Archery in the UK

[brock and norris]

Have a word with Mike Norris he is a serious bow hunter and very good looking at the wall decorations

Yes Mark I do bow hunt whenever I get the chance. There is usually a group of four of us ,who incidentally all hunt with firearms as well. The main comment that is forth coming is how much more "intimate" bow hunting is. the ranges are Much closer, on our last trip the average shot was taken at 18 yards, Close enough to smell the animal and hear it breathing. Avery high level of practice is required to become truly proficient as is a good understanding of anatomy. All of the bowhunters I have encountered are really passionate about animal welfare and are very controlled , waiting for the perfect presentation of the animal . It is a very interesting facet to hunting that's for certain.
I personally started after damaging my back and shoulder by doing something REALLY stupid ., and archery was recommended to help build the damaged muscles back up again and I guess it went from there. If anyone is passing the workshop then I would be more than happy to discuss bowhunting with them . I do believe that the big game / overseas hunting section would be a suitable place for bowhunting discussion . That way those that do , do not offend the that do not or those who disapprove. The site is not disrupted and civilised sharing of information can be given to any who are curious. Yours respectfully Mike Norris , Brock and Norris Custom Rifles

 

[giliesrule]

Try the NFAS and NCF in the UK they are the competition bodies

 

[KBar1970]

Also the English Field Archery Association...the difference being that the National Field Archery Society is 3D targets at unknown distances [in a woodland setting]; the EFAA is at paper round target faces at known distances [in a woodland setting]

 

[JTO]

Although Agincourt was remembered for the Longbow, it was also the first battle where a British soldier was killed by gunfire, I believe.

 

[JohnT]

My gun club still has, by Constitution, an archery section.
I used to make longbows and associated equipment, born out of curiosity as to how a piece of wood could perform such unbelievable tasks. My last bow was traded to the sports therapist at the leisure centre where I work in exchange for a course for my partner who had damaged her back ( the course would have cost in excess of £200).
coincidentally, he was asking me for guidance this morning when I called in to give him a fetching jig which was now redundant and taking up room that could store shooting gear.
He was saying that his replacement string was not as "sweet" as the one that was originally on the bow. I told that was because the one he had bought was rayon not linen as I make and promised to look for the half-dozen strings I know I had made up and stored 'somewhere safe'.
it is very satisfying to hear that something born of you own efforts is giving so much enjoyment to someone else, as well as being complimented by other knowledgable bowmen.
As to the bows from Mary Rose, an ex-colleague who worked for me some years ago had been a diver on the MR and was heavily involved with ancient technologies. Whilst helping him with a rope- making demonstration outside the MR museum he was able to take me 'backstage' and introduced me to some of the conservationists. They told me that none of the recovered bows would take the stress of shooting as they were so degraded.
Many of the bows are believed to be made of Spanish Yew. In those days of conflict, merchants importing goods to Britain had to pay part of their tax in Yew bow staves.

John

 

[Southern]

Thanks for these additional posts. They made me think of another joy of archery: the connection to our ancestors. When you make your own tackle, and hunt the same game, the same way, on the same soil, as your own ancestors or some ancient and unknown, there is some feeling of spirits there. I felt it as a boy, making weak little bows to hunt rabbits, from drawings in books, the Boy Scout Handbook, and my imagining how they must have been.

This past weekend, I went to the museum at the birthplace of Sequoyah, inventor of the written alphabet and dictionary for the Cherokee Nation. There were arrow and spear points there, a few replica bows, and old drawings of the bows seen by English soldiers and explorers from Carolina. These flatbows, backed with sinew, and often recurved, had draw weights of sixty and seventy pounds, and would shoot a hunting arrow 250 yards. Hernando DeSoto wrote of these arrows completely penetrating chain mail and killing his soldiers. I have drawn and shot one, made by a Lakota, which he used to kill a bison from horseback, shooting down through its loin and into its heart. What a thrill that must have been for him.

I am thankful to all those who kept archery knowledge from being lost: Horace Ford, Saxton Pope, Howard Hill, Dr. Young, Ishi, Will Compton, Maurice Thompson, to name a few.