ Some folks do, just not me. :)
Pappy
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I prefer a short bow with a long draw (anyone remember that song by Cake, Short Skirt and a Long Jacket, but I digress) cause I'm a glutton for punishment, lol.
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My hunting long bow friends of quite a few years and me all believe longer bows are more stable and accurate,but that does'nt mean a person can't learn to shoot shorter bows accurately.
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Ok I got this one,, :)
well I hunted with a 66 inch self bow this year,, I usually shoot a shorter bow,, and with practice can be very accurate with the shorter bow,,
what I found this year is after stump shooting for weeks and getting my form really tuned up,
the 66 inch bow will out shoot my shorter bow,, I have a 56 inch bow I really want to shoot deer with,
but when I shoot it compared to the 66 inch bow, the pin point accuracy on the longer bow is a little better,, sooo
I am thinking of just sticking with my longer bow for the oct deer season,,
I hate to admit it,, but I feel like the shorter bow just stacks a little bit more than the longer bow,,
the draw is just a bit smoother on the longer bow,, and that has translated to a little more consistant release and shot,,
dont get me wrong , I love the short bows and go crazy when people say they are not accurate, they are,,
but I am about convinced the longer bows are just a bit more accurate,, for all the obvious reasons,,
after shooting alot this year and out to 60 yards,, thats how I feel today,, :) but just let me make a new short sinew bow I am in love with ,, and things could change,, :) :) :)
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All bows are accurate. It's the nut behind the string that makes the difference. I shoot bows from 68" to 47" and do pretty well with both but when I started building and shooting short(60") sinew backed recurves, etc. it took me a while to be accurate with them. Once I worked that out they are like shooting any other bow...but a longer bow is more stable in hand and that should translate to more accurate.
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I hate to admit it,, but I feel like the shorter bow just stacks a little bit more than the longer bow,,
recurve and reflex :p
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so my draw length is about 27"... i say about because i short draw to 26 or out to 27.5 depending on my stance. im shooting 58" bow. i mean im well enought that i trust myself out to 20 yards or so but if the general consensus is that longer is better than im considering trading out the shorty for something a little more beefy in the hand... ( i also wonder if weight has much to do with it too. my shorty is so darned light. was considering putting a quiver on it and seeing how that changes things)
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Jayman, thats were it gets tricky,, if you are used to that bow, then a longer one may not be more accurate,, just because it is longer,,
the bow has to fit you,, and be a design that works for you,, handle etc etc etc,,
it really depends on the bow and how it shoots for you,,
I hunted alot with a short 25 inch draw bow,,and shot it well,,for hunting,,, but if you are talking accuracy past 30 yards it would not hurt to try a longer bow,, but I would not trade the shorter one,,cause you are going to need it to hunt a blind or tight brush,,
yes Loon you are right bout that,,
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Love this topic.
Hunt southern Arizona. Up close, but relatively open terrain.
Shot last deer on my rear side, 60 inch hickory bow.
Played with longer bows, trying both a more vertical hold/lower anchor, with a sight (nail taped on), and a then a considerable slant while holding.
Right now, bow is yellow birch pyramid bow, 66 or so inches. Had a coues jumped the string at 22 yards, but was able to release from my haunches with does within 10 yards of me.
I keep the longer bows with rigid handles, as this helps with spine. I draw 25 inches, and think a lot about simple d-bows. But my bow woods in the pipeline are juniper, some Az Ash???, and boards that I will get on sale next saturday. I trust board bows more with handles and wide wtdth. So I need to live with length. Plus, I am seriously learning to shoot over the proverbial 20 yards. Coues jump strings. THe longer bows seem more accurate.
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Thinking I'd like to hunt with a 66" asymmetric by a foot pyramid bow with flipped tips, 50#@29", heard asymmetric bows store more energy...
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that asimetrical idea is kind of a neat concept. your thinking of lower limb clearance for kneeling shots right?
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Please keep discussing this idea of asymmetrical bows. I always appreciate a little clearance on the ground side.
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id like to know how one would tiller such a bow with 12 inches of asymetry... wouldn't that just look terribly out of wack? also seems like a bow that might fail more readily?
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i dunno lol. the handle shouldn't rotate on the tree, i suppose. and maybe the tips of the bow should always be on a line perpendicular to the arrow more or less
I see two advantages: ground clearance and possibly more stored energy? and I read somewhere that symmetrical bows sometimes take set unevenly on the limbs so you end up having to flip them or something
i think he's a bit too obsessed with the golden ratio, but what do i know..
https://redhawk55.wordpress.com/2010/08/30/asymmetrical-bow-designs-vol-2-in-harmony-with-nature/
http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/23054/old-designs-reloaded-asymmetrical-bows
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I suppose a good way to learn about asymmetrical bows would be to look at the ultimate asymmetrical bow, the Yumi.
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apparently they're really hard to shoot properly or something, ie "you have to learn kyudo at a dojo, it absolutely cannot be self taught" wat
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ill be inclined to dispute that. anything can be self taught. youll surely see what works and doesnt work and work on what does
it has to be an alright bow or they wouldnt have bothered using it and come up with something better
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Kyudo is more of a mental discipline and meditative technique then real archery practice. Every Japanese martial art that has "do" in its ending is more focused on the state of the mind and technique then on the application.
In history they had endings in "jutsu" and they were focused on application. So "Kyujutsu", a predecessor of Kyudo was true samurai archery practice.
