Rick: Are you extremely tall or long limbed? It is hard to believe that you actually do have a 34.5" draw length. Can you go to an archery shop or club and have someone measure your draw length using a bow and an arrow?

 

Hi,

I am only 5' 9" tall, but I do have long arms. My wife says I have ape arms! There is a good archery shop that I can go to, it is about 30 miles from my house so I will have to do it on a weekend, but makes sense to get a professional measurement. Anyway, I though 34.5" sounded a bit long, just wanted to see if there are any other long bow shooters that have similar measurements.

Thanks,

Rick

 

Although any wingspan type of measurement is guess work at best generally you are supposed to divide by 2.5 which puts you just under 28".

 

Grantmac, looks like I made a mistake. I divided by 2 instead of 2.5, so that is the reason I am way off. So that put me closer to a 28" draw length. Thanks for catching that!

Best,

Rick

 

There are a lot of variables so there is no short answer. Most of us do not settle on a draw length until after much form work and thousands of arrows shot. An English longbow will produce a shorter draw length than a recurve, by up to two inches, because the narrow upright handle places the hand in a more upright position. Where you anchor matters; English longbow archers shooting for long distance draw past the ear. Target archers draw to the nose. Hunters draw to the side of the face. Those of us who wear eyeglasses draw to near them; those who do not may draw to the eyebrow.

The best way to approximate is to take a practice session and have another archer notice how much arrow shaft is exposed between the back of the bow and the back of the arrowhead. Have him point it out and measure that. - lbg

 

Hi Lbg,

I see that I made a mistake in how I calculated my draw length. Based on dividing my arm span by 2.5, my draw length is 27.6 inches. But as you pointed out, I see that draw lengths can vary for longbow shooters based on how they plan to use the bow. You mentioned that target shooter draw to their nose, which I didn't know and will need to learn more about that. And I do wear glasses so that will make a difference. So it looks like I have a lot to learn.

Thanks for all the information.

Rick

 

"Shooting the Stickbow" by Anthony Camera (Viper1)

$20, last time I checked.

Your draw length, when you get a full draw established, will probably be a little longer, as the 'true' draw length estimate calculated isn't the 'actual' draw length used by everyone, which adds 1.75". Plus, it's only an estimate, your body proportions and shooting form will determine what it really is, and it's better to have equipment that allows a little longer draw than the other way around