Okay...What Is It About the Longbow..?

[CraigH]

There is something about the longbow that draws me back to shoot it time and time again.

I think I am more more accurate with the recurve. I like that I can easily takedown my 3 piece recurves for travel. The recurve looks better with a bow quiver, generally has a bit more omphh and shorter for the bush. The recurve for me has a lot of positive ticks beside it and I enjoy shooting it,..... but I keep coming back to the longbow.

What is it about the longbow..?

[Roadie]

History, 100years War, it certainly gave the Frenchies a Few Head Aches. Cheers Roadie.

[DavidM]

I have a love hate relationship with my longbow, many a time fellow tradies at Lilydale will here the lament “stinking longbow” mumbled in frustration. An like you I can shoot better with the recurve but the longbow keeps calling me back. Personally I believe its is possessed by Beelzebub

[littlejohn59]

hey CraigH
Not everything in life is explainable.
I swapped over to a longbow from a compound 2 months after i took up archery. I love that i never can 100% predict where the arrow will fly to shooting a longbow.
When you do get it right a great feeling of accomplishment is felt.
No aids to assist. Just you , a bow and a string.
A couple of years ago i did buy my 1st recurve. I shot it for 3 months before i sold it. For whatever reason i couldn't master it and i missed the longbow. Recently i purchased a English Longbow and have found a new love affair. I just love longbows and that's all I shoot now.
Thanks for bringing up the subject. Enjoy the weekend.

[daniel boon]

Craig, I'm in the same boat as you. Must be the challenge, (as if I need it). Just got a new one, and seems to be working for me, so far. Early days, but I'm quite impressed with it actually.
cheers Dan

[Stickbow Hunter]

Bought my first longbow in 1984 and I'm still shooting them. They are a great all round bow and an excellent hunting bow IMO.

Jeff

[GrahameA]

For me.

Longbows are example of an effective product and when they are well made they can be extremely effective.

Plus:
* they require a lot less other stuff for use
* they are simple yet have many aspects that are a challenge
* they are quick to set-up and take down
* people can make them relatively easily
* they are recognisable
* etc.

They are the archery equivalent of the "little black dress". Well made and finished they can hold there own in the looks department against any of the other bows.

For the beginner archer there is just less to think about when they are already suffering from an information overload.

They are available at economical prices - which makes an easy entry into the sport/pastime/pursuit. And if you are flush with funds you can spend a small fortune ..... or acquire a small (or large) collection.

And on top of all that that they look good in the Movies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3hDAaxHNjs and they feature in one of the better opening of TV Series http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvUl5rRnhAw

[CraigH]

Some varied replies and something different about it. Yeah, I keep putting the longbow away in the cupboard and it keeps coming out more and more.

[longbowinfected]

Started with compound after 4 week beginners course on recurve, went to a tournament, came fourth yet I had the same score as the winner, noted every compounder bitched if they got a red, looked at the other end of the line at the happy folks and wanted a bit of that.
Never stopped.
Lifetime of Personal Best scores to come organised target, field, 3D, clout and at trad shoots just for the heck of it.
Humankind has a natural attraction to beautiful smooth curves and then there is that zen like state created by the mesmerising high slow curved arc of flight, observable with longbows.
Back to the wood.......it comes to hand readily. My best mate in archery made it for me.......the bloody wood must be magnetic.
It is all enhanced when you shoot woods and even stronger with flu flus or big feathers......so I guess the big thing for me is that it fully engages all my senses and intellect which no other bow type can.

Totally agree with Mr Amy, but they are additional benefits.

Kevin

[stringnstik]

Because it ....because I.......because they.......

Just because

[scuzz]

I started with a compound from the age of 7. I then bought a recurve in my teenage years as i was considering starting trad. But from the moment i shot a longbow i knew there was nothing else for me.
Possibly the simplicity, possibly the challenge of shooting one accurately, possibly the beauty. But its likely the combined package though. And there is some kind of raw feeling i get from shooting a longbow that i have never had shooting any other bow.