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I had a bow I made for fun,, my friend broke a a bow, and I had a broken one too,, so I splice the two limbs together,
one limb ,, the bottom was very much shorter,,,, it looked wierd,, but shot great,, I think I have a photo,, let me check
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At a recent archery event i had my longer bow break a string on me. I was shooting alright. It was a 35 pound bow made for me by J05h on this site. Sweet little bow. Well, I was carrying with me a back up bow, my going for bankruptcy bow actually. Its 65#@26 and it was 48 ntn before I took 2 inches off the lower limb. My shooting was more affected by the arrows spine than my accuracy. Though I did manage a bukls eye on a very difficult shot.
Point is, i dont think at all that short bows perform any different than their longer counterparts. And if they do, maybe its the archer or a poor made bow. I have had plenty of folks shoot bankruptcy and their groops were great.
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Point is, i dont think at all that short bows perform any different than their longer counterparts. And if they do, maybe its the archer or a poor made bow. I have had plenty of folks shoot bankruptcy and their groops were great.
Then I suppose a 44" Turkish hornbow would be a perfect hunting bow? :p (or your wood equivalent..)
Good to hear either way.
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It would perfectly suit certain hunting situations. The only thing I can think of that would affect accuracy is the string pinch. Now, you can shoot for a while before it gets uncomfortable, and that can throw your shot after a few arrows if you let it. I think the largest contributor is they are more sensitive to a perfect release. With that string angle, plucking the string has more of an effect on the shot due to the ammount of string on your fingers. The best solution is a release of some type. I have shot these short bows tlwith a mechanical compound release and my accuracy get damn near surgical.
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huh.. maybe that'd be a good way to tune them for loose grip?
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Not certain what you mean? Id like to add, folks are pretty accurate with a slingshot, and those are shorter than any bow, and their handle is below the point of draw. If I were to shoot an arrow from one with a three finger draw id be aweful. But if i pinch draw, taking string pinch and any form problems away, my shots are great.
I say again, im very certain poor release with high string pinch is the problem with short bow accuracy.
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that makes a ton of sense sleek. all the theory in the world wont really matter i guess tho. ill just end up trying out a longer bow and see how it goes.
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Thee best archers around the world from the past and present shoot long bows relative to their draw length. Be it the Olympics or hunting, what else needs said or proven?
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Pearl, just to present an argument, im going to mention modern compounds and how short they are. Its very easy to be accurate with them, even without sites. They are very short, and the release makes the difference. Even withought thise stabalizers folks put on.
Of course, in the archery you cite, releases arent needed because of the bow size. And maybe they go long for that very reason, long bows arent finiky about their release.
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I'll also counter that best archers long bow theory with Korea. It's arguable that the Koreans are consistently some of the best archers on the planet and they use short bows, but that also backs up Sleeks theory since they shoot thumb ring release (as one should be doing with that 44" Turkish bow, lol).
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The Koreans dominate, with 62" plus recurve bows. You can Google all you want to know about the best archers in the world. Tons of info available to look through.
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this is from a book called Native American Bows,, a friend gave it to me,, it has wonderful insight about shooting and Native bows,,,in my earlier response, I stated,,, I have a little better accuracy with my long bow but feel that my short bows are in fact accruate as well,,I guess defining accurate would be the issue with that statement,,
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something something Turkish archers, saw pictures of very tiny groups shot out of a short turkish bow, and generally mostly Western archers being the most famous ones and longer bows are the most used in Western archery. I wonder how accurate kukgung/gungdo archers can get... but I think people with longer bows would always have an edge on accuracy. Probably not in flight archery though :P
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With the last few comments the same thing keeps arising to me.. short bows are good but better with a thumb or pinch draw. With mediteranian id still be better off with a longer bow i think. I love the debates that get going on this site xD
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well it depends on the application,, do you want to shoot a quarter at full gallop.. or hit the target at 100 yards,, or something in between,,, your options seem diverse,, its up to you now,, :)
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the answer to that question is yes XD
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the answer to that question is yes XD
Then, get a short bow, the only bow that will do both, at the same time ;)
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This is why the only European archery that interests me is the English Warbow, I look at archery more from a martial art perspective, which is what attracts me to saracen/asian archery with short bows and also warbow with longbows.
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you have to figure that any bow that was used in war, ,was probably effective,, same with the Native bows,,
they were using the different length bows for a reason,, or how they perfromed in a given situation,,war or hunting,, we dont have videos or much documentation of guys shooting 1000's of years ago, I have a feeling they were pretty good shots with the bows they chose to shoot in war,, that might have been a longer eastern style war bow,, or a short horse bow,,but alot of knowledge was lost back then and we speculate alot about how it really was,, :)
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There's a lot of footage about Howard Hills feats of accuracy.Even shooting for Robin Hood movies.
BTW a person can shoot a quarter with a long bow close range.Howard shot aspirins out of the air.
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I know that Ed, I threw asprin for Bryon Ferguson for some exibitions,, I saw it close up,, he was shooting a long bow too,, :) that arrow wizzing by from a 70# long bows was somthing to behold,, :) whew,,
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You mean it was the archer hitting the aspirin?? And I thought the talent was throwing the aspirin up so the arrow would hit it. ;D ;D
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that's right thats what I meant to say,, I threw the asprin in front of the arrow, it was tricky,, but I did it,, :)
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Yes Brad I've seen that Bryon Ferguson too.Fantastic uncanny shot with a long bow!!I don't think he did quite the accomplishments out in the field that Howard Hill did with a long bow though.Are'nt too many fellas like them around any more it seems.
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yes even Byron has the most resect for Howard,, you are right,, I think he was a one of kind for sure,,,I love watching him shoot,,