• Bows have long been popular for hunting and target shooting.Archer taking aim to hit the bull's eye image by Andris Daugovich from Fotolia.com
  
  Bows and arrows have been used for sport and survival in almost every part of the world since the later stone age. A bow propels an arrow by compressing its limbs by drawing back on its string. When the bowstring is released, the limbs snap forward, transferring the stored energy to the arrow. Though the fastest modern bows are capable of shooting arrows more than 200 miles an hour with enough force to go completely through an animal as large as an elephant, the basic principle has hardly changed. The three basic bow designs are the long bow, the recurve and the compound.
  
  

Bow

• Of the three bow types, the long bow is the most traditional and the simplest. It is one solid piece of wood consisting of the lower (bottom) and upper (top) limbs, with the grip in the middle. The ends of the limbs have a string groove where the bowstring attaches. The recurve bow has the same parts as a long bow with an additional middle section called a riser. The riser holds the grip, a sight window used for aiming, and arrow rest that supports the arrow when shooting. This eliminates the need to hold the arrow against the bow with your finger as with some longbows. Compound bows have the addition of pulleys affixed to the end of the limbs that support a cable the bowstring attaches to.
  
  

Arrow

• Arrows consist of four parts: the shaft, nock, fletching and head. The arrow shaft, or the body, can be made of wood, fiberglass, aluminum or carbon. The shaft's length, diameter and stiffness must correspond to the bow and archer for maximum effectiveness. The nock is at the back or the arrow and has a split channel in the middle where it snaps onto the bowstring. The fletching is a group of vanes attached to the back of the shaft. Fletchings originally were feathers but now usually are made of plastic. The fletching causes the arrow to spin while in flight, stabilizing it so it will fly true. The arrowhead attaches to the front of the arrow, usually with a screw-in insert, allowing the arrow to penetrate the target.
  
  

Arrowheads

• While there are numerous styles of arrowheads, there are five basic types, each suited to a specific purpose. Field points resemble a bullet and are used for target practice. Blunt points are made of hard rubber with a flat or rounded front and are used for hunting small game. Fish points have wire springs attached to field-style points that keep it from falling out of the fish. Broadheads have at least two large cutting blades and are used for game larger than the size of rabbits.
  
  

String

• The bowstring runs between the ends of the bow’s limbs and has four parts. The loops at the ends attach the string to groves in the limbs of a longbow or recurve, or the string nocks on the cable of a compound. The serving is the material wrapped around the middle of the bowstring that protects the sting from wear from the friction the arrow’s nocking point causes while leaving the string during shooting.