Native American Ranges

[agd68]

To go along with DngrsDans topic on native bow weight I wonder what rages they shot at. The mounted peoples could ride right up beside Buffalos but what about the peoples who hunted on foot.What do you all think ?

[agd68]

I meant to type ranges not " rages", fingers are better suitede to pulling a string than typing

[Swamp Pygmy]

Ishi apparently didn't like to shoot past 40-50 yds and wasn't much of a shot at all at those ranges.

Archaeological references won't do much good along the lines of questions like that either. I think the best you may find (free) is the 1894 Badminton Library: Archery. The chapter entitled Prehistoric archery, and Savage archery.

Savage
 http://www.archerylibrary.com/books/badminton/docs/chapter06/chapter6_1.html

Prehistoric.
  http://www.archerylibrary.com/books/badminton/docs/chapter02/chapter2_1.html  

But a little common sense goes a long way. Best guess is they shot at whatever they thought they could hit. They were very hungry. We have a tendency to think of Indians as a pretty well domesticated lot, but truth be told even with the event of agriculture if you're using stone hoes you will build up no great surplus of food. I was astonished to read Indians were famous for eating deer and rabbit poo and other less appetizing dishes to stave off starvation.

Also remember they had pretty rudely made tackle. Even Ishi who made some of the finer equipment in museums didn't have the same length arrows, and nowhere near the same weight and that alone will only allow a certain amount of accuracy at any distance.

So best guess is the same ranges we like. Under twenty. But they would shoot at whatever they thought they could hit and kill I imagine. They weren't exactly worried about wounded animals. Just eating.

[KVTA TANK]

as being part native I like my shots 8 to 10 yards..love to be close .Its a personel thing with me and god..

[Swamp Pygmy]

I guess it should also be mentioned too, bows of the highest sort, and the lowest sort were found at the same time. Where I live some folks were even still using atlatls at the time of contact. So I guess it was really always up to what the individual felt capable of. The natives in papua don't seem to be able to shoot very accurately past about ten yards.

[agd68]

I figure they kept the ranges pretty close to ensure a hit. Making shafts an heads must have pretty time consuming then so I think they would have taken care not to lose too many.. You cant make meat if your busy making arrows.

[knife river]

These questions aren't easy to answer.  You need first hand ethnographic accounts to start coming close to an understanding.  One trap that's easy to fall into is that of making generalizations.  Bows were used in north america for the last 3,000 to 4,000 years by hundreds of cultural groups.  They used a wide variety of hunting techniques and materials which contributed to an enormous variety of bows.  How far did they shoot?  Who exactly are we talking about?  The Inuit of the arctic circle with their short, sinew-backed bows or the people of the eastern forests with 70" d-cross sectioned bows?  And what hunting techniques were they employing at the time?  

Point is, there's no blanket answer.  One size doesn't fit all.

[zilla]

Originally posted by agd68:
To go along with DngrsDans topic on native bow weight I wonder what rages they shot at. The mounted peoples could ride right up beside Buffalos but what about the peoples who hunted on foot.What do you all think ?

From what I have read they did not ride up beside buffalo and shoot em.. The natives had no horses until after the spaniards arrived.. The usual way was a buffalo jump.  Other than that they would cover up with a buffalo robe and sneak in close and shoot em.. Buffalo have poor eyesight, and if you do not spook the herd they will hang a round ...

[Swamp Pygmy]

I don't know if it's true or not but I read somewhere that one of the things that kept population growth in check among plains peoples and others who subsisted primarily on the buffalo was how dangerous they are.

Apparently bison herds are very dangerous with primitive weapons. The scientists were speculating that a good bit of people got hurt or killed doing it every year.

I can believe it though, I saw on tv where they shoot one buff and all the herd encircles it to protect it for hours sometimes until they all realize its dead. I wouldn't want to be in that position with a bow at 20 yards.  

When the horses came it changed the tables.

[Traxx]

Wild Buff,are in fact dangerous.Doesnt take one long to get hot.When hot,they will go on the fight,right now.I see it stated often,that the NDN would ride up along side the animal for a point blank broaside shot.The people who state this,have never dealt with these animals.They are quite quick and agile.To put a horse in that close of contact with a buff of any size,would be dangerous to horse and jockey.A posistion much like modern day team ropers,is more realistic and safe.It also gives a better angle for penetration.An arrow angleing foreward behind the shortribs,inhance the chance of great penetration,to vitals,especially from the angle from a horseback shot.