Byron Ferguson
American · Traditional longbow — exhibition and trick shooting · b. 1953-10-31
Byron Ferguson shot a longbow the way most people point a finger — no sights, no release aids, just the instinctive method he distilled into his book Become the Arrow. The Alabama showman spent four decades shooting dimes out of the air, splitting playing cards edge-on, and sending an arrow through a diamond ring on Japanese television, all with a 66-inch bamboo-limbed longbow of his own design. He died in October 2025, two years after a first-ballot Archery Hall of Fame induction — the first traditional archer so honored since his hero, Howard Hill.
Status
Deceased — died October 3, 2025, aged 71. Byron Ferguson Productions store remains active as of mid-2026.
Equipment
Self-designed Byron Ferguson Safari Longbow: 66" string-groove to string-groove, heat-tempered bamboo laminations, Wenge or Bubinga riser, offered in 35–65# draw weights. Shot barebow/instinctive with no sights or gadgets; also designed the Elite, Alaskan and Sherwood longbow models sold through Byron Ferguson Productions.
Official profiles: Byron Ferguson Productions (official site and store) · About Byron — official biography · Byron Ferguson's Safari Longbow (official product page) · Archery Business — Remembering Legendary Archer Byron Ferguson
Major achievements
- Shot eight dimes in a row out of the air — his signature coin trick, verified across multiple memorial accounts
- Put an arrow cleanly through a diamond ring on the Tokyo TV program Super People — described as his most difficult shot
- Inducted into the Archery Hall of Fame (class of 2023, ceremony May 2024) on the first ballot — the first traditional archer so honored since Howard Hill
- His "Shot of the Week" segment ran for ten years on American Shooter (TNN/ESPN/ESPN2/OLN) and was the show's most-watched portion; also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (2001) and History Channel's Extreme Marksmen
- Authored Become the Arrow: The Art of Modern Barebow Shooting (with Glenn Helgeland), the standard text on his instinctive barebow method
- Performed live exhibitions for roughly 40 years across 12+ countries including Japan, Brazil, France, Germany, Sweden, Finland, Chile, Italy, Spain, Austria and Canada