Yep, the Longbowmen were the death of the armoured knight on horseback. Firearms kinda put the last nail in the knights coffin.
Not everyone could be a longbowman. You had to be a certain height and have the strength to bring it to full draw. The average longbow was 6 feet. Anyone could shoot a shortbow or crossbow.
Bowmen were a technical class that didnt practice with anything else unlike a knight or foot soldier.

As for the crack about stealing america from the american indians ill let that pass. We learned from our british ancestors that had been practiceing the empire game for hundreds of years before us...lol
By the way mick, im 1/4 cherokee indian. And proud of it.

The mongols were some expert bowmen as well. They could hit a man when at a full gallop shooting under their horses belly at 200 yards.
They could hit a flying bird at a full gallop as well. Expert bowmen and horsemen. The terrified the chinese and romans.
They also developed the hornbow which allowed them to shoot a much shorter bow with more power then a longbow.

I started shooting a recurve when i was 8 and shot one untill after i was forty. Would still shoot one but my shoulders wont let me. So now i shoot a compound. Still shoot a recurve when my shoulders let me.
Its also a proven fact recurve shooters are generaly more accurate and consistant then compound shooters.
Its also easier to switch from a recurve to a compound then vice versa.
Bowhunting for deer is the number one sport for outdoors women.

Jerry, most states now have more deer than when Lewis and Clark came through. Their a nuisance in many areas.
Something else the game departments are trying to promote is getting more youths into the game. Less then 10% of the population hunt any kind of game animal anymore. Xbox, PSP, the loss of rural farms to houseing developments ect has cut the replacement numbers. So much so that only about 6 states actualy have enough youths takeing up the sport to replace the old farts who have got to old or died.
MO is one with something on the order of only .2 percent higher then the replacement numbers needed.
Most of the others are out west.

mick wrote on 09/10/10 at 11:36:49:


Doe meat tastes better! (of course!)  It depends on the season around here, as to which one you shoot.  And the order in which you take them, if you buy extra stamps, as we do.  

My theory on why you see females hit on the road -- They tend to the young, and the young ones are the ones that wander toward the road more often.  Also, the young bucks antlers aren't easily visible for a couple years, so a dead one you see that you think is female could be a young male (button buck)  And doe travel further to get away from bucks, so they get near roads more often.  Bucks usually make one long journey during a season, a couple miles or so, then they usually go back to their home turf.  

Neither one taste good,tough smelly

Ah bill, you just dont know how to cook it.
Ham roast tore up and slow cooked in a slow cooker untill its almost done them smother in bar-b-q sauce. Yum yum.
Or replace that expensive round steak with a nice deer steak. Cut it into chunks then smother it in gravy untill done.
Grilled on the bar-b-q with some nice slabs of pineapple on top.
Deer ribs on the barbie then slather bar-b-q on them.
Or use a nice rub you favor. So many ways of cooking deer meat.

Deer meat has pleanty of flavor mick. I eat a lot of it with nothing more then pepper and salt. I just like bar-b-q sauce as well. Even on beef, chicken and pork.
The main differance is deer takes on a 'wild' flavor from all the acorns, berries, shrubs ect they eat. Some folks dont like it. Deer is generaly leaner which means its drier when cooked.
When its taken and whats sex it is can play a small role in the taste as well. A rutting buck is strong flavored where a yearling or doe killed early in the bow season taste much like beef.
MOST people cant tell the differance between beef and deer unless heir told.

Same way with turkey. Wild turkey is darker and drier then tame pen raised turkeys.
Where as beef, chicken, lamb/mutton, turkey, pork, game hens, rabbit, and even a lot of the fish you buy in the store takes on the flavor of the corn, soybean, cottonseed and other additives from the feed they eat.

The ONLY way to get a true beef, pork, turkey or chicken flavor is free range. Meaning YOU raise them yourself and they eat nothing but grass, bugs and plain shell corn. You buy ANYTHING out of the supermarket, even expensive Kobi beef from japan(if you can find it) and your eatting a LOT of chemicals. Cancer causeing chemicals, artery clogging chemicals and fats not to mention loads of salt and other minerals. Some meats(and MORE to come) are IRRADIATED to help preserve it and prolong its shelf life. Supposedly it cuts down on bacteria as well. Radiation GOOD, Bacteria BAD. That is untill you grow a third eye, 11 fingers or webbed feet. Eh?
Store bought veggies are no better, LOADS of chemicals.

Raise your own free range animals, raise your own veggies without chemicals(your still going to be raisieng hybrids with all kinds of different gentic modifications) and wild game, youd live another 10 years and feel a whole lot better.

There's also the matter of haveing raised or hunted your own food that makes it taste a lot better. Elk and mule deer are much the same as whitetailed deer. Antelope has a sweeter taste, even over beef.

Some people just dont like the taste, some cant get over the fact its wild game that was hunted. Many make up their mind after eatting it only once or not even haveing eat it. Some just dont know how to cook it properly either...lol
But then the same can be said about store bought meats. Some dont like beef, some dont like turkey. Its just a matter of taste.
Ill take garden veggies and wild game anytime or a beef or hog ive raised myself.

Its kinda like some like harleys and some dont. Some like Yamahas and some like hondas. Just a matter of taste.

Lot dont like it cause its drier. Mix a lil good beef fat into it as you grind it and it makes some good sausage or burgers. Deer by itself is so lean it dont want to hold together to make burgers.
Some just mix it with ground beef about 60% deer and 40% beef. I prefer to just add about 10-15% beef fat for burgers. Sausage i just use deer by itself and a few spices. Makes some real nice summer sausage. And jerky? Yum yum!

babyhog wrote on 09/13/10 at 07:09:15:

Can't you just hear the comentary... and here we have man in his natural habitat.  Becareful not to approach them unless they're staring at their metal horses.  Otherwise they have a deadly stinger.  Let's be on our way, the little one is starting to salavate.