An archery question

McFry · 07-12-2008, 06:17 PM

In addition to my firearm interests, I am also an avid compound bow shooter. I was at the sporting goods store today where they have an indoor archery range and I test fired both a traditional bow and a recurve bow. They were both alot of fun to shoot and I am interested in buying one of these primative weapons. I also learned that the choice of arrow, fletching, and broadhead are different when choosing to shoot a non-compound bow. What is the difference (really) between a traditional and recurve design?

durk · 07-12-2008, 06:33 PM

Some would say that a recurve bow would be more sporting as there is no let-off when fully drawn back. Less draw weight would cause you to change your aiming as you would have to aim higher to be on target.

nightfighter · 07-12-2008, 06:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFry

In addition to my firearm interests, I am also an avid compound bow shooter. I was at the sporting goods store today where they have an indoor archery range and I test fired both a traditional bow and a recurve bow. They were both alot of fun to shoot and I am interested in buying one of these primative weapons. I also learned that the choice of arrow, fletching, and broadhead are different when choosing to shoot a non-compound bow. What is the difference (really) between a traditional and recurve design?

You have to be more specific...what do you mean by "traditional"? Do you mean an English long bow verses a recurve? Or, do you mean compound bow when you say "traditional".
Or, do you mean a "self" bow as being traditional?

A compound bow generally uses vanes instead of fletching (split feathers).
A compound bow generally uses carbon fiber shafts or aluminum shafts.
A compound bow must use shafts of sufficient (spine) strength to resist breaking from excess flexing during release which usually means no wooden shafts.
A self bow, unlike a recurve ( which uses layers of fiberglass and wood), uses only a single piece of wood for the limbs.
An English long bow is a bow intended for primitive warfare and is a unusually long, self bow (a single piece of wood). Early long bows shot arrows with a distinctive wide iron point known as a broadhead. Later English long bow arrows shot arrows with a narrow "bodkin" point intended to pierce early armor.
Surprisingly, the recurve bow dates back to the raiding hordes of Mongols, and used horn and wood bonded with glue all bent in the distinctive shape to make recurve bows.
You can use vanes, carbon fiber and or aluminum shafts for arrows in modern recurve bows.
Long bow shooters however, prefer to stay traditional with wooden shafts, and feather fletching instead of plastic vanes.
English long bows gave way to cross bows which shot a short arrow called a "bolt" or a "quarrel".

delta13soultaker · 07-12-2008, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by McFry

In addition to my firearm interests, I am also an avid compound bow shooter. I was at the sporting goods store today where they have an indoor archery range and I test fired both a traditional bow and a recurve bow. They were both alot of fun to shoot and I am interested in buying one of these primative weapons. I also learned that the choice of arrow, fletching, and broadhead are different when choosing to shoot a non-compound bow. What is the difference (really) between a traditional and recurve design?

I think most bowhunters would agree the recurve is superior to a traditional bow. Especially if laminated or composite also.

The main difference in shooting your compound bow from traditional bows is your compound has relief at the end of the draw, while simple bows "stack" energy in the limbs. The "let off" or "relief" in the compound bow is from the mechanical advantage of the cable and cam/cams.

Simple bows don't have a mechanical advantage. Now, I said all that to say this to answer your question...a recurve stacks more energy in the limbs for the same amount of effort used by the archer, thus the advantage in using a recurve over a traditional curve bow.

McFry · 07-12-2008, 08:47 PM

So, Delta, what you are saying is a recurve is more powerful than a traditional curve design, based on relative draw weight? So why would anyone want a traditonal curve bow? You should also know that both the straight curve and recurve bows I shot were made from laminated fibreglass and wood. Nightfigher, refer to my last sentence and know that when I say "traditional" I mean a straight bow made from laminated wood and fibreglass.

armedandsafe · 07-12-2008, 09:29 PM

Quote:

So why would anyone want a traditonal curve bow?

Why, oh why, would anyone want one of them old-fashioned weapons when there are many more powerful ones out there from which to choose? Because some of us just like shooting black powder.

Pops

McFry · 07-13-2008, 08:29 AM

Very true

delta13soultaker · 07-13-2008, 09:40 AM

Yeah, man, Armedandsafe said the sum of it on why would anyone want a traditonal curve bow.

My mother's father had worked for a guy named Ben Pearson in between his careers after WW2 until he finally retired. Ben and my grandfather were both from the Saline River bottom in Arkansas. I was born too late to ever meet Ben Pearson, but as a school kid I had original bows from his company hanging on my wall to hunt haystacks with.

