[Christopher B Lellis]

I was just linked that video today by a relative, it's amazing, It gives me an entire new perception on the bow and arrow.

If someone had told me you could do that with a bow, I wouldn't have believed it.

[Jean Thibodeau]

[Marik C.S.]

I think what you are thinking of is the native tribes of south america that carry their arrows alongside the bow stave in the same hand. At least that's the first thing that popped into my mind on that association.

[Benjamin H. Abbott]

I'm curious whether such speed shooting can happen with heavier bows. Judging by the draw weight and speeds assigned to various historical archers, I assume they answer is yes. I suspect the best shooters managed similar feats with 80+lb bows. On the other hand, there is that quotation from Procopius describing how the Persians shot fast but not powerfully while the Romans shot powerfully but more slowly. However, I'm skeptical many groups used 30-35lbs bows on the battlefield, even for speed shooting. Bertrandon de la Broquière noted in the fifteenth century that Turkish archers both used strong bows and shot rapidly, and extant examples testify to the power of Turkish bows.

[Timo Nieminen]

Carrying arrows is the bow hand is/was widespread. No need in modern target archery, and undesirable there.

Not just in South America, but also Africa, Japan, Oceania, China, and probably more (that's just what I can remember specific examples from). In Japan, one or two arrows were sometimes held in the fingers of the drawing hand (i.e., the right hand for right-handed archers), though not in the same way as in the discussed video.

I don't think you can be as fast holding the arrows in the bow hand, but fast enough. The people who do fast shooting from a quiver usually use a back quiver - holding in the bow hand probably works better than this with very long arrows.

[Colt Reeves]

[Ben Coomer]

I'm wondering if there is an advantage to holding them compared to having them stuck in the ground next to you. In terms of speed at least. Mobility would be another issue.

My arrows are long enough to be easily reached pitched in the ground at about my knee by just reaching down. I wonder if I set it up pretty standardish, and create a system where my lowering the bow and grabbing the arrow is done at the same time, and knocking the arrow and drawing are one smooth motion, and I never stop focusing on what I am shooting at, and I think it could get a pretty decent fire rate going. My guess would be that it'd be close to how the Hundred Years Wars archers may have been set up.

Of course, with it getting dark around 4:30 and it being finals week, no chance to test this any time soon.

[Daniel Wallace]

Ben, i've been doing the same thing almost since i started with my bow 2 years ago just because i'm too stingy to pick up a quiver.

i started with a 40 lb recurve (modern) but still the same thing when you break it down. with my 40lb i was pretty quick by my standard. i probably got 6 arrows off in 45 sec's honestly i started to shoot this way because your going to start you bow off in a low position when your actually hunting.

i upgraded to a samick sage take down recurve last year (i honestly call it a recurve long bow because its bigger than most modern long bows) it's at 45 lb but my draw length at 32in - and the bow is 45lb @ 28in, so i estimate i'm possibly pulling 50lbs off of it. speed wise it doesn't feel any different (for the action of drawing) once your body is conditioned properly, i don't think it's going to matter too much. i'd say i get 6 arrows off in about the same time. difference is in after the shots for me, i'm pretty small, so after i've done about 10 shots with the bigger bow, i need a min to recover. the little bow i can maybe go through 20 before i start to feel the tension in my shoulder.

i did shoot with arrows in the bow hand before, faster - but a little distracting for me. i feel the shock in the arrows as i have them laced through my fingers not gripping the bow (i use a high hand grip for my bow which leave everything but the thumb and index finger free.) not too paretical for hunting either so i never bothered with it much.

if your really super tech about your shots you won't stick your arrows in the ground. trapped mud and gunk can effect the weight of the tip throwing it off from the others. personally i don't care about that too much, i just shoot for recreation. but when a friend of mine saw me do this he almost had a cow.

[Ben Coomer]

Daniel Wallace, I've never had dirt on my arrow affect my shot more than simple user and/or equipment error could account for. And I think with my heavy arrows, unless it is a clod or something, I doubt it would matter anyway.

While I appreciate what the super-tech type of stuff can do, I wonder if it also doesn't effect how we view archery. A friend of mine got a compound with all the gadgets on it and in three weeks was getting clusters in a quarter at thirty paces. After four years with my longbow, I get within a hand. I won't ever say I am a great example of archery, but I would be willing to bet that it took great archers a lot longer than three weeks to get good. And that even at their level a spread within a quarter is remarkable.

So when people start thinking that dirt on arrows is something completely horrifying and unnatural, I really wonder if what they are doing is really all that related to our ancestor's weapons anymore.

[Daniel Wallace]

an older bow vs anything traditional (weather its a modern recurve/longbow or made the old fashioned way) other than the form in your draw, a modern bow doesn't have too much in common with the older. every bow hunter i know, pushs to use a modern bow simply because they are so much more user friendly. using a triger release decreases any string pinch on the arrow, the rests allow the arrow to float rather than rest at all. and the amout of let off in them allows you to hold them back for nearly a minute. their shooting arrows over 300 fps if your hunting with one of these, any arrow you used at 20-30 yards isn't going to matter too much.

with a compound bow, the average person can shoot a 60lb bow and like you say it doesn't take anytime at all for them to get really good with it at distance. i don't think it takes as much skill with a compound bow. you can darw it, and hold your shot and take your time and aim.

take that to a traditional bow, the average person is gonna have a really hard time just drawing a 60 lb bow (depending on if its a recurve or longbow) because their used to that anchor and aim. but as for one being down right better than the other - that just depends on the archer. but i believe a compound takes much less time to learn their like a rifle where as traditional is like a muzzle loader.

accuracy, like you said that takes considerable time to get good at when shooting instinctly. at 30 paces to get a spread as wide as your hand is good. to put it in prespective take your hand and spread it over your chest, all kill zone for whatever game your hunting. i've heard some guys say that once you get it to cluster to about the size of a pie plate your good, others say wait until your cluster can be grabbed with just one hand. if you want to get your cluster to touch, just spend more time with it. i know i've shot rounds where all ten of my arrows smacked together at 25 paces, shot another round all over the place right after. just takes time and skill. i was shooting within a quarter inch at 25 paces on average, but at the end of the summer i started to shoot really crappy for some reason, i put whiskers and felt on my limbs to quiet down the bow, but it knocked everything out of wack. i took it back off but havn't shot it since.

[Elling Polden]

This is obviosly a very good technique, and he is really skilled.
I would be a bit cautious about declaring that "this is the way one shot a bow in the old days", though. It would be akin to saying "in the 20th century, everyboyd shot their rifles like THIS

But he is definitely on to something when it comes to breaking away from casual target shooting.