English Longbow vs Magyar Horsebow - question

[Jon]

Archery is a sport not of strength but of concentration,

The archer's nirvana is the perfect shot, not the massive poundage

I'm sure many could prove me wrong, but I'd tend to disagree with that - depending on what you're shooting.


In my opinion, the whole point of English Longbowmen was not 'perfect shots' but about pouring down arrows on large groups of men. The higher the poundage of your bow, the heavier the arrows you can fire (at long distance weight of arrow is the thing that affects impact the most IMO), thus the greater the impact and the more deadly. Nowadays arrows are tiny compared to 'proper' longbow arrows. Longbowmen didn't care about perfect shots, they cared about surviving. The best way to do that on a battlefield is what they did, and has been proven by history time and again. In that circumstance, poundage is everything. I think.


But we are talking about rangers here, not longbowmen. Their combat, while involving large scale battles (Pelargir, Pelennor Fields, Morannon? - grey company) would definitely have involved much smaller confrontations where accuracy did count (but so would poundage). I still tend to imagine them more as woodsmen rather than ninja-warrior sorts, thus I'd always go with a Longbow.

Ok so in short, i believe for accurate reenactment, you do need poundage (and a longbow ) however Strongbow is right that for modern purposes like target shooting, you may well be better off with a lower poundage. In any case, don't go up too fast. I think ultimately you should try both (if you can) and go with your preferred sort.

Horsebows do look badass.

[Arbellason]

I have my one bow that i posted pictures on here for hunting small game and target but when I get a higher poundage bow I'll go with a proper yew bow. Now elven bows are interesting if I recall correctly the bow that Galadriel gave Legolas was over a 100 pound bow then again the elves had a good long while to use such heavy poundage bows with precision.

[Strongbow]

Thanks for your reply Dirhhael and we can respectfully agree to disagree We today can't actually be like the longbowmen of Crecy or Agincourt; they were yeomen, that is land owning peasants hardened by constant physical toil and a very tough life. No modern person can replicate either their physique or their mentality (fortunately - they were no Rangers they were brutes) Nor can we rain arrows down on targets that far away nor relish finishing off our foes with spikes in the head (why am I not sorry?). What we can do is enjoy archery done with skills we have worked to develop, and do it with no injury to ourselves. For this we should not overbow ourselves, whatever they shot in 1415. If we hanker to shoot long, we can shoot clout at 140 yards away but even in clout you have to try to hit the target so you need some shot control, which is only possible with a bow you can draw comfortably. I will permit a modest boast here; at a shoot under Black Mountain, I hit the flag (about nine inches long) from a distance of 140 yards in the provincial Clout championship with only my second arrow and set a new record on the day. I know that shot did not rain death down on anything except a pennant of bright green silk, but it felt like heaven, better still, I felt like I was in Middle Earth. But as you say, we can amicably agree to differ and allow each his or her own Middle Earth. Just my humble opinion as a longbow archer