I got a double win. 635m in unlimited weight glassbow + wood arrow. 539m in unlimited weight hornbow + wood arrow. Also, both results were new competition records. So this was a major breakthrough personally for me. I did share some videos and pictures in Facebook but i forgot to post here.
For both classes i took with me 3 bows, because i wanted to try different setups. For glassbows i had 123#, 128# and 131# bows. For hornbows i had 105#, 125# and 130# bows. You are allowed to shoot multiple bows, but arrow amount is fixed.
Surprisingly, the best results were made with the lightest bows; 123# glassbow and 105# hornbow. I think with those bows the arrows had the best match. Because the issue wasn’t with my strength or ease of draw/good release. It felt really funny when even the heaviest, 131# glassbow, was feeling light for me! I did a good strength tapering/peaking program for the competition day which payed off.
There is so much fine tuning and technique details that its hard to know why something works.
I definitely studied the bows and arrows afterwards so now i have good idea how to progress towards conquest cup 2026 and utah flight shoot 2026.
I wasn’t happy with the hornbow result (539m). It was pretty bad for the bow poundage and general quality of my work otherwise. In that sense my double win came easy. I’m looking to do much better next year. And i should.
Very good Jere.I know it’s hard for you to accept compliments …But congratulations!!!
Your goals were met.The bows look great.You and the bows will be remembered.
Do the bows without finish take special care from the elements?Or do they have at least a finish like shellack or something.
I imagine it’s off to another year of constructing more bows for next year.
I see Adam made it there.Does he ever consider republishing his book?
I’ve met a few people with desires to buy it.
Thank you. This time i’m aware it was a major success. Hah.
I’m looking forward to doing the same next year! I see plenty of potential in our bows and arrows. I’m still just a beginner.
Having a finish in the bow is one important thing. This year i just tried to “survive” with heavy enough bows and get good shots. I didn’t really have enough time or effor to put into finishing them. Although now looking back i should have atleast lacquered them. Now i didn’t have anything on them. For next year i want to experiment with artificially drying them. This combined with either just lacquer and/or birch bark should give out significant performance boost. The bows would be much more snappy when they are not allowed to soak in moisture.
Actually, i think this might have been the issue why my heavier hornbows didn’t do better than the 105# bow.
Adam was there and he was the one rooting for me to break 600m first time since 200-300 years! He had a really nice bow with him, but it ended up being too heavy for him (110#). He calculated it would lose strength some 10# in the Istanbul heat but he is such a great bowyer that it didn’t lose any! Hah. This made his shooting somewhat uncomfortable, but as far as i understand he will be there next year too.
I don’t think he has plans of republishing his book. Its available as a e-book, but i understand its not the same as the physical book.
I guess it takes a lot of reflecting to come close to zeroing in on making a good shot.Like you said though there are so many aspects of a shoot like that,that will make the difference.
Little overlooked things sometimes can make a difference.
What is it they say luck is…it’s when preperation and opportunity cross paths.In other words it’s not luck it’s a recipe for success.
I’m sure Adam has some thoughts about that.I don’t know if self earned secrets are shared but the flight archery community seems to all be on one page.
Again Congratulations on your accomplishment.
Now this has to do with history as you referred to the 200 to 300 year old records.Do you think those archers back then prepared their bows with the little extra like tumar etc. to achieve those marked records?Would that have made enough of a difference?
To gain an extra 60 to 70 meters seems to be quite a bit,but not untouchable.
We shot 11 arrows. So you actually need some luck with this amount, especially when the weather fluctuates. This is why the turks shot many many competitions trying to achieve those records. They even had these private shoots where they brought a judge with them and tried to break a range record. To our culture that is not a competition. That’s much easier than competition.
Adam likes to share the flight secrets and so do i. It’s a good example i think. Hard work pays off and you don’t need to be secretive in order to beat records.
For glarification, yes I said “since 200-300 years” because no one has shot 600m with hornbow and wood arrow in the modern times… yet. Only the Ottomans did it.
Heat treatment like timar greatly effects the efficiency of the bow. It might not show much with heavier arrows, but light arrows really benefit from heightened limb efficiency. I wouldn’t be surprised if it increased the results by 10%.
Have you had situations where your hornbows were dried out more than normal? What did it feel like?
In the winter time with dryer air there is a slight increase in draw weight of maybe 2 to 3 pounds.Even finished well.Nothing much though.That really is a mute consideration yet.
I suppose the more the extreme the more the difference.
Stability is sound though as well as any other synthetic bow.
Maybe it exponentionaly increases with higher poundage bows.
The most noticeable difference with the hunting & target bows is the duration and numbers of times the bow is shot.
I enjoy the back half of a 3 to 4 hour 3D shoot maybe a little better because the bow opens up more and becomes smoother shooting yet.Helps at least for me for accuracy.
I suppose the sinew is being stretched more and more the reason.It seems it takes at least 20 to 30 shots to begin to feel this effect.I do like getting the longer draw to increase efficiency though.
These days it seems the rules are more adhered to for flight shooting.Sounds fair to me.Everybody on the same playing field plane with the same conditions.
Dry fire speed with a shorter bow I’m sure is increased.
Even then I bet wind gusts can influence a little also.It still sounds like a fun,but serious thing to compete in.
Adam explained the true effects and reasoning of the tumar process very well IMO.I guess a shortened version can be done like Adam said with a black garbage bag and the suns’ influence.One might be playing with fire though as I know it can get over 50 C or 150 F inside there depending on the weather…ha ha.
It helps knowing what these natural materials do in different conditions against some normal logic.Sometimes bow making can be against logic…ha ha.
Cologen material has it’s own characteristics that can confuse some people.
The drying effect i saw best when we shot flight in USA. I haven’t mentioned it here, but i was in Salt flats (Salt lake city) and in smith creek (Nevada) for flight competitions in 2024 autumn. There the dryness was so extreme that first brace felt impossible. The 120# bow felt like 150# minimum. I had to warm it in the sun and deliberately make it “stressed” before shooting. Eventually it softened.
BUT, if i had arrived there with lets say 90# bow, braced it and immediately shot it - possibly at 110-120#, it could have been magic. It must have been a super performer.
The dryness was also tough on the bow. Could have been part of the reason why it broke on the second round. The bow set world record in “primitive turkish” category, with silk string and bamboo arrow. Arrow flew 550m. Its the longest shot in modern times with primitive/truly traditional gear.
I’ve never been to the salt flats before,but do acknowledge the extent of arridness it can get in that area.
All in all a good experience for you yet though.Congratulations!!!
It’s no wonder that Dan Perrys’ hickory did so well also.
It looks like your bow was actually bending some into the fades of the handle.Which says a lot how it all held up fine.
Just the dryness of the area took it’s toll.
Still it’s the only drawback on natural materials.Their performance and resilience stand above it yet IMO.
