page_title: Bow and arrow
section_title: Basic design and use
hierarchical_section_title: Bow and arrow / Basic design and use
caption_attribution_description: English: 19th century knowledge archery drawing the bow
context_page_description: The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elastic launching device and long-shafted projectiles.
  Archery is the art, practice, or skill of using bows to shoot arrows. A person who shoots arrows with a bow is called a bowman or an archer. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer, one who makes arrows is a fletcher, and one who manufactures metal arrowheads is an arrowsmith.
  Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and violence long before recorded history, and the practice was common to many prehistoric cultures. They were important weapons of war from ancient history until the early modern period, where they were rendered increasingly obsolete by the development of the more powerful and accurate firearms, and were eventually dropped from warfare. Today, bows and arrows are mostly used for hunting and sports.
context_section_description: A bow consists of a semi-rigid but elastic arc with a high-tensile bowstring joining the ends of the two limbs of the bow. An arrow is a projectile with a pointed tip and a long shaft with stabilizer fins (fletching) towards the back, with a narrow notch (nock) at the very end to contact the bowstring.
  To load an arrow for shooting (nocking an arrow), the archer places an arrow across the middle of the bow with the bowstring in the arrow's nock. To shoot, the archer pulls back (draws) the arrow and the bowstring, which in turn flexes the bow limbs, storing elastic energy.  Typically while maintaining the draw, the archer sights along the arrow to aim it.  Finally the archer releases (looses) the arrow, allowing the limbs' stored potential energy to convert into kinetic energy, which is transmitted via the bowstring to the arrow, propelling it to fly forward with high velocity.
  A container or bag for additional arrows for quick reloading is called a quiver.
  When not in use, bows are generally kept unstrung, meaning one or both ends of the bowstring are detached from the bow. This removes all residual tension on the bow, and can help prevent it from losing strength or elasticity over time. For many bow designs, this also lets it straighten out more completely, reducing the space needed to store the bow. Returning the bowstring to its ready-to-use position is called stringing the bow.
caption: Drawing a bow, from a 1908 archery manual
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