Archery Equipment Sitemap

Preface - The ever-increasing number of those who purchase archery equipment for the first time and the constantly recurring re­quests for information on both shooting technique and equip­ment have prompted the author to assemble this material in which is set forth in simple non-technical language the essen­tials which will serve as a guide to the beginner in the pur­chase of suitable equipment and will also provide instruction in shooting techniques and tips on hunting.

1. Bow Evolution - Whenever archers get together there are always those among them who would have us believe because our ancestors shot a bow five thousand or fifty thousand years ago that we moderns can shoot a bow instinctively and all that we have to do to hit a mark or bag our buck is to take a deep breath, look at the target, draw the arrow back to the ear, and let fly.

2. Transition Period - The bow was man's chief weapon down through the ages until the invention of firearms. With the bow, man hunted for food and protected himself from his enemies. The great military nations of the past gained their ascendency through the ability of their archers. Over eight hundred years ago the Mongol horde was turned back into Asia by the long bow.

3. Bow Selecting - At one time or another most of us have had a bow. In the majority of cases we acquired it in one of two ways: either as a present from our parents or we made one the hard way out of any convenient branch of a tree and a piece of string. Equipped with a bow and arrows of a sort, we were on our way. How to shoot was strictly for us to find out. If, in­stead of a bow, we had been presented with a .22 single shot rifle, you may be sure we were given instructions by our parent on the proper safety precautions that have to be taken in handling a gun. We would have been accompanied a field by one of our elders where we would have been permitted to shoot the weapon under the sharp eyes of our instructor.

4. Target Shooting - A basic rule which the beginner should keep before him at all times, is that archery is not a test of strength, but a game of skill, and to enjoy snooting a bow, skill must be acquired. As with any other sport, good form is gained through practicing the correct procedure at all times. Scores will not improve just by shooting. Technique is most important, and it is gained through observing the performance of skilled archers on the shooting line, seeking personal advice and instruction from them on correct shooting form, which archers are glad to give, studying closely such printed instructions as you are able to obtain, and deliberate and persistent attempts to put this information into practice.

5. Aiming - The archer has a choice of methods of aiming, or sighting. They may be loosely classified into three groups: direct, indirect or point of aim, and the hunting aim.

The direct, or bow sight method of aiming has in recent years become increasingly popular on the target range and has gradually supplanted the indirect, or point of aim method of aiming.

The hunting aim, generally employed in combination with the high anchor, is favored by field shooters. This method of aiming, erroneously referred to as the instinctive method, is comparable with the wing shot's method of pointing a shot gun when gunning for grouse or other fast flying birds.

6. Scoring Archers - Tournaments are conducted under rules and regulations promulgated by the National Archery Association and the National Field Archery Association. The various state organizations generally adopt the rules of the national organ­izations for the sake of uniformity. The state organizations are a very important part of archery in the United States. They handle the administrative work necessary to promote and co­ordinate the activities of the clubs within a single state. In many cases they sponsor state-wide competition. Through their state organizations, the archers have a voice in advocating leg­islation or regulations which will benefit archery.

7. Rounds - In these days of limited hunting seasons and restricted bag limits, it is impracticable for an archer to acquire profi­ciency in the use of the bow in the actual hunt. A shot gun pat­tern allows for a reasonable margin of error when pointing at game; so that we habitually lay the gun away at the end of the hunting season and may not shoot it again until another season rolls around. Even so, we account for a reasonable and satis­factory share of the game which we flush. The archer is in an entirely different category—he has no margin of error when he hunts with the bow.

8. Archery Club - The formation of an archery club stems from a natural desire for the companionship of others who enjoy the sport of archery. The associations and friendships formed, the opportunities for exchanging ideas on shooting technique and tackle, sharing the expense of property used in common, are a few of the benefits derived from membership in an archery club.

A successful club may grow from a very small beginning, if the original group plans a sound long range policy and is careful not to assume a heavy financial burden. Keep in mind that the sole objective is to provide the opportunity for group participation in your favorite sport, and at a price which the members   can  afford.

