I was recently doing some reading on medieval warfare and was again astounded by the ranges they said longbows were effective to. The source I was reading said up to 400 yards – holy crap!
Having a passing familiarity with modern bowhunting using compound bows, I struck by the differences. Most hunters I know practice shots at 30-40 yards, and if you read hunting magazines on the subject they suggest pushing yourself by practicing at 60-70 yards to reap the benefits of becoming accustomed to longer range shots.
Now I’ll grant that in medieval warfare were probably talking about a group of archers firing at a high angle, and the killing coming from scores of arrows falling into a group of targets, and in hunting we are talking about having enough control and penetration to accurated place a single arrow into an animals vital deep enough to kill / mortally wound it. But still, 400 yards is a long, long way for an arrow to travel – isn’t it? Could a modern compound bow even launch an arrow that far? Are the historians full of mud? Is a compound bow more of a specialization than a general improvement on the weapon?
According to Wikipedia, English longbows had 200 lb. draws, which are about 4 times the average pull for a bow. That would transmit a hell of a lot of force to an arrow! :eek:
Given that there are present day people who can draw such bows, it isn’t impossible. English longbowmen (mostly Welsh, actually) trained extensively with the weapon. At Agincourt, an estimate is that the English moved to within 400 yards of the French lines and opened fire with the longbow. We know what happened there, and at Crecy, and at Poitiers. :eek:
I would assume also, that being a longbow, it would transmit this greater force for a longer distance (the distance that the string is in contact with the arrow), and since energy is force times distance, this really would put quite a bit more speed onto the arrow!
I’m just surprised that any person could use a bow with a 200 pound pull.
And of course an archer who was taken prisoner would typically have the middle finger of his right hand cut off. Thus it became both threat and taunt for an archer to display his middle finger, while shouting at the enemy: “See? We can pluck yew. PLUCK YEW!”
Or so the legend goes.
I can pull 200 pounds on a rowing machine with two hands. It’s not too much of a stretch to immagine someone who actually trained to do so being able to use their back muscles to do this. Not the average guy, but one that trained, sure.
One major difference here is that us modern compound bow shooters (and traditional archery hunters) are looking to put ONE arrow into THAT deer (or other game), rather than a flock of archers, putting LOTS of arrows into THOSE soldiers.
With precision comes decreased range. With massed fire, the individual accuracy isn’t important, as it’s the “area effect” that’s being sought.
I’d bet my relatively simple, and slow compound bow could put an arrow to a maximum range of 150 yds or so, and others can certainly shoot further, but accuracy vs a single target would stink.
Competition Clout Archery is done at a range of 180 yards, using modern sporting archery equipment - the range is attained by shooting at a high angle and dropping the arrows into (or near to) a target on the ground - quite similar to the shooting technique that would have been used longbowmen for massed fire.
I don’t see why a fair bit mo.re range than that couldn’t be achieved with a traditional longbow with a high draw weight
I never hunted with it, but shot it a lot as a kid. I would not be at all surprised that it could fire an arrow a couple of hundred yards. 400 yards? If there was no wind against it, and you had good flights on the arrow and the proper elevation…… I’d take the bet.
My wife and I dabble in the SCA and Ren fairs in New England, I got into making Medieval Long Bows a few years ago, even posted my results here on the boards somewhere. I never had any of the bows I made tested by a specialist, but I can tell you the drag on my bows was much more than 75 pounds on most compound bows highest setting. I never really went for distance but I’ll say of the bows I made they were extremely powerful. I sold a couple of them, and kept two of the best ones for myself. Tey have some very good detail on the shaft and they have a little bit of sentimental value. I have no doubt an arrow shot from one could travel 400 yards, but that would be a far, far stretch…
Tempting. I have a bow that might be similar (though its been 20 years since I’ve shot it, that may be dangerous in itself) to medevial bows. Though it is only 45# pull.
I have property pretty much in the middle of nowhere that is 1320 feet long on each side (440 yards). It’s about an hour away, but usually very windy.
Just checked. Still have some good arrows.
Damn you rainy, my Wife is gonna think I’m nuts. Maybe. Maybe I will give it a try on Saturday.
Thanks Phlosphr. This thread made me get it out and look at it again. I’m kinda afraid to even string it. I won’t do it with out eye protection heavy gloves, and have my Wife home.
heavy war missile is not unreasonable This is where my test would fall apart, I would be shooting lightweight fiberglass blunt tiped target arrows. Though I have seen them go through a 1/2 of plywood at about 20 yards with this bow.
Some archers were shooting with their feet! I don’t have a cite for this, it was one of those “recreating ancient battles” shows on television. A unit of archers, with even longer bows, would lie on their backs, and they’d raise the bow up on both feet. They’d draw the bowstring with both hands, and long arrows, and launch at a high angle, all in unison. A rain of arrows would fall on soldiers who thought they were too far back to be killed by an arrow.
It might even be historically sound. It’s a good story, and I’m not making it up.