Archery

A neighbor told me that it would be 10 years in prison because it’s a ‘counseled weapon.’ I don’t understand how it would be. I don’t use it for hunting.

No it cant be a concealed weapon. A rifle cant even be a concealed weapon.(but you can get in trouble if its loaded in you vehicle) A pistol is the only thing you have to worry about carrying or haveing in your vehicle.

im starting archery soon and i know i want a short bow of some kind but you can now get a compound bow and i’m not sure what bow i should get, please help i want to get into it and maybe get into contests

Wait until you have started. You will find out which type of bow suits you.

I am making a Chinese repeating crossbow, and I need to lash four strips of bamboo together–2 being 3.5 feet long and the others each slightly shorter. Will strips of 0.25in. plywood–lashed together–work for this?
Thank you! =)

Probably not. Bamboo is very thick and strong. To make a bow or crossbow, you are going to want wood that is strong AND flexible, so the pullback on the band is far enough at arm’s length.

I want to make a good bow, 58" long, with about 35 lbs of force. Any ideas, methods, tips, or links would be very appreciated. Thanks!

The "best" wood depends on the type of bow you wish to make, where you happen to live (what’s available in YOUR area?) and how skilled you are in bow building.

It is fairly easy to make a bow of the kind you wish to make, no matter what "Chasing Fever" might have to say about it. (may know "alot" about weapons, I doubt it – seems to think only compounds are "powerful enough" to hunt with, no matter that all-wood primitive bows have been used to take down African animals for tens of thousands of years. r u listening "Chasing Fever"?)

For what I have found to be some of (if not THE) best information on building bows, visit the following websites. Read, ask questions, and pay attention.

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php

http://tradgang.com/ (I emphatically recommend the "Ashby Reports" for anyone who is serious about bowhunting)

http://www.bowyers-den.com/

http://primway.net/

http://primitiveways.com/

These websites are built, run and populated by the best bowyers (that’s folks who build bows) around. Period.

I keep my left arm pretty straight holding the bow, and I pull the string with my right hand. But when I leave the string (and the arrow) it grazes my left elbow. Can you suggest a suitable correction in the technique? A video clip demonstrating a similar problem anywhere on the internet is greatly appreciated.

Travis S is correct…but only a slightly, if at all. The Number One cause of "string slap", whether on elbow or forearm, is not too long a draw — it is poor shooting form. I know too many people with "excessively long" draw lengths who do not have any trouble with "string slap" at all (Korean archers draw upwards of 34 inches, and they don’t have problems…). Pull your bow’s string to full draw as though you are actually shooting, but without an arrow (don’t want any accidents here if you happen to slip), and look at your left arm. Is your elbow protruding into the path of the string in any way? If it is, you need to work on your shooting form… (ok, you can let down the string now… no, don’t just let go of it, ease it down)

Look through and use the following links to learn good shooting form; they may be "optimised" for use with Traditional and Primitive bows (especiaslly the "Ten Steps"), but the methods just happen to also work with compound bows.

http://sagittarius.student.utwente.nl/artikel/steps/

http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/forums/59

The "Ten Steps" are mostly guides; there is some room for individual "style" in each Step. The one thing which must always be remembered is to do each step as close to exactly the same **every time you do it**. Consistency is the key to good form, and good form is a major key to accuracy.

Now, if it is only your elbow which is "at fault", you probably need only rotate the elbow joint out of the way. Make sure the inside of the joint is turned toward the string — not "up-n-down" or outwards. If this doesn’t work, you will have to keep your elbow slightly bent when you shoot.

If you are twisting your body — and therefor your bowarm — in order to reach full draw (and to hold it), you need to get a bow with a lower draw weight. Too high a draw weight always leads to poor form, which in turn leads to poor accuracy.

I hope this helps you in finding , and curing, the problem you are having with "string slap".