9. Field Roving - The growing popularity of the field roving course can be directly attributed to the similarity between the field course and conditions encountered in the hunting field. The recent influx of bowmen into the hunting field has created a demand for this type of course. Field roving is a game and, like golf, there have been established certain standards which must be followed in the construction of a course to insure comparative scores and uniform classification of archers in accordance with their abilities.

10. Tournaments - Varying degrees of self-consciousness are handicaps which plague all beginners. Fear that lack of skill will prove embarrassing when exhibited in the company of other archers, to the extent that it will prevent us from enjoying the sport, impels us to practice alone, or at the most to confine our com­pany to those whom we know are beginners in the sport.

11. Bow Hunting - The sport of bow hunting has gained such momen­tum in the past few years in the United States that the facilities of the old line archery manufacturers have been strained to the limit to cope with the unprecedented demand for bows and equipment which can be used in the hunting field. New com­panies are entering the field in increasing numbers, and such a wide variety of equipment is offered for sale that the old-timer as well as the beginner is confused by the great variety and conflicting claims made by the manufacturers and dealers in bow hunting equipment.

12. The Bow - The bow can truthfully be said to have been man's universal weapon, down through the ages. With it he procured food for himself and his family and defended himself from his enemies. Australia is the only large land mass where the bow was unknown to the aborigines. The Bush man of Aus­tralia is at the bottom of the scale of civilized man; and it is interesting to note in reading history, that from ancient times to the advent of firearms, the nations who reached the highest degree of civilization also excelled in the use of the bow as a military weapon.

13. Ammunition - The science of Ballistics in the mind of the average person is confined to firearms and ammunition, ranging from the single shot .22 caliber rifle to the batteries of 16 inch rifles in the turrets of a modern battleship.

When gun enthusiasts congregate around the open fireplace in the winter evenings, the conversation will shortly fall into a familiar pattern and the ear will catch snatches of conversation where the words: headspace, rim-fire, cases, pattern, lands, and hollow point, etc. fill the air, and to the uninformed make no sense whatsoever.

14. Bow Hunter - Why should a sportsman want to hunt with a bow when a gun offers a muck better opportunity to secure game? Granted more game can be taken with a gun. Records com­piled by the State of Michigan show that one in three gun hunters can be expected to bag his deer while only one in twenty bowmen were able to accomplish this feat during the 1954 season. However, why do more and more fishermen change from heavy poles and lines to fly fishing and spinning with light tackle? The answer in part is that sportsmen are seeking more fun in their favorite sports by handicapping them­selves. There is more thrill to a rising fish than to a dead one; and tomorrow the fisherman can try his skill again.

15. Hunting Bow - In the advertising field it is firmly believed that con­stant repetition of the merits of any article is needed to attract and hold the attention of the public. The endless repetition of commercials on radio and TV, we are told, are good selling techniques. At the risk of being criticized, and in a much less blatant manner, the technique of repetition has been used throughout the text to attempt to implant firmly in the mind of the future bow hunter certain factual information which it is necessary to understand and accept before attempting to master the art of shooting a bow.

16. Moving Targets - The first goal of the steadily increasing number of bow hunters is understandingly the urge to hit a fixed target. The novice concentrates on acquiring the necessary technique by shooting at a mark from a fixed distance, and the measure of his progress is the gradual decrease in the diameter of the circle which will contain the group of arrows he has shot at the target.

17. Bow Vacation - Vacation plans in most families are formulated on compromises. The interests of each member of the family must be taken into consideration. The amount of time available, the season of the year, and the amount of money that has been set aside in the vacation budget envelope, are controlling factors in planning any vacation.

The Labor Day week-end generally marks the close of the summer vacation season. Rates for accommodations are reduced and many desirable locations are available. I

18. Bow Sight - Probably no single accessory has caused more dis­cussion and controversy among archers than the bow sight. The modern archer was the first to adopt the principle of the gun sight to the bow. Our ancestors shot without any mechanical sighting aids. Today archers are divided roughly into two camps designated respectively as, free style and instinctive shooters. Only recently have the two groups reached a common ground in some states where they frequently com­pete in the same tournament. In some sections of the country a single tournament will award prizes to each group. Among the newer converts to archery, sentiment is growing to abolish this distinction. The new crop of bowman appear to be of the opinion that it is the man behind the bow that scores the hits.

