HH bug got me ... Part One!

[canopyboy]

And Rik, the pinkie finger thing is helping.

[RC]

What Rik said. I fought the Hill bow a while trying to hold it kinda throated. I healed down a bit and tightened down the pinky finger as well as the ring finger and the bow calmed some and the arrow flight was better and the shooting more relaxed and consistent.RC

[Ray_G]

Originally posted by RC:
What Rik said. I fought the Hill bow a while trying to hold it kinda throated. I healed down a bit and tightened down the pinky finger as well as the ring finger and the bow calmed some and the arrow flight was better and the shooting more relaxed and consistent.RC

   RC, now that is an understatement if ever I saw one.  With all the dead critter pics that I have seen you post, I would say that you have it dialed in, not just "better".

[WESTBROOK]

Yup, heel down with a little pinky pressure works well for me to! These bows are made to shoot heel down, mine is anyway, the center of the bow is in the middle of the grip and that is where you want the focus of your pressure. Too high or low and you throw the limbs out of balance.

somethin' like this-

[Looper]

RC, that's the way I shoot one, too.  It's a different than the way I shoot my other bows.  I'm pretty good with mine, too.  The squirrels around here call me "tchht tchhhhht tchhhhhht", which I think is squirrelese for "the slayer of all my cousins"

My Halfbreed is my first Howard Hill bow, but it's not my first Hill-style bow.  I know how to shoot one and I know when a grip doesn't feel right to me.  This one doesn't, so I'm changing it.  I want it to feel natural to me and for my hand to just fall into the correct position.

I guess I'm saying that I think that the grip size itself is important to shooting one of these bows correctly.  A proper grip is important, however you do it, and if the size of the grip itself doesn't fit you, you'll end up focusing on it more than you should.  That's not to say that a person can't shoot an ill-fitting bow well.  I bet Howard Hill could shoot well with any bow.  But I also bet that the bows he used the most and counted as his most accurate, fit him specifically.  I'd be willing to bet that any good bowyer is going to take into account a client's hand size before he builds a bow for that person.

[xbmedic]

Great pics showing the grip, Westbrook. It's also good to see someone holding the bow with the right hand.  

i was just out shooting, home for the Holiday, I shot an old bear, my wife's Darton Valiant with the lowered grip, her NAT, and one of my own longbows. I tried floating the recurves out on the thumb pad, not for me, the NAT just falls deep in the hand with no thought, tight or loose the grip made no difference to the tennis ball sized groups I was getting with it. When I went to my straight gripped Hill style 'get a hold of it' seems like the only and easiest way to shoot that bow. Tight or soft grips on my straight grip Hill style bows don't seem to make all that much difference, but I tend to hold them tight enough so they don't move in my hand on release. I like a bow that I can just grab and still kill the deer, or small game.
The only grip that was not changed in all of our bows to fit the person is the NAT. Francis did that when he built it. On the Darton, my wife complained about how the bow would not sit still. I lowered the grip, trimmed the far side so it would fit into her hand without her thinking about, and used a satin finish.  
The result was five straight years of filling deer tags without a miss, hunting from a stool on the ground with out a blind.
For me, what happened with my target bows and what goes on in my head when I am shooting game requires two separate approaches. I don't want to think about anything except where the arrow needs to go on game, getting the grip just right for my hand is an important part of that.

[Looper]

Pavan, your last sentence sums it up for me.

[Sean Butler]

To anyone with experiance with both,

Does the half breed or redman have a smoother draw?

I'm thinking 70" 44#@28"

Originally posted by Sean Butler:
To anyone with experiance with both,

Does the half breed or redman have a smoother draw?

I'm thinking 70" 44#@28"

Sean, I can't imagine you could or would be able to distinguish the difference if there was any...

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Sean Butler:
To anyone with experiance with both,

Does the half breed or redman have a smoother draw?

I'm thinking 70" 44#@28"

the wood/grass/lams don't matter one bit.  the bow length versus your draw length will.  and you can be sure craig will tack on 3-6# when the bow gets delivered.   :D

[MikeM]

Originally posted by Sean Butler:
To anyone with experiance with both,

Does the half breed or redman have a smoother draw?

