To see more bows like this and all the options I have, visit my website www.gillsprimitivearchery.com I specialize in real hunting selfbows, arrows, quivers and stone points.
Thanks Ryan, I also make bows, and tend to favor short draw strong bows. Your video has given me some great ideas about ways to make my bows better. I am just a beginner bowyer and I have had far more failures than successes in my work thus far. All my best, -Debra
I have a Sioux-style double curve plains bow that is only 46.5" in long. The max safe draw on it is well under 24". Really zips along though. One thing I have definitely noticed is that the more the length of the arrow exceeds the archer's draw length, the more forgiving the arrow spine requirements are. The plains bow shoots 32" arrows like darts. No wobbling, no fishtailing, nothing. You see lots of so-called "primitive" peoples shoot insanely long arrows, probably for this exact reason.
I shoot longer arrows than I need to ,common arrows were up to 40inches back in ancient times, Cherokee shot arrows around 35inches up ,I know this thru my grandfather and great grandfather
I just built a sinew backed ash bow . 55#@22" its only 49" long ... and to my suprise ... i was insanly acurate . Like wow !!! Fifteen yards all six arrows ( cane arrows flint heads ) in the area about the size of a base ball ... all my osage longbows . Its a paoer plate sized area ... im sold !!!! And way easier to manover in the borial forest up here on my new hunting grounds of wisconsin . Thanks ryan :)
just curious, how's that bow doing now that three years have passed? a smaller bow would take more abuse, I'm guessing, tho the sinew backing would help (nature's fiberglass).
Osage is the best wood for bows,,,, especially for the plains style flat horse bow,,,, all wood breaks,,, more you shoot the closer it comes to breaking,,, but that said,, my bows pulled to 28 inches and sold to not pull over 26 inches,,, and NOT shot the English longbow way,,, mine were pulled horizontally to the ground as IF you were on horseback,, very accurate because you lose the left/right problem,,, only high and low to worry about,,, ole fart Jimmy
I was curious as to why you only have one silencer and then remembered watching a video on the odd shaped Japanese bow. Evidently the string harmonics when shot are just like a rifles barrel. The least amount of vibration as it oscillats up and down the string is where they place the grip, about a 1/3rd of the way up, thus the odd shape of the design which now makes perfect sense. Anyhoo why just one? I really appreciate the wealth of information and knowledge all of you put out for free regarding all things primitive. God bless you all and stay healthy.
Just finished up a maple plains indian bow 44" nock to nock 45 " tip to tip draws a little over 40 pounds at 23 " draw backed with elk leg sinew and walleye air blader glue the maple came from a tree and not a lumber yard board. Zips an arrow quite fast and very hard hitting. Also jas a horse hair tuft on the tip . Arrows are made out of red osier dog wood .:-)
Wow... this is great...now i know why... well i made a pyramid self flat bow of 51in nock to nock from a giant bamboo species native of south east asia... on the tillering jig it can go as far as 28in max with 42.25lbs draw weight before i can hear a little subtle squeek sound... but when i actually draw it with mediterranean draw i was surprized i can only make it to 24-25in which is a bit funny considering my normal draw length with other bows is usually 27.5-28 inch... i was scratching my head until i see this video
Good video. I'm 5'7 and for me it depends on the bow. With my 54" angular bow I draw 32-33" to my right shoulder Mediterranean style. With my nomad horsebow 48" I draw 26-27 inches with my thumb or slavic. Accuracy is almost the same but the longer bow is more stable, more forgiving for me cuz it takes more movement in the hand to throw your shot off with a longer bow than with a short bow with you can twist in your hand like nothing.
I have a 47" that shoots 58+# @24" I use a string limb clicker to get full draw every time. Now when it clicks I can get my anchor. It takes a lot of practice but works every time.
Over the years I found a different way of shooting. I always liked short bows. And a bend through the handle short bow is about as short as you can get a bow amd still shoot a arrow around a few inches shorter than half its length. If backed with sinew then you can get half its length of draw. If you draw to your ear well you need a long bow because your style of shooting with a anchor point makes that necessary. For up to 30 yards chest shot arrows can be a very fast and accurate way of shooting a heavy short bow. There are ways to stack arrows in your bow hand and draw hand to shoot several arrows in quick succession. Accuracy is basicaly point and shoot. I love short bows. My favorite type is gull wing type bows. Once you get use to them they are crazy accurate.ive seen you shoot in your videos and you are a very good shot.
I shoot a 27" Beeman White Box B4 from my 40# Bear recurve. But I really like that short Apache bow you showed, and want more info how to get one, in the 30 to 40 pound draw weight. At 5' 9", toting a longbow around the woods, is not very practical.
Howdy, like your videos. Been making short bows and Maximizing my short draw 24-26". Just white woods, hickory and White oak, man I agree with you, FAST hard hitting bows. I'm friends with you on FB, check some of my bows out, might send you one and let you review it.
