Carl & Kraxis,
Have you ever considered taking up archery? At any of these fayres you are only ever going to get to try one of these cheap bows, or at best one of a club's training recurves. The arrows will probably not be matched and any good shot will be more luck than judgement so don't be hard on yourselves.

Field Archery is the most exciting, target archery may offer longer distances but you basically stand at one end of a field and aim at a target the other end, collect arrows and repeat.
A traditional archer shoots distances ranging from 5 to 50 metres in field archery and there are usually 24 targets per course. The course is shot over 2 days, one marked (so you know the distance) and one unmarked. The course will take in many natural features to help add to the difficulty so expect to be trekking through the woods, aiming uphill and downhill, fighting for footing etc. It really is a great way to spend a weekend; tiring, sometimes wet and cold or hot and sticky but always great fun, in fresh air and you feel alive. Also making arrows is very rewarding.

If Longbow is your preference you are lucky, there is a seperate Longbow class. With my Hun bow I have to compete in 'traditional' which puts me at the disadvantage of having to compete against people who use modern recurves (they only have to use wooden arrows to be considered trad ) Be aware that the Longbow we see today is unfortunately NOT the bow of Mediaeval times, it is a Victorian design. When strung it resembles a shallow 'D' shape, the Mediaeval Warbow was more of a crescent ... )
Because very few people use Asiatic reflex bows it will be difficult to get to try one out but trust me when I say that their performance is far superior to a Longbow of the same draw weight. So if it's 'pure and clean' that you seek, you should really consider one of the bows of the steppe.
Take a look here....www.eastern-archery.com

The bracer. Did you get a nice blue forearm?
Imagine what 40lbs draw would do to you. My wife had to kneel to shoot one target but raised the wrong leg. The end of the bottom limb caught her thigh!!
Anyway, the bracer saves your arm which may get string slap due to the Mediterranean draw, the string is released towards you. If you tried the thumb draw there is no need because the string travels away from the arm. With experience you will find your technique will improve and the bracer is there just in case. I don't use one.

So there you go. Why not give it a try? Do a Google search for GNAS (grand national archery society) and look for a club in your area. In September 2008, the World Field Archery Championship will be held in South Wales (at my club Pentref Bowmen) so you have plenty of time

OK apologies for going off topic

.......Orda