gap shooting?

[ed]

Hi,
I heard of an old style of gap shooting that was used in warfare archery where the bow would have marks put on it for elevation for certain key distances eg 100, 200 yards. Anybody used similar?

I just wondered about it because to me it seems like such a mark would be below your bow hand and soemwhat obscured. But I have tried marks above for short distances some time ago and ofcourse it made things very easy - quit it as I am more interested in working on getting instinctive. I still think it makes good sense for hunting for ranges you don't get to practice much, and can't see it not making the definition of "traditional".

[Memo]

Ed,
I think that the longbowmen of old used to draw to their chest, so the marks would be on the riser above the arrow.
I think :roll:

[Glenn]

Medevial longbowmen use to use a shooting stick as well. The stick was braced on the ground and held by the foot, it had marks on it for extreme bow ranges so they could land the most arrows with great accuracy on the one spot. It worked very well when they had time to mark the shooting ranges with pegs and flags...Glenn...

[ed]

so the other end of the stick was held in the bow hand? sounds do-able.

[Glenn]

I suppose it was a long range sight.

[hellier]

At re enactments we would wrap the string end of a plumb bob round the pinky finger of the bow hand...we'd have set the range like Glenn said, with flags ...before the battle.
That way when it landed on your toe ..or you just felt it hit the ground..you could be sure that you could shoot over and past the "opposing army " ....just for safety's sake.

[CaptJack]

Glow-In-The-Dark Gap Marks for your bow

In the following pix youÃ*ll see where I put a piece of ScotchTape on the back of the riser window and then use LiquidPaper for gap marks until I get the marks where I want them. You can scratch the LiquidPaper off with your thumbnail and paint on a new gap mark in a matter of seconds.

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1045515/6353450/78581505.jpg

When you get the gap marks where you want them- put a piece of masking tape on the back of the riser window and make marks that match your finished LiquidPaper marks. Now you can peel of the old piece of ScotchTape and put on a new piece. I never mark directly on the finish of the bow. The ScotchTape works fine, never comes off and is easy to remove without leaving a mark on the bow.

IÃ*m a photographer by trade and have a little sheet of this glowñin-the-dark tape material from the photography store. I use it to put glow-in-the-dark marks all over my darkroom so I can find focusing knobs, light switches, etc.. in the dark.
I use the same material and cut off 4 little pieces and put them on the new ScotchTape to match the marks on the masking tape. To help keep them from getting rubbed off I smear/dab a little FletchTite fletching glue all around the edges of the marker.

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1045515/6353450/78581472.jpg

To help explain what I see when I sight- my eye is just slightly to the left of the string. In my sight picture the string runs up&down the back of the riser window where the gap marks are. I'm focused on sighting down the arrow for my left&right adjustment and the marks are in my peripheral vision to the right. The gap marks simply give me my elevation.

These are incredible when youÃ*re hunting in low light or dark. If you can get even a close estimate of your range to the target you should never be more than a couple of inches high or low with the first arrow. They are great for hog hunting !!!!

http://pic12.picturetrail.com/VOL433/1045515/6353450/78581430.jpg
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BTW- What defines "Traditional" is whether the bow is a recurve/longbow or a compound- it doesn't have anything to do with sighting aids on the bow. No wheels or cams = "Traditional"
"Instictive" means no sighting aids whether its a traditional or a compound bow. It also means one anchor point- no string walking.

[Luke]

Oh Captain my captain....mate, you've gone to a lot of work there! Both here and in the quiver post you made...thanks heaps for the input and the time spent doing it...

Luke :D

[CaptJack]

Luke
actually I just copy & pasted my code from a couple of posts I made on another bowhunting board- thought y'all might enjoy the posts 8)

I was doing a search about bowhunting opportunities in Oz and stumbled across your board.

I haven't been to Oz since '85. I'm also a diving instructor and used to run dive groups on the AriguaBay, with Capt. Graham McCallum - out of Cairns.

I've been a competitive target archer since the 50s and a bowhunter since the 60s.

[ed]

seems like a good idea to me. I might try it until I get a better idea of using the point for gap - i.e. when my draw length gets a bit more consistant :)

thanks for posting it, will help more than a few beginners I think. If all lined up then the only thing to make for accuracy problems are bad form and bad release.

[ed]

well I thought the idea was a temporary tool to help with your shot picture. Something to allow you to get an idea of where your point should be in relation to the target, when that is ingrained then you can get rid of the marks.
Using a sight you are likely to get reliant on the sight as a tool, no? I mean why would you bother to check the rest of the picture?