Archery has been practiced for a long time. Bows have been found from at least 2,500 years before Christ, so 4,500 years ago. It is also likely that archery goes back several thousand years before that, but because most bows were made solely of wood, they have not lasted.
In the early days, bows were utilized for hunting and keeping invaders away. Nowadays, there are still some societies that depend on hunting with bows and arrows to put meat on the table and there are also people who decide to do it that way for sport.
The equipment involved in archery is basically a bow and an arrow, but it goes deeper than that. If you really want to get into archery, you might want to think about making your own bow, your own arrows and your own practice targets.
There are excellent kits for making your own bows, but there are too many types of bows for us to go into all of them in this article. However, be assured that if you do want to construct your own bow, you will find a description of the materials and the techniques on the Internet.
You can also create your own arrows and that is an easier subject to deal with. If you begin with the shaft, it can be made of wood, aluminium alloy or carbon fibre, all of which can be bought from many places. Then, at the sharp end, you can choose your tip or point.
The arrow head should match the job that the arrow is intended for. If it is meant to kill, then a broadhead, if it is intended to make a hole in a sheet of paper, then a simple brass tip.
The flights can be bought separately too. You can feathers or plastic and with a little experience, you can use feathers that you have acquired yourself. Goose feathers were traditionally the ones preferred.
Lastly there is the nock, which is the part of the arrow that holds the string. The nock can be as simple as a ‘v’ or a ‘u’ cut in the arrow, or it can be a plastic or metal item that is fitted over the end of the arrow.
The bow string is too hard to make oneself, unless you really want to go into that technology. The bow string is better bought.
Archery targets, the round ones, you connect with target archery are a different kettle of fish, because you certainly can assemble them yourself. You first have to get hold of a pile of straw and then take handfuls of it. Truss these handfuls of straw into ‘ropes’ and make a circle like a Catherine Wheel out of them.
Sew these together until they form the size target you want. Place this on a stand or affix it to a tree and then pin the traditional archery target to the front of it.
You can paint the conventional concentric circles on cloth, canvas or paper. It does not have to cost a lot to take part in archery. Remember that 5,000 or 500 years ago, people had very little, yet they still enjoyed their sport or hobby of archery.
Owen Jones, the writer of this piece writes on various subjects, but is currently concerned with archery bows for sale. If you would like to know more or for special offers, please go to our website at Kids Archery Set.
