Primitive Archer

    I agree with you Bob on the Mark St Louis design. They are the fastest I have tested. They take a bit of skill and patience to pull off. To generalize a little bit I think it is safe to say that a simple composite bow ( wood or bamboo backed) will usually shoot about 10 Fps faster than a self-bow. So if we just talk self bows, I think it is safe to say that a straight pyramid self bow that is well designed with good wood and tillering will usually shoot between 168 fps to about 172 fps. If you go to an r/d design with 1 1/2" reflex, you are usually looking at 172 to about 176 fps. Recurves with about 2" behind the back usually about 175 to 182. There are a lot of exceptions.

  My personal favorite is the R/d design and I am happy with anything over 172 for a self-bow.  The difference is relatively small between the bows. For flight shooting the most important thing is getting the arrow out of the bow cleanly; that's why simple designs usually do well. You can lose a lot of speed in the first 10 ft of arrow flight if the arrow comes out sideways before it straightens out.

   There has always been the catch-22 when it comes to energy storage VS efficiency. When you talk about efficiency, you are examining where your losses are. The two biggest and most controllable sources of loss are vibration and hysteresis caused by the set. The vibration can be reduced significantly by reducing the amount of working  limb. This can also aggravate the set issue. The best way to mitigate that is to have the middle and inner limb do all the work and keep it wide. Extreme designs will usually shoot very fast for a few shots but quickly break down to mediocre performance if not designed properly. Wood has its limitations and a man has got to know his limitations.

Bob, I dont think all the theories helped me a lot with my bowmaking. My most important lesson was: Make your bow look pleasant to the eye. a good looking bow usually is a good shooter.

For a wood only bow I'm very close with Arvins Design. I personally make them a little narrower and less pyramid but also put that slight reflex towards the outers. Those shoot very comfortable and plenty fast - I like others too, but I think this is my fav design for wood.

Congrats Arvin...someone will be very happy with that bow.  I think it has just the right amount of snakiness so as not to stress the wood.   

Day 4 32.1 still going down. Still at 8 percent.

Here the hunters feeding the hungry organization pays for the processing, as far as I know only one butcher shop in town is aligned with program. I have donated deer before and it didn't cost me anything. I found that you can keep part of the deer you donate as well and pay a processing fee for the pounds you keep. I think you have to bring the gutted deer in with the hide still on, I don't think they take cooler deer.

This is for Tennessee, looks like donations are free if you use processor that is part of the program.

To donate a deer, hunters bring a field dressed deer to a participating processor free of charge, confirm the harvest confirmation number and other contact information, and the processor takes care of the rest. Deer donations can also be made by the pound or pack (excluding Unit 1).

I found this for Alabama donations.

How Hunters Helping the Hungry Works

Hunters field dress the deer and take it to a participating processor. It does not cost the hunter any money to donate the venison, but hunters may voluntarily pay processing fees to provide more venison for food banks to distribute.
Processors grind the venison then contact their nearest participating food bank. The food bank will pick up the venison. Processors receive $2 per pound from the Alabama Conservation and Natural Resources Foundation.
The food bank will distribute the venison to those in need.