Thread: Any Archers out there??

Originally Posted by onimaru55

Mate, I shoot off my thumb. The only work I do on my bow is dust it.

I have a couple of thumb rings but I wonder how small of people they were designed for. They don't even fit on my little finger!

Originally Posted by Leatherstockiings

Mcbladescar, Did you have any specific questions about selfbows?

I'm thinking hickory bow to start
Should I cut my own stave or start with a nice quarter sawn piece from the mill
I used to shoot a 70 lb compound, what draw should i try to make in a longbow?
At some point I'd like to hunt with it so I;m thinking 55
length maybe 66"
just tossin around the idea. I like that they are very light and can be self made weapons
Mike

Who told you I was harvesting a few gators????

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Who told you I was harvesting a few gators????

No one! I said IF!

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Originally Posted by Mcbladescar

I'm thinking hickory bow to start
Should I cut my own stave or start with a nice quarter sawn piece from the mill
I used to shoot a 70 lb compound, what draw should i try to make in a longbow?
At some point I'd like to hunt with it so I;m thinking 55
length maybe 66"
just tossin around the idea. I like that they are very light and can be self made weapons
Mike

I would recommend a stave @ 72 inches long, 2 inches x 2 inches. 66 is a good, stable length for a hickory self-bow. A white wood like hickory is great to start out with; easy to work and pretty straight forward. Try to buy a stave if you are eager to get started. If you cut your own it will take awhile to dry the wood.

My personal experience is that my draw length for a traditional bow was about one inch shorter than my compound. One way to determine draw length is to draw arrow and measure the distance from the groove in the nock to the backside of the handle (facing you). You should check your local Hunting regulations concerning draw weight. Sone places have a minimum draw weight for big game hunting. My personal experience is that 50-55lbs is a good weight. There is a belief that being able to shoot accurately at a lower weight trumps high poundage.

Some great books to look into are The Bowyers Bible series. There are also some great forums such as Tradgang, primitive Archer Magazine's Forum, and Paleoplanet. I have not been on these archery forums in a while but they were going strong a couple of years ago. I hope this helps. Let me know if I missed something.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

It looks like they shoot off the opposite side of the bow for a right handed person,,, my arrow shaft comes off the riser on the left side of the bow ????

That's correct. Most traditional archery with thumbrings is like that tho some Mongolian archers shoot off the left side in spite of the t/ring.

Originally Posted by 32t

I have a couple of thumb rings but I wonder how small of people they were designed for. They don't even fit on my little finger!

You make your own so it slides on at 90º to your shooting position. It is elliptical so when rotated for shooting it will not slide off.

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Just finished putting my bow together, after the damage I did months ago on a dry fire. Took it to the range this morning & was a 10" off at 12 yards,,,,, gross adjustments on the front sight & "peep" provided little correction.
I have always hated the peep sight & believe it to be the "weakest" part of the compound system. It has moved on me several times over the past 4 years, needing correction. I caught myself today changing my anchor point to find sight alignment between the peep & the front sight.

After a while , I started sighting over the peep , not using it, keeping my anchor as intack as I could, good shots developed. So I pulled the peep out of the string on the line & shot without it. Good shots at 15 & 20 yards.

So the questions are ,,,, does anybody shoot a compound hunting bow without a peep? If so, are the shoots effected at greater yardage,,, over 20 yards? Will a consistent anchor point & the front post alone,,, keep me in the game, say at 50 yards.

Thanks guys,,,,,

I've never had any sort of sight system on my compound bow, having always chosen to shoot instinctive. My first choice of bow was always a Longbow (The Welsh ancestry thing happening for me), but I was talked into buying a compound bow by someone whose opinion I respected. I regret not having stood my ground all the same. One day I will get myself that longbow. I shoot as a Lefty.


Mick

Originally Posted by Hirlau

Just finished putting my bow together, after the damage I did months ago on a dry fire. Took it to the range this morning & was a 10" off at 12 yards,,,,, gross adjustments on the front sight & "peep" provided little correction.
I have always hated the peep sight & believe it to be the "weakest" part of the compound system. It has moved on me several times over the past 4 years, needing correction. I caught myself today changing my anchor point to find sight alignment between the peep & the front sight.

After a while , I started sighting over the peep , not using it, keeping my anchor as intack as I could, good shots developed. So I pulled the peep out of the string on the line & shot without it. Good shots at 15 & 20 yards.

So the questions are ,,,, does anybody shoot a compound hunting bow without a peep? If so, are the shoots effected at greater yardage,,, over 20 yards? Will a consistent anchor point & the front post alone,,, keep me in the game, say at 50 yards.

Thanks guys,,,,,

I use the peep in mine. I've never had one move once it was properly served in. That's neither here nor there though. To your question I used to shoot competition archery a ton and one of the guys my dad and I shot with didn't use a peep. He's got several elk and deer hanging on the wall so he definitely doesn't have any problems shooting w/o one.

********UPDATE**********

Since my post on the 21th, I was shooting without the peep. I was all around the bullseye at 20 yards, so I had a friend at Bass Pro. pick a peep & insert it in the string again. I've been shooting with it since last Wednesday. My groups got tighter & now I just need to get it sighted in at 30+.

My bow , as it is now,,,,,