“The heathland this far east had fewer trees and smaller heather. The ground was dry despite the spring rains. Water collected in the little hollows and dribbled through the shallow creeks that tended east. The size and scale of it oppressed York. He felt like an insect crawling along the back of a tremendous beast that didn’t know, or care, that he was there.”   Pre-order the next adventure in the heathland here.

How many times have you seen or read about archers making very precise shots at incredible distances? The 2010 Robin Hood movie, starring Russell Crowe, has the main character make a shot over a hundred yards at a man riding a horse at full gallop, and the arrow hits him precisely in the neck. The movie character made that shot with an unfamiliar bow and arrow and a wet string. Let’s remember that a waterlogged…

Probably the most accomplished archer in the modern era, perhaps of all time, is Howard Hill. He shot very heavy bows, hunted just about every large land mammal in the world, and he won every archery competition he entered. But even Howard Hill could miss. He once shot at an elk almost 200 yards away and missed the first two shots. Okay, it was 200 yards, but still, he did miss. Even Byron Ferguson, the…

In the 2011 Korean film War of the Arrows, the hero twists his string a full quarter turn just before he releases his last arrow. The arrow then penetrates the leather armor and the bodies of two of his attackers. The implication is that the special twist gave the arrow greater power and penetration. No way! Absolutely not. Let’s just forget for the moment that if you are drawing a bow with a fifty-pound draw…

Well, it depends. We see villains doing this in TV series, such as The Arrow and The Avengers movies. Obviously, attempting to catch an arrow in real combat wouldn’t be feasible. It is exceedingly risky and unlikely to succeed in the chaos of battle. If you are fast enough to catch it, why not just get out of the way and avoid the risk of injury? Let’s not forget that the tip of the arrow…