Lightening cracks the bruised sky, and thunder rumbles like a herd of buffalo on the move. The wet weather has left me soaked to the core and a deep chill tightens my skin. As I survey the plain for signs of game, I catch movement over a small rise, and the smell of the wind in my face carries the unmistakable odor of my quarry. I search out a route to cover the ground and intercept their movement. I can see it in my mind’s eye the stalk I’ll need to make and set it in motion. I cover the first 300 yards in a rapid, crouched-low approach and stop to take in the scene from my new vantage point. The wind is still right and their approach is still steady. Another 100 yards and I will be directly in their path, but this distance will need to be covered with much more diligence. I pick out spots of cover along the way and begin my final approach on my hands and knees with my bow and quiver slung across my back.

The final distance is now behind me, bloody knees, scraped hands, and wet feathers to show for it. I ready my bow and await the hunter’s moment. I can smell them more strongly now and I can feel their steps vibrate the earth beneath me. The lead animal passes by me at ten yards. It is a hulking figure, powerful and difficult to mortally wound. Its long red woolly fur is a mat of protection over its heavily muscled body, and the wide sweeping tusks are dangerous weapons. My 84-pound Osage flatbow comes to full draw and the two fletched dogwood shaft covers the distance in an instant and buries itself between two ribs. Another arrow is immediately on the bow, drawn and released to bury itself an inch behind the first, before the animal reacts. A shout of exhilaration and then the thought, “How does one begin to go about packing out a Mammoth?” is interrupted by a voice in the distance. “Honey, come in out of the rain. It’s time for supper.” As my dream world fades from my thoughts, I go and retrieve the two arrows from my target bale.

Only an all-wood bow stirs my soul and moves my mind to produce a scene like that. When I am shooting these bows, I can step out of this electronic, linked-up, and always-busy-accomplishing-nothing society. Even if only for a few hours, I can simply enjoy the hiss of an arrow, the feel of leather wrapped around the deep orange wood, and the simple grace of a finely tillered bow. Light in hand, balanced, beautiful, and powerful.

At this writing I have four Osage bows and one Yew English Longbow, and they are all quite different in design and looks. The object of my mind’s wandering at the beginning of this story is a Cherry bark backed Osage flatbow by John Strunk. It is 64" nock to nock and 84 pounds at 28". It is a clean, straight stave with no string follow, 1 13/16" wide limbs tapering to nice small 1/2" tips. It weighs in at 31 ounces and is the heavyweight of my collection in all aspects. It casts a heavy arrow with absolute authority and demands that I stay in shape to shoot it well.

The next bow in the photos is an elk sinew and snakeskin backed Osage flatbow by Ted Fry of Raptor Archery. It is also 64" nock to nock but pulls 59 pounds at 28". This is a snaky stave; the bottom limb wanders to the left and the upper limb waves left and right. It has taken on some significant string follow over the years. The limbs are 1 1/2" wide tapering to 5/8" and it weighs 26 ounces. This is an easy shooting bow, and you would never guess you are pulling 59 pounds when you shoot it. I check it on my scale every so often just to be sure. This bow has been with me for a long time.

Bob Barnes in Arkansas built my most recent two bows. They are bamboo backed Osage in two different designs. One is a reflex/deflex bow that weighs 17 ounces and is slim and slender all the way through. It goes 51 pounds at 28" and is the Dr. Jekyll to the Mr. Hyde of the Strunk bow, sweet shooting and deadly accurate with surprising speed and power. It is 60" nock to nock with 1 1/8" wide limbs tapering to 9/16" at the tips. Its almost delicate appearance is dismissed with the first arrow you shoot.

The second bow by Bob Barnes is glued up in a Perry reflex and tips the scales at 18.5 ounces. It pulls 56 pounds at 28" is 64" nock to nock and has 1 3/16" wide limbs tapering to 1/2" at the tips. This one has dark brown stain on the bamboo, black tips, and a black grip. It bears the name “Menace” and is the only bow I have ever named. This is a thoroughbred hunting bow, light, balanced, and powerful. It casts a fast arrow without even a whisper and is just plain fun to shoot.

I recently took the bows out to a friend’s farm to shoot them for distance. Flight shooting is pure enjoyment for me. I cannot think of a finer way to spend a few hours than to send arrow after arrow into the sky. Few things can match this simple pleasure. It is also an excellent test of a bow’s performance. I can usually judge the speed of my bows by shooting them at 35 yards. Bigger differences are apparent at that range, but it is difficult to see more subtle differences. My eleven-year-old daughter is probably weary of me calling her out to the practice bale to judge which bow is faster, although she always handles the task with enthusiasm.

I approached this experiment in as scientific a manner as I am capable. My real goal was to see which bow would shoot the farthest with a hunting arrow appropriate for the bow. I conceded to technology and borrowed my friend’s laser rangefinder in order to provide measurements of the distances shot. Some may find the particulars interesting. I selected suitable arrows from my collection. The two Bob Barnes bows and the Raptor bow shot parallel cedars spined 55-60, cut to 28 1/2" back of point, fletched helical with three 5 1/2" left wing shield feathers. They carry 160 gram field points for a total arrow weight of 550 grams. The Strunk bow shot a parallel Doug Fir shaft spined 80-85 also cut to 28 1/2" back of point, fletched helical with three 5" Raptor cut fletch. It carries a 160 gram field point and a total arrow weight of 625 grams. I marked the nocks of two of the cedars with a Sharpie so I could identify which arrow came from which bow. I also put a bead of glue at the back of the points so I could feel it on the knuckle of my bow hand and thus ensure all bows were drawn the same length.

I proceeded to the farm and drove my truck out to the edge of the field. My plan was to shoot the arrows while standing in front of my truck, then walk out to the arrow and measure the distance back to the truck with the rangefinder. This worked quite well. I braced the bows, readied the arrows, and let the first volley fly. I tried my best to duplicate my form for each arrow but some variance is inevitable. I then walked out to each arrow, took note of which bow it was shot from, and then noted the distance. I repeated this process four times with the intent of taking the average of the four distances for each bow as my result. There was a brisk southwest wind, and I was shooting south to north so there was slight assistance from the wind. The temperature was 30 degrees.

The average distance of the four shots from each bow were as follows: the Strunk bow, 210 yards; the Raptor bow, 175 yards; the reflex/deflex Barnes bow, 196 yards; and the Perry reflex Barnes bow, 199 yards. I shot the Strunk bow with one of the lighter arrows, but the fact that it was severely underspined negated the fact that it was 75 grams lighter and it averaged 208 yards.

There were no surprises here, as my observations at the target bale were proven accurate. It was, however, a fun experiment and a wonderful way to spend a few hours. This experiment by no means proves anything about bow design, as there were significant variances in the draw weight of the bows. It did allow me to feel like Saxton Pope for a morning and satisfy my curiosity in a realm of this sport of archery that I love so much.
God bless and good shooting.