Gale’s Bow: Compound Bow
Gale’s bow by Jonathan Parris
Gale’s Bow in Mockingjay, as it is described, sounds very much like a compound bow made of composite material. Beetee wasn’t playing around when he designed it! If you are interested in more modern bows and Olympic style archery, get a compound bow like Gale’s bow.
How Compound Bows Work
A compound bow works by reducing the amount of weight it takes to draw the string and hold it before releasing the arrow. Compound bows have pulley-like wheels referred to as cams at the end of the limbs. It takes more strength to draw the string at first. But once the pulleys roll over, it takes less strength to hold the arrow in place. This lets archers relax their arms a little bit and also makes it easier to remove the draw if you choose not to fire your arrow. Watch the cams pull back as this bow tester demonstrates:
Buying Compound Bows
When buying a compound bow, you need to factor in getting the size you need and the amount of recoil when firing. If you plan on shooting targets, rabbits and squirrels like Katniss or Gale, you won’t need much more than 35 pounds of draw strength. However, also consider your draw length because that measures how far out you need to draw the string for peak performance. Determine your draw length by measuring your arm span in inches. Stand like a “T” and have someone measure you. Divide that by 2.5. to get your draw length.
Where To Buy Gale’s Bow
Barnett Banshee compound bow. Click for more details
Currently there’s no replica bow like Gale’s for sale, but there probably will be once Mockingjay hits the theatres. However, if you want to buy a bow like Gale’s that’s like the description in Mockingjay, the Barnett Banshee Intermediate Compound Bow (as seen on the right) is a good start. The draw weight is up to 25 pounds with a draw length of up to 26 inches. It also only weighs 3 pounds and comes with two arrows and a paper target. This is suitable for practicing at a distance of 50 yards or less.
Bear Archery also sells a compound bow on Amazon. It’s more stylized than the Barnett Banshee one and has the same draw strength. The Bear Archery Bow also comes in different colors (black, camo and pink) but costs a little more at $67.
If you’ve only watched The Hunger Games movie or read the first book, you don’t see much of Gale in them. Just wait until later. He’ll show you what he can do with a Compound Bow.
Special thanks to Johnathanpariss.com for his artistic rendition of Gale’s bow.
Related Articles: Crossbow, Katniss’ Recurve Bow
O-Boy I own 11 of them.I am brain dead at the moment gentitg ready to turn in. I was lucky when I decided to get back into archery. I had an archery shop 1/2 mile from my home a little more money than at a discount store but worth every penny. I bought a used bow first they set me up. measured my draw 31 , pull power at the time63lb Now shoot at full draw 80lb 65% let off my arrows travel at around 276ft per second. I use a release device called double gator jaw but very costly they used a tee scale to set up the nock pins after I shot for a while added a set back allowing me to shoot shorter and lighter arrows but still like the aluminum arrows over the graphite type I also as my friends call them use Logs a rather large arrow 2512 with mechanical broad heads. If you are serious buy a grams digital scale so you can practice with the same weight target arrows as when hunting with broad heads.you can find good deals on craigs list dot com but when showing up to have a store bought Bow at a Bow shop they tend to sock it to you a bit. Now I buy all my own stuff and fix it up my way including putting on my own feathers/vains. Luck to you your going to have a blast.