Short bows

[mullet]

   I was just curious what everybodies responce would be with this question.A few people on here know I like short bows and my favorite "model" is the 48" Bear Kodiak Magnum.Yes I have one and love shooting it.
   The question is,does anybody think  this bow can be duplicated in wood?With or without backing and a 28" 0r 30" draw? But still keep the speed,like not being dragged down with too much sinew for an example.And to keep it simple,without horn backing.

[1/2primitive]

Bamboo backed bamboo, perhaps? Or bamboo backed Osage? With a reflex-deflex design.
     Sean

[bowmo]

I don't think so myself. That length is just too short to handle that kind of draw length and still shoot good. I would think if you made an osage bow from billets in which you spliced in alot of deflex and then reflex and recurved the limbs and then backed with rawhide prior to tillering, you could get a good hunting weight bow around 52" long that could pull back to 28". You would need some top quailty osage to produce a great shooter though.

dan

[Justin Snyder]

You had to go and add the no horn at the end didn't you.  I know it can be done with horn, so I know the wood can bent that much. I suspect it can be done, but it would take a bowyer more qualified than me to do it.  Justin

If its OK I would like to add another question to this.  How short is to short to be stable and shoot accurate?

[huntersim]

Eddie, I bet it would be hard to duplicate the Bear 48" mag. But I know you can build short bows without sinew and make em perform pretty good. I have a r/d  thats about 48" and it starts to hit the wall about 26". Another, I posted, is around 51"-52" and my brother hunted with it all season. It performs well enough to kill any deer in the US. Dont think I would hunt griz with it though. I think it pules well to 28". A lot of it depends on the design. A r/d will get you close, if you pay attention to how much, or sharp the deflex is, and where the reflex is.

I know you said no horn but, I built one sorta like John S. builds, with horn on the belly and bamboo on the back. It draws to 28" pretty well. When I first built it I had it tillered to about 63 lbs. but i didnt like the tiller so i changed it a bit and brought it down to 56 lbs. It shoots well enough that I might consider hunting griz with it.

Ive been thinking of building one similar to it, but flipping the tips real hard (sorta like that new glass bow being made). I think if you did that and used the best materials you could get, you could get real close to a 48" bow that would draw 28-29" and 60 lbs. more so if it had a mild r/d profile.

[mullet]

  this is getting interesting.I for sure had osage and bamboo in mind.I have made some BBO at 51" that pulled 55#@28".But I'm talking the shape of the bow.It is a classic one of a kind bow.What separates the Mangnum from the Super magnum is the 4".I did see a 53" R/D that was curved almost as much,but still did not have that deep set handle.

[Pappy]

I think Ryan make some of his re-curves about that short with a 28 in. draw.I think he posted one here that is about that.The St. Patties bow in last Mont's B.O.M.I will look and see.That seem mighty short to me for that draw but I don't need that kind of draw so I haven't tried it.
   Pappy

[Marc St Louis]

I don't really know what the Kodiak looks like but to try making an all wood bow in that length and still keep good speed is just not possible. There's not enough working limb to go to a 28" draw

[D. Tiller]

Guys, why build it in that design in the first place? I know its cool and space aged looking and spits arrows like bullets. BUT! Short bows are in close hunting bows anyways. Why not do like the Native Indians of the Northwest coast did. Build short sinew backed bows on the Modoc and Huppa designs and then only draw them up to 24". They will shoot just as well and be really, really light to cary arround all day. Pluss, the Huppa designs often were only 36" to 40" in length but pulled up to 50 - 60#'s. I beleive these are short enough to put in your back pack or quiver!

Everything that is new is actually old! Just different in design.

Also, in hunting get close and get personal!

[mullet]

Mark,that's what I thought also.I didn't know if there was some magical wood that would bend that much.I know RyanO likes to push the envelope and so does Steve(Badger).I was just curiouse if anybody thought it could be done.D.Tiller, I Just like the way it looks and shoots.It's not to space age,coming from the early to mid 60"s.

[PatM]

I think the bow Marc called "Dream Weaver" is the most similar if I am remembering correctly what a Kodiak looks like. Even if 48" inches isn't enough you could sneak a 28" draw out of a 52 incher.
   Pat

[1/2primitive]

Making it with a stiff handle would be very difficult. BUT, if you made the handle very small, put in some deflex, and you might have it. Ryan's bow was 50" ntn and pulled to 27". If you put in the deflex, you could get another inch of draw, and got the handle as small as possible, maybe one more from the same length bow. So, if you modified the design, you could maybe, MAYBE get a 29" draw from the same bow, and because 2" of bow length equals each inch of draw, you could perhaps shorten it to 48", and still getting a 28" draw. This is in theory now, I'm not sure if it will work out.
      Sean

[mullet]

  Sean,I couldn't remember how long Ryan's bow was,Thanks,Maybe with alot of reflex it might work.The Super Magnum has like a 81/2"brace height.It might work Might have to wear armor to tiller it
 When I get caught up,I'm going to have to see what I can tear up.

[1/2primitive]

In one of the PA issues I saw a palm bow someone made and it had a very small handle (it looked to me like the very small handles on the composite bows, and the fades were normal size, I think). But with a very small stiff handle and a good bit of reflex, it might end up a shooter!
      Sean

[1/2primitive]

BTW remember, if this turns out, I want to see it!
      Sean