[shadowphax]

I know people have all sorts of opinions about the pro's and cons of very short bows for target shooting, mine being just another.

I shoot a Bowtech Tribute, which is just about as short and parallel as possible. I'm no expert shooter, but I know the bow will certainly allow me to shoot to any potential I have.

I feel that my bow is very forgiving even though it's very short. Is this because the riser is actually very long? Compared to more 'normal' length bows by Hoyt, the Tribute's riser is very long indeed, it's just that the limbs add very little length as they are almost parallel before the bow is even drawn. Surely the length of the riser has a bigger effect (if any) on the performance of the bow than the length including the limbs, mainly due to most of the bows mass bewing in the riser.

Merlin make some very short bows, which also have very short risers as the limbs are not of the parallel design. People shoot these, love them and no doubt get great scores with them along with others like Mathews etc etc.

I wonder if clay pigeon shooters argue about the length of the barrels on shotguns and talk about the pros and cons of short and long barrel lengths?

I think what shoots well and feels OK for one person may not suite another. If there was as simple an answer to making a good bow as it's length, then I'm sure that manufacturers would all be making similar length bows (even allowing for the fact that hunters tend to like shorter bows). This would result in hunting bows being short and target bows being long.

Also, just because world class archers don't shoot short bows doesn't mean that they aren't any good. Maybe bow manufacturers that make predominantly short bows don't offer sponsorships to as many archers?

Just my thoughts, but I fully understand if others have their owns views. I haven't shot enough bows to be able to comment on all designs.