Today, bows are used for hunting and recreation, but for most of human history, bows were essential tools for survival. Here is some interesting information about bows that I’ve stumbled across while looking up other things.

Tip 1:
Old as the Stone Age.
Bows are older than written history; in fact stone arrowheads found inAfrica date before 25,000 BCE, and bows have been discovered in northern Germany that date back to between 8,000 to 9,000 BCE. Native Americans used bows and arrows long before Europeans saw the new continent. The first recorded archery competition was held at Finsbury, England, in 1583, and included 3,000 participants.

Tip 2:
Think Crossbows are New?
Crossbows were invented by Chinese blacksmiths about 450 BCE. For all the mythology that surrounds the range of modern crossbows, the Sultan Selim used a longbow in 1798 to shoot an arrow 972 yards, a record that still stands today.

Tip 3:
Advanced Technology a Factor.
Impressed with the nifty technology in your modern bow? Composite bows appeared more than 3,200 years ago, with wood, animal horn, and sinew glued together to make a bow with more power. Prehistoric arrowheads have been found around the world specialized for birds, fish, game, practice, and warfare.

Tip 4:
Hunting with Bows, Again.
The first archery-only hunting season was held in Wisconsin in 1934. It was limited to five days in two counties, and the license cost one dollar. The limit was one adult buck, and of the 40 licensed hunters, only one, William Ostlund of Chicago, was successful. Even though bows had killed game for thousands of years, many officials openly questioned the effectiveness of both the weapon and the hunters to take game with such a primitive device.

Tip 5:
Something Actually is New.
Holless Wilbur Allen received a patent in 1969 for an “Archery Bow With Draw-Force Multiplying Attachments,” and the first compound bows went on sale soon after. It took Allen nearly a decade to design, develop, and patent the compound bow, and this was the first truly revolutionary advancement in archery in hundreds of years. The compound bow was further refined in the next decades, and now dominates the market.

Tip 6:
You Asked For It.
During the 1950s there was a television show called You Asked For It, and in one segment they set out to determine whether an arrow or bullet was more powerful, in terms of penetration. They suspended a bag full of sand and shot it with an arrow and a handgun. The arrow went completely through, while the bullet stopped inside the bag. Did this prove an arrow is more powerful than a bullet? No. It proved that an arrow will go through that sandbag, while a bullet will not; but nonetheless it was an interesting display of what a bow and arrow are capable of.

Tip 7:
String ‘Em Up.
Early bowstrings were likely strips of animal hide or sinew. Later, bowstrings were braided from various natural fibers. Modern bowstrings are constructed with a variety of synthetic fibers. Bows and bowstrings have also been used in musical instruments, to start fires using friction, and in early drills. In 1849 a patent was issued for a ‘Bowstring Truss,’ used in building bridges.

Tip 8:
Archery on The Road.
There is a town in Minnesota called Bowstring, and a town in New Hampshire called Bow. Archery must be tougher in Oklahoma, which has the town of Broken Arrow, and in Nebraska, where there is the community of Broken Bow.

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