posted
Well, I recieved my first longbow today. A HH Half Breed, 51 at 28, that I bought used, but in like new condition. I have been shooting only recurves since I took the traditional path and I shoot those quite well, but for whatever reason was just dying to try one of these HH bows. This thread certainly played a part in it. I obsessed over it for several months and borrowed a friend's HH Owl for a few days before I made the leap. I'm gonna give it a try when I get off of work tonite. Any recommendations on arrows? I will post some pics later.
Posts: 107 | From: Kenton, Ohio | Registered: Jan 2012
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posted
I too am a HUGE fan of Turay's NM Classic. I LOVE the whisper too. They are finished to perfection and are so great upon loosing the arrow. Smooth and sweet. I have the swinehart grip too on my Classic, but I don't thave the glass running up the belly all the way across the grip because I got clear glass. It is such a great grip.
I actually have played a lot with grips and haven't found the locator to be as consistent or easy to "locate" as the straight or slight dish. That thin wedge just places it every time and it feels like the force is going in the right direction. I think there's probably folks who love the locator though, it just doesn't agree with me.
Posts: 1687 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2007
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posted
I saw a longbow last weekend that was Hill style, and really thin and deep core. It was modeled after an actual Bow of Howard Hill. I was wondering FOR YOU BOW BUILDERS out there, it seemed a little unstable because you could grasp the grip, and the string as if you were getting ready to draw and shoot, and pull the string side to side and it felt like the limbs were twisting and the string may pop off the nocks.
Now I know this happens when the bow width declines, but is this the case? Is it, or does it, become unstable? Or does the bow design negate that upon loosing the arrow? I haven't ever seen another bow that had that feel, unfortunately I wasn't able to shoot it.
Any experience or thoughts about this? My buddy has a bow he kept trimming and it became extremely thin and felt unstable so we never shot it, what's the limit?
Posts: 1687 | From: Michigan | Registered: Jun 2007
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quote:Originally posted by Overspined: I saw a longbow last weekend that was Hill style, and really thin and deep core. It was modeled after an actual Bow of Howard Hill. I was wondering FOR YOU BOW BUILDERS out there, it seemed a little unstable because you could grasp the grip, and the string as if you were getting ready to draw and shoot, and pull the string side to side and it felt like the limbs were twisting and the string may pop off the nocks.
Now I know this happens when the bow width declines, but is this the case? Is it, or does it, become unstable? Or does the bow design negate that upon loosing the arrow? I haven't ever seen another bow that had that feel, unfortunately I wasn't able to shoot it.
Any experience or thoughts about this? My buddy has a bow he kept trimming and it became extremely thin and felt unstable so we never shot it, what's the limit?
Overspined,
Hill bows are narrow limbed and deep cored but the limbs still have a rectangle cross section; being wider then they are deep. When the limbs are narrowed too far the limbs out near the tips become square in cross section and in some extreme cases may even become deeper then they are wide and this causes the limbs to become very unstable. They can then twist and lean any which way and this totally ruins the bow IMO.
Jeff
Posts: 246 | From: Queensland Australia | Registered: Sep 2003
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Matt, you must be talking about "Blue Duck", the bow made by John Lee that is a copy of an original bow that Howard made for himself. John told me that Howard made his limbs narrow and deep core for better performance, he liked the limbs to bend into the riser. He also liked a deep and narrow grip.
You mentioned that when you pulled the string side to side as you "started to draw" it felt like the limbs were twisting. To do that you'd have to hold the grip tightly to keep it stationary This limb twisting can be done with many types of bows including recurves. Any attempt to twist the limb is very hard to do as you reach full.
Open the bow hand when you start the draw and let the grip seat itself deep into the center of the hand. Close the fingers lightly around the grip and pull straight back on the string.
If you were driving a car, flying a plane, or a boat and steering with a single joy stick, would you pull the stick from side to side?...I think the tendency would be to keep it centered and controlled. Think of a bow the same way and don't worry about how you could run it off the road...
Here's John Lee's Blue Duck, A copy of an original bow made by Howard
-------------------- We live in the present, we dream of the future, but we learn eternal truths from the past
When the deer are gone I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter. www.shrewbows.com Posts: 3861 | From: Potterville Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
So I was reading the chapter in Hunting the Hard Way about shooting fish and sharks underwater with a longbow.
Well I thought that sounded like fun so I decided to get in a pool with one of my old light fiberglass bows, some fletchless fiberglass arrows and try it out. I could only get it to work by shooting strait down, the (half inch at the widest) limbs created way too much drag to shoot an arrow to the sides; but he found a way to modify the bow to stop this from happening.
So here is my question does anyone know the stats on Hill's underwater bow
Posts: 54 | From: Georgia | Registered: Jan 2012
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If I remeber right I think in his movie where he shot a shark there were some rubber bands running from the riser section to the string. Also he probably wasn't using a light draw bow and it did seem shorter. Now keep in mind that there is a good chance that I am mixing memories.
-------------------- Gods greatest command: Love your neighbor as you love yourself. Posts: 1072 | From: Broaddus Texas | Registered: Mar 2008
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I don't know if they told the weight of Howards bow but it was probably 80 to 100#. He attached two strips of rubber, probably from post war intertubes before synthetic rubber..note the position of the rubber strips on the bow.
Here's the film from one of Howards "shorts" The film is more than a little suspect.. Many of Howards exploits were reenacted on film for the public.
-------------------- We live in the present, we dream of the future, but we learn eternal truths from the past
When the deer are gone I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter. www.shrewbows.com Posts: 3861 | From: Potterville Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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posted
yeah It does look pretty short, and skinny too even by Hill's standards.
I think I would be pretty scared to bring one of my 70+ pound, one piece bamboo bows underwater; Because I would probably be bringing back up a two piece Posts: 54 | From: Georgia | Registered: Jan 2012
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posted
That guy who let him shoot a plum or whatever it is off of his head had to be insane! With a broadhead no less. Can't believe they actually did stuff like that. Yeah, I know it was a different time but that was still just nuts!
Posts: 2845 | From: Charleston, WV | Registered: Mar 2003
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Ok, here is one for you fellow Howard addicts. We talked about form, style, bow's, arrows, broaheads, the Man and his protege's. What about his clothes? We know howard wore no Camo, and wool plaids like we do now, but what about the khaki and white pants, Filson?
Posts: 1010 | From: Decatur, illinois | Registered: Sep 2003
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When I did shooting demonstrations I would tell the story of Howard shooting apples off of peoples heads. I would ask for volunteers to come up and let me shoot an apple off their head. Once in awhile someone would step forward to volunteer. I would tell them that I needed a practice shot first and then put an apple on a Styrofoam wig form. Then I would shoot the styrofoam bust right between the eyes.. I'd say, I missed that time but I think I've got it now. Believe it or not once in a while they'd still want to go through with it...I guess there are people that crazy.
-------------------- We live in the present, we dream of the future, but we learn eternal truths from the past
When the deer are gone I will hunt mice, for I am a hunter. www.shrewbows.com Posts: 3861 | From: Potterville Michigan | Registered: Mar 2003
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Many of Howards exploits were reenacted on film for the public. ![[scared]](graemlins/scared.gif)
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