19. A Safety Code - The sport of archery is relatively safe, although the bow is rightfully classed as a lethal weapon and was the means by which ancient man gained physical superiority over the animal kingdom. In ancient armies, archers were the coun­terpart of the modern infantrymen. Wars of conquest were decided in battles in which the corps of archers played the decisive role. The deadly effect of this weapon is evidenced as late as 1415 when Henry V of England with an army con­sisting of about 1,000 men-at-arms and 6,000 archers defeated a greatly superior force of French Knights and men-at-arms.

20. Bow String - Second only to the bow in importance is the bow string. The diameter is limited to the width of the arrow nock and a good bow string must maintain a constant length under repeated stress and in changing weather conditions. The string is subjected to unusually hard wear at the arrow nocking point and at the bow nocks. Since good strings are expensive, replac­ing worn strings can become a major item of expense. Bow­men quickly learn that it is economical to make their own bow strings.

21. Tackle Box - Baby powder, adhesive tape, paper clips, glue, pins, thread, rubber bands, pencil, file, pliers, bees wax; the list of items found in an archer's kit is as endless as the variety of items found in a house wife's sewing basket. The simile does not end there as the bowman too is apparently unable to discard an item of tackle which has outlived its usefulness. Look in any tackle box and a goodly portion of the contents is made up of worn out tabs, old shooting gloves, outsized arrow nocks, dis­carded bow sights, and perhaps several bow strings from bows which have long since been retired or relegated to the attic.

22. Novelty Shoots - Monotony probably drives more archers into re­tirement than age or any other factor. Over the years, a sur­prisingly large number of archers who do not hunt have laid aside the bow because of lack of variety in the shoots conducted by their local clubs. When a club offers nothing but the op­portunity to acquire an A rating and planning is directed solely to that end, the average bowman loses interest in tramp­ing the same course and shooting at the same targets day after day with the only objective the possibility of picking up a few more points to increase the total score for the round.

23. Map Hunting - In the Allegheny National Forest, the United States Forest Service is confronted with the problem of supporting an unbalanced sex ratio in the deer herd on an overbrowsed range. Under an archaic buck rule only a distressingly small percentage of the deer population contained within the boun­daries of the forest is legally huntable during the open season, and the big management problem centers around an inade­quate harvest of the deer

24. Needle Points - 'We  have been like  hunters who  have  lost the  points  of  the heavens   and   from   whom   the   sun   has   been   held   for   days,' said Hawk-eye, turning away from his companions. The Last of the Mohicans.
J. Fenimore Cooper.

Had Hawk-eye been able to obtain a compass he would have rated it second only in value to his famous rifle "kill-deer." In the Leather Stocking Tales, Cooper's scouts are represented as telling directions, when the sun was obscured, by observing on which side of a tree of the forest the moss grew thickest.

25. Cooking Venison - 'Venison that has been properly dressed, well pre­served, and, correctly cooked is delicious food. Cooking tests made in the School of Home Economics of the Pennsylvania State University indicated that correctly cooked venison which had been properly cared for after killing probably could not be distinguished from beef of a similar grade and I have eaten pan-broiled rib chops that fully substantiated the conclusions reached in the tests.

26. Food & Cover - Hunting small game with the bow can turn out to be a frustrating instead of an exciting experience. Providing a chance to sharpen your powers of observation and to test your marksmanship with the bow, small game hunting quickly loses its appeal when a two hour tramp fails to produce a single piece of game. Many of us can remember when the same or a similar area of land contained a plentiful supply of small game. Many theories have been advanced, for the diminishing numbers of small game encountered in the hunting field; drought, increased hunting pressure, maturity of the second growth forests in the Eastern United States, shorter working hours in industry, improved highways and rapid means of transportation have all had to bear at least a portion of the blame.

27. A Survey -Conservation officials responsible for manage­ment of our wildlife resources tell us that the crux of the problem of an adequate supply of game is land. People differ in ideas as to how land best may be used. Forestry, farming, wildlife, and man made works are in conflict one with another because of the scarcity of land, and each competes for its use. The ultimate aim of society as a whole is to provide the maxi­mum of satisfaction and contentment possible under such a conflict of interests.

THE END