I'm thinking 70" 44#@28"
___________________________________________________
I have both in the 70" length one at 46# and the other at 48# and I do not distinguish any difference in smoothness of draw

[Nate Steen .]

thanks for the pics Westbrook...lookin fine..gripping like Hill said..."get ahold of it, heel the bow"

Rik,  yeah, squeezing with the pinky is kinda like heel down.  Same thing, same results....dead game on the ground.

Pavan,  your last line is why I like my Hill styles....

[MT Longbow]

Guys I just spent a 45 minute session trying to get pictures and verbage into this thread....I messed up and it went to the main Pow Wow forum.. its Labeled Robin Hood Bow @ 30 yards.

Moderator or someone could you please help me move it to this HH bug thread.

Please!

Thanks

Patrick

[David Mitchell]

Hmmmm (he says cogitating a bit), well, I have no experience with the Half Breed but I own 2 Wesley Specials, one Tembo, one Redman, and two Big Five string follow models.  No difference in the DRAW feel, but I will say that TO ME both Wesleys have a sweeter, more pleasant feel on release than any of the others.  One wesley has a D97 string, the other a dacron, but both feel just as mild on recovery on release.  Can't explain it....just saying what is for me.....Dave

[Mudd]

This post is made for MT Longbow

These are some pics I took today of a representative 11 arrow group from me @ 30 yards ...somedays better, some days a few more flyers. You can see because Im left eye dominant and I quit doing the squinting thing(this whole group was with both eyes open) and just putting the left arrow image in line with the target...thats the image from my left dominant eye) Im using the split vision I read about in HH Hunting the Hard way book. Its really helped. I just stare at the aiming spot I want to hit and in my secondary vision I put the left arrow image under the target.

As you can see I need to place the left arrow image a bit more to the right for my dominant eye to center the group. I dont shift my vision or focus from my intended place of hitting. in this case I went for the black dot in the center bumble bee. Still learning but it feels much more confident...especially the first cold shot...that one is usually my best shot....which makes me happy.

Anyway Im really getting the grip worked out. I thought Id show everyone my grip and then the open hand picture one is to show where the pressure is from the grip. you can see the red in my palm. , The pinkie and ring finger squeeze is really helping. You can see I get full grip contact and pressure for the entire length of the grip. I feel no handshock gripping the bow. I squeeze like your shaking a good friends hand...thats about the pressure I feel. Firm from front to back...not with the tips of the finger but like Sunset Hill said with the middle pad ..which pushes the bow grip nicely to the rear.

Im shooting a finger stall glove and 605 grain Beman MFX arrows with 200 grains up front. (275 with the brass insert)

Im using the swing draw that was in the Movie "Hitting em like Howard"...thats really made a difference for me from my old habit of holding the bow out pointing at the target and then full draw straight back. Its made the draw easier on the bow shoulder after a long shooting session and given me more consistancy in my shot.

Im no great shooter but I hope this helps some of you looking for some paths to try with your HH bows and that crazy straight grip!!!

Patrick
 
 
 
 


--------------------
Dan Toelke 64" 49#@28 Whip
Dan Toelke 64" 40#@28Classic Whip

Howard Hill70" 52#@29.5 RobinHood
Double shelf #39 of 50.

[MT Longbow]

Mudd, SIR!  Thank you very much for helping me get this post to HH, I appreciate it!

Patrick

[Rob DiStefano]

roy et al - if the straight handle and straight full strangle bow hand grip works for ya, amen my bruthas 'n' sistas of the AFL.

in this pic, there is little to no string clearance because of the straight bow hand and so an armguard is mandatory ....

 

... and here, there's a whole buncha palm pressure that plants a wide kiss on the handle face, as seen by the skin coloration ...
 

lest you think otherwise, this is not a negative or dissing post at all.  i'm agreeing that if it works well for ya, no one should tell you otherwise.  the straight style DID work fine for me, 'til i found a better way (surely for me, but maybe not you).  to each their own and the bottom line is always consistency.  

[Claymore]

Mudd where did you get the armguard?

[Mudd]

Those aren't my pictures and I didn't make any of the statements either and therefore it isn't my arm guard.

I simply did a favor by copying MT Longbows' post from another thread as he had requested and place a copy here as well.

I am an innocent!!...lol

I am hoping the old adage doesn't prove true here...( no good deed goes unpunished)...lol

God bless,Mudd