Around the beginning of high school I'd began doing lots of things to make rifle hunting harder, like stalking a specific buck to under 50 yards in his afternoon bed, which made me question my choice of rifles. I'd gone full circle, from 30-30 in regrown timber slash as a kid to .270 and 30-06 long range in power-line/firebreaks and across cotton fields as a preteen , back to hunting in thickets, because stalking close is a challenge. A Hawkins muzzleloader was the next step. I skipped handguns because I'd been shooting them in competition since age 13.

Hunting with a bow was hard as hell. Harder than I thought it would be and I had a bunch of failures. But I had plenty of mentors to learn from and I had some successful new strategies by the time I could legally drive. I was not very good, but I was getting better. And I guess it was natural to begin to want to have a kill with a simple traditional bow. And back to square one.

Anytime I see someone with a traditional bow or buying stuff for one, I figure I know how he got to that point.

obxned · 07-13-2008, 11:06 AM

When I first started with a bow, a recurve was absolute state of the art. After years of no contact with bows, I again became interested, only to discover that a bow was now a bizarre contraption with wheels and cables and stuff like that all over it, and a plain old recurve was now a mega-bucks specialty item.

I have since learned that compound bows are pretty darn nice. I have one that I hunt with when time permits, but have not killed a deer with it yet. However, recurves are now gianing in popularity, and quite nice ones are not priced out of reason. I might have to spring for one one of these days.

delta13soultaker · 07-13-2008, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by obxned

When I first started with a bow, a recurve was absolute state of the art. After years of no contact with bows, I again became interested, only to discover that a bow was now a bizarre contraption with wheels and cables and stuff like that all over it, and a plain old recurve was now a mega-bucks specialty item.

I have since learned that compound bows are pretty darn nice. I have one that I hunt with when time permits, but have not killed a deer with it yet. However, recurves are now gianing in popularity, and quite nice ones are not priced out of reason. I might have to spring for one one of these days.

Ben Pearson's legacy takes the credit for changing archery in America....sort of like the Ford of bows.

LDBennett · 07-13-2008, 01:05 PM

McFry:

If you buy any compound bow buy a good one. A local college teacher here lost his life when his compound bow broke during achery practice and imbedded a large piece into his brain via his eye socket. I have no idea of what brand or anymore details but good judgement tells me to buy a GOOD compound bow, not one made by a fool.

LDBennett

Lead Lobber · 07-14-2008, 04:06 AM

I must toss in a final nugget, as I saw no mention of arrow performance above.

Having owned only one bow as young boy, I (and my brother) were fond (stupid?) of shooting arrows in the air, then skipping from their downward trajectory, which stuck them in verdant grass on our expansive lawn bordering a bay off Puget Sound.

But I digress. Digest? See the bone spinning in 2001: A Space Oddessy?

Many years later I read an article in Scientific American that addressed the flight mechanics of arrows.

To make a short story longer, I learned that an arrow, upon leaving a bow is not stable; it wiggles along it's longitudinal axis until it settles into efficient flight.

This means, in short, an arrow shot at short range does not have the penetration of one zeroing in from longer range, because the short range trajectory wobbles, until the feathers sooth it into straight flight.

I guess I have gotten off on another topic. Flight dynamics. Oh, well.

The only beneficial thing here is for bow hunters: Don't try for game at close range; let the arrow strike on its downward arc. Yes, more accuracy is required, so plan for it.

But with Zombies, it really doesn't matter!

07-12-2008, 06:17 PM	#1
McFry V.I.P. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 162	An archery question In addition to my firearm interests, I am also an avid compound bow shooter. I was at the sporting goods store today where they have an indoor archery range and I test fired both a traditional bow and a recurve bow. They were both alot of fun to shoot and I am interested in buying one of these primative weapons. I also learned that the choice of arrow, fletching, and broadhead are different when choosing to shoot a non-compound bow. What is the difference (really) between a traditional and recurve design? __________________ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth GENESIS 1:28 -->

07-12-2008, 06:33 PM	#2
durk Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Oklahoma Posts: 2,026	Re: An archery question Some would say that a recurve bow would be more sporting as there is no let-off when fully drawn back. Less draw weight would cause you to change your aiming as you would have to aim higher to be on target. __________________ Durk

