Composite bow

Composite bow

 

A composite bow is a bow made from horn, wood, and sinew laminated together. The horn is on the belly, facing the archer, and sinew on the back of a wooden core. When the bow is drawn, the sinew (stretched on the outside) and horn (compressed on the inside) store more energy than wood for the same length of bow. The strength can be made similar to that of all-wood "self" bows, with similar draw-length and therefore a similar amount of energy delivered to the arrow from a much shorter bow. However, a composite bow requires more different materials than a self bow, its construction takes much more time, and the finished bow is more sensitive to moisture.

 

Composite bows have been known from archaeology and art since the second millennium BCE, but their history is not well recorded as they were developed by cultures without a written tradition. They originated among Asiatic pastoralists who used them as daily necessities, classically for mounted archery although they can also be used on foot. Such bows spread among the military (and hunters) of civilizations that came into contact with nomad tribes; composite bows have been used across Asia from Korea to the Atlantic coasts of Europe and North Africa, and southwards in the Arabian peninsula and in India.

Flatbow

Flatbow

 

 

A flatbow is a bow with non-recurved, flat, relatively wide limbs that are approximately rectangular in cross-section. Because the limbs are relatively wide, flatbows will usually narrow and become deeper at the handle, with a rounded, non-bending, handle for easier grip. This design differs from that of a longbow, which has rounded limbs that are circular or D shaped in cross-section, and is usually widest at the handle. A flatbow is usually just as long as a longbow. Traditional flatbows are usually wooden selfbows (bows made of one solid piece of wood), though laminated and composite flatbows have been made in ancient and modern times. Modern flatbows commonly use fiberglass.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The flatbow is a superior bow design for almost all materials because the stress is more evenly spread out than with rounded limb sections. A bow limb is essentially a flexed beam undergoing bending, and in any flexed beam the farther from the neutral axis the more stress there is within the material. When a limb is rounded, as in a longbow, some material "sticks out" farther from the neutral axis, and thus is put under greater stress. In a flatbow, the flat belly and back ensures that all of the most highly strained material is a uniform distance from the neutral axis, spreading the load over a wider limb, minimizing stress and making weaker woods far less likely to fail (break or become permanently bent and lose the springiness needed in a bow). Only particularly resilient timbers can make an effective and powerful wooden longbow.

Kyudo

Kyudo

 

Kyudo is a modern Japanese martial art. kyudo practitioners are referred to as kyudoka. Kyudo is based on kyūjutsu (art of archery), which originated with the samurai class of feudal Japan.
Kyudo is practiced by thousands of people worldwide. In Japan alone as of 2005, the International Kyudo Federation had 132,760 graded members, additionally kyudo is taught at Japanese schools and some traditions refrain from federation membership.



The beginning of archery in Japan is, as elsewhere, pre-historical. The first images picturing the distinct Japanese asymmetrical longbow are from the Yayoi period . The first written document describing Japanese archery is the Chinese chronicle Weishu (dated around 297 AD), which tells how in the Japanese isles people use "a wooden bow that is short from the bottom and long from the top." During these times the bow began to be used in warfare in addition to hunting. Later, the ceremonial use of a bow was adopted from China and continued in Japan after it had ended in China. The composite technique of bow manufacture, by gluing together horn, wood, and animal sinew, was also imported from China.

Finger Tab

Finger Tab

 

 

A finger tab or Archer Tab used in archery is a small leather or synthetic patch that protects an archer's fingers from the bowstring. It is strapped or otherwise attached to an archer's hand. In summertime, tabs are far more comfortable than gloves and can more conveniently use thicker material. They are also less expensive and easier to fit, and are the normal finger-protection used with bows.

 

 

 

The tab usually has a retaining loop on the back of the tab that fits over the middle finger, which is simply there to keep the tab on the fingers when the string is loosed. Tabs come in various forms. The simplest is made of a single patch that is placed below the nocking point between the fingers and the string. This style of shooting is called 'Three finger under'. These are most often used in barebow or longbow styles of archery.

Arrows

Arrows

 

An arrow is a shafted projectile that is shot with a bow. It predates recorded history and is common to most cultures. An arrow usually consists of a shaft with an arrowhead attached to the front end, with fletchings and a nock at the other.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In 2010, during an excavation at the Sibudu Cave in South Africa, led by Professor Lyn Wadley from the University of the Witwatersrand, researchers discovered the earliest direct evidence of human-made arrowheads: 64,000-year-old stone points which may have been shot from a bow. These had remnants of blood and bone, confirming their use in hunting.

Quivers

Quiver

 

 

Belt Quiver

The most common style of quiver is a flat or cylindrical container suspended from the belt. They are found across many cultures from North American to China. Many variations of this type exist, such as being canted forwards or backwards, and being carried on the dominant hand side, off-hand side, or the small of the back. Some variants enclose almost the entire arrow, while minimalist "pocket quivers" consist of little more than a small stiff pouch that only covers the first few inches.

 

Back Quiver

Back quivers are secured to the archer's back via straps, with the nock ends protruding above the dominant hand's shoulder. Arrows can drawn over the shoulder rapidly by the nock. This style of quiver was used by Native American tribes of North America and tribes in Africa. While popular in cinema and art for depictions of medieval European characters (such as Robin Hood), this style of quiver was never used in medieval Europe. The Bayeux Tapestry shows that most bowmen in medieval Europe used belt quivers.

 

 

Ground Quiver

A ground quiver is used for both target shooting or warfare when the archer is firing from a fixed location. They can be simply stakes in the ground with a ring at the top to hold the arrows, or more elaborate designs that hold the arrows within reach without the archer having to lean down to draw.

