HH bug got me ... Part One!

[Rik]

Tick Tock. . . Tick Tock. . . Well, the time is passing, and still no photos from Nate.

He is obviously toying with us.

Here is a photo of an old cabin I found out in the middle of nowhere this weekend. There are no trails leading anywhere near this cabin, and It's the only one I have ever seen in Idaho that was not near an old trail or road. A sane person would have to be seriously lost to find it. Still, it provided a neat backdrop for a photo. For those of you with enhanced artistic sensibilities, not the beautiful lines of my bow quiver.

 

[dragonheart]

Rik cool photo.  Your haversack I think grew into the Rucksack domain!  LOL!

[ChrisM]

Rik what bow quiver is that?

[Overspined]

Quiver on Hill style bows...ugh!  LOL

I always felt they added hand shock unless it had a very long riser.

I actually like bowquivers but they never felt right on my Hills! How do you get it to settle down?

[Overspined]

[Nate Steen .]

now for the rest of the story....

the bear is moving in to the bait, standing broadside and I'm aiming at the chest....the bow is half drawn and then the bear moves his near leg forward, exposing more chest.  I switched my aim mid-draw to compensate, which is a no-no, and since my concentration is compromised, the arrow didn't go where I aimed...

the bear didn't wait around to discuss my options for a retry, and I started wiping the egg off my face and then commenced the butt-chewing process.....

even though my butt was seated only 7' up, next week I'm on the ground with both feet....after this episode I remembered why I dislike treestands.  I'm much better at reacting and concentrating with both feet on terra-firma than I am perched up above like a vulture...

It is cool to watch these awesome animals at 10 yards, and have them walk by without spooking at my white glass bow, unpainted face, jeans, etc...

[Nate Steen .]

Rik,

the bear might be still running, hopefully it comes back when it realizes that it left some goodies in the barrel...unless it runs into you...lol.

Hill bows are extremely accurate, they shoot were you look.  However, as I pitifully displayed, if you look elsewhere than the exact spot you want to hit,  they will shoot elsewhere...

[dragonheart]

Nate,

That is an awesome looking bear!  What a rush that must have been!

[Nate Steen .]

maybe the real lesson here is....

bears shouldn't be shot by a hunter wearing loafers....  

[MT Longbow]

I feel your pain...I really do...I keep telling my self.."Aim small, miss small"

I think your going to be sucessful in that location though... stick with it...on the ground one small mountain wind shift and your busted before ever putting tension on the string.

[Nate Steen .]

I usually hunt from the ground,  don't like pop-up blinds so my blind affair is usually pretty simple....just some branches laid around.  A few years ago had a nice chocolate poke his nose over my 'blind' wall and look at me from 5 feet....

[Rik]

For those of you who have not had the chance to go shooting with Nate, trust me, you really, really do not want to be that bear if Nate gets a second chance.

I second his opinion of tree stands. They lack the fun and excitement of a simple, natural ground blind. Mine are pretty much like he described, a few pine branches leaning against some string tied between two trees, with some brush or trees behind me to break up my outline. That's really all you need.
This year, my blind is 15 yards from the logs my bait is hidden under.

I killed my biggest bear by just sitting on a stump 20 yards from my bait. I had to make sure to move my bow arm up ultra slowly, and I do mean "ultra slowly" to make sure he didn't see me. That was maybe one of my all-time favorite shots. He didn't even know he'd been shot, complete penetration with nary a sound. He just fell over a few seconds later. Kelly Peterson helped me pack him out the next day with the llamas. It was the last day of the season.

[Nate Steen .]

I debated with myself all spring about using a 'short' treestand this year to get up into the tree cover,  never, never again.  Rik has permission to shoot me with blunts if I ever think about it again....

something about my longbow mentality....they just go with being on the ground....somehow I don't envision guys shooting stuff with longbows from elevated positions, unless it was shooting off a castle wall back in the old days.....  

[Kelly]

So, should I leave my ladder stands at home?

Why did the bears movement of his near leg throw you off? You don't pay attention to that leg-have you already forgotten what I've drilled into you over the years?

That big bear should be toes up by now and hanging in your shop-not still walking around. Might not get another chance at him but if you do don't put your ground blind anywhere near the tree where you shot from-will guarantee he'll be looking for something there next time.

[Nate Steen .]

Righto Kelly....I was thinking about all that stuff as he came in, concentrating on the ribs, middle of body etc, but excitement and double-guessing....

i've already got a ground blind spot picked out where he was coming in...a big downed tree with branches still green, just before he hits the bait scent trail....

Kelly, when you are a full-fledged longbowguy, you'll see it like Rik and I do...

All this banter brings up another Longbowman query.....how many guys will only hunt with their longbows from the ground?

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by sunset hill:
... All this banter brings up another Longbowman query.....how many guys will only hunt with their longbows from the ground?

with a 70" tembo, ground only!    

even 66" is hairy when up in the air.    

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Rik:
If Hill bows are American Flat Longbows,

yep, they sure are!

what do we call the wide, thin-limbed longbows?

'longbows', but they're NOT AFL's!   :D  

I would vote for calling them Non-American Flat Longbows (NAFLs), but that would make it w-a-y too easy to tease my friends.

HAH!        

Seriously though, what are they called?

seriously, just 'longbows'.  and some are hybrids with snaky limbs!!!

If I could run the world for a day, the Yew Longbows of old  and Howard Hill style bows would be called  Longbows (naturally),

if they are 'D' cross sections, they are they true longbow of the ancient elb dna breed.  if not, like howard's later longbows of flattened bamboo, they're American Flat Longbows.  period.    

and the flatter-limbed longbows would be called flatbows.

well, flat is flat.  if we agree that the definition of a 'longbow' is a stickbow of which only the string loops touch the limbs, then the gamut of 'flat longbows' reaches from AFL's all the way down to those short, mega snaky, ultra hybrid 'longbows' that look and perform as unstable as a ... RECURVE.  there,  i said that nasty word. phooey.    

Due to the young archers who may be tuned into this broadcast, I will not mention what I would call recurves, but as my hunting partners who shoot them can attest, the phrase does include the word "Sissy." To be fair though, they cannot mention my Hill bows without grinning widely and mentioning two-by-fours.

tut tut, a bold statement, mon gar - but me likes the stout stick ye carry, and the cut of yer woodie's fletchings.  to my shaded eyes, ye be a true son of the yew limb, the red deal shaft, the goose feather and the silken cord.  methinks ye would find grand adventure and much honor afoot in the northland, whence the bugles are a'blowin' and the chill is in the breeze ...  

[Mudd]

I only hunt from the ground and all of my bows look like something that Howard would have shot.. does that quality?...lol

God bless,Mudd

PS: I'm not real nuts about expensive camo just give me something that breaks up my outline.

I already know how to keep a steady wind in my face...lol swirling winds just means that we all just have to take our chances and hope we get lucky...lol

[MT Longbow]

Sunset, I just figured you'd want to prove to all that a real mans bow (Hill style Longbow) can do it BOTH ways...from the ground and from the air...."Death from above" !

Fan the flame , fan the flame!!!

[Rik]

To make Nate feel better, I think Kelly could tell a story about me and a tree stand.

Against my better judgment he talked me into sitting in one of his ladder stands one evening, rather than drive two hours back to my bait in another unit.

I tried to get out of it, but he was persisitent and I finally gave in and agreed to sit in one of his ladder stands.

That was the last time I ever sat in a tree to hunt! I thought I had killed the biggest bear of my life.

I would tell the story if I could, but I would not be able to due to intermittent fits of laughter and crying. . .