Howard Hill Bows

[zinndl]

I was looking (online)at the Howard Hill bows and it looks like the arrow shelf is flat with no radius, are they flat? With more arrow surface contact wouldn't that affect flight?
Do those of you who have them like them?

[Orion]

My Hills of fairly recent vintage all have a slight shelf radius.  I certainly like mine.  There is a big difference in feel between a Hill and a pistol grip hybrid or recurve.  If you've never shot one, I recommend you get a hold of one to try first.

[Wannabe1]

What Orion said. Definitely try one first as Hill bows are not for everyone. They take a little getting used too shooting wise. I have 4 HH bows and all have a slight radius on the shelf. I love the heck out of my Hill bows!  

[SpankyNeal]

I've not had any problems with flight off any of mine. As long as your tuning and shaft selection are correct, the arrows fly beautifully from a Hill bow!

Regards...Ken

[stiltzMTA.44]

I love my hill bow just about as much as my hounds!!    ive shot all kinds of longbows and recurves.. never felt one that shot as good as a hill

[Dick in Seattle]

Of all those I've had (40+), most were flat.  I think radiusing of the shelf is a fairly recent feature if it's on newer bows...

Well, drat.. y'all started me wondering so I got up and went down and checked out the Hills I have left.  All the "Craig" Hills are flat as to the horizontal surface.  The leather is centered and acts as a bit of a rise in the middle, but there is no radiusing on shelf itself.   There is slight, and I mean SLIGHT radiusing of the vertical arrow plate surface.  

On my Kramer Hill there is definite radiusing of both surfaces and I recall that this was also true of my Schulz Hills.  Both Kramer and Schulz did a lot more sophisticated riser shaping than was true before them or since.  

 For those who really want to go to the source, Howard's bow is dead flat on both surfaces, the shelf is very narrow, even by today's Hill standards, and as far as i can tell, it never had any leather... it was shot right off of the wood.  I shoot it that way and it performs fine.  When I built Flapjack, I tried to copy the construction of Howard's bow as best I could, and I am also shooting this bow right off of the unpadded shelf.  At first I thought, "this is going to kick the arrow all over the place..."  but it doesn't.  I shoot Flapjack quite well.

Hope all of that helps a bit.

Oh, yeah... that other question...   yes, I like Hills....

[JRY309]

I too am a Hill fan,as long as your arrows are properly spined Hill's shoot just fine.I have shot wood,aluminum and carbons from my Hill's with no problem at all.The shelfs are small and the arrow doesn't glide all the way down the shelf until it clears.At release the arrow starts going through the paradox and clears the shelf.Thats what I feel happens,haven't had any issues with mine as far as flight.

[Frank V]

Mine is flat it has a small leather pad on the shelf. It's 60@28 & shoots 55-59lb spine like darts. Frank

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Yep, as the other fellows said, the arrows fly just fine out ot mine.

[mike g]

My Hill Bow has a slight radius on it....I requested it when I ordered it....
    Craig did mention that it not necessary because as soon as the string puts pressure on the arrow it leaves the shelf anyways....

[Daddy Bear]

The outer shelf is indeed flat on Craig's bow, but that is not exactly where the arrow rides. The bow is designed to be shot with a slight natural cant with the arrow riding along the inside corner formed by the shelf and plate. Place your shaft along this inside corner of the shelf plate while holding a slight cant and you will see it has a marked radius. The shaft will rock up and down perpendicular to the ground along this high spot. If you shoot your bow enough, you'll see a wear spot develop along this peak of the shelf. You can always add material to make this high spot more pronounced, or you can opt for little or no shelf and shoot off your hand. Either way, a proper, well tuned arrow along with proper technique can result in outstanding arrow flight.

Best,
DB

[SCATTERSHOT]

All I have seen have been flat. On mine, I just add a piece of leather bootlace under the leather arrow shelf for a pressure point.

[COOCH]

Both of mine are flat and narrow they shoot very well right off the shelf with no padding or strike plate.They handle a heavy arrow very well.I think that they take some getting used too if you don't heel them properly they well slap you but seem to be very forgiving of a lot of form errors.I've taken a bunch of critters with them.You can put me in the yes I love my HH,s column.  

[Rob DiStefano]

imo, lots depends on how the arrow reacts with regards to the shelf upon its release and not all arras just leap off the shelf.  

for all flat shelf bows i stick a piece of 3/32" dowel under the shelf leather or velcro, right over deepest part of the grip.  in the case of a standard hill with dead straight "tear drop" grip, that's at the back most end on the belly side.

[GingivitisKahn]

Flat shelf but mine seems to shoot adequately (it is certainly capable of better shooting than I am).  Here's a pic from the belly side...

 

[straitera]

See slow motion vids of arrow flight in the archives. Tests show various fletch configurations, arrows, etc effect arrow flight and bow contact differently. Feather rests provide a slight radius & minimize drag IMO. Longer (68" min) flat shelf straight handled Hills & Proline Saxon longbow are all I've shot since 1979.

[marlon]

mine are straight.