 

Bow Quiver

A modern invention, the bow quiver attaches directly to the bow's limbs and holds the arrows steady with a clip of some kind. They are popular with compound bow hunters as it allows one piece of equipment to be carried in the field without encumbering the hunter's body.

 

Arrow Bag

A style used by medieval English Longbowmen and several other cultures, an arrow bag is a simple drawstring cloth sack with a leather spacer at the top to keep the arrows divided. When not in use, the drawstring could be closed, completely covering the arrows so as to protect them from rain and dirt. Some had straps or rope sewn to them for carry, but many either were tucked into the belt or set on the ground before battle to allow easier access.

 

Bowfishing

Bowfishing

 

Bowfishing is a method of fishing that uses specialized archery equipment to shoot and retrieve fish. Fish are shot with a barbed arrow that is attached with special line to a reel mounted on the bow. Some freshwater species commonly hunted include common carp, grass carp, bighead carp, alligator gar, and paddlefish. In saltwater, rays and sharks are regularly pursued.

 

 

 

 

Arrows

Bowfishing arrows are considerably heavier and stronger than arrows used in other types of archery and are most commonly constructed of five-sixteenth inch fiberglass, but solid aluminum, carbon fiber, and carbon fiber reinforced fiberglass are also used. Bowfishing arrows generally lack fletching, as it can cause the arrow to flare to one side or another underwater and they are not required at the relatively short ranges associated with bowfishing. Line is attached to the arrow by tying to a hole in the arrow shaft or through the use of a slide system

 

 

Reels

Three types of reels are commonly used in bowfishing: Hand-wrap, spincast, and retriever. Hand-wrap reels are the simplest reels; they consist of a circular spool that line is wrapped onto by hand and then secured in a line holding slot. When the arrow is shot the line comes free from the line holder and feeds off the spool. Fish are caught by pulling the line in hand over hand; hand-wrap reels are the least effective at fighting arrowed fish, but they can be used in conjunction with a float system to shoot and fight large trophy fish. Retriever reels have a "bottle" which holds the line in place. When shot the line comes out either until the shot goes too far and the line runs out or the hunter pushes down a stopping device which can be used to keep a fish from traveling out too far. Some retriever reels have slots cut in them and are known as slotted retriever reels. They are more commonly used for alligator, alligator gar, shark and other big game that will take more time to chase down than smaller game fish.

Ball target

Ball Target

 

 

 

 

This archery target is designed to improve your shooting. Because to used this target you will have to throw it as far as you can then shoot at it with your number of arrows when collecting arrows you re-throw the target to a new location making you have to learn how to angel your bow for the right distance.

 

 

This target I would recommend to a long bower.

CrossBow

Crossbow

 

 

A crossbow is a weapon bow mounted on a stick (called a tiller or stock) with a mechanism in it which holds the drawn bow string. The earliest designs featured a slot in the stock, down into which the string was placed. To shoot this design, a vertical rod is thrust up through a hole in the bottom of the notch, forcing the string out. This rod is usually attached perpendicular to a rear-facing lever called a trigger or "tickler". A later design implemented a rolling cylindrical pawl called a "nut" to retain the string. This nut has a perpendicular center slot for the bolt, and an intersecting axial slot for the string, along with a lower face or slot against which the internal trigger sits. They often also have some form of strengthening internal "sear" or trigger face, usually of metal. These "roller nuts" were either free-floating in their close-fitting hole across the stock, tied in with a binding of sinew or other strong cording, or mounted on a metal axle or pins. Removable or integral plates of wood, ivory or metal on the sides of the stock kept the nut in place laterally. Nuts were made of antler, bone, or metal. Bows could be kept and ready to shoot for some time with little effort, allowing crossbowmen to aim better.

Hunting Bow

Hunting Bow

In contrast to a rifle hunter, who may shoot effectively from ranges in excess of 600 yards (550 m); archers usually restrict shots to 2.3 yards (2.1 m) to 42 yards (38 m). The distance depends upon individual ability, the target animal, the bow strength, terrain, arrow and weather. Most bows used for hunting have a draw weight of 50 pounds-force (220 N) or more. This is enough to hunt all but the very largest game. Arrows with mass more than 900 grains (58 g) penetrate better in large animals, so might be the bow hunter's choice when hunting these animals.
Arrows, bows and sights are commonly of the more modern varieties. However, all effective variations, including crossbows and wooden bows launching wooden arrows with stone points, are used




The bow hunter may walk along the ground slowly, looking for game and stalking it carefully in the final approach. This is called "stalking." Hunters often wear camouflage clothing and walk downwind so that they are harder to smell.
In "stand hunting," or "still hunting," the hunter waits for game to come to him, usually near food, water, or known trails. Brush and other natural materials may be placed for cover, or a "ground blind" that looks like a tent may be used. The hunter may wait on a wooden or metal stand elevated in a tree, from three to six metres.
Bowhunting for fish is called bowfishing. Bowfishing equipment usually adds a line attached to a spool or a reel as well as a specially designed, heavier arrow. The sights are different to allow for refraction.

Longbow

Longbow

 

 

 

A longbow is a type of bow that is tall (roughly equal to the height of the person who uses it); this will allow its user a fairly long draw, at least to the jaw. A longbow is not significantly recurved. Its limbs are relatively narrow so that they are circular or D-shaped in cross section. Flatbows can be just as long; the difference is that, in cross-section, a flatbow has limbs that are approximately rectangular.

Maybe the worlds fastest shooter

Just thought i would link this for everyone to see.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJyoQtYrn4U

Colour of a target

In FITA archery, targets are coloured as follows:

• 1 ring & 2 ring - white
• 3 ring & 4 ring - black
• 5 ring & 6 ring - blue
• 7 ring & 8 ring - red
• 9 ring, 10 ring & inner 10 ring - gold

The archery target had been used for centres and is the easiest way to learn to shoot