April 26, 1913 
FOREST AND STREAM 
535 
Boston with us in August and see what a real 
slump looked like. 
Our work on the range is the chief cause 
of poor shooting, and during the first warm days 
of spring the temptation to overdo the thing 
is very strong; however, by the time the new 
peas are in the pod and the cucumber and head 
lettuce are crisp in their beds, we will have 
learned moderation. I must confess, 'Mr. Editor, 
I am mighty glad spring is here, and the senti¬ 
ment herein expressed is the nearest approach 
to vernal poetry I have ever been guilty of, 
and it no doubt is the result of a feeling akin 
in that which prompts the ready rhymester to 
mold his overflowing vocabulary into joyful 
verse. 
Hark! do you hear that robin? 
O. L. Hertig. 
Ai\ Invitation Shoot. 
Wayne, Pa., April 19. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: Responding to the invitation of the 
Newton archers, two members of the Wayne 
archers shot a double American round this 
afternoon. The wind was blowing with great 
^■iolence, which is a partial excuse for the in¬ 
different scores. Late in the afternoon it slacked 
up so that the second rounds were better than 
the first. 
GOYds. 
50Vds. 
lOVds. 
Total 
T. Truxton Hare . 
. 11 
41 
19 
( ( 
20 
90 
50 
208 
15 
1 i 
IS 
76 
23 
105- 
56 
258 
26 
118 
37 
153 
43 
195 
106 
466 
Dr. Elmer . 
. 12 
54 
16 
SO 
26 
120 
54 
254 
20 
86 
28 
152 
29 
169 
77 
407 
32 
140 
44 
232 
55 
289 
131 
661 
Robert P. Elmer. 
Long Flight Shots. 
Chicago, Ill., April 15.— Editor Forest and 
Stream: Some time ago there was a statement 
in your archery department from a St. Louis 
man to the effect that he had many times made 
flight shots of 300 yards. 
This is better than any record made at our 
national tournaments, but does not speak well 
for the cast of a yew bow of eighty-four pounds’ 
pull. 
Further on he states that he gets 225 yards 
with a fifty-two-pound bow, but cannot beat 250 
yards with one weighing seventy-six pounds. 
Either there is something wrong with those bows 
or the man does not know how to handle them. 
I have repeatedly made 220 yards with a 
home-made bow of rock elm of only forty-two 
pounds’ pull, and have made 240 yards with one 
of Duff’s lemonwood bows that weighed forty- 
eight pounds. 
.An unfooted pine arrow was used, thirty 
inches long, weighing almost 300 grains. It had 
a taper pile or point, and the feathers were of 
the regular size and shape. G. L. Nichols. 
ScoUish-American Archers of N. J. 
Jersey City, N. J., .April 19.— Editor Forest 
and Stream: Only six of the above turned out 
at the range to take part in the mail match ar¬ 
ranged by the Newton archers, and one of the 
six was John McOwan, who tried his prentice 
hand for the first time under adverse conditions, 
a miniature gale blowing across the rangej and 
despite ropes and pegs, laying the targets flat 
on several occasions. To the writer it seemed 
not so much a question of hitting the target as 
keeping on one’s feet. However, a single Amer¬ 
ican round was shot, and the magnificent totals 
piled up. If any member of the above body sees 
this in print. I’ll be a fair subject for Judge 
Lynch, as the general opinion after the match 
was that it was a shame to expose our inability 
to the light of day. 
T. Duff . 84 375 Wm. McOwan ... 42 19(5 
G. Milne . 50 280 *J. McOwan .27 109 
J. Cleland . 50 220 fR. McNeil . 25 84 
*Shot for first time. 
tShot only 40yds., arrived late. 
John M. Cleland, Sec’y. 
To Get a Free Cast. 
Chicago, Ill., April 6. — Editor Forest and 
Stream: In reference to the article by Air. 
Rendtorff in a recent issue, in which he assumes 
that the flight of the arrow is held in the line 
of original aim because there is an equalizing 
Handle, from How, unstrung. Bow, strung, from 
front. front. left side. 
side movement of the bow hand, I cannot agree 
with him in that conclusion. 
I admit that the arrow may bend slightly 
as it is about to leave the string in an effort to 
follow the original angle of projection. The 
string probably has a tendency to draw over a 
little out of a true line to follow the shaft, and 
there is a possibility that there may be a simi¬ 
lar slight movement of the limbs of the bow. 
Those movements would be too small and fast 
for the eye to perceive, but I am quite certain 
that my own hand has no perceptible compen¬ 
sating motion in any direction. Its position after 
the arrow has left the bow is the same as when 
the loose is made. If I forget to hold my bow 
hand firmly, the usual result is a wild shot; just 
as likely to go to the right as to the left. 
Of course there are some archers who let 
the bow hand give a little and follow the arrow. 
If this movement is directly in the line of the 
arrow’s flight, it ought to cause no side de¬ 
viation, but this forward movement will have 
the effect of altering the elevation of the arrow 
unless it is e.xactly the sdme each time, as the 
more firmly the bow is held, the sharper will 
be the cast. 
So far as a mechanical release is concerned 
I shoukl not care to venture an opinion unless 
familiar with the working details of the appa- 
iatus used. I am engaged at present on plans 
foi a mechanically operated bow for use in test¬ 
ing my arrows, and find the matter of a satis¬ 
factory release is not a problem to be solved 
without considerable attention to details. 
I have a two-piece jointed bow with an off¬ 
set handle, so that the string pulls clear. To 
have just the proper line of clearance, a line per¬ 
pendicular with the bow should pass from the 
stiing to a point three-sixteenth of an inch (one- 
half the thickness of the shaft) to the left of 
the bow at the handle. Such a condition ought 
to allow a free cast, except for the rub of the 
feathers against the bow. In actual test the 
allow goes four feet to the right in sixty yards. 
I had to build out the left side of the handle 
about one-quarter inch to get the arrows to 
shoot approximately in a correct line. Can some¬ 
one explain why that should be? 
I inclose some photos of the bow to which 
I refer. It was made about the year 1877 and 
used in the first national tournament. It is made 
of Texas osage. Now it has become badly 
cracked, but when in use it pulled forty-eight 
pounds. 
There is another point not yet mentioned 
that I believe has a strong influence on the flight 
of the shaft. That is the amount of rotation 
given to the arrow by the feathers. At one time 
I feathered a number of arrows in a mechanical 
device for that purpose, and gave a considerable 
set or twist to the feathers, not putting them 
on parallel to the shafts. This caused so strong 
a rotation and consequent drift that I had to 
hold over half the width of the target to the 
left at fifty yards. The set grouped very well. 
Most arrows I have seen are feathered to rotate 
to the right. It is to this fact that I should lay 
the proper lining up of the arrow rather than to 
any involuntary side shift of the bow hand. 
Anyone can make a test by shooting an 
arrow feathered so that it rotates to the left 
along with a set that rotates in the other direc- 
G. L. Nichols. 
Congratulatory. 
New Orleans, La., April s-—Editor Forest 
and Stream: Forest and Stre.\m comes everv 
week, and I certainly enjoy it. I do not believe 
there is another outdoor publication which gets 
the average—not the highbrow—but the regular- 
American so close to the healthy, enjoyable 
features of the outdoors as does Forest and 
Stream, and I read all of them. 
H. H. Dunn. 
Fort Dodge, Iowa, April 8. — Editor Forest 
and Stream: I have not received the number 
of April 5. Your paper usually arrives on 
Saturday of the week of publication, but mine 
is not here yet. Will you send me one? I can’t 
afford to miss a single number. 
C. A. Bryant. 
