A case for selfbows and wood (video)

[Ranger B]

There has been a lot of questions lately on other forums about the accuracy of selfbows and wood arrows.  I decided to have a little fun.  You guys already know but I think you'll get a kick out of the video anyway....at my expense.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwLmWIca3fY

[Kpete]

Ranger B,
It is apparent that the bow is broken and needs repair.  If you want me to fix it for you, please send it to me- and the arrows of course.  I will perform a cyrogenic technique that will restore accuracy.  I do this over the Wyoming winter(s).  It may take several of said winters to see results.  If there is no improvement in accuracy I will return the bow and any unbroken arrows to you at no charge.
Nice shooting set-up by the way.

[Ranger B]

That's old Artemis....my submission for BOM this month.  Clearly, it's breaks arrows.   

[Ifrit617]

Lol... Nice vid.. Me and my dad where shooting at a tennis ball the other day and the exact same thing happened to me... I couldn't hit the darn thing and when I finally did it snapped my arrow clean off.  Nice Shooting..

Jon

[Kpete]

I put on a shooting demonstration one time for my new brother-in-law.  It was wing-shooting with a recurve about 55 lbs.  He was throwing various plastic lids from cans, tubs, etc.   I was hitting a few but always on edge.  I had shot better many times.  Finally, my brother-in-law asked if he could try. He never shot a bow before.  I of course thought this would be a great chance for him to see how hard it was to perform this act of archery prowess.
You guessed it...first lid I tossed he hit dead center.  A fluke of course!  Second lid-whack-dead center.  No way.  Well I thought the 3rd toss would restore proper order to my world.  Whack-dead center hit.  He said, "Wow, this is hard to do!"  My arm immediately was too fatigued to throw anymore targets

[Ranger B]

Yeah, I should have known better.  I saw a video once where a guy had a golf ball hanging on a string in front of his target.  I decided to do it.  I hit it twice the first day and broke two arrows.  Great idea.....

[Gus]

I'm guessing the folks that question the ability of Wooden Bows and Wooden Arrahs haven't read much. Perhaps they think archery began with Fiberglass (cough, cough) and Aluminium (shudder)...



-gus

[Pappy]

Nice shooting Jimmy.
    Pappy

[Ranger B]

There have been more threads lately on other sites about selfbows.  People seem curious and even interested.  Then there was a thread that seems to pop up every now and then asking if wood arrows could be shot accurately past 15 yards.  That prompted the video.  I think there are more and more people wanting to try it so I wanted them to see that you can hit with a selfbow and a wood arrow.

[GregB]

Good video Jimmy! I know you typically would have hit that in the first three shots...I've seen you in action. 

[iowabow]

Most of the compound shooter that I know who have taken large deer did so at 15 yards.  Nice shooting. Thanks for the coaching on PA this summer it really helped. I shot my deer at 20 yards and the arrow went through the deer at stuck out 4 inches. Totally possible!

[Scowler]

Great video, Ranger B.  Hopefully that will shut up the naysayers for awhile  (but I doubt it )  Thanks for sharing.

[Kpete]

Gus' comment brings to mind some of the Howard Hill videos.  He makes amazing shots with bows that have no arrow shelf cut into the bow-so nowhere close to centershot.   Now we worry about being close to centershot  and sight windows etc.  I think many think primitive gear is not effective beyond 20 yds because most trad archers have self-imposed shooting limits of 20-30 yds or less. 
When asked what our comfortable range is we often answer "20 yds." and they think that that is as far as the equipment is effective.   The biggest difference is not in the capability of the equipment but the mindset of the shooter.

[Gus]

Excellent Video Ranger B!!!
Love that you came back to the Whiffle Ball at the end and closed the video with a HIT!

The question of the capabilities of wooden and composite bows is fully addressed in these two books:
Ottoman Turkish bows, manufacture & design - by Adam Karpowicz
The Witchery of Archery - By Maurice Thompson, 1879

The Thompsons regularly shot out to sixty yards and beyond.
Archers (Military) of old regularly trained and shot in competition for accuracy out past one hundred and fifty yards. And Turkish flight bows of antiquity were shooting for distance out PAST eight hundred yards.

I set my Deer (or other large animal) hunting range at 20 yards not because my bow can't get the job done at a greater range. I do so because I want to insure, as much as possible, a clean ethical shot. My range was 20 yards when I was shooting a wheelie bow as well for the same reason.

Gotta Love Books!

-gus