Longbows

People have been involved with archery for at least four thousand years, but very nearly definitely for a lot longer than that. Parts of composite recurve bows have been discovered dating back to the second millennium BC, but the parts that were found were the non-wooden, composite parts, usually of horn.
The wooden parts usually rotted away thousands of years previously, but a wooden longbows from the same period was discovered in Somerset. Most probably, people had been using all wooden, single piece bows long before they started making complicated composite recurve bows.
The skill of archery has always enthralled mankind and, despite the fact that guns have made archery outmoded, it still fascinates people today, although these days archery is almost exclusively used for recreational purposes. It is a flourishing sport and hobby and is the national sport of the Kingdom of Bhutan.
If you are interested in taking up archery, you will first have to make your mind up which kind of bow you would rather. Among other varieties, there are the longbows, recurve bow, reflex and decurve bows, deflex bow, pyramid bow and crossbow.
To a certain extent, the arrows are not intercompatible either. For example, a longbow can cast a three foot, heavy-gauge arrow, whereas a crossbow shoots a six inch bolt. The bows also had distinctive uses although there was a certain amount of common ground.
For example, longbows were the heavy, rapid-firing armaments of their day, being able to fling a heavy, armour-piercing arrow hundreds of yards; whereas a short recurve bow was perfect for attack from horseback. Crossbows took less skill to use but were slower than a bow.
There are diverse types of arrow as well. Historically, arrows were made of wood with a sharp metal tip, but these days arrows can be made of aluminium or carbon fibre. The arrowheads are different for different applications as well. A plain brass tip is sufficient for everyday shooting whereas a ferocious, slashing broadhead is used for killing.