Why a longbow?

[Breakfast Boy]

Originally posted by Scoobiedooo:
 

Originally posted by Ulysseys:
I switched because they are quieter, lighter, and your hero pics look waaay better      

LOL! [/b]

Gotta admit, he's got a point.    

[Scoobiedooo]

Originally posted by Breakfast Boy:
 

Originally posted by Scoobiedooo:
 

Originally posted by Ulysseys:
I switched because they are quieter, lighter, and your hero pics look waaay better          

LOL! [/b]

Gotta admit, he's got a point.      [/b]

That he does!

[straitera]

Started at 11yo w/longbow. Ran the gamut settling back into longer heavier lb's 35 years ago. I'm 60.

Hi-tech - ZERO fun, Recurves - pistol/loc grips & fat flat curved short limbs get in my way & eat my long draw fingers, Longbows - narrower cross-section limbs & straight handles suit my hunt/shoot style. Add Hill Spiritual Mind Magic = perfection.

Note*: Love recurves too; but, not pistol/locator grips which limit me comparatively.

[Wiley Coyote]

If for no other reason I enjoy shooting and using a longbow better because I don't have to carry a bowstringer around with me to string my bow.      

[Scoobiedooo]

LOL!  I am very "Old School' - and I know it's a bad thing but I refuse to use a bowstring as when I tried to use one once it nearly threw MY back out! Perhaps I was doing it wrong, but it seemed to be too much of a PITA to ME!

My bad - I know!

[yukon chuck]

I love both, recurves and longbows. Depending on the year, you might catch me with either weapon in my hand during Deer season. I tend to mess around with both during the spring and summer and then settle on my bow of choice for Deer hunting season as the end of summer comes. this year I've been hunting with a Grayling era Kodiak Magnum, exclusively on the ground. When our bow season ends tomorrow, I will hang up the recurve and go to the Longbow entirely and chase squirrels and bunnies around for the remainder of small game season.
All that being said, I love the apparent simplicity of design of the longbow, the light weight, the look, the feel, the virtually silent way it shoots, but most of all I think the longbow has a tendency to boil things down to their simplest form.
I think Mudd said it very well, "I found that it's not so much how the bow feels as much as it is how the bow makes me feel".  Well put Mudd and very much the way i feel about the Longbow.

[Owlgrowler]

I think longbows are generally a bit more forgiving, you'll notice with your high-performance Predator that you have to be very consistant with your draw length and release, the slightest "blip" on your part will throw that arrow way off, not real noticeable at 20 yards, but at longer ranges it really becomes apparent.I'm guessing that Byron Ferguson does his trick shooting with a longbow for this reason.

I had my Predator made with heavy dense wood and phenolic, dead in the hand. A lot of guys like the thump of a longbow.

[Scoobiedooo]

Yeah my 2011 Predator DX has the new phenolic impregnated finish I believe from what Mike at Hunter's Nitche told me when I ordered it.

[**DONOTDELETE**]

I have both but shoot the long bow better. I like Mr. Hill's answer when He was asked "Why don't You shoot a recurve" Hill - "I'm not that good of an archer to shoot a recurve"

My recurve is mostly for bowfishing now, but I do have it set-up for both land and water.

[JINKSTER]

Okay..at the risk of sounding romantically corny here?..this is my gut level, from the heart of honesty answer..

I've owned a Bob Lee TD Hunter recurve for years..but about 2 decades ago?..one of my best buds spent what i thought was a crazy amount of money (at the time) on a custom 21st Century Longbow..and when he got it?..i shot it..and wanted one ever since..i'm 53 now and just bought my first custom longbow a lil over 2 weeks ago..a Bushmen "American Native" hybrid longbow...and not only is it a fine work of art?..







it's ultra smooth on the draw with it's action-boo limbs gaining almost exactly 2#'s per inch of draw..from 23"s all the way out to 30...



That said?..I'm more "consistant" gap shooting with my recurve..but i'm far more deadly "instinctive shooting" with my longbow..and why?..because it is so smooth drawing and "predictable"..as it's ultra smooth draw of it's short riser with long whippy bamboo limbs speaks to me every inch of the way and makes things crystal clear to my minds eye to more easily visualize arrow flight "PRIOR" to release...my recurve speaks to my pride...my longbow speaks to my soul.

and that about sums it up...Bill.  :cool:

[TWarrows]

I have always just felt better with my LB a recurve just feels funny to me..My LB I shoot better so it is what I shoot..

[joevan125]

The first bow i ever owned was Dwyer Original longbow, 66in 53@28 and i didn't know what i was doing.

You see i have a 30in draw and my gosh it was hard to pull that thing back, that was nearly 4 years ago.

I have owned a lot of takedown bows since then but i still remember how that longbow felt in my hands and even though it was to heavy in a matter of weeks i was nailing the bulls eye at 25 yards.

Ordering a Wesley Special in a couple of weeks.

[Scoobiedooo]

Nice Bill! Beautiful bow....Howard Hill must have known something as does Byron Ferguson as well!

And WHO can argue with THEIR history and talents?

[jrbows]

Speaking of Byron Ferguson, he was asked about using the longbow verses the recurve during his shooting expo in Baltimore several years ago when I was there,what he said is take your recurve and draw it then torque the bow and see what the limb/string does,then he went on to say a longbow was more forgiving because it wouldn't twist in the same manner and therefor is easier to shoot to his way of thinking,if I'm wrong on any of these points or any of you guys were there and remember more please chime in.

[WESTBROOK]

They are very lite weight, quieter than anyone will get a recurve, they just "work better" for me.

I have shot a couple of longbows and I felt that the hand shock was pretty high on them for my liking, and the arrow shelf a little 'small' - tho I had no issues with arrows falling off or anything[quote/]

I thought that too, the first time I shot a longbow.Then I learned to shoot longbow and all is well.

Face it, a Hill style or Mild D/R LB is a different animal from a recurve and requires a little different technique.

Eric

[Smithhammer]

I'm not firmly in either camp. I enjoy shooting both. And both have lots of history behind them.

[Pinelander]

The main reason I like longbows (d-bows, not hybrids) is that they are a very quiet-shooting bow. That's a good thing when hunting white-tailed deer. But... there are times when I do not like hunting with a LONG bow because of limb clearance issues. I only hunt with my longbow at very specific ambush setups where I know that limb clearance will not be an issue.

When I'm hunting from tree stands, my short bows (52"/54") never result in limb clearance issues. On the other hand, there are some setups where my longbow (66") results in some sort of limb clearance issue.

For pure shooting enjoyment in my back yard and on the shooting range, my 66" longbow is my choice. But for deer hunting, my short bows get the nod most of the time.

- Dave

[mike g]

Nostalgia....
There light.
The History behind them.
Hill and Byron used them.
Thet make you look cool....LOL

When I first thought of starting in Archery, someone told me to get a compound bow and to stay away from Longbows because they are hard to shoot....
   I bought a longbow....And in my area I was know to win in my class a few times....
   A good longbow is a joy to shoot, a bad one not so much....
   Go to Craig at Howard hill Archery and have him build you a piece of history....

[trad_bowhunter1965]

I think Longbows are smoother than a Recurves but Longbows also take a little more time to figure out.

[longbowray]

Longbow are more forgiving for hunting . Like bending to shoot under low limbs or shooting running game it become part of your hand . I use the swing draw and I find that the longbow is great for my way of shooting .

My 2 cent   . Ray