Archery Glossary

GLOSSARY OF ARCHERY TERMS

Armguard: A leather pad worn on the inside of the forearm of the bow hand to protect the arm from the slap of the bow string.

Arrow Plate: An inlay just above the handle on the side of the bow where the arrow passes as it leaves the bow.

Ascharm: A cabinet in which Bows, arrows, and archery tackle are stored.

Back: The surface of the bow farthest from the archer when the bow is held in the shooting position.

Backing: Various materials including: fibre glass, cellulose products, raw hide, etc. glued to the back of the bow to improve its cast.

Backed Boiv: A bow to which a backing has been glued.

Barb: A projection on a hunting head which prevents its easy withdrawal.

Barreled Arrow: An arrow whose shaft is tapered from the middle toward each end and having its greatest cross-sectional area in the middle of the shaft.

Boss or Bast: The twisted and coiled straw back of a target to which the face is attached.

Bow Stave: A billet of wood from which a bow is to be manufactured.

Bowyer: A maker of bows.

Brace: To string the bow.

Belly: The belly of the bow is the side that you see when you hold the bow in shooting position.

Bend: The act of bracing or placing the string in the bow nocks.

Bobtailed Arrow: An arrow that has its greatest cross section at the pyle and tapers toward the nock.

Bodkin: A three bladed broadhead arrow.

Broadhead: A flat triangular shaped hunting head made of steel.

Butt: A backstop to which faces are attached, such as bales of straw.

Carriage Bow: A bow that has its two limbs joined under the handle in a ferrule. It can be disjointed to permit easy transportation. (Takedown). Cast: The inherent ability of a bow to propel an arrow.

Chested Arrow: An arrow that has its greatest cross-section toward the nock and tapers from this point toward both the nock and pyle.

Chrysal: A compression failure i.e., a fracture of the fibres usually appearing as a line across the belly of the bow.

Clout Target: The standard four foot target enlarged twelve times and laid out in a horizontal position on the ground.

Cock Feather: The feather on the arrow which is at right angles to the nock. Usually the odd colored feather.

Crest: Colored bands of varying width and spacing, painted on the arrow for identification purposes.

Crossbow: A short bow set crosswise on a stock, drawn by mechanical means, and discharging a dart by trigger release.

Cross Wind: A wind blowing across the target.

Curl: A swirl in the grain of a bow stave.

Down Wind: A wind blowing toward the target. Draw: The act of pulling the bow string the full length of the arrow.

Drawing Fingers: The first three fingers of the hand used in pulling the string. Drawing Weight: The force in pounds required to bring a bow to full draw. Drift: The sidewise movement of the arrow as it travels toward the target due to a cross wind.

End: A unit number of arrows used in scoring. In target com¬petition six arrows constitute an end.

Eye-' The loop or loops in a bow string.

Field Captain: The official in charge of a tournament.

Finger Tips: Leather finger stalls used to protect the tips of the three shooting fingers.

Fistmele: The distance from the base of the clenched hand to the tip of the extended thumb. Used as a measure of the proper distance from the handle to the string when a flat bow is braced or strung.

Fletch: Placing the feathers on an arrow.

Fletcher: A manufacturer of arrows. Arrow maker. Fletching: The feathers which guide the arrow in flight.

Flight Arrow: A long, light arrow with very small fletching or vanes. Used in distance shooting.

Flirt: A jerky or jumping movement of an arrow from its theoretical flight line. Follow the S

tring: A bow that has taken a permanent set in the drawing direction.

Floo Floo: An arrow used in wing shooting. It is generally fletched with a complete spiral. The size of the fletching is such that the flight distance is short.

Footing: A hardwood splice at the pyle end of a wooden shafted arrow.

Gold: The bulls-eye in the regulation four foot circular target. A circle nine and three-fifths inches in diameter.

Grip: The part of the bow held in the shooting hand.

Hen Feathers: The two feathers, generally of the same color,which are not at a right angle to the arrow nock.

High Braced: When the fistmele distance exceeds seven inches.It is better to high brace a bow than to low brace one.

Hold: The pause at full draw position prior to release of the arrow. Home: When the arrow is fully drawn with the pyle even with the back of the bow it is said to be "home".

Horns: Tips of the bow made from animal horn in which the bow string nock is cut.

Jointed Bows: Same as a carriage bow.

Kick: A jar which is felt when a bow is shot. Generally due to unevenly tillered bow limbs. L

ady Paramount: A lady assistant to the field captain. In charge of the women's shooting line or division in a tournament.

