# Where and when did sport archery start?



## Deezlin

Archery lost it miltiary inportance after the invention of firearms probably in the 1500's or 1600's. How, when and where did sporting archery and hunting become popular?


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## IowaBowman

Go to www.stickbow.com and post this on the leatherwall forums. Someone WILL know this answer. Some increadible knowledge of history is brought up on there.


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## TJ Mason

Archery was revived in late eighteenth century Britain by aristocrats. There was a fashion at the time for all things Gothic and medieval, and the longbow made a good fashion accessory.

Archery turned into a sporting activity during the early nineteenth century. Initially in Britain, but the sport spread rapidly to North America, Australia and elsewhere.

Some info about the origins of sporting archery can be found here:
http://www.gnas.org/pages/history2.htm


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## CA_Rcher12

It stated growing popular when Saxton Pope met Ishi in N. CA, and archery grew in popularity. Then, Holless Allen patented the compound bow, and the sport really kicked off.


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## Pierre Couture

Archery competitions have been around for a pretty long time. Just read the Odyssey, or closer to us the adventures of Robin Hood. It probably got started when two bowhunters bragging about their skills were forced to put their money where their mouth was.


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## Kitsap

Having military importance is a very relative thing. . . granted that, in Europe and Asia, the bow's importance to the military was sharply reduced after firearms but here in North America the bow and arrow continued in importance well into the 19th century!! Reason is simple, a skilled archer (usually one of the native inhabitants - American Indian) could get off 5 or 6 shots in the time it took someone to load and fire a muzzle loader once. Some indian tribes had a competition where the archer would see how many arrows they could fire into the air before the first arrow landed. The most arrows fired in this manner that I've heard of was on the order of 6 or 7. 

As for when sport archery got started, I would be reluctant to give credit to English nobility; it probably got started about the same time the first bow and arrow was invented - say 10,000 years ago. I can see it now: "Hey Otzi, I bet you can't hit that pine cone over there . . . ."


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## The Hood

It was so important to be able shoot a bow, Archery competition started when the second one was made, and in them days, if the King Or Ruler didn't like you, He would have "The Bird" finger cut off__and thus, The middle finger became "The Bird" >>>It was call the bird because the middle finger always touches the cock feather and without the Bird finger you couldn't shoot 

hood


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## J.W. Shooter

They must not have shot with one finger like me!


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## longbowguy

Archery practice was for several centuries was required of all able bodied men and boys in England of around 1000 AD. They were required to shoot every Sunday, after church, and most of the practice consisted of various form of competition. 

Many other cultures, native American, Turkish, Chinese, Mongolian, Korean and Japanese held competitions. A common standard was the ability to kill a man at 100 yards and beyond, with some regularity.


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