Different Types of Bows

There are many different types of bows out there, and they all have their own unique characteristics. You should take a bit of time to familiarize yourself with the different characteristics of each of these bow types before you make the decision to purchase a bow. 

While they all differ in features and personality, the one thing they have in common is that they’re all extremely fun to shoot. I’m going to go over the three most common bow types and explain a little bit more about them. Hopefully by the end of reading this you'll have a better idea of how these bows shoot and which one is the best option for you and your shooting style.Let's start by talking about the three different types of bows and what exactly makes them different.

The Longbow

This is one of my favorite bow types, it also happens to be one of the oldest types of bows as well. Back in the 13^th century, this important piece of weaponry typically had a draw weight of around 110 lbs. It originated in southern Wales, and has had quite a following ever since.

Because of the way the longbow works, it puts much less energy into the arrow in comparison to other types of bows; this is the reason for the very heavy draw weight. In the hands of most new archers, you may notice that it can be slightly less accurate than other bows and that it takes a lot of skill to master. It’s considered to be a primitive type of bow, and that is why it takes a huge amount of precision to shoot this type of bow.

A lot of archers find the longbow to be very fun to shoot.

 There’s no need to slap on a bunch of gadgets and spend a ton of money to shoot the longbow, your accuracy is directly reflected on your personal skill. Traditional English longbows or Welsh longbows don’t feature and arrow rest. You shoot off of either the grip or your hand. The longbow makes for a great hunting bow and also a very fun target shooting bow.

The Recurve

The recurve bow is a very fun bow to shoot and it’s quite effective for many different applications. It is called a recurve bow because of how the limbs curve away from the archer when it is unstrung. Because of the nature of how recurve bows are created, it shoots the arrow with much more energy than straight bows.

The limbs on this type of bow do tend to have much more strain put on them, and this can make them slightly noisier than other bow types. The modern recurve bow can be fitted with a number of different attachments and the noise that is created can be minimized by a stabilizer.

The recurve has gained a lot of popularity because of its use in the Olympics. You’ll notice that the modern recurve bow has evolved a lot from its ancient counterpart. You have all different types of recurves to choose from and they will vary greatly in features in and looks. There are takedown recurves that allow the archer to swap out limbs for different draw weights. A lot of these modern recurves are also made from carbon, which can make them powerful and silent.

This makes for a great hunting bow as well as a very fun target bow. It can take quite a bit of skill to master the art of shooting this bow, but it is still considered to be much more forgiving than a longbow.

The Compound

This is one of the more modern bows that are considered to be very powerful. The compound bow was created in 1967 and it is rapidly evolving year by year. This particular bow is created using a lever system, pulleys and cams that draw the limbs back. Because the limbs are much stiffer than that of longbow and recurve bows, they are able to deliver a lot more power.

Compounds can host a number of different gadgets and enhancements that can assist in the shooting of the bow. One of the most common attachments that you’ll find on a compound bow is the peep sight, which is a magnifying scope. This can make it a very precise bow to use in hunting. Because of the nature of compound bows, they are much easier to master than recurves and longbows.

They are precise, powerful and make a great bow for hunting. You can expect compound bows to have a lot more distance as well. Compound bows will usually feel a lot more comfortable shoot to new archers, but it’s recommended that you practice. Shooting a recurve bow at first in order to hone your accuracy is recommended before you make the jump to a compound bow.

Archery is a great sport that everyone should consider, and with the various types of bows you can be certain that there’s something you can enjoy. Reading through these three main bow types, you should be able to come up with a type of bow that is good for you and your preferred style of archery. Make sure to keep safe and have fun shooting the various types of bows.