I am looking for interesting or unusual facts about archery. Do you know of any off-the-wall or fun tidbits about the sport--people, history, equipment, records, ANYTHING? If so, what is it, and where did you hear of it?
What's the most unusual/interesting fact you know about archery?
Artemys
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One of the neat things i think is the longest shot I guess. I saw it on the guiness website.
Justin Huish(?) made a 101 yd. bullseye with his recurve and I believe it is the worlds record.
Rick
Justin Huish(?) made a 101 yd. bullseye with his recurve and I believe it is the worlds record.
Rick
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That Huish thing was staged for TV and many guys could have done that-Darrell Pace who was the best recurve target archer in history (at least in many people's opinions) used to do this at 110 or more yards as could his peers such as Rick Mckinney and Sante Spigarelli and other guys who were in that first wave that pushed the WR over 1300.
RIck Stonebraker, the world 50+ target recurve champion split the Clout flagstaff at a recent nationals. That is far more impressive than the stage WR of JH given that 90 meters is only two yards shorter than Huish's and a Korean guy at the last worlds was averaging over 9.2 an arrow at 90 meter (which means he hit a bunch of bullseyes at 99 yards in the 36 arrows). Move the target back 20 yards and he was still land a bunch in
JH took several shots to do that-its not like he walked up, no warmup, and nailed it with the first shot
RIck Stonebraker, the world 50+ target recurve champion split the Clout flagstaff at a recent nationals. That is far more impressive than the stage WR of JH given that 90 meters is only two yards shorter than Huish's and a Korean guy at the last worlds was averaging over 9.2 an arrow at 90 meter (which means he hit a bunch of bullseyes at 99 yards in the 36 arrows). Move the target back 20 yards and he was still land a bunch in
JH took several shots to do that-its not like he walked up, no warmup, and nailed it with the first shot
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Chinese history: General Kwan's brother deflected 1000's of arrows using the "Spinning Spear" technique, while retreating after rescuing the general's son.
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Hey cool, two oriental archery stories at the same time.
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Don has lots of neat stories involving archers of yore. He speaks how modern archers may have forgotten some of the techniques of the past. You don't need good line to shoot a compound bow but when you were shooting 100-150 pound longbow or one of those severely reflexed/deflexed Tartar bows you did
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Yeah, one time I saw one of those Mongol recurve bows at a museum. The sign said it was a 120lb draw....jeez...an arrow shot thru that will go thru an elephant's head!!!
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Someone can correct me on this but didnt the Mongolians hook their strings with their thumb and put the index finger over the end of the thumb to hold it as they were drawing. To shoot this way I think a right handed archer would have had to shot a left handed bow because the arrow paradox was just the opposite that it would normally be . I went and found a link that has lots of interesting facts on the Mongolian bow and archers, very interesting.
www.coldsiberia.org/monbow.htm
www.coldsiberia.org/monbow.htm
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Clothyard Shaft
I just read this last night and found it interesting.
British longbow arrows were called Clothyard Shafts by mideval archers so many people assume they were 36 inches long. At the time there were a lot of flemish tailors imported to England and they used a different measurement system. The Flemish clothyard was 27 4/10 inches and this is where the term clothyard shaft comes from.
The average 14th century adult male in Britian was between 5'0" and 5'3". It would have been biomechanically impossible for them to draw a bow to anything near 36".
I just read this last night and found it interesting.
British longbow arrows were called Clothyard Shafts by mideval archers so many people assume they were 36 inches long. At the time there were a lot of flemish tailors imported to England and they used a different measurement system. The Flemish clothyard was 27 4/10 inches and this is where the term clothyard shaft comes from.
The average 14th century adult male in Britian was between 5'0" and 5'3". It would have been biomechanically impossible for them to draw a bow to anything near 36".
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when i was ten me and this other guys arrow collieded in mid air and mine went into his 
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Panzer-they could actually draw longer than expected since the Brit draw was to the draw shoulder to gain speed. Archers wore a tight cap to prevent the ear from being whacked by the string. Not as accurate but speed was how they were measured.
There was a famous Brit archery boat (used to rain arrows on enemy ships)-Princess Anne or something like that-where theycould tell which skeletons were archers due to the deformation of the arm bones caused by lengthy training at a young age with bows that went up to 150 pounds in adulthood
There was a famous Brit archery boat (used to rain arrows on enemy ships)-Princess Anne or something like that-where theycould tell which skeletons were archers due to the deformation of the arm bones caused by lengthy training at a young age with bows that went up to 150 pounds in adulthood
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Barreled shafts (X10 ACE) are not a new idea either. Turkish flight arrows several hundred years old have been found to be barreled - this allowed them to use lighter and thiner arrows in order to achieve distance. They were not however, an Aluminum/Carbon laminate....
Sean
Sean
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I don't know that, I thought they drew to their face. Do you know of anyplace that has pictures or illistrations of this? Not that I doubt you, I am just interested in seeing how this was done.Jim C said:
A 27 1/2 inch arrow still sounded a bit long for a person that was just over 5 feet tall. It would probably be just about right for going to the shoulder though.
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There a phillipino tribes that could and still do shoot beyond 200 yards, into the 220's with no sight or any such equipment. They can hit a 12"x12" target at those distances. The ones that miss, don't miss by much.
They used this techique for territorial protection against other tribes, or trespassers. But they have a hard time being accurate at short distances.
They used this techique for territorial protection against other tribes, or trespassers. But they have a hard time being accurate at short distances.
broken arrow shot
I was once shooting at a 3-d tournament an on one shot my arrow hit a tree branch and broke into two pieces--one went into the ground, the other scored either an eight or ten on the 3-d deer target! I received the "skunk" trophy for the luckiest shot from the club that put the tournament on that day!
I was once shooting at a 3-d tournament an on one shot my arrow hit a tree branch and broke into two pieces--one went into the ground, the other scored either an eight or ten on the 3-d deer target! I received the "skunk" trophy for the luckiest shot from the club that put the tournament on that day!
Panzer-they could actually draw longer than expected since the Brit draw was to the draw shoulder to gain speed. Archers wore a tight cap to prevent the ear from being whacked by the string. Not as accurate but speed was how they were measured.
I have seen pics somewhere years ago of old English archers drawing the string way past their ears. I believe this is a true statement. Cory
I have seen pics somewhere years ago of old English archers drawing the string way past their ears. I believe this is a true statement. Cory
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