Archery

[Aaron Rushton]

well, i don't know if this relevant to this section at all, but i've just gone and bought ymself a 67" flatbow from Hungary because i had birthday money and i've always made bows which were unsuccessful, they usually had enough accuracy to hit a footxfoot piece of carboard at 10 yrds and penetrate about halfway through. this was a completely out of the blue thing to do, but i've always wanted to take up archery an i'm aware it's illegal to hunt with them in the uk, but if they ever abolish that law it will be such an awesome way to hunt. do any others on here do archery? i have made myself a leather archery brace and finger guard and a soon as i acquire a piece of leather big enough i'll make a quiver.

[Ben Casey]

Hi there I went and made a bow on one of the courses ran at the Cornwall RV it was really good and now I want to carry on doing it I ordered so arrows to make myself from a company online so Im trying that out at the min :) I think it is a good sport and really good to make your own no matter how it turns out :)

[paul standley]

Good on you Aaron, I have been thinking of making my own bow for a while and watched a good few vids on you tube on the topic but for "instant results", buying one is sensible if you've got the cash :-)

Did a little bit of archery about 20 years ago and loved it but didn't keep it up after the first few times as other stuff came along.

Since you are a shooter anyway I'd say that you should get your eye in pretty quickly so keep us posted on how you get on with it.

Paul.

[bigzee]

As kids we always made bows and arrows in the summer hols. out of whatever was to hand, and the best holidays bar none were spent in the Forest of Dean - where choice of archery materials were plentiful.

In recent years I've played with making bows (well - two!) out of yew. In the golden years of archery history I believe the bows were made from the trunk of a yew, but as that's a bit impractical I erm..."sourced" a suitable bit of branch to whittle down with spokeshave and sand to dims. based on SAS manual. the only time I've used it for anything is getting a line into tree canopies for tree-climbing, but walking around with a bow makes you feeel a bit self-conscious!

One tip I would give for DIY makers is keep the fletchings authentic, or out of something soft. I though a good short cut would be to use 2x bits of plastic from milk containers, but that only results in lacerations on the left -hand on release!!

[ANGOF]

Something ive always wanted to take up. I remember Ray Mears and a mate doig "mark" shooting where you pick a target say a grass tussuck etc and the one who gets their arrow closest scores a point. A lovely way to spend a few hours walking around i rekon :)

[ElementOwl]

Evening all

I would love to have a go at learning the craft of a Bowyer but as yet I have not had the time to give it a go. I do own and shoot a couple of bows but I have not had the time to do that either this last year due to work and repairs to my new hovel. I am hoping to get back into it this summer and build my strength/technique up for shooting my longbow again. Nice to see people making archery kit, I am usually repairing mine rather than making new. Maybe I should try it!

[Edwin]

Unfortunately I have lost the details of the maker and organiser of the 3D archery target course at Cornwall RV but I know he wanted to organise a club locally to shoot field 3D. Although I only have 2D animal faced targets I have fun shooting in my own qwood and if anyone wanted to shoot there some time we could arrange it, be nice to have company when my boys can't make it

[happybonzo]

It's probably a stupid question but does anyone know why bow hunting is illegal in the UK?

[Ben Casey]

It's probably a stupid question but does anyone know why bow hunting is illegal in the UK?

Hi Mate I think there was another thread on here somewhere and it was illegal :)

[jus_young]

It's probably a stupid question but does anyone know why bow hunting is illegal in the UK?

I believe it had something to do with poaching, as a bow is silent and easily used as a covert weapon, and the problems with animal cruelty came in somewhere

[Edwin]

Definitely illegal, allegedly there was an MP who was going to speak in support when the Wildlife and Countryside Bill was being debated but he went to the loo at the wrong time. I have to say that I cannot see any difference between blunt arrows and catapult ball bearings except the arrow mught be more accurate and more ppowerful and more humane.

[Aaron Rushton]

the reason was because bows (or crossbows usually) were used to poach deer from estates as they were so quiet but a moderated rifle is only slightly louder. as for how humane they are, a deer with a .243 bullet through it's heart can easily run for 30yrds before dropping, just as it is with a well placed bow-shot.

[Edwin]

Must say that I don't see the logic. Poaching is illegal so is therefore whatever weapon is used at the time but a firearm will bring down heavier punishment than a crossbow. I think it was an animal welfare move that might have been misguided.

However, we don't so really is there enough fun in animal target shooting to interest anyone?

[Aaron Rushton]

so far i've only been shooting trad targets and bottles and the like in ym garden.i've hung up a bg carpet to stop my arrows going anywhere.

[happybonzo]

Howard Hill (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=howard+hill&aq=0&oq=Howard+Hill)