Considering a compound bow

[Rumy73]

Rambo rocked a compound bow. Get one of those explosive tips.

 

[PhotonGuy7]

The indians were quite successful using bows against the calvary in self defense.

 

[Brian R. VanCise]

A bow and I mean any bow would have pretty limited self defense use. I could see if someone was breaking into your house and had a weapon and you had a bow from a distance or upstairs shooting down..... then maybe!

As Tgace mentioned before though a bow still has military applications in the right setting.


Recurve, compound, crossbow, hornbow I have shot them all for a long, long time. Recuve is clearly the easiest to use but..... not as accurate or efficient on average as a compound or crossbow but fun. A compound though as mentioned before does come with a lot of tackle that needs to be taken care of, fine tuned and maintained. However, when it comes to accuracy with a mechanical release they are far beyond anything but a crossbow with a scope. A horn bow is a whole different beast. Shot with the Asian draw (Mongolian draw) with a thumb ring they are really fun but incredibly challenging for anyone trained on the Mediterranean draw. (ie. three finger) Still they are amazing and when I trained on mine with a Korean expert it was a lot of fun and challenging! Yet for pure shooting pleasure I would pick a compound and or crossbow any day of the week! That is after about thirty some years of shooting. I can take a beginner on a compound bow built for them and that first day I can have them shooting some bulls eyes.

 

[Blindside1]

The indians were quite successful using bows against the calvary in self defense.

How did it stand up when they got to court?

 

[Dirty Dog3]

The indians were quite successful using bows against the calvary in self defense.

You might want to crack open a history book and reconsider this statement.
And of course, soldiers vs soldiers has nothing whatsoever to do with self defense.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.

 

[Kurai]

As many people have mentioned, a bow is not on the short list for self defense. Compound bows shoot great but require more tackle than a recurve. You might want to consider a take-down recurve for simplicity and ease of storage.

 

[william081972]

I started traditional and only briefly dabbled with compounds. In total, I've maybe two or three hours behind a modern compound, but I found it very helpful in improving my traditional shooting. For me, though, the compound didn't offer enough of an advantage of my longbow to justify keeping it. I didn't really like the high investment/cost, physical weight, or sight/release. After less than a month I sold it and simply started shooting my longbows like the compound- dropping down to a lighter draw weight, holding at full draw, standing up straighter, aiming, and exercising more control during the shot. My shooting has certainly improved.

 

[william081972]

Good luck !