Cave paintings and other depictions almost 50,000 years old show the use of Archery Bow. It was primarily used for hunting animals for food. The pre-historic Archery Bow was designed using the twigs or small branches of the trees and the string was made from the animal skin. The arrows were sticks that were sharpened. The arrows had a notch in the end to attach the string.
As the techniques of the primitive civilizations evolved, there were changes in the design of the Archery Bow as well. The middle age men started using bone composite, animal tendons and even wood for the string. This resulted in increased sharpness of the equipment. Later, Archery Bow also found place in wars and areas of self defence. The English Long Bow that we know is after the incorporation of Archery Bow as a useful tool for military use.
Let us look at the present form of Archery Bow. The Archery Bow of present times is highly innovated pieces of technology designed for unmatched precision. These are designed with standards of measurement and come with adjustments that can be used to customize your own archery equipment.
The modern age Archery Bows are pieces of excellence and they’ll leave you with surprise and awe when it comes to using them. These are easy to handle and can be fully adjusted to suit your body and arm length. Having said this, if you are eager to take up archery-bow as a sports career, then one needs a lot of self discipline to master it. Besides the natural instinct or talent that one has, it requires having a tremendous breath control, great eyesight and steady hands. A perfect combination of all the above and you can be with perfect shots. Archery is an exciting sport and requires a lot of patience to master but the joy of having struck first bull’s eye in unexplainable and worth the effort.
People also use Archery Bow as a hunting tool on their hunting expeditions. This not only adds an element of challenge to the whole episode but also needs extreme concentration. Even with the precision and accuracy of the modern age Archery Bow equipments, one can always be surprised after every shot.
Archery Bow as an equipment is also used in by people for fishing expeditions. But one must be aware of the rules and regulation of the areas and if fishing is allowed. No matter what, but using Archery Bow for the purpose of fishing gives a whole new dimension to the sport and can be pretty challenging experience.
The Archery Bow is almost at its prime as far as the design and use of technology is concerned. Though with the evolution process, the Archery Bow too evolved in its design and usage areas, the basic design still remains the same. It has been there for generations now. Currently, it is being used more as a recreational sport but there are a number of people who have also adopted this as their career. It will continue to engage people in its simplicity and yet amazing capabilities.
Archery Bows — A Guide to Choose the Best Bow
What would be a better choice to procure Archery Bow equipment- A professional archery shop or a sports departmental shop? A sports departmental store normally has sales people who may or may not be qualified enough for to know details of the Archery Bow. However, a professional archery equipment shop would have trained personnel for the job. Buying the right Archery Bow has to have certain specific details to be worked out – the type of use and the individual capacity of the user.According to the various specifications and designs, the Archery Bow is classified under four different types:
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1. Re-curve Bow
2. Compound Bow
3. Long Bow
4. Cross Bow
Archery as a sport has been accepted nationally and internationally. It can be conducted as an indoor as well as an outdoor sport. In the indoor archery event the distance between the archer and the target is 18m-25m. In the outdoor archery event this distance is set to 30m-90m. However, archery has been accepted in various forms in different platforms. Target archery is an Olympic Sport event and it has internationally governing agency, FITA. The other form of archery is the field archery which is more popular in USA and European countries. The distances in the Olympic target archery is usually fixed whereas in the case of field archery, it varies. Field archery has three forms – basic field archery, animal archery and hunter archery. Another form of archery is known as 3D archery which has life size animal models as targets. Clout archery is yet another form of archery where distances are up to 165m for men archers and up to 128m for women archers.
While buying archery equipment, what is more important than anything else is the comfort level of the archer with the equipment. If the archer is comfortable using the equipment, then the shoot becomes much easier. For a short bow, one can consider having a release aid where as it can be skipped for a long bow. The weight of the archery equipment is also an important factor while selecting the perfect piece. The lighter bows are usually good for hunting purpose as it has to be carried for long durations. The heavier bows are good for the fixed targets as in the target archery events.
Yet another consideration before buying comfortable Archery Bow equipment is the brace height. Brace height is the length between the bow grip and string. Also the draw weight, the maximum amount that is pulled back while drawing a bow has to be optimum. The best draw weight for adults is around 50 pounds whereas it is about 10 pounds for young kids. For the older children 20 pounds should ideally be the draw weight. The draw weight has to be aligned with the archer’s pulling capacity. Draw weights on the higher side can be too strenuous to handle whereas very low can result in inaccurate shots. Similarly, longer draw lengths also cause a lot of strain.
Types of Archery Bow
Archery Bow has been around from the Palaeolithic age. The succession from hands to stones, then to Archery Bow spans over thousands of years. There have been various evidences that show the use of Archery Bow for hunting, sport and for warfare. The use is spread across all civilizations from various parts of the globe, Egyptians, Babylonians, and Assyrians etc. The present form of Archery Bow is accepted as a sport and for hunting. With the passage of ages, the designs have improved significantly ranging from simpler ones to the most mechanized versions.The present age Archery Bow can be broadly classified under three different categories:
1. Long Archery Bow: this was used in middle level combat. The long Archery Bow has a hard and straight shot. Moreover, the size of the long bow is shorter than the archer. It is used as a traditional Archery Bow, where the archer draws the string, takes the aim and then shoots the arrow. However, the long bow archery is a little inconvenient to use because of its height. It also is not a very good option as hunting equipment as it takes a longer time for loading the arrow.
2. Re-curve Archery Bow: as the name of this Archery Bow suggest, this has a more curvy shape where the tips of the curve point away from the archer. This is shorter in size but gives a feeling of tremendous power to the archer while being used. This is very good while used for hunting or for long distance shots. It has a quicker turning and quite different from the long bow Archery Bow, the string in this touches the upper portion of the bow.
3. Compound Archery Bow: this is best amalgamation of the new age technology and the primitive design. This is handier in the sense that you can draw the string and hold in more easily. It has a greater control feature and is best used for professional archery sport. The compound Archery Bow gives more stability and hence assists in having a better aim at the shoot.
The above are three basic types of Archery Bow. There is yet another type of Archery Bow known as the crossbow, which is less commonly used. While buying the equipment for oneself, two things must be kept in mind – purpose and comfort. Purpose in the sense whether it will be used for hunting or as a sport. The cost of a bow can start from about $50 for the simplest ones and can go over $100 for the sophisticated ones. However, as stated earlier, purchase of Archery Bow equipment should be done from a professional archery shop.
Before rushing in to making purchases, one must look at other options available as well. There are several archery clubs that deliver archery lessons where one can go and practice. Also, there’s always an option of buying used bows which may actually be a wise saving of few hundred dollars. While doing practice, one may become clearer of the particular type of Archery Bow that suits and also be in a better position to make a better decision.
As stated earlier, the purpose for which one is buying Archery Bow equipment always makes a lot of difference as to which would suit your need. Even if one is buying the Archery Bow for hunting, the types of bows may differ depending upon whether one is deer hunting, using for field archery or 3D archery. One may also buy an Archery Bow for a recreational purpose. Also, it would matter if it is being used for indoor or outdoor practice. For field archery also, the distance between the prey and the archer or the type of animal you are hunting would make a difference. It is also advisable to talk to experienced staff members of the store staff and other players before investing in expensive equipment.
