Long Bows Rule and Shortbows Drool(all over the place)

[JonW]

I guess if you're not skilled enough to make and use a short bow then a longbow is a good crutch to still play at this game.

More than enough said!! Short bows are for real men.

[H Rhodes]

   I like them both. 
   When I am up a tree like a sissy (that kind of talk can cause you problems in south alabama! ), I have hunted with bows as long as 72".  I think they are quiet and smooth  on release and I shoot them a little more accurately.  My favorites these days have been 66" and pulling 55 -60lbs.  I think that is the best all around bow for me. 
   From the ground,  I do favor short bendy handle bows - simple D style, 56" - 60" and pulling in the mid forties.  Quiet and deadly.  Little short bows like that have made a lot of meat through the ages.  I think that the short bows are as accurate as the long bows at hunting ranges.  In my opinion, it is easy to over bow yourself with the short bows.  Keeping the poundage in the forties makes a quiet straight shooting hunting bow for me.  To each his own. 

[chamookman]

I like them all - just depends on what I have in My hand at the time  ! Bob

[Pappy]

Yep ,stirring the pot again. I will go for medium ,not to long not to short,just right. and FYI Pine/chip I ant a sissy.  
  Pappy

[iowabow]

Ok my long 4 year hunting primitive equipment career has brought me to taking on the idea of a longer bow. The reason is simple a more accurate bow is a plus. Now the longer bow will require a small change in hunting style but it will not be as big of a change as the primitive conversion was from compound. I don't think a couple inched at each end is going to kill me. I do know that my mid size bow shoots better than my plains indian bow that I only use for shootin fish. I would be willing to bet that a long bow will be in my hand come Oct 1 next year.
Besides any guy that says he doesn't want a couple more inches is a liarrrrrrr  

[blackhawk]

Patm...that's the thing...you can take someone who is competent at the short bow,and then give them a longbow and odds are highly stacked in the favor that he will shoot a longbow even better,and even better at the shorter hunting distances too...and I have not met anyone yet in this day and age who is a crack shot with a short bow past 15 yards..

I hunt exclusively from the ground in the thick eastern woodland hill country,and haven't sat in a stand in over 4 years now(just don't seem right holding a selfbow in a modern stand)...and more times than not now I take a 69" overall length bow with me...if I can manuveuer my 74"+ tall frame thru the woods stealthily, than so can a longbow...I'd rather give myself the best chance with what I shoot best and think its the better tradeoff in the woods..besides when hunting are we running thru the woods? Nope....we move at a crawl...I still occasionally shot and hunt with a sub 60" bow due to convienece,but I know I'm better with the longbow

[okie64]

I like em all, but for stand hunting I prefer something between 56 -60" or so, spot and stalk hog hunting maybe a little longer than that. I get what youre saying with the selfbow and modern treestand but I still do it just because I feel that is my best shot at making meat around here, to each his own i guess.

[Buckeye Guy]

Chris
I hope I have not corrupted you !
Any way good job getting things stirred up !
Guy

[IdahoMatt]

Good point Chris.  I think I like making short bows better and shooting longer bows.  For me it is easier to find shorter staves out here where things grow a little slower.   

[Parnell]

Next you'll be buying a red corvette.  So Chris, at what point does a bow actually become "long"?  Past 72"?

I'll play, reasons why short bows are better:

1.  They're more efficient to carry if you are travelling.
2.  They require less resource to be effective.
3.  If the brush is thick...Florida, you may as well be hauling a cannon with a long bow.
4.  They are going to get "dinged" less over time.
5.  Not only can you shoot them from the ground, you can shoot them from a tree, a horse, the back of a moving vehicle, while moving "on your feet", somersaulting, flying through the air, general ninja behavior, stealth, etc.
6.  They keep shooting interesting...long bows are predictable.  How boring.
7.  They require actual skill to shoot.
8.  Long bows were generally useful for battlefields...then came firearms.
9.  You can hide them under a trenchcoat!
10.  They make better BACK SCRATCHERS!  (Do not underestimate this one's importance!)

[Onebowonder]

<snip> I get what youre saying with the selfbow and modern treestand <snip>

Modern tree stand? Ha! I strictly use a hand twisted rope made of chew softened squirrel raw hide tied around my naked waist and bound into the fork of the tree with a quick release knot so that I can drop my ochre painted body down on top of the still writhing and struggling carcass of my prey and slash the last bit of life from it with my knapped flint dagger!

...and then I woke up and found I was stabbing my pillow with a bedroom slipper!


OneBow

[wood_bandit 99]

my hunting bows are in the 58-64" range and that is with a 26"  draw. i make flipped tips bows that i hunt with 56-60" and haven't made a shortbow yet although i have shot some and i win 3d competitions with my bows but couldnt shoot that 52" bow worth crap. that bow that i just made was 68" long and shot SO accurate. i could hit a baseball at 30 yards nearly every time. so i definitely agree.

[blackhawk]

@Parnell...
#1.a takedown longbow is shorter than a one piece shorty,and fits nicely in the back of my pack cruising the Appalachians here
#2. Into his day and age its easy to aquire resource for a longbow,and billet length wood spliced is shorter than a one piece shorty and easier to find n resource
#3.i m just not buying that one....Im an avid off trail woods navigator and been from sea to sea,border to border,sveral different countries on different continents and i ain't buying that one...ever try to crawl thru a true Appalachia laurel hell??AND even without a bow is impossible without a machete or saw...
#4. Not enough solid evidence to prove that..I got some pretty beat up shorties that have seen as much action as my longer bows...ain't buying that either
#5. You can do all those of things to with a longbow...and how many people these days attempt to shoot an animal off a horses back,and attempting a shot at game from a car is pretty much illegal anywhere I know of where hunting is allowed...
#6 if your definition of interesting is spraying an inconsistent arrow more than a longbow than you need to check your thinker....the while point of a bow is being able to shoot it consistently
#7. So does a longbow,but its going to make ya even better all else equal
#8...then go use a gun for warfare...duh guns are better for that today
#9&#10...refer to answer number one

Out of all your points you still missed the most important one..and that's how well it shoots,and a longbow wins hands down in the most important category. <---- n that's a big period

[Parnell]

Well, hell, I guess maybe you have a point!

I love shorties but gotta say that unless you are on a horse's back, I'd agree.  I've been enjoying really opening up my draw lately. 
The next project is going to be a 68-70" long 1.25" wide Osage with good reflex and damn am I looking forward to it.

Just as much, lately I like a longer arrow.  Now, I can shoot a 27" arrow from a short bow with a 25" draw pretty well.  Hell, I've practiced.  But give me the smooth longbow with minimal stack and maximum efficiency, when it counts.  32" arrows, please!

I still say that a short bow makes a better BACKSCRATCHER, though!!!

[Oglala Bowyer]

Preference and practice is all it takes to be a respectable shooter.  I prefer my short bow because it's comfortable for me. JW now that's funny.