For a bow hunter, their weapon of choice is, as the title says, the lovely bow.
While not exactly an easy weapon to pick up and learn, bow hunting provides many hunters the excitement and thrill that they don’t usually get by simply sitting about on their tree stand with their gun, waiting for deer to approach.
You would likely be unsurprised to know that there are multiple bow types that a bow hunter can use, all of which handle differently, despite having a basic form of simply being a spring, string, and a projectile.
The spring would be the bow itself, which are the limbs with a handgrip or stock. The string is how the spring is able to transfer energy into the projectile, usually done by drawing it back, while the projectiles are the things that are launched from the bow, namely, arrows (or bolts, if you are using a crossbow).
Let’s walk you through these hunting bows.
Longbows
Longbows are the most traditional out of all the bows here, and such, their composition is also much simpler. In fact, you can make one on your own with a single piece of wood or laminate.
Simply put, a longbow is a piece of wood that is long and straight. Their most recognizable curved form is when the string is attached to it, causing the wood to bend. However, as the longbow is essentially one giant piece, this means that they cannot be disassembled
The longbow, as the name suggests, can be made to be very long. In fact, they can even be taller than the person using it! But on the opposite end, they can also be compact, and simply be a few feet long.
Some of the more modern longbows are made using composite materials. To increase its durability and strength.
Recurve Bow
The recurve bow is also a traditional bow, one that dates back to at least 2500 years in the past. It is what the longbow has evolved into, and as its name suggests, has curves around each end.
Like longbows, recurve bows are traditionally made with wood, but their modern iterations have started including materials like fiberglass and carbon materials to increase their durability and strength.
Both recurve bows and long bows require the shooter to actually pull back and hold the full draw weight of the bowstring, while also holding it as they take aim at their targets. This is not an easy task, especially if one’s arm and shoulder muscles have not been built up properly yet. Thus, one needs lots of practice to keep their aim steady and to hold a bow for a certain amount of time. Drawing them and holding that position isn’t as easy as it might seem from afar.
Recurve bows certainly aren’t as powerful as compound bows or crossbows, but many hunters appreciate the simplicity, heritage, and the fact that they are also mostly cheap and easy to fix when broken. Plus, unlike longbows, some recurve bows can be broken down for ease of transportation or storage!
Compound Bow
The newest and most commonly used bow by modern hunters to hit the bow hunting scene, the compound bow was invented in 1966. Its appeal comes from its versatility and utility, being able to equip a wide number of accessories and mounting options to better itself, while also being much lighter to use.
Its structure makes it that an archer only needs to use a fraction of the needed power to draw and send an arrow flying at the same power of a recurve bow, where you need the full power draw.
Not only that, but the compound bows shots are also much more powerful, as a result, meaning that their flying trajectory is flatter, making for much more accurate shots from a distance. Their power is only beaten by crossbows.
The compound bow is a great all-around choice that can expand its use to fit your bow hunting needs. It may not have the traditional feel that a recurve or longbow does, but it sure as heck doesn’t have the drawbacks that both of them have either.
Crossbow
Our final bow of choice is a more unconventional one, at least in comparison to the bows above.
The crossbow has had a history of being used in the battlefields of the medieval ages, most particularly, sieges. Their ease of use in comparison to regular bows has made them a popular weapon of the past, as even untrained knights and peasants were able to easily learn how to shoot a crossbow in mere hours.
Their modern counterparts have retained that ease of use, meaning that one does not have to constantly practice in an archery range to learn and maintain their skills. It is akin to a bow mounted to a gunstock, and thus functions almost exactly the same way a rifle does, but with the caveat that you are not shooting bullets, but projectiles.
Being the way they are, crossbows are the most powerful of all bows listed here, with draw weights being around the 150 to 200-pound range, with their projectile bolts that can reach speeds of 380 feet per second.
Their biggest drawback is that reloading takes a bit of time. Plus, some hunters might think that a crossbow takes a bit of the thrill out of bow hunting, as one uses it in a similar manner that they would use a rifle.
Still, they are not to be ignored, especially if one has physical limitations, or is unable to use bows for whatever reason. They pack quite a punch and do the job well.