Originally Posted by
Fisherking
I have played around with bows and crossbows for a very long time, starting in childhood.
I have used mostly recurve bows and never bothered with the new compound bows.
Crossbows are more like guns once you have them cocked, though cocking a powerful one can take some time. I have a two meter siege weapon model with a steel prod. It is fun to shoot. Putting a bolt through an old car or whatnot. Shooting harder targets such as trees tend to shatter the bolts and make the point part of the tree, permanently.
Shooting a real yew longbow is a bit problematic. Most of those you find are built to hobby pull weights. The real ones had pull weights of 160 lbs and up. That is why you had to train so long to shoot them. That and the fact that you pulled to the ear and not the cheek so you had to learn a different aiming technique.