Wood for bows

[al21]

Ogri,

if I sounded like I was trying to teach you suck eggs, not my intention at all.

I'm looking forward to a time when my son is old enough and I'm competent enough to shoot with him and envy you having the space to set up a target in the back garden.

Aaron,

It sounds as if you regularly shoot a warbow. Well done, and much respect!

I hope I'll be to head down that road myself next year. The plan is to start with buying a 60lb longbow that is tillered to a 32 inch draw so that I might shoot in the bow, as you would with a warbow. 60lb is the weight limit at the York Archers, hence my choice. I know it'll get me some comments and looks, but they think I'm a little odd already as I shoot barebow instinctively. From there I plan to start making my own from Ash. Which brings me back to the OP's question.

I shall try the local farmer for permission to take a suitable piece of Ash, or might try the wood yard down the road, who buys in several tons of timber at a time. Including some surprisingly straight lengths of Ash. I'll posts details here of how I get on, but don't hold your breath as 'she who must be obeyed' keeps muttering about kitchens etc.

Al

 

[Runs for cake]

"In my humility I started with a 40lb bow - less than you draw now. Although people will tell you not to if you want to shoot heavy bows I think the best thing to do is to buy yourself one that is a relatively high draw weight - 70lbs is a good start - and join a club where you have access to a field where you can go and shoot for distance. If you shoot it regularly enough you will be surprised how quickly you gain strength - and as I said eat more chips! People will tell you that you will damage your back if you draw heavy bows - I have been shooting them for nearly five years and havent had any problems (yet.......). Its usually just a cop-out from people who lack the perseverence to practice. It annoys me that people think that something cant be done and put other people off just because they cant do it.

Unfortunately most clubs these days have a 70lb draw weight restriction so over that you need to join a traditional archery club like the PickWick Pepperpots. You will also get loads of comments - normally about how inaccurate your bow is - from other members, normally compound bow archers. Ignore them as you are the purist staying true to the traditions of english archery - most of them have probably tried shooting longbows but gave up because they got frustrated."

To be fair , my club is a good mix of compound , recurve and longbow shooters . I've only been at this lark for just over a year (last july) shooting target and really want to try field. This year has been a total loss as I had my shoulder reconstructed and couldn't shoot for months. It is just getting back to strength now that the outdoor season has finished .

Longbows will never have the accuracy of compounds or the modern recurve but they can come a respectable second and still have that "soul" that the others lack in my view.

Sean