Archery Books

For the deer stalker, legalizing the crossbow for hunting was a Godsend. Today's compound crossbows have attachments like the ACU 50 drawback mechanism. They are not cheap, one thousand to $1200 per weapon.

There have been myths and rumors circulating that the modern crossbows are like high-powered rifles with such accuracy that the poor beautiful creatures in their scope don't have a chance. Deer are graceful, swift animals and have a place in this world. At Cade's Cove in the Smoky Mountains, the city folk park their cars anywhere they can and traipse down the fields to get a better look at just one of them. In Middle Tennessee, at Davy Crockett Park, they act more civilized and slow the cars down enough to look as they pass by. In Lawrenceburg, there are more deer to see, as they are allowed to live in a protected environment. Though, I have seen the targets up for bow and arrow practice. They usually travel in groups in the park, but in Giles County there is always the possibility of one running out in the road sometime during the night, as the car's headlights blind them and they stop dead still and usually wind up dead with a damaged car and shook-up driver. My son Justin has hit more than one, his dad Bill hit one in the park which had to be shot by a ranger.

It's not that I am against hunting per se. At one place in Pulaski, I had a neighbor whose son was an avid hunter and would hang the dead deer behind her house to slit its throat and bleed before cutting it into chucks to eat. Personally, I don't like deer meat. I tried once to cook some a brother-in-law had given to my family and it was tough as well-cooked steak or country ham -- unedible.

Crossbows are not for amateurs or the younger hunters. In the South, you are not reckoned to be a man until you have killed at least one deer. My grandfather caught opossums, and a friend of mine in Nashville, George Cate, was called the old coon hunter. I think raccoons are beautiful creatures like the deer, but he told me how they can get into houses through a pet door and scavenge around the kitchens, causing some consternation for the inhabitants. And Davy Crockett was proud of his coon skin cap. He was from Greenville, Tennessee, with ties in Kentucky, but we had his corn mill there in the Park until it was destroyed in a fire, later reconstructed but never as visited as the old one.

Crossbows can be dangerous in the wrong hands, just like guns. So don't let the kids experiment or they might just hurt themselves and their siblings.

This book provides a good overview of the sport. The contents however is dated, and there is little of instructional value. Overall this can only be considered a primer for further reading.

I wouldn't buy it, and I didn't. Here's why...I was looking for a book that was comprehensive, had lots of pictures and diagrams in it, and was worth the price. After thumbing through the book and reading a few pages, I was disappointed to see the huge print and found the content not very enlightening. For what can found in that book and for that price, I would suggest looking at another book. I recently purchased Shotgunning: the art and the science, by Brister. I've found that this book is far more comprehensive and provides better pictures and diagrams of what the author is trying to show--and not for that much more. Without having read the book, this review doesn't carry the same weight as a review of a book that I've read. If you're willing to give this book a try, go for it. But if you're on a tight budget like me, you can find more book for your dollar someplace else.

Lots of articles on topics related to shooting from A to Z. I was looking for a back up for Gun Traders and Gun Digest for research and value information. I was disappointed with the Shooter's Bible in this respect... however, should you need information on ballistics, reloading, some history and many other items, it might be for you!

told me little or nothing about the gun's I have.
some gun's not even in the book. and they are brand name's not off the wall brand's.
very small on gun listing on any of the gun's.
I have other gun book's that have allot more gun information on the gun's
the prices in the book are hirer than all the other book;s I have

I have been buying the Shooters Bible now for over 20 years.
They seem to be getting worse each year. It is inaccurate in some places and wrong in others.
The Gun Digest has better coverage as far as models go, the "Bible leaves out many makes and models.
They really need to hire a "gun" person to review this book before it is released.
Examples of problems:
1. Page 334 the Enforcer does not have a 4.8" barrel.
2. Page 331, New Model Super Single-Six???? Looks a lot like a Vaquero
3. What happened to Armalite/Bushmaster Rifles? Still in business, but not in the "Bible".
4. Numerous Ruger models missing.
This may be my last year for this dissappointment.
Some of the articles are good, but I would wait until it goes on sale before I would spend the money.

If you want something that lists collectible firearms, look for something with the word "COLLECTOR" in the title. Meanwhile, the Shooter's Bible is an invaluable source of information for someone seeking information on NEW or recently manufactured firearms. Not much else like it available, and it's updated annually.

This is a reference guide for medium range and rifle shooters. Long range shooters and deep forest shooter datas are of less depth.

The book says come to me and buy one of my bows!!!!!!!! The book covers only the bows DG has for sale and to be honest he's superficially familiar with a matter of archery. I bought this book but it is not worth a penny. I will try to sell it on the Internet. If you want to know something more about bows of the world buy S.Selby book or visit Atarn.
Regards
Jan

This volume is a most savory survey of the archer's bow, both historical reproductions and aboriginal forms, from every continent around the globe. Though not exhaustive, Gray's review is delicious and complete enough to stimulate anyone's interest in the ancient and primitive-style archery, the archery of natural materials. Though Gray admits to being a fan of cable and fiberglass bows and their shooters, his real love for wood bows is obvious, and this is where he concentrates his deliberations in this book. He devotes his attention to single wood construction, but he also describes composite structures involving horn, sinew, and multiple laminations of exotic woods. His lavish full color photos and the high quality paper add to the charm of this mini-encyclopedia. His writing is most clear and definitive, and his nostalgic mood and `Earthiest' (after Abbey) philosophy permeate throughout. The book has a feel of sharing to it, of commonality, of sympathy, of shaving off the differences among the world's societies through a most interesting venue. This is a marvelous contribution to the literature of archery. Reading it and gazing at the fine pics will urge even the half-hearted to go grab a carving tool, a knotless piece of hickory and begin carving himself or herself a bow. One may choose to pattern it after designs taken from near every geographical area on earth. As a matter of fact, his photos of "paddle" bows (made after the historical patterns of California coastal tribes) tickled my fancy enough to send me to the basement to attempt one myself. I highly recommend this book to any archer, outdoors aficionado, armchair anthropologist, hobbyist, hunter, lover of nostalgia, and any other earth-first thinker of any stripe.

