Shooting the Stickbow: A Practical Approach to Classical Archery

I put away my 1966 Bear grizzly (68" 40#) in 1988 or thereabouts when I got a Pearson (l think) compound with just two pulleys. I used that bow until I bought a Matthews ultra-lite in 1998. It killed 3 deer. I had killed12 or 13 Ohio deer with the Bear over the years before the Pearson. I got 4 or 5 with the Pearson. I got 3 with the 1st Matthews. My last Matthews was a Switchback and it's killed 4 or 5 deer. The long & short of this was the epiphany was when I focused more on proper hunting rather than hunting technology & equipment I killed more deer with a recurve stick bow than I did with science and lots of money. So I spent 3 hours digging through the garage an found the old Bear, took it out of it's sock. The string was frayed & I didn't trust it. I called a friend who introduced me to 3-rivers Archery near Ft. Wayne Indiana. There I learned about Flemish strings, hand shock and carbon vs. aluminum vs. wood/ a 31.5" compound draw vs. a 30" draw on the stick bow. I cut down a dozen carbon arrows, Checked the spine, put on a Flemish string and headed to the back yard range. Couldn't hit crap. I bought Byron Ferguson's book and that helped brush away a lot of cob webs. It also got me interested in the longbow. Quite by accident while searching longbows on ebay I found a Zack Ferguson 66" 42# 30 inch draw listed in the wrong place on eBay and ended up getting a $700.00 longbow for $185.00. Zack Ferguson is Byron's son and the bow is nothing but sweet. I was hitting the target regularly at 20 yes but no "groups" to speak of. I read the reviews on this book and took a chance ordering it.This book is fantastic. It took me back to age twenty and an old archery dealer, whose name is not retrievable from the cobwebs, who was out on the range every weekend 42+ tears ago telling me what I was doing wrong or right. In two weeks and the Ferguson Longbow, I was able to shoot 12-15" groups at 20 yds and 8-10 inch groups at 15 yards. Next was getting into the woods with a camera, camouflage and scent blocker to see how close I could get to a deer for a photo. No laser range finders. Fortunately I live on a section of land that's 80 % hardwoods & pines. By the time the September bow season rolls around, I should be ready.I would recommend this book for technique and Ferguson's book for anyone who wants to shake off 30 years of science an get back to 800 years of instinctive archery shooting. PLUS you aren't going to be carrying 25 lbs of equipment in a backpack into the woods in the fall. All you need to do is scout and pattern your deer or turkeys. Also, you'll have 6-8 weeks of squirrel hunting to tighten up your groups to the size of a squirrel's or groundhog's chest. Incidentally, a 1 lb. bow & three arrows on a bow quiver beats the hell out of a 4 lb compound with with a 6 six arrow quiver, a 10 oz. of extras needed to quiet the compound. Oh, you might want to keep the tree stand.The book is terrific and the return to basic archery is invigorating. I'm not getting rid of the switchback either. It.s still fun to shoot at 30-40 yards in the back yard. My wife has inherited the Bear grizzly and she' s getting good at it also thanks to this book. She's never shot a stick bow but likes it as much as I. I highly recommend this book- no dreamy hunting tales just how to shoot the stick bow. J.D.

Excellent work by Tony, everything you need to know os inside. Stick Bow Bible👍

This is, bar none, the single most complete, in-depth book available for traditional archery. The main focus is on target archery, but the bulk of the information is of tremendous use for bowhunters, primitive archers, and even compound bow shooters. Author Camera stars with the absolute basics, and takes the reader through electing a bow, arrows, tuning the bow and the arrows, stance, different systems of aiming, physical training, string making, arrow building, the mental aspect- everything you need, or want, to know. Whether you're shooting a modern ILF target bow, a hunting recurve, longbow, or a self-bow with arrows made from river cane, you need this book.However... while I am absolutely gushing with praise over the contents of this book, I am not as pleased with the layout and design. The page size is 8.5x11", but the margins are huge- 1.5" all around- which makes this book far larger than it needs to be. If I were editing it I'd either shrink the format or enlarge the type, which leads to my second criticism: The entire book is set in a sans-serif typeface that is a good deal harder to read than if it had been done in a modern face like Times or Century Schoolbook or Garamond. Last, the illustrations are too low in contrast, and don't reproduce as well as they should. I suspect the author composed the entire book himself using desktop publishing software. And as good as this book is, it really need a better production.There are a few technical issues I'd take issue with as well. The discussion of stacking- the way draw weight abruptly increases at maximum draw- is mainly attributed to characteristics of the limb materials, when it's really a matter of geometry and string angle. And I think wood arrows and self bows deserve a bit more discussion. Many archers, like myself, use wood precisely because of the simplicity, the connection with tradition and the enjoyment of making our own equipment.Even so, it still remains the first book I would recommend to any beginning archer. There isn't another book that even comes close in completeness or detail. The book in my library that focus on traditional, instinctive, archery aren't as good as this volume when it comes to discussing aiming methods. The last book I checked out on target archery (Archery-4th Edition: Steps to Success), as good as it was, didn't have half the material, and wasn't half as interesting to read. For all its typographical flaws, this is still a must-own for all traditional archers.

As I am just beginning to take a more active participation in this sport/hobby, I wanted a book that could give me definitions as well as recommendations. This book does it. Terrific information on all aspects of traditional archery as well as some comparisons to modern archery (compound bow). Good examples and good exercises to be a better archer.One problem with this book as well as many that go to limited audiences is the overall look and feel along with editing. Pictures are only black and white and many could be better quality. Found several editing errors.Given that I would highly recommend to the beginning traditional archer.