Compound bow

The compound bow is the most popular choice amongst archery hunters and revolutionised modern bow hunting. It is characterised by having two wheels or cams located on the ends of the limbs. Utilising a system of cables attached to the wheels or cams, the bow is drawn back towards the archer’s face.

With longbows and recurve bows, the further the string is drawn back, the more energy and strength are required to hold it back. This can make aiming more difficult. The design of the compound requires most draw effort at the beginning of the draw rather than at the end and so, as the wheels or cams roll over, the draw weight at full draw can be reduced to less than 70% of the peak draw weight. This makes the bow much easier to aim and shoot. This also allows the bow’s limbs to store more energy, increases arrow velocity and flattens the trajectory of the arrow, which makes it more accurate over longer ranges.

This bow type is the easiest to master and considered to be the most accurate.