Bow, Arrow And Archery For Beginners

When you start getting involved in archery and bow hunting, you may feel a bit overwhelmed at the selection of archery bows and equipment. Obviously, you have plenty of choices when it comes to the bow, arrow and accessories. So here is some information about the wonderful sport of archery.

Recurve Bows

A variation of the longbow is the recurve bow. A recurve bow looks like a longbow except the ends are curved out away from the natural arc of the strung bow. Since the ends are "recurved", the name recurve bow is a logical result. Recurve bows have the same basic characteristics of a longbow, but transfer the bow, arrow energy more efficiently.

The traditional recurve bows are similar construction materials for the long bow. The modern recurve bows are made out of a combination of wood, fibreglass, carbon and the riser may be made out of alloy or carbon materials.

Recurve bows may be shot with or without archery sights.

The Longbow

The most basic archery bows are the longbow. This type of bow has been around for thousands of years. All the way from the earliest civilizations to the current day, longbows are reliable and accurate. The longbow is a piece of wood or composite fibreglass/wood that is bent at the ends. The string is stretched between the ends and is extremely tight.

The longbow is around 6 foot high and is normally shot instinctively, that is without bow sights.

Compound Bows

A more common type of archery bow is the compound bow. Rather than a single string run between two limb ends, compound bows rely on a system of pulleys, cables and cams. This design allows the shooter to draw an arrow at a greater draw weight and hold it easier. With the compound bow, the initial pull on the string is stiff, and then as you get to a certain point, the draw lightens off. This lets the shooter hold an arrow in a "cocked" position longer. The pulleys can be adjusted, so the draw weight and length can be customized for each shooter.

The centre section of the compound bow is usually of a metal like magnesium or high density aluminium, this is called the riser. The limbs are made of a composite material that is capable of taking extreme forces as a lot of energy is held in the limbs.

Different Types Of Archery

Many archery bows can be used in different types of archery. Longbows are typically used for traditional competition or bow hunting. Recurve bows and compound bows are more suited to accurate target shooting, 3D archery, bow hunting and field archery.

There are many accessories you can add to your archery bows, like. Arrow releases, sights, special string silencers, quivers and even range finders are available. It just depends on what type of archery you are getting into and what you want.

Some archery bow, arrow brands you can expect quality from include; Hoyt Archery, Browning, PSE, Mathews Archery, Easton Arrows and Bear Archery, these companies have been around for a long time.