can i ask a dumb question?

[Del the cat]

I'm forever meeting people who claim to draw 29 or 30 but in reality draw about 26.
I'm so macho I draw 48 myself....
But seriously. I draw 27 when I'm cold, 28" when I'm warmed up, then 27 when I'm tired, which is about 3 shots after I've warmed up 
Del

[JW_Halverson]

Del happens to be taking a shot at being funny, but in reality he does have a 48 inch draw on 140 lb ELB warbows.  He is also insanely accurate due to his training techniques. 

He is so fast that he puts the bow down after the shot and runs beside the arrow observing it's flight closely in order to critique his release.  It's this level of committment that is necessary to acheive his results.  Yup, he even wears a cape when no one is looking. 

[Bryce]

your wingspan in inches then divide by 2.5

-Pinecone

Wow, I must have a messed up draw because I should have a 28.8" draw under that method, but only draw 26.   

It's all a rule of thumb until you start pulling back an arrow on a specific bow.  I shoot 24" arrows out of my little horsebows (partly because of their length and partly because once I hit about 60#'s of draw I can't horse it back any further), and then I shoot 31" arrows from the nearly 6 ft long longbow Ken75 sent me (I'm getting about 27" plus a little extra with that bow). 

If you can find a 6 ft sapling, make yourself a really light bow from it and find a draw style that feels "right" and measure that.  Good luck!

well then fiix your draw technique  hahaha jk

my wingspan is 70'' and when i divide by 2.5 it gives me a 28". so i checked using an arrow and a marker.... spot on.

[Bryce]

Del happens to be taking a shot at being funny, but in reality he does have a 48 inch draw on 140 lb ELB warbows.  He is also insanely accurate due to his training techniques. 

He is so fast that he puts the bow down after the shot and runs beside the arrow observing it's flight closely in order to critique his release.  It's this level of committment that is necessary to acheive his results.  Yup, he even wears a cape when no one is looking.

my favorite is when he shoots with his pinky is out, like when he drinks his tea while running next to the arrow.
very fancy stuff.

-Pinecone

[anasazi]

Hey guys i flunked out of math back in kindergarten. My draw is 28 i was just thinking about it the other day and wasn't entirely sure where you measured from and it seemed odd to me to measure from a variable point instead of a fixed one but if that's standard no big deal my arrow still goes where its pointed i just need to figure out how to point it where i am looking or look where i am pointing.

[loefflerchuck]

Not such a dumb question after all. Just realized I tiller with a stick on the belly but draw measuring from the back. Thanks for the topic

[Del the cat]

@JW.
C'mon, you're teasin' now.
You know full well that was in my younger days
Del

[crooketarrow]

  BACK OF THE BOW

[JW_Halverson]

@JW.
C'mon, you're teasin' now.
You know full well that was in my younger days
Del

He had to quit when he had trouble getting the bifocals to focus on the arrow.   

Chuck, my first tillering stick got put on a benchsander a few years ago when I realized that I was measuring to the belly of the handle, too!  Had to write new measurements on it while shaking my head at such a simple mistake. 

And Del, I guess I always measured my braceheights from the back of the bow.  Guess it's about time I learned something.   

[anasazi]

I probably should change the measurements on my tillering stick to. I didn't even think about that thanks

[fishfinder401]

tat equation is surprisingly accurate, it said my draw is 29.2, and what i have noticed for target bows is 29.5...pretty close for warbows on the other hand its 33.5

[George Tsoukalas]

Draw length for selfbowyer purposes is measured  to the back of the bow. But your actual draw is best measured while shooting. Have someone watch you shoot. Jawge

[M-P]

Howdy,  I like Jawg's answer.   It is simple and straight-forward, and it matches my practice.   Handle depth will affect the measurement somewhat and the arrow will have to be longer than the measured draw, but I can live with that.      Ron