HH bug got me ... Part One!

[2treks]

Well said as always Rik,
Nothing wrong with that,

Ron, it has been over 21yrs since I first walked into your shop after I got out of the Navy. It was a trip I remember well and the pictures and   Stuff  you had hung on the walls,stuck in show cases and leaned in the corners forever changed me. I can never get enough of the old ways.
  It was the flight of the arrow that sucked me in as a kid, but it was a few trips to your shop and some of the first GLLI's that got me into making bows. Grabbing a stick of osage and getting it to bend into the long, graceful arcs was great fun back then and still is.
That time I spent making self bows was a great teacher and as my interest in all types of archery evolved,I applied what I had learned to making and shooting thoses types of bows.
Them first selfbows I made in the "American" style and it was getting the bow to work like it should that consumed my thoughts and efforts. When I would look at the old pictures on the walls of your shop and in the old films of guys like Hill, Pope, Young and others, I wanted to be like that and have a bow that looked as good as the one they had. At full draw, the bows they held looked no others. I would study the bends and the handles, try to figure out the lengths and tillers. This has been a good teacher and I apply all of this to my craft today,in different styles of bows and in the classic designs as well.
I build bows the way I learned and developed how. With some help from very giving and very good friends, But I still had to figure out how to arrive at the end product,which is a properly bending bow.
  The journey has been great. The people I have had the pleasure to meet along the way are some of the best. I thank you for your part in that.
Please keep posting the old pictures and telling the old stories. We can never get enough.
See you at the GLLI.
CTT
PS.
You keep em coming as well Mr.Lamb. Please and thank you.
C

[Claymore]

I am  with you Rik on the bamboo cores have two of them. Also about working with kids. I work with at-risk kids everyday and those already in the justice system. If only somebody had got them interested in archery or something. These other things they play with these days are literally killing our kids and it is only by the grace of God and some people that do things with them like Rik that we don't loose more. Keep it up Rik.

[Brianlocal3]

Well put rik

[Overspined]

How could anyone who comes across this thread resist a try at a Hill style longbow?

Or stop reading the thread?

Tons of history, passion, and great stories.

[Brianlocal3]

Amen brother !!

[Jacquesbonin]

Gang, there are very few limb core materials that are as consistant as Moroso bamboo. Of course there are other bamboos very similar in properties and the consistancy, other bows woods, maple, osage, and yew for example are very good bow woods, however there is so much of a difference when making a bow that the poundage and performance can vary greatly! As for yew I do prefer a selfbow, osage can make an exceptional bow under glass, however you rarely get two alike even from the same batch of laminates. Returning to bamboo, it's the consistancy not the speed which makes this the preferred laminate for me. Yes there are so many woods for bow building that are faster. Faster doesn't translate into controlability. Bamboo has all the properties a bowyer is looking for in a stright no nonsense dependable piece of equipment. A bow of this simple design built 40years ago compared to one built today of the same design will perforn nearly identicle. Consistancy is where the best shooting is achieved. So the bamboo family is my favorite laminate in a Hill style longbow, second would be the yew in a straight plain Jane english longbow! To me the two bows perform almost identical Here is but a few reasons I like bamboo and yew! If any of you have a favorite tell us about and why. Thanks,Jacques

[Charlie Lamb]

Alaska circa 2001  
   

[Charlie Lamb]

A bent and beautiful bow... "Crow Wing". or... does this bow make my butt look big?
 

[toddster]

don't know charlie looking at bow

[MikeNova]

Yes Charlie you look like your a rap video model.

[Looper]

Originally posted by Charlie Lamb:
A bent and beautiful bow... "Crow Wing". or... does this bow make my butt look big?
   

Is that what you call "working it"?  My wife wanted to know who you were showing off for.  

[Exit Felix]

Well...the bug bit me, too.  I just couldn't resist.  I called Steve at Northern Mist on Saturday and received this beauty on Monday.  It was one of his stock bows which happened to be exactly what I was looking for...68" 62@28 shudua riser, tempered boo cores, and zebrawood veneers.  I couldn't be more pleased, and Steve was a pleasure to chat with and buy from.  
     

[Exit Felix]

...oh, it's a Classic.  And those are home made wool-ease silencers I made after reading about them on the How To forum.

[SportHunter]

Very nice looking bow Nick. Great choice.

[Brianlocal3]

Outstanding bow. My opinion is there is no better bow made on the market than a Northern Mist. The straight grip absolutly perfect (for me). Limbs are thin, deep, and strong. Tips you can calligraphy with. His Huron, superior, and even the discontinued Ontario. All top of there game. You did great.

[WESTBROOK]

Nice looking Classic! My longbow of choice.    

Eric

[Overspined]

I always feel bad when I see Steve from Northern Mist because I rarely carry my Classic at shoots, but only because I don't want to ding it up!  It's among my favorite Hill style bows. Flawless.  It's my bow for deer, turkey, anything. Camouflaged, and easy to shoot. (shhh, I did miss a chip shot at a Booner deer with it!). My fault of course. I kill a running doe and miss a standing buck...some things are tough to explain!  
 

[Shinken]

The lams/veneers on that NM Classic are sweet Matt!

Keep the wind in your face!

Shoot straight, Shinken

   

[Overspined]

Thanks David,

I have a Whisper on order, I should get it in about....10 months or so. Ugh! American elm stained grey, black horn tips, and a riser of something dark to be discussed closer to the build date...Depending on what's available. I have 10 months to save for it.

I hear what everyone says about limb materials, but I think that in a deep core longbow, there are a lot of really good performing woods, in addition to bamboo. Yew, as just mentioned, but I think ash and elm are overlooked. Steve's elm bows have an excellent feel, in performance and smoothness.  

I never thought of bamboo in  respect of overall consistency, but it makes sense as it's GRASS    :D   . The best shooting HHA bows have been Wesley specials for me, and unfortunately I can't tell you if it was the taper, or limb materials.

I would really like to shoot a tembo of similar build to compare.

[Rik]

UH-OH-------Overspined broke the unspoken rule. . .

He showed a dead-critter photo four weeks before hunting season opens.

Well, that's it, the floodgates be opened. . . let the games begin!

Here's one I don't think you've seen:

Northern California. Last night of a 10-day hunt. One shot at a trotting boar that was fighting two other boars (sow in heat right in front of them) when my arrow sailed in about four minutes before pitch-black dark set in. One of the finest downhill shots I have ever made. Pure luck-----but I needed it!

The other two boars? They charged me twice in the dark while I was skinning this boar. They were fighting hard, and every time they came close to where I was skinning the boar they looked up, sharpened their tusks, and had a go at me. Good thing I am semi-fair at stepping end fetching in the dark!

Thjs was a small-tusked boar, fed on acorns, mushrooms, and fresh spring grass, and oh-so-tasty. Northern California is famous for great wines and even better-tasting Russian Boar!