Bows of the World. That's gotta be a lotta bows from a lotta different people from many different times. Well this book is less than 80 actual pages and left me wanting...especially for the money I paid. The writing is at times sub-professional and the information is often scarce. The pictures are really the only virtue. With such a broad topic the research could have been more encompassing. Many publishers probably aren't willing to invest money into a book with quality pictures concerning an un-popular topic such as primitive and traditional archery so I am glad the book Bows of the World was published in the first place. It is the only one of its kind that I know of and therefore the best. Still, it could be much, much better. Maybe David Gray will return to his side project some day to fill in the blanks so it can actually live up to the claims it makes on the inside cover. The three volumes of The Traditional Bowyer's Bible are very good and worthy of mention here but they are overall more technical and written more with the bowyer in mind than the enthusiast.

A good survey of the various forms of the bow and their distribution. The book is crippled by the lack of any information whatsoever about arrows. In my opinion, that's a serious oversight as a bow is pretty useless without arrows. Otherwise, a well written and beautifully illustrated book that is still one of a kind.

unbelievably transparent marketing attempt from Mr Grays archery company.
The book is essentially his internet page in hard copy, plus a couple of extra photos.
The text is two dimensional and the bows featured are solely those sold by the authors company, an utter waste of money and very very dissapointing.
Save yourself the money and just look at his web page , I would write the address but I dont want to encourage you to give this man more easy money.

I haven't actually finished the little book yet. I was disappointed it was so thin; but after I started reading, I realized that there was a lot of information packed in there.

I also haven't finished it yet, but the book has really peaked my interest. I've started looking for local tournaments, so that I might start as a spectator.

After reading this book in one short sitting, I am unsure as to why the author wrote it. The book basically describes a step-by-step process of Kyudo with several anecdotes sprinkled here and there. The reader is provided with many technical details, but is left confused from the lack of a fluid overview of the subject matter. The few illustrations that do exist provided very little descriptive aid to the text. Noticeable aspects of the book are its tone and language. The writing style is both cumbersome and reminiscent of a 1940's technical manual. The author also assumes that the reader knows very little of the Japanese culture and beliefs. While this is not a fault, it is an ineffective assumption for such a short book. I assumed that the book was meant to be an introduction to Kyudo. In this regard, the book failed to accomplish its goal, leaving anyone interested in Kyudo to search for a more substantial and clear text.

Kyudo: The Japanese Art of Archery
By William R.B. Acker,Joseph Acker.
A little book so if you fancy it order it with another to keep the postage down. Interested in Archery whilst based in Japan the author decides to take the Japanese route to Archery, and as with most sports in Japan there is a discipline of archery called Kyudo. There are some good interesting comments on physical stance and concentration that will make the difference to improving your skills.

This book is put out buy stoger publishing the same people that publish the shooters bible wihch is the excat repilica of except it is archery equimnet and not firearms. I have read other rewies putting this book down becasue it dosn't give archeey tips ect, but that is not the purpose of this book. This is book of all new archery products of the year.

Apparently I didn't do my homework. With a name like "Archer's Bible", I was expecting information on nearly all topics of archery. All this book is is a catalogue of archery items, like a Sears or Penny's book. Might as well have thrown my money in the trash.

To be honest, it is not the author's fault. The book is just so badly designed.

First glary problem is the index of the book... there isn't any. 200+ pages of technical stuffs, and there is no index. Then there are the tables and pictures. To be specific, there is NO table and RANDOM pictures.
Let me explain. When the book reads "...see table in following page for an example of an arrow size selection chart..." you would expect to see a table somewhere. Right? Well, I scanned the next couple of pages (as well as a few preceding pages, just in case) but could not find any tables. Then I scanned the ENTIRE book and could not find the table at all. And this has happened to me on several occasions.
Then there are the pictures. First off, no figure/picture numbers (none for the tables either). And the figures lack coherence with the text. Of course when you are reading a chapter about arrow rests, you would expect to see the proper examples next to the text. But in this book, it is as if they RANDOMLY put pictures of arrow rests across the chapter. You would read about drop-away rests, but would see a shoot-though rest picture next to it. And this is consistent through out the book. You read about a riser of a certain brand, but would see the riser of another brand.

To be fare, the text itself covers most of the material of an archer's gear. Compound, recurve and longbows are covered, with an exclusive chapter on crossbows. Arrows are well covered, as well as arrow rests, sights, release aids, quivers, stabilizers, and so on...

It is a shame that a good text is marred by a poor document design. In fact, the book would have been much less confusing if the pictures and figures were simply removed altogether.

This book was published in 1971, and is very proud of "modern" archery technology -- while this makes it a funny read, it's not really very useful anymore. The author skims over all the necessary subjects, giving them mention and a very brief explanation, without going into any of the necessary depth. You will learn from this book if you know nothing of archery, but if you've already shot a bow, and know what the nock point is, try for a less condescending book. It does have groovy pictures of archers with bellbottoms, though.

This book falls into the uncomfortable middle ground. It's not basic enough to be a good first book and it's not advanced enough to be an expert book. The book suffers from lack of diagrams and in depth descriptions of the subjects that the author glosses over. Although I will admit that he glosses over an awful lot of ground. If you're interested in finding out what you should learn about, this will give you a list. However, if you wanted to learn something about either archery or bowhunting, look elsewhere.