I think the fact that the world's military forces abandoned the use of all forms of bows a few hundred years ago. They determined that massed musket volleys were far more effective than massed arrow volleys, and you can use the musket as a spear (the most commonly used weapon in history, probably the weapon that has killed the most men in battle throughout history) by fixing bayonets.
Archer formations were very vulnerable to cavalry charges, so they needed to be protected by units of spearmen or pikemen. The musket plus bayonet removes this vulnerability, and makes cavalry charges exceptionally dangerous.
Of course, all that being said- bows are practically silent. Biggest issue with using something like a bow in today's context- let's say you manage to put an arrow into an officer's neck from your concealed position. Anyone who was looking in your general direction or at your target will see where the arrow came from, and thus the silence doesn't help very much.
Never thought I'd be discussing something like this, hahaha.
Arrows for hunting are effective.
I heard an old vet say that in Vietnam soldiers were being killed by arrows. He said the arrows were coated with something that didn't allow the body to clot the blood and dudes would bleed out. He said it happened a lot. Not sure in the truth of that, but that's what he was sayin.
Anyway... I think the federal reserve note has done more damage than any conventional weapons, but that is another story altogether.
He said the arrows were coated with something that didn't allow the body to clot the blood and dudes would bleed out
Sounds possible. Never heard of this before, but the VC would smear human shit on a lot of the pointy bits of their booby traps, such as the terrifying pungee sticks. Step on the wrong spot, and the ground gives out, you fall into a pit of spikes- even if you survive the impalement, you're going to suffer serious infection.
People have coated arrowheads with all kinds of substances throughout history. I've never heard of this "anti-clot" poison, but it sounds possible. Mosquitos, leeches, and most blood sucking organisms spit out an anti-coagulant when they bite their victim, to keep the blood flowing for easy drinking. I'm sure there are tons of plants found in Vietnam that could have been ground up and made into various poisons.
This guy saying "it happened a lot" is a bit iffy. If something like that happened a lot, don't you think it'd be widely known? How many movies or TV shows have been made about 'Nam, and how many times have you seen bows being used in combat? I find it hard to believe. The VC were dedicated, highly motivated men who would happily die for their beliefs/homeland- so they'd have no problem posting up, alone with a rifle, to try and pick off a few Americans and then be surrounded and killed.
This guy saying "it happened a lot" is a bit iffy
Could be that there was one archer and this guy just happened to be in his territory, so it might have seemed like a lot to him.
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