And that is just one Romanian's opinion... for those that are curious.. google translates this to "at worst video" which I think you can get the gist of him not thinking this video has merit. Here in America, we are taught, if you don't have anything nice to say, keep your opinions in Romania. I'll go ahead and stand by my experience despite the negative comment. I have a feeling he wanted to see simple shooting and all I did was share experience on bow and draw lengths that could benefit many, but that wasn't what "he wanted" so it must constitute a negative comment and thumbs down. That makes 2 dis-satisfied non-Americans to post disappointment in my comments. :-)
so... my short flatbow is only about 52 inches. My longbow is 73. Dammit I now need a set of new arrows. Thanks alot! (just kidding the video was very informative. ) Now if only I could fix the problem of the floating anchor point with the shorter bow... harder to aim... but fun to shoot...
Hey guys am making a strawberry guava wood bow. Do you think it's a good wood to make Bow? Am from a tropical island and we dont have wood like marple, osage or hickory.
I think the only disadvantage to a short bow is that the arrow has less time to speed up but, it's lighter in the hand and more convenient to carry and maneuver.
+TheFlyingSquirrelI Thanks very much. This is probably my most disliked video simply because it conflicts with the beliefs of the traditional archery police that think form archery is the only correct way to shoot successfully. Much like politics today, we are now a nation groomed to be intolerant of other people's opinions. :-) glad you enjoyed the content of the video.
I'm making a new bow, bend through the handle and 60 inches long. I currently use a 26 inch draw. Should I sinew back it? thanks for any response! (the bow may get shorter due to some checking on the wood)
If it bends through the handle, there is no need to back it at that length. You should be plenty fine with an unbacked bow. If you got down to around 52- 54 inches then you might start considering it.
+Connor O'Malley There can be several factors in a bow being overbuilt for maintaining weight.. Species of wood, climate, overall quality of the piece of wood. Overall a person should expect better durability from a slightly overbuilt bow. Max performance in a bow can certainly lead to a shorter bow life. A good bowyer should know the middleground between overbuilding and increasing performance. A bow that is bent extremely far should in theory have better performance but then is also more likely of a problem in the future. I typically overbuilt slightly to maintain durability since the gains in performance are typically not great enough to warrant a volatile bow. Given the choice most people would take peace of mind over an extra 3-5 fps. These bows in this video are still slightly overbuilt, they are just designed to distribute their load on the limbs more efficiently than a large handled straight bow.
Very good info- if I may interject one point. I agree that short bows are extremely effective, if you have a really short draw then I would agree that a short bow is a better option. However with that being said I would argue that if you can train to have a longer "natural" draw you can get more performance out of the same *weight* (different length) arrow. Simply put, longer power stroke ALWAYS = more fps out same draw weight (same limb material) bow, just physics. I draw 28" give or take my bow is 59" short bows rule. P.s. 59" is really like medium though right? Is there a term for that? Do we just call it a bow?
Yeah, 26 inch draw on a 46 inch selfbow wont last. It far exceeds the balance between length a draw ration. A primitive bow only being able to safely draw 50% of it's working limb. So if you had a 46 in long bow nock to nock, perfectly tillered and bend through the handle, the max draw for this would be 23 inches. If you have a 4 inch rigid handle, it would knock the safe draw length down to 21 inches. If you add a backing like sinew or rawhide, you can squeeze an extra inch or 2 out, but an unbacked bow wont last if it exceeds the 50% rule
I use 28 " so that it is an " more for droadhead crlearance ! But I can get 30" arrows precut carbon fiber arrows now so I get those ! PSE firestorm light 31" axe - axe ! I have her cranked down to 45-50 lbs , so my srrows don't explode ! Shoots like a good gun !
+Ryan Gill I'm making a 56 inch bend through the handle bow but, it is a D in the cross section, could you please give me some tips? draw is 24 inches by the way.
ahhh, I gotcha. Sapling bows can be tough because that D cross section with the crown on the back often wants to pop a splinter or fret the belly. However if it is 56 inches, bends in the handle, andonly draws 24 inches you should be fine. If it pops splinters you can back it with rawhide. If it frets the belly, there wont be much you can do
back in the day,,, I was shooting at a tournament (compound bows) and a guy showed up with his recurve,,, long story short,,, HE won the tournament,, Point ??,,, anyone ?
Its a controversial subject in the archery world. The proof is in the hunt. Like you, I "evolved" into a more native approach to shooting. My bows got shorter, my draw length got shorter, and I can hunt white tail successfully, so there you go....snap shooting and all (I know, it's a crime!). I just finished two osage stiff handle pyramid bows, one is 57" TT, the other is 58"TT, slightly deflexed with reflexed tips. They both pull around 48-50 pounds @ 26", but honestly, I really don't even draw that far usually.
I like short bows. btw, my trilogy will be delievered next Tuesday : ). I am going to ground hunt, sit and wait and not move, like the bow hunting ninja on u tube : ) cheers.
my true draw length is 24 inch draw at full draw i would love one of your bows and im only just 5 ft tall so hook me up im here in Canada BC i need min of 40 # to hunt
+mike sipes Just scoot on over to www.gillsprimitivearchery.com and look at the options. You will most likely either be looking at the Prairie model www.gillsprimitivearchery.com/prairie-reproduction-bows.html or the upgraded Aboriginal model www.gillsprimitivearchery.com/aboriginal-bows.html but f you find another model you like better, I can pretty much do shortbows of all styles. thanks!
