Nocking point on Scythian

[little_john]

Does anyone have any advice on nocking point position for a scythian bow? I've tried several positions now and my feather fletches have almost sliced through my bow glove. :beer:

[Macbow]

Firstly you need to make sure your bow hand position is correct and repeatable. Try holding so your hand is quite high on the riser. If your bow has an arrow strike plate hold it so the arrow is towards the top of the plate. Once your hand position is right mark your nock in the same way you would for a bow with a shelf although you'll probably find that a higher nocking point is more forgiving - too low and the shaft will kick off your hand. My Hun bow shoots better with a high brace height, a 2 o'clock cant and shafts that are 10-15 lbs lighter than the draw weight with small feathers. Correct hand placement gives me noticeably less hand shock. At the end of the day you'll just need to keep experimenting. Kassai's Horseback Archery book is useful and a great read.

[little_john]

Thankyou very much. I tried the higher hand position and it worked well. It's such a lively bow that I have to grip it quite tightly. So I am very conscious that I might be inducing some torque. Also with the handle being so narrow there is little margin for error. Canting it over didn't work for me. I'm still having to aim off to the right, so I think my arow spine is too stiff. Anyway I eventually managed to get all three arrows onto a small vegas face at 18yds yesterday! Thanks once again.

[Macbow]

Glad it's working out. A couple more things might help. Asiatic bows often work well with a longer draw. These short little recurves are great fun but very different so sometimes a total change of style makes for better shooting. I anchor my second knuckle of my thumb in my right ear. You might try anchoring to the back of your jaw bone. And have another go with canting but just remember to keep your release hand in line with the string and cant your head over the same angle as the bow. Together these should bring your impact point to the right. One of my friends shoots great with the Scythian using a classic horse archery style with the bow being held at chest level with the draw hand pulling almost to his armpit. Kassai's book shows it well. You could also up your arrow point weight and keep shafts longer to reduce spine although lighter spined longer shafts will fly beautifully at longer ranges. The best thing about shooting my Hun bow though is getting back to my AFB and the luxury of a shelf and nice long limbs!

[little_john]

Great, I'll try all those things out. I'm really enjoying the scythian and my flat bow. Our club has a special barebow class for tranditional bows with wooden arrows. I won it the last couple of months with my flat bow, but I suspect that it will take some time to get to grips with the scythian, it's such a bitch!

[gorbalite]

Saw a tip on an american forum.Have not tried it,but you might want to give it a go.Find bows centre of gravity by balancing it with the string on your index finger.Hand should be vertical.Now slowly rotate hand until pinkie touches string.This is your starting point for nock location

[kernowtom]

I shoot english longbow and though I know a bit about scythian type bows I have not shot one - but I have often wondered what it is like shooting of the right side of the bow and using the thumb/forefinger hold with a thumb ring. Have you used this? I would be interested in any comments on your experience as I quite fancy trying this sometime...

[little_john]

I've not tried the thumb ring. I just shoot it as you would a normal hunting/flat bow. Quite honestly, at 55lbs, I'm not sure I would be able to pull it the extra few inches that the thumb ring would allow?

[gwynn]

Originally Posted by kernowtom

I shoot english longbow and though I know a bit about scythian type bows I have not shot one - but I have often wondered what it is like shooting of the right side of the bow and using the thumb/forefinger hold with a thumb ring. Have you used this? I would be interested in any comments on your experience as I quite fancy trying this sometime...

Very difficult! I shoot in a Longbow but a friend shoots scythian with the thumb ring and off the wrong side of the bow [he also wears a funny hat to go with it, not compulsory] I have tried it and everything goes off to the right, I can draw a 75lb Longbow no probs but a 50lb scythian with thumb ring is hard!! Different muscles I suppose.
Very important to get the right sized thumb ring as well, can do your thumb a mischief.
When he gets it right it works but he tends to swear a lot and we spend a lot of time looking for arrows. I take my hat off to him, I would have given up and gone back to arrow on the left and a med. loose. He must be even more stubborn than me!
We also found that you had to spine your arrows high shooting in this style, trial and error.

[kernowtom]

Thanks Gwynn - that's interesting - I need my thumbs for playing the piano - perhaps I'll stick to med release for now:-)