it's bad game design from 3.0.
I gotta ask . . . has anyone ever fired a high-powered bow in real life? I have, you need to be strong to fire these. Dex to damage is a "Hollywood" thing.
Yes. I have fired a bow in real-life. however, as some have pointed out, it makes more sense to add strength if you get bows specifically built, like compound bows, with a certain lb draw that requires a certain strength. Also, strength doesn't mean you can hit anything. It just means you can draw the bow. Dex in the game makes more sense as a modifier because it's about your reflexes as you move aim and let loose in battle that determine your hit and damage i.e. your aim and accuracy under pressure. This is why you get bonuses if you stand still (Archer's Focus).
Additionally, if you are an archer of some time and a professional adventurer even at level 1, it's assumed you have used a bow since you could pick one up - your body has already adapted to using a bow along with your muscles, tendons, and skeletal system. They looked at skeletons of archers from the middle ages and discovered that their bodies had changed significantly over years or decades of practice, even at a young age, especially with longbows.
Then there is the "magic" factor where you aren't even drawing a bow as you would with a traditional riser and string. You just pull back and your bolt is there to fire.
And of course no bow you find on an adventure takes into account your draw length - which is kind of essential.
All to say, strength bonus to damage should really only play a small factor considering how homogeneous most bows are in DDO (long or short). Being extremely weak has an effect whether you are using a bow or wielding a sword for obvious reasons. The same sword will do more damage with more strength behind the blow. An arrow will do more damage with more accuracy behind the blow but every shot from the same bow will have the same velocity and strength of impact.
so I pick up my non-magic based bow to work off some pent up frustration. 