Robin Hood possible on woodies?

[Flying Dutchman]

Today I was training and on 25 yards I hit an arrow on the back which was already in the pack. The nock exploded really and all I could find were small fragments of the nock. On the recieving arrow, on the tapered piece where the nock was, I could see a deep scratch of the point of the arrow which went in.

Now I am wondering; is it possible to shoot a Robin Hood on wooden arrows? I think it is impossible, since the last end is tapered to almost a point in order to make the nock fit.
On carbon or aluminium it is much easier, since you have a hollow shaft.

So are there any tradgangers out there who shot a "Robin Wood"?  

[Stumpkiller]

What do you think Robin Hood himself used?      

Usually they just split apart, but that's Robin Hood enough.  If you watch the Errol Flynn movie Robin Hood that "Robin Hood" shot at the tournament was filmed without special effects with Howard Hill shooting (not sure the distance or how many takes).  Proof on film.

I'm too cheap to buy so many replacement nocks and arrow shafts and I deliberately spread my arrows out a safe distance apart.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.    

[reddogge]

The best you will get is a split arrow and your chances would be better with a broadhead.

[lpcjon2]

Yes it is possible,but you wont split it like the movie I have quite a few and most of them split a piece off 6-10". Due to the grain of the arrows I think it would be hard to to split even a perfect parallel shaft all the way to the point in two pieces.In short yes you can.

[Flying Dutchman]

Originally posted by Stumpkiller:
What do you think Robin Hood himself used?          

I don't think Robin Hood used plastic nocks!    What I really mean is that the backs of his arrows werent't tapered to a point as with plastic nocks is the case....

[Mike Vines]

http://www.africahunting.com/bowhunting-africa/3355-howard-hill-1899-1975-archer.html

[Flying Dutchman]

"......and it is concluded that Howard Hill used an arrow shaft made of bamboo, not wood, for the famous shot".

".....
Byron Ferguson, however, did not split a wooden arrow from nock to tip, as was portrayed in the movie, but telescoped a modern aluminum arrow into another".

From the above link

[Stumpkiller]

That's splitting hairs (haw, haw) to say bamboo is not wood.  Do you tell guys with bamboo backed longbows they're shooting "grass bows?"      

Good point about the self-nocks.

[Flying Dutchman]

I think you have more change with a wooden arrow which has no plastic nock but just an groove in it for putting the string in.

[Mudd]

Ad, I think you just need to accept the fact that....

Wahoo!!!!!!    

Man!!!!!! You "Robin Hooded" your woodie!!!

That's some awesome shooting!!!

Congratulations!!              

God bless,Mudd

PS: I hope you were wearing your "Robin Hood" hat when you shot it!!!...lol

[Mike Vines]

Originally posted by Flying Dutchman:
I think you have more change with a wooden arrow which has no plastic nock but just an groove in it for putting the string in.

Yes and no. That would make sence at first till you actually put a self nock on.  When installing a self nock on a wood arrow, the grain is running perpendicular to the nock for the simple reason that your shafts do not split upon release of the bowsting.  If you made a self nock run parallel to the grain and stuck it in the target to shoot it, you would have a fighting chance of a complete split.  Howard Hill used a half moon shaped broadhead and was still unable to achieve this goal.  

Like Mudd said, you robinhooded an arrow.  You should be jumping for joy, not wondering if it could be done better.  That's as good as it gets, I would gladly take one of those anyday.

[wingnut]

I've seen guys drill holes in the nocks to make it easier.  Watched a Byron F show not too long ago where he was trying to do it and his nocks were drilled.

Mike

[magnus]

I've done it once. As said above ended up with a 10" long splinter. Non tapered shafts. Reason why I only shoot one arrow at a time. Enjoy what you accomplished! It's bitter sweet.

Keeping the Faith!
Magnus

The Robin hood shot was shown in reverse.  the wire was used to pull the arrow out then the still pics were reverse compiled to look more real. I made a nice set of woodies for a friend a couple of years ago. He Robin Hooded the first arrow he shot more than half the shaft with the second arrow. It made him think this trad thing was magic and easy, I am not sure, but I think he was hoping I could fix it. It was the longest Robin hood split on a cedar that I have ever seen.

[amar911]

I shot one "Robin Hood" where the point of my arrow stuck in the plastic nock and never even penetrated the actual arrow that was embedded in the target. I took some pictures, replaced the damaged nock and continued to shoot the arrow.

Allan

[hvyhitter]

A friend of mine made up some nice sitka arrows with self-nocks to shoot from his hickory self-bow.(capped, crested, wrapped, the works) and on his third shot robin hooded one of his new arrows and split it about halfway down. The wrap from the first arrows nock was about 6 inches down the second arrows shaft, no doubt about a dead center hit. With a broadhead and straight grain he might have got a hollywood robin hood.

[Patrick55]

From knock to point no. If I remember right, Myth Busters busted that one. They used several types of wood and could not get it done with a solid wood shaft. Even with a compound. In the end they split one using a compound and I think a carbon arrow. It has been a while. Can’t remember for sure.

[WOUNDED EAGLE]

Ive had several that split from 6" up to 25" dwn. the shaft,saved a few gluing them back together.

[Flying Dutchman]

Originally posted by Mudd:
Ad, I think you just need to accept the fact that....

Wahoo!!!!!!    

Man!!!!!! You "Robin Hooded" your woodie!!!

That's some awesome shooting!!!

Congratulations!!                                

God bless,Mudd

PS: I hope you were wearing your "Robin Hood" hat when you shot it!!!...lol

Thank you Roy,

and I am ashamed to admit I wasn't wearing my Robin Hood hat!This was the fith time it happened to me, in half a year, but I never splitted an arrow, or the arrow stucked in the other. The only thing happened is that the plastic nock was destroyed.

But the one from today was close to perfect and it was on 25 yards, which is a small miracle I think!      
So I was wondering, can it be done....

[tecum-tha]

Mythbusters is stupid entertainment. They used modern wood shaft material of questionable quality. That influenced the results they got.
With modern shaft material, a complete robin hood is real hard to do, because of the uneven angles of the grain etc.
In the middle ages, raw shafts were usually split out of a piece of log and then reduced to a round surface. That's why long-fibered wood was used a lot, like fir or ash. These woods split easy into small+long+straight sections. This minimizes grain-run out to an absolute minimum and ray and normal grain is alligned correctly. The only thing needed now is another splitter absolute center in the shaft....which is your arrow with a broadhead on...

Another reason quality wood shafts are expensive, becasue they try to have the grain as parallel as possible using saws (instead of splitting). This results in a lot of excess waste wood, which must be bought by the manufacturer and what makes his product more expensive...
Howard Hill probably buildt special arrows to achieve those shots and I bet he split wood into small sections and then reduced em ect.