Hey Gill, doesn't this mean taht many people are shooting at much lower poundages than they think? Would this have any implications in respect of legal draw issues?
Yes, for sure. I see it on a regular basis. I always try to convince people to measure their actual shooting draw length before making them a bow, and also try to pick a slightly heavier hunting bow than they are comfortable with. I think this is a big reason why some people may not get very good penetration on game, or that their arrows fly too stiff out of their bow. When a bow is desired by the shooter to be 55# (@28") but only truly draws it 26 inches, the bow will then likely only be 49#, plus its not working as efficiently as it could be. Sometimes, it's a big deal, other times it's not. 3-5 pounds lower than 60# and you are still in good shape... but if you are trying to shoot stone points and are looking for a 50# minimum, then knock 3-6 pounds off the bow, it could cost you a deer. It could also make you fall under legal standards, but mostly that depends on what you tend to static draw during a test, and if the game warden is either smart enough to catch the discrepancy, or is in a bad mood. I personally don't think anyone should be deer hunting with a selfbow that is of minimum legal weight anyhow. 35-40# on a selfbow is just not that much energy.. but some folks sure do it. If they do, I encourage narrow, razor sharp steel points, and to stay away from stone points.
Ryan Gill Ryan, firstly sorry for calling you by your surname there, oops! I really think you're on to something with that observation, also I was really convinced by your deduction that atlatl points were being confused with arrow points. Thanks so much for your interesting videos. PS, that's a couple of beautiful bows. Cheers!
were is a good place to get a shortbow because i'm good with a compound but id like to switch but sadly i spent majority of my money on my compound bow so where could i get one for about $40 or a place with good instructions on how to make one thanks
unfortunately if you buy one for $40 dollars it will likely be a pile of splinters in your face on the first pull. Real bows are far more complicated than a lot of people imagine. A stave of Osage to build a short bow from costs more itself than $40. A decent bow will have over 20 hours of work in it start to finish. That is the ironic part about compounds vs custom traditional bows. Compounds are built on a machine at a high rate of speed and cost a lot simply due to supply and demand. A hand made traditional bow has hours upon hours invested in it. People making the switch often think that it should be a cheaper investment than a compound when in reality compounds should be half the price of a hand made bow. There are other folks out there that are cheaper in price than me, but you won't likely find the quality or warranty elsewhere. If you want to learn to make your own, look up selfbow making on yourtube, or look up bow making groups on facebook. There are also a couple forums where people can steer you in the right direction. Also check ebay for cheaper bows, but keep in mind that wood bows are have a draw length limit and will blow up if pulled too far. All that information should be supplied by the maker. If you want one in the $40 or less range, look up pvc bows. They are easy to make, relatively safe and can actually shoot pretty hard if done right, although they are pretty far from a primitive bow.
Ryan Gill Hey Ryan, this is Debra, I make my own handcrafted wooden self bows, and I want to sell them to people around where I live. I am in no manner of speaking a business, as of yet, but one of my biggest issues with the selling of my bows is that I have no idea what value is right considering the quality and effort I put into the process of creating them. I just don't know what to sell them for. Could you perhaps tell me what a good quality handcrafted wooden bow would be priced at, because I am at sea in that wise. I have no idea.Thanks, All my best, Debra
If you are just getting started, around the $200 mark is where many start for an osage bow. When I first started selling, it was about $125. After you get a couple hundred made and establish a good customer base and reputation, you can eventually work prices up in increments. Like anything else, it's finding the balance of trying to pay yourself and still making them affordable for folks to afford
Thanks Ryan, that helps a lot and gets rid of lots of my indecision. I think I will start where you started with yours at $125 dollars. I was asking a lot less and some I just gave away for free. I am making one right now for a friend, and I hope to make a lot more. Thank you very much. All my best, -Debra
My elder brother thinks he has a 34” draw , in my opinion to try to one up my father who has a true 32” draw. I am like Robin Hood compared to my brother because I accept that I’m a 27”. After all these years; he still refuses to accept he’s at most a 30”
incorrect. that is simple regurgitation of information. People like myself are the proof that form archery is not necessary, and potentially counter productive in hunting situations.
Setting up a video camera on a tripod to record your actual draw length could do the same thing. If you can slow mo or stop the frame on playback it should be more accurate than your friend's observations.
Tus arcos son hermosos, pero dices muchas palabras el videoi no es bueno, quiero ver como tiran. De todos modos felicitaciones Compadre. Your bows are beatigull, but the videio is bat, more words. I need luky the shots. However congratuleicion Compadre.
Thanks, the purpose of the video is to explain the purpose of a small, or short drawlength bow; The benefits of the shortbow. It is meant to be educational, not entertaining.
I shoot a 56" osage bow and it's amazing, I'm fairly accurate with it up to 40 yards ,where with my 68 inch osage bow I'm fairly accurate up to 75-80 yards I shoot playing cards ,sometimes I'll take a soda bottle and throw it out at random yardage and shoot them ,hang them from trees with a good back stop
