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The Turkish Bow - Its Range
With the bow depicted in Fig. 1, I shot six arrows in succession to
ranges exceeding 350 yards, the longest flights being 360, 365 and 367
yards. This public record was established July 7th, 1905, at an archery
meeting held at Le Touquet, near Etaples in France. The ground selected
for the trial was perfectly level; there was no wind, and the distances
were accurately measured by several well-known members of the Royal Toxophilite
Society who were present.
With the same bow I have, in private practice, thrice exceeded 415 yards,
and on one occasion reached 421 yards.1
Though this bow is a powerful one for a modern archer to draw, it is
a mere plaything compared with other Turkish bows of the same length, but
of far greater strength, which I possess.
Some of the latter are so curved in their unstrung state that their
ends nearly meet, and are so stiff, when strung, that I cannot draw them
to more than half the length of a 25 1/2 in. arrow. Fig. 15 shows a bow
of this kind in my collection.
Fig. 15. - Sketch of a Very Powerful Turkish Bow with
It Arrow and Bow String.
Such bows as these require a pull of 150 to 160 lbs. to bend them to
their full extent, which quite accounts for the marvellous, but well authenticated,
distances attained in flight-shooting by the muscular Turkish bowmen of
bygone days.
Though 367 yards is a short range in comparison with that which the
best Turkish archers were formerly capable of obtaining, it is, so far
as known, much
1 I presented this bow, and some of the arrows
I used at Le Touquet, to the members of the Royal Toxophilite Society.
These are now preserved in the club house of the Society in Regent's Park,
the fine hall of which contains an unrivalled collection of archery implements
and curiosities. |
