Archery is a great shooting sport. It has been practiced for thousands of years. Prior to a bow and arrow people used rocks. Spears, knives/swords, and sharp whatever’s. This meant you had to get close during combat or on the hunt.
Amazon women were so serious about their archery skills that they cut off their breast on the pulling side of the bow. This allowed them to lay the bow closer to their body and improve accuracy without obstructing the bow string, during the release.
English Bowman were masters of their craft. Lessons were learned from their youth. A lifetime of pulling powerful longbows enlarged their muscles and strengthened their shoulders and backs. A seasoned longbowman could accurately hit a target at 300 yards or more.
During one battle against the French, the bowman eliminated hundreds of French Knights from long range. They shot arced, steel tipped arrows into the massed cavalry with devastating effect.
Native Buffalo hunting archers used strong short bows to ride along side a buffalo and shoot them, all at a gallop! Similar stories are told of Mongol and Samurai archers.
Hunters, that needed to be accurate, are some of the best archers in the world. Many bowmen stick to traditional wooden longbows. I once tagged a buck using a bow that I made from Osage Orange wood, alder shafts, knapped arrowheads, turkey fletching’s and sinew strings. The sharpened chert passed through the buck at 12 yards.
Archery hunting means more than shooting an arrow. You also need to practice camo, scent, tracking, calling, and so many other skills. This is why an ethical archery harvest is so challenging and sporting.
Modern bows can be adjusted and tuned to require less strength. The “let off” of the bows pull is reduced using pulleys and physics. This means faster arrows and longer range. A modern arrow can travel over 300 feet per second. My Osage Bow clocked in at just 150 feet per second.
Some hunters try to tag their big game critters at very long ranges. At one outdoor show that I was performing seminars at. A hunter showed me a picture of his Bull elk. He shot it at a range of 110 yards, along the Missouri Breaks. Only one arrow was from him, but he discovered several other different arrows stuck in non-vital parts of the huge bull. The wounds were festered, and he could not eat the bull. Other Breaks hunters shoot at elk at ranges beyond accuracy.
During target competition or combat, I can see long range archery as a skill. For archery hunting I still feel that closer is better. This requires you to be a hunter and a marksman. The whole point of primitive weapons is to get close. Tagging an elk, turkey, deer, antelope, or any critter is an intimate experience.
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Montana Grant
