The first forms of archery started around 71,000 years ago. With the invention of the bow

and arrow, there have been many different iterations of it, and have thus changed how it is used,

and its overall function. There are recurve bows, compound, longbows, and crossbows, etc.

The recurve bow is a more traditional type of bow that has some modernized iterations

of it. This bow doesn’t really need any special equipment to use. You only need to draw back on

the string and put an arrow near the middle of the string. This bow was invented around 2,800

years ago and was most commonly used by people on horseback because it curves away from

the archer and was a lot more portable than that of a longbow. Its curve also allowed for

powerful shots to still be made.

The longbow was invented around 1180 CE. As stated by odinsonarchery, this bow was

used byEnglish men, stood around six feet tall and usually was made out of yew. Yew, which is

a really hard wood, allowed the bow to be durable and have a lot of firepower behind the string.

The more modern compound bows have a pulley system called cams on the bow. This

allows for the bow to have a much higher feet per second compared to the longbow and the

recurve bow. However, every bow is different, but for the most part compound bows will out

speed most any other bow. They also have this thing called let off, which instead of constantly

holding back all of the weight of your bow string when you’re pulling back fully, it will “let off” a

percentage of the weight. More high end compound bows have higher letoffs to allow for a more

pleasant shooting experience.

Crossbows have been seen throughout almost every era, being invented in 400 BCE

according to smith.edu. There have been many different types of crossbows since the time it

was invented. There were the hand crossbows which were used more until rifles were invented.

Then there are the crossbows that are almost as big as a person, which makes it pack intense

firepower.

Modern crossbows also have a pulley system or special equipment to help you get the

string back to load an arrow into the crossbow. These crossbows do outspeed compound bows

for the most part. Crossbows also have more firepower than a compound bow, but this also

means that crossbows are heavier and more clunky to carry around than any other type of bow,

except the longbow.

There have been many many different types of bows over the years, and there is a type

of bow for every person who might want to shoot arrows. There are easy to carry bows lacking

firepower and speed, and ones that excel in firepower and speed, but aren’t easy to carry at all.