07-12-2008, 08:47 PM	#5
McFry V.I.P. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 162	Re: An archery question So, Delta, what you are saying is a recurve is more powerful than a traditional curve design, based on relative draw weight? So why would anyone want a traditonal curve bow? You should also know that both the straight curve and recurve bows I shot were made from laminated fibreglass and wood. Nightfigher, refer to my last sentence and know that when I say "traditional" I mean a straight bow made from laminated wood and fibreglass. __________________ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth GENESIS 1:28

07-13-2008, 08:29 AM	#7
McFry V.I.P. Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 162	Re: An archery question Very true __________________ And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth GENESIS 1:28

07-13-2008, 09:40 AM	#8
delta13soultaker Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Depends on Uncle Sam's whim every 3 yrs. Posts: 2,948	Re: An archery question Yeah, man, Armedandsafe said the sum of it on why would anyone want a traditonal curve bow. My mother's father had worked for a guy named Ben Pearson in between his careers after WW2 until he finally retired. Ben and my grandfather were both from the Saline River bottom in Arkansas. I was born too late to ever meet Ben Pearson, but as a school kid I had original bows from his company hanging on my wall to hunt haystacks with. Around the beginning of high school I'd began doing lots of things to make rifle hunting harder, like stalking a specific buck to under 50 yards in his afternoon bed, which made me question my choice of rifles. I'd gone full circle, from 30-30 in regrown timber slash as a kid to .270 and 30-06 long range in power-line/firebreaks and across cotton fields as a preteen , back to hunting in thickets, because stalking close is a challenge. A Hawkins muzzleloader was the next step. I skipped handguns because I'd been shooting them in competition since age 13. Hunting with a bow was hard as hell. Harder than I thought it would be and I had a bunch of failures. But I had plenty of mentors to learn from and I had some successful new strategies by the time I could legally drive. I was not very good, but I was getting better. And I guess it was natural to begin to want to have a kill with a simple traditional bow. And back to square one. Anytime I see someone with a traditional bow or buying stuff for one, I figure I know how he got to that point. __________________ Never say die! "A nation who forgets its defenders is soon forgotten itself." "A good shot must necessarily be a good man since the essence of good marksmanship is self-control and self-control is the essential quality of a good man." – Theodore Roosevelt

07-13-2008, 11:06 AM	#9
obxned Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 1,342	Re: An archery question When I first started with a bow, a recurve was absolute state of the art. After years of no contact with bows, I again became interested, only to discover that a bow was now a bizarre contraption with wheels and cables and stuff like that all over it, and a plain old recurve was now a mega-bucks specialty item. I have since learned that compound bows are pretty darn nice. I have one that I hunt with when time permits, but have not killed a deer with it yet. However, recurves are now gianing in popularity, and quite nice ones are not priced out of reason. I might have to spring for one one of these days. __________________ Proud member of a North Carolina Committee of Safety "If we loose Freedom here, there's no place to escape to. This is the Last Stand on Earth!" Ronald Reagan

07-13-2008, 01:05 PM	#11
LDBennett Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Hesperia, CA Posts: 5,709	Re: An archery question McFry: If you buy any compound bow buy a good one. A local college teacher here lost his life when his compound bow broke during achery practice and imbedded a large piece into his brain via his eye socket. I have no idea of what brand or anymore details but good judgement tells me to buy a GOOD compound bow, not one made by a fool. LDBennett

07-14-2008, 04:06 AM	#12
Lead Lobber Former Guest Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Central California coastal area Posts: 965	Re: An archery question I must toss in a final nugget, as I saw no mention of arrow performance above. Having owned only one bow as young boy, I (and my brother) were fond (stupid?) of shooting arrows in the air, then skipping from their downward trajectory, which stuck them in verdant grass on our expansive lawn bordering a bay off Puget Sound. But I digress. Digest? See the bone spinning in 2001: A Space Oddessy? Many years later I read an article in Scientific American that addressed the flight mechanics of arrows. To make a short story longer, I learned that an arrow, upon leaving a bow is not stable; it wiggles along it's longitudinal axis until it settles into efficient flight. This means, in short, an arrow shot at short range does not have the penetration of one zeroing in from longer range, because the short range trajectory wobbles, until the feathers sooth it into straight flight. I guess I have gotten off on another topic. Flight dynamics. Oh, well. The only beneficial thing here is for bow hunters: Don't try for game at close range; let the arrow strike on its downward arc. Yes, more accuracy is required, so plan for it. But with Zombies, it really doesn't matter!