Archery, a popular sport today, has been practiced by man for thousands of years. First used in the deadly pursuit of animals for food, the bow and arrow now provides fun and recreation.

The Indians used yew wood for their bows. Hickory, lemon-wood or ash will serve equally well for making a bow.

The Bow Get a staff that is as tough and as evenly grown as possible. Its dimensions should be about 5 to 6 feet long, depending on the length of your arm span, fingertip to fingertip, and about 1 - to 11/2 inches thick. The side opposite the bowstring should be sanded smooth, and the thickness should taper off toward both ends. However, the thickest point should not be in the middle (M in illustration), but about half the width of your hand below it. Although you will set the arrow at the exact center of the bow, you hold the bow at the thickest spot. When you are shooting, the lower limb of the bow will be longer than the upper limb.

At the ends of both upper and lower limbs are the nocks notches in the wood that hold the bowstring. Make the nocks on the side opposite the bowstring and plane them slightly flat. (See the center cross section.) Now take a cord that is solid but not too thick, fasten it with a slipknot in one notch, and bend the bow to get the correct distance between the bow and bowstring. Then measure off on the other end of the cord where you have to make the spanning loop. When the loop is finished, you can hook up the bowstring. To complete the bow, wind the handgrip and the ends with cord.

The Bowstring
For your bowstring, use unbleached linen thread. Get three pieces of No. 12 Irish linen thread, wax each piece with beeswax, and braid the three together. Then twist the braided string and wax it again. The Arrows the length of your arrows can vary from 22 to 30 inches. The longer your bow, the longer your arrows should be. They should not be thicker than -5/16 of an inch. Hardwood is preferred, but you can use very tough softwood if necessary. To be sure that they will fly well, stabilize your arrows with feathers. Aiming an arrow does not travel in a straight line for more than a very short distance. As it loses speed, it starts to fall in a slow curve. You must aim so that the arrow's path of flight, or trajectory, brings it to the target. You can make a target from moist earth or weave one with braided straw. Whenever you are shooting, be sure no one is standing between you and the target, or even in the area in which the arrow can go astray.

If you take care of your bow and arrows, protecting them from moisture, they will last a long time.