Laminated Bow: A bow that is built up in layers. It may consist of different kinds of wood, wood and metal, wood and fibre glass, etc.

Limb: Half of the bow. From the handle or grip to the tip.Upper and lower limbs. Loose: The act of shooting. Letting the drawn bow string slip from the shooting fingers.

National Archery Association. (NAA): National Association of Target Archers.

National Field Archery Association. (NFAA): National Association of Field Archers.

Nocks: The grooves at the tips of the limbs of a bow into which the bow string is fitted, also the slot at the feathered end of an arrow.

Nocking Point: The point on the bow string where the arrow nock rests.

Overbowed: A bow with a drawing weight in excess of that which the archer can shoot properly.

Overdraw: To draw the bow beyond the arrow length for which the bow is designed.

Overstrung: When the fistmele is exceeded by the use of too short a bow string.

Pair: Two arrows and a spare, also three feathers.

Pennant: A small flag with the fly longer than the hoist. Placed at the line of targets on a staff to indicate the direction and velocity of the wind at the targets.

Petticoat: The border outside of the last or white ring of the target.It has no scoring value.

Pyle: The metal tip attached to the head of the arrow shaft,the point of the arrow. Anglo-Saxon (pil) meaning dart,also spelled pile.

Pin: A very small knot in bow woods, especially yew or osage.

Pinch: To crush the fibres of the bow by compression. See Chrysal.

Pinch: To squeeze the arrow between the drawing fingers.

Pin Hole: The center of the gold of the target, i.e., dead center.

Point Blank: The act of aiming directly at the target.

Point of Aim: An object at which an archer aims by sighting over the tip of the arrow.

Quiver: A container for arrows. Shape, size and materials vary.They may be carried at the waist, over the shoulder, on the bow, or on the bow arm.

Quiver, Ground: In the simplest form, a metal rod approximately 18 inches long, pointed at one end and a loop formed at right angles to the stem at the other end. Inserted in the ground, arrows may be dropped through the loop and withdrawn one at a time.

Range: The terrain used in archery competitions. Also called a Field Course.

Recurved Bow: A bow that is bent back from a straight line at the ends of the limbs.

Reflexed Bow: Unstrung and held in a shooting position, the limbs of the bow curve away from the archer.

Release: Same as Loose.

Round: A fixed number of shots at a given distance or set of distances.

Rover: An archer who engages in field shooting. See Roving.

Roving: Shooting over fields and woodlands at natural targets.

Run: When a single one of the strands which make up a bow string frays, stretches, or breaks, the string is said to have a run.

Sap Wood: The wood immediately underneath the bark.

Self: Used in reference to a bow or an arrow made from a single piece of wood, i.e., self bow, self arrow.

Serving: The winding or wrapping around the bow string at the nocking points to protect the bow string from wear.

Shaft: The body or main section of the arrow. The term "feathered shaft" is frequently used in print to designate an arrow.

Shaftment: That section of the shaft to which the feathers are attached.

Shake: A longitudinal crack in a bow stave.

Shooting Glove: A three fingered glove used to protect the shooting fingers.

Shooting Tab: A flat piece of leather designed to be worn on the shooting fingers for protection.

Spiral: The curved position in which the feathers are attached to the arrow shaft. Spine: The quality of resiliency in an arrow which permits it to bend as it passes the bow in flight and then recover its original shape.

Stacked Bow-' A bow with an oval cross section. One in which the thickness of the limbs is little greater than the width.

Steele: Same as shaft.

Tab: See shooting tab.

Tackle: The equipment of an archer: bow, arrows, quiver, tabs,strings, etc. Takedown: See Carriage Bow.

Tiller: Shaping the bow to proper curvature. To tiller a bow.

Toxophilite: One fond of, or devoted to, archery. Derived from the Greek toxen meaning bow and philos meaning loving.

Turn: A term used to describe a bow that has a twist to right or left of the string. Underboived: A bow having too little drawing weight for the archer.

Unit: Fourteen targets of a field roving course.

Upshot: The last shot in an archery contest.

Vane: The web or flat expanded part of a feather. The flat extended plastic surfaces attached to a shaft to serve as fletching.

Wand: A wooden stick two inches wide, standing upright in the ground. Six feet in height. Used as a mark at which to shoot.

Weight: The weight in grains of an arrow. See also Drawing Weight.

Whip Ended: A bow which has limbs that are too weak at the tips.

Whipping: See Serving.

About the Author

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