If all of that is happening then there's some thing with your game. That happened to me only a very few times so I shut the game down then reloaded it and it cleared up.
Plus you have to hold the arrow firing trigger for a few seconds or the arrow will fall to the ground or not travel far.

I shoot a bow like how I shoot my pistol. Aim higher the further my target.

What? You can shoot a pistol far enough away to be able to account for tragectory drop?

Thats some mighty fine aiming considering pistols aren't very accurret past 20-30 yards,and even that is good shooting.

Anyhow I've noticed that in Skyrim the path of the arrow takes a slightly upward movement,then starts to drop the farther away you are.
The weight of the bow does affect this upward movement and drop.
The lighter bows(longbows and hunting bows) don't travel as far as the heavier bows(ebony and daedric).
This causes the lighter bows to drop faster than heavier bows.
Knowing your bow helps alot in aiming.

One more thing to remember when takeing archery is that because a bow is heavier doesn't allways mean it's better.
A heavier bow will shoot an arrow faster and farther than a ligter bow and even do more damage per shot.

But considering that a hunting bow shoots twice as fast as a daedric bow the damage is just about the same.

This is something to be considered when figure out your archery play style.
For slow stealth archers a high powered sniper type bow would be best.
However if youre more of a warrior type archer you might want to consider a faster fireing bow that still does good damage,like an orcish or dwarven bow.

Perks are another thing to consider.
For a slow stealth archer you don't really need to be able to recover more arrows or move faster while an arrow is knocked.
You need to be able to zoom in and make each arrow count with power shots.

Vice versa for a warrior type archer,powershots are great but being mobile is even better.

So when playng archer characters,knowing how your bow fires and selecting the perks that fit your play style is essential.

Ever shot a pistol for a 100 yard target?

I never let 'em get that close!

Nope never tried to shoot that far, 20-30 yards was more than far enough for me.
I don't know how much a scope would help but a pistol just isn't very accurate at range.

Heck I've shot bows at 50 yards much more accurately than a pistol at 20 yards.

I guess everybody has there thing.

It was more of a because I can kind of thing.

My AR is better for it. But I just wanted to see if I could 15 .40 rounds and only 1 sorta kinda hit.

Hopefully I can even trade my AR for a m1a though... Love that rifle.

Yeah, but a bullet has a much flatter trajectory than an arrow so it's not quite the same. Plus, a notch and blade sight is different from those pins that bows use for aiming...unless there's some new kind of bow 'sight'.

Only if the barrel is 6".

http://i1209.photobucket.com/albums/cc398/buckomccane/M1A_right_01.jpg.

I bet alot guards thought that just before taking an arrow to the knee

Archery is fun--you just have to practice. Especially once you get the perk that lets you slow down time 25% and zoom in--then things get really fun. Sneak + zoom + enchanted bow = lots of fun.

As someone coming from a first-person shooter background, I enjoy the skill required to hit someone with bow + arrow. The hack hack hack of a sword is just too boring.

They do. But same principal used for any weapon.
Modern bows can have red dots and I have seen a few with a kind of scope.

I have seen I think Paul mundy do it with a small revolver and still hit his target. (not on tv)

I dislike cleaning gas tubes... Piston is so much easier to clean.

Weird. I had to look some up...weird.

I've put all 6 shots on an 18" target from a 6" Python at 100 yards (seated), but you couldn't cover the group with a quarter.

I usu pour solvent in, cap the ends, let it soak, drain it and then blow it out with a compressor. I love my AR, but AKs are a better choice for a standard infantry battle rifle.

Where's the staff love? <.<

Pair of good strong staves, a potion of fortify destruction and you can drop a dragon in 2-4 hits in master difficulty - and unlike bows, staves can be dual wielded, wielded with a shield or wielded with a spell in the offhand

personally, I think they look ridiculous .,. I wouldn't carry one. now cut it in half and we'll talk, still probably wield spells from my hands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqO7zEWu0W0

It's the fact that they materialize out of thin air that keeps me from the staves

I don't care for them because you can't melee with them at close range.

Agreed.

Dragon age 2 used staffs more logically. They had blades on the tips for melee...

Also
Yeah I like my ar too. I just hate that tube. If it was a piston I'd probably just buy a new barrel/bolt and make it a 7.62. Sadly it's not so I'm trying to trade it for a m1a/m-14. My dad has one and I love it. I do miss my 98k though ;-;

Now on topic. The bow in this game has a drop on it simply aiming with a cross hair does not work at long ranges. Especialy moving targets. You have to aim pretty high to hit your target. And that's iffy at best. Since auto aim does not work at Long ranges. Now to say swords are useless is foolish. As I bet you have been killed by a melee enemy because you slipped up and you being made of glass didn't last long. I even myself out and have yet to get my "dead is dead" rp character killed. Main skills are enchant, smithing, block, one handed, marksman, restoration,alchemy and light armor. She's at level 47.

Now you're talking. Hell, even someone of the ones is this game have some nasty 'business ends', but, alas, we can't smack or jab with them