Archery Tackle

WE SAID in the introduction that "One must know alot about the bow." We will expand that statement to include all items of archery tackle.

The interested observer may attend an archery tournament and watch the contestants as they come on the field. He will be impressed with the archers' equipment; he will notice a certain bowman with a long roll of something on his shoulder and an impressive looking box in his hand. This observer will be curious to know what is in that roll and box; he will make it convenient to be within good looking distance when the contents are opened up.

The roll will contain from two to five bows; an American round bow, a york round bow, a flight bow, a clout bow and, perhaps, a hunting bow—just to show to the boys. The box will contain arrows; two different sets of target arrows, a few flight arrows and, maybe, a few hunting arrows—also just to show to the boys. The box will also contain an arm guard, finger tab or shooting glove, extra bow strings, bow string wax, serving cord and an assortment of small tools such as a 6" mill file, a pair of small pliers and a husky knife. Someplace about his equipment there will be a quiver for his arrows, either a belt quiver or a ground quiver. In this chapter we will endeavor to discuss these various items and, since the bow is the most important, we will begin with it.

BOWS

The definition of the word "bow" as it appears in the dictionary is as follows:

"A weapon made of a strip of wood or other elastic material, with a cord connecting the two ends when bent, by means of which an arrow is propelled."

There are many questions to be answered in order to clarify this definition and to give the novice a comprehensive picture of what the bow really is. According to their usage, bows are divided into three classes; the target bow, the flight bow and the hunting bow.At this point your attention is directed to Fig. 1 and Fig. 2. References will be made to these sketches from time to time as we discuss various phases of this implement. These sketches will acquaint you with the fundamental dimensions and the names and locations of all the pertinent sections of the bow.All three of the above mentioned bows are constructed ac-cording to these cardinal principles, the only essential difference between them being dimensions.

Fig. 1 illustrates a braced target bow of modern construction showing the location of its parts by their traditional names.

A—Upper nock, B—Lower nock, C—Grip, D—Lower limb, E—Upper limb, F—Arrow plate, G—Upper dip, H—Lower dip, I—Back, J—Belly, K—String, L—Serving.

Fig. 2 represents an un braced bow showing the proportional dimensions of a target bow. This is superimposed with working diagrams in the braced and full drawn positions. It will be noted that line AB is the over-all length of the bow.Line C is the mathematical center. It will be noted that the upper limb is 2 inches longer than the lower limb. The exact center or line C bisects the grip 1 inch below its upper edge and 3 inches above its lower edge. By reason of this difference in the length of the limbs the bowyer has to so tiller the jo bas to compensate for this difference. Therefore, when the bow is braced (strung), the distance from the string to the belly is3/8 inches greater in the upper limb area than in the lower.But, when the bow is fully drawn, the limbs are perfectly equalized, or "come compass," to use an old English term.(Fig. 2, lines H and I.)