About 15 years ago I bought a longbow but never got around to shooting it until yesterday.  I shot it about 50 times yesterday and had a ton of fun, but after I was done I noticed the bow was pretty scratched up from the arrows.  This is a one piece all wood bow with nothing wrapped around the grip.  There's no shelf, you just shoot off the knuckle.  Would it be a good idea to wrap the grip area with leather to protect it, or would that adversely affect how it shoots?  I'm brand new to primitive archery so I know next to nothing about it.

What type of arrows were you using?

ETA: I have a Mongolian horse bow from Seven Meadows that likewise does not have an arrow shelf.  I found that shooting carbon or aluminum arrows leaves a mark, while wood arrows with a clear finish do not.

They're cedar arrows with a clear finish, but they have a couple of bands of red paint right before the fletching and that's what is rubbing off.  I don't really care about the paint, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't going to damage the bow.

Wood arrows need to be correctly slined to the bow wieght.
As for the scratching I like these plates of hide:



http://www.3riversarchery.com/Accessories.asp

Also, lots of info on primative archery forum;

http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php?PHPSESSID=6pk089rfm6i90n1fo2ul940kq6&