Scuzz

[Jim]

This may sound dumb, but I get excited by the fact that the longbow has lower scores in the ABA national records. They're hard to shoot well, so to be a good shot with one is an accomplishment. Also I shot at my first ever ABA shoot on the weekend (Townsville Invitational, with a recurve) and there were a lot of good natured gags directed at longbow shooters from the wheelie crowd. In spite of the friendly, good nature of the gags, a competitive little voice in my head said "I'd love to outshoot some of you wheelie shooters with a longbow some day"

There was one 'old worn out b....bowhunter', as one pundit loudly described him, who I believe did outshoot a number of wheelie's with his longbow and he sure shot better than me

Jim

[Nephew]

I can't explain it, I just love 'em!

[yeoman]

I find beauty in mechanical simplicity.

Being a bowyer, longbows are efficient in time and materials to make, they're more forgiving in the tiller, there's more room to fix things if something goes awry.

The shape at full draw is deceptively subtle, hiding a lot of careful forethought behind a simple elliptical curve.

Of all the bows to teach others to make, a simple longbow is by far and away the best choice.

Dave

[AndyF]

For me it's the simple fact that a longbow is 'bows and arrows' in a pure form. Everyone to their own (even the wheelie guys) but to me longbow is 'proper' bows and arrows. A friend of mine who doesn't shoot described one of my strung longbows as 'like a musical instrument'. I think so too.

I started with English longbows about eight or nine years back, then after a year or two break, got back into it and wanted to shoot AA/FITA comps (didn't know about Trad' events back then) so got my first modern longbow - a basic Bear Montana. Then I upped things a bit and shot a Tomahawk Diamond SS (great off-the-shelf bow) for three or four years and now also have a couple of custom made Fox Triple Crowns. Whilst they're all modern longbows, it's amazing how many design, wood and technical differences there are between them. And how different they all shoot.

Wandering about Wiseman's field with Eoin on one guffaw-filled afternoon a while back, he said something along the lines of "We may be soft, harmless, fleshy pink things, but give us a bendy stick and a bit of string and we'll take down an elephant". I knew exactly what he meant. I'm still amazed at what it's possible to hit with 'a bendy stick and a bit of string'.

I also like the fact that once you're set up right, there's very little to go wrong and all you've got to blame for a miss is yourself. That makes it hard but endlessly challenging to improve and be consistent. Longbows find every hole and glitch in your form on every shot. Maybe that's why some people have a love/hate relationship with them.

Add to that the fact that the arrows fly slow enough for you to see that beautiful arc as they wing their way towards the spot (well sometimes). That on its own keeps me coming back.

On the subject of arrows, I have to say that I also love shooting woods (which longbowers do more than most). Whilst I sometimes shoot alloys in AA comps that allow it, a longbow shooting good woods just 'feels' right. And it works too. I always shoot woods in the City of Sydney target comp, and a couple of years back had a blinder - beating something like the bottom third of the freestyle recurvers with all their carbon arrows, sights and what not.

In some ways, what sums up longbows for me is the simple pleasure and the grin factor. My friend James shot the Wiseman's Get Together for the first time this weekend. He's been shooting about four months and already has one of Nick L's longbows (a 45lb Priestess). You should have seen his face when he nailed the fox on the beam on the challenge course. Massive grin. Bet he was reliving that shot all the way home.

Longbows also seem to come with a fairly good bunch of people for the most part. Some of the recurvers aren't too bad either, I suppose.

That'll do.

Andy

[Trad Bound]

Andy, Spot on

[Chuditch]

The lure of the longbow for me was a simple one. I just shoot them better than I do other bows. Its a beautiful cycle, I shoot better because I enjoy shooting the longbow over other bows.

[tradarcher]

I love simplicity in most things and that includes archery. long live the longbow.

[greybeard]

I like the simplicity of the longbow although the laminated glass/wood/bamboo longbow is cold.

Nothing can surpass the feel of a well made selfbow fashioned from bush timber.

Daryl.

[Roadie]

Daryl couldn't Agree More with your comments, A well made Selfie, nice smooth lines you just Love Em to death. Cheers Roadie.