Remember.....what got us here.

[T. W. Harris]

HOWARD HILL……Let’s think about this name for a second.  There was a time in our history, the name of Howard Hill was truly well known, not too mention, legendary.  When kids, young adults and older people heard of archery, this name, was THE  name, that at one time was called “The World’s Greatest Archer.

Today, the world of archery has all but forgotten the names of those legends such as Howard Hill, Fred Bear, Ben Pearson and those who inspired so many others in our past to pick up a bow and arrow for hunting, sport or just playing cowboys and Indians as children.   

Archery events throughout our great country are normally named after states, cities, clubs or organizations. When I thought of hosting my own traditional archery event, what better name to honor the event, than Mr. Howard Hill.   

It is now up to the present generation of fathers and grandfathers to ask their children to put the computer devices down, for at least a while daily, and enjoy what the outdoors has to offer.

Archery is so simplistic.  It is the perfect choice for all ages, even if one has never picked a bow, especially a traditional bow.  I always say, if you can throw a baseball, a football or shoot a hoop, traditional archery uses the same principle. You pick a spot and use your instinctive sights that god gave you.

[woodchucker]

Well said, Brother!!!!

We all need to remember when Archery, and Bow Hunting, was just THAT!!
There was no need for "Traditional".....

[Pine]

 

[woodchucker]

I have a collection of old Bear recurves (60's couple early 70's) and
a Howard Hill "Mountain Man" longbow....

I wouldn't part with any of them!! My Grandchildren need to remember the 2 great "founding fathers" of archery.

[tradslinger]

Unfortunately, most of my ancestors that lived here before me had forgotten a lot of the past as they tried to embrace "new world" of the people that took over this land. I did learn a little bit but not much really. My grandfather on my father's side had told me of those that had built bows but that had been forgotten as were many ways of the People. I do like and respect what people like Hill and Bear have done but this land was "won" at the cost of many lives with arrows and such. But it is true that most of the youth of today are more wrapped up in electronics than heritage. My grandfather did show me a few things but I was not around him enough to learn much. I guess that I am saying that for some of us, our heroes were shooting bows to survive for a long time before these men. But I do appreciate where you are coming from and what you are saying. 

[Terry Green]

From Terry to Terry..... we are on the same page...

If it weren't thise men carrying thus tradition on we wouldn't be here.

We are the 'Caboose on the Train'. 

[George Tsoukalas]

Yes, Sir. I agree with you, Terry. As the saying goes we stand on the shoulders of giants. Jawge

[McDave]

Yes, Sir. I agree with you, Terry. As the saying goes we stand on the shoulders of giants. Jawge

Yes we do, and among the giants would be Native American archers like Ishi.  I wish we knew more about them.  I’m sure there are many others, but unlike Howard Hill, they didn't leave much in the way of written records.  We are fortunate that there were people like Saxton Pope who took the time to find out about their way of life, and how they shot and hunted with the bow and arrow.

[Mike Yancey]

Absolutely!!!

I have sat here for almost an hour writing a comment about this and my thoughts on the idea now of those that have an I INVENTED ALL THIS ATTITUDE but keep erasing it. So here is what it has ended up to be without getting into a peeing contest on the subject.

To put it bluntly,
We owe a lot to a bunch that have gone on before us. They wrote about the adventure and the hunt, not about how many animals that they have killed or how great they think they are at it. I will tell you right now that no one living now invented bow building or is any better that anyone has ever been before in all of this! 

[woodchucker]

Well said, Mike!! Plain & Simple... 

[GCook]

You are correct.  But neither Hill nor Bear or Pearson did all that they did while scraping a living out at a sawmill or farm hand in the mid west or north west.  They did something more as they built their success and that success is what built the industry. 
I remember when Emmett Smith would score a touchdown and run off the field after handling the ball to the ref with a few high fives and sit down to rest for the next offensive series.  Today a player can't make a tackle, a catch, first down without acting like they just saved the world single handedly.  On national TV.
Today I kill an animal, win a trophy or get a new piece of equipment and I have multiple media platforms to show off on.  I'm guilty of it.  With a compound I posted maybe ten percent of my kills but I'm dang proud of all of my trad kills.
I'm a believer in those pillars of the industry we're great at what they did when they did it.  And they laid pavement down those since have added to and built upon that they did.
Before then were Ishi, Pope and how many hundreds of millions of natives and European and Eurasian and east Asian archers we don't celebrate like those three.
I'm grateful for them.  And I agree with the quote Tom Miranda associates with Bear, "The history of the bow is the history of mankind."
That said the improvements made by Bowyer's like Black Widow and creators of super curves and fast flight string material and . . . The list goes on and will continue to go on because we all build on the backs, the foundations, of those who came before us.
Not much for hero worship and the closet I get is extreme gratitude and appreciation for what someone contributed.
Especially to the ones who saw helping me as important. 
It's not about spiking the ball but their videos weren't made because they were hiding or introverts or . . . They were proud of what they did, were capable of and dreamed of. That didn't take away from their humility but it actually made what they did more real to us because of their humility. 
Greats, yes.  But I'm here because friends have taken the time, had the patience and desire to help me succeed.  Plus some hard work, dumb mistakes and lessons learned.

[T. W. Harris]

Folks, those I mentioned were just a spec of all those others that may have influenced you or others.  It certainly wasn't meant to leave every person that ever loosed an arrow, PERIOD!!

I guess if I had done some research, I probably could have named an untold number, husbands, sons, dads, grand fathers and the list could go on and on and on and on.....well you all get the point.

Besides, the thread would have been so long, it probably would have been shut down before iy got started.

Terry Harris

[woodchucker]

I don't see a problem, Terry?? You named a couple of the great ones who got us started...

Your point was well said, and well taken!! The point was "Remember our roots"
Others can expand the list if they choose, for there were MANY "Great Ones" who we all look up to...

Although Fred Bear was, and still is, my childhood hero... My earliest memories are of my Grandpa making me a bow out of a split sapling, after I had broke the one he made me before.
Or making me arrows out of green bamboo tomato sticks. He would fletch them with chicken feathers, and glue a nail in the front for a blunt point. I raised hell with the rabbits and woodchucks in his garden. I was maybe 3 or 4...?

[George Tsoukalas]

I appreciate everyone's comments.

One more thing...let me not forget the  people who raised me. My parents made sure that I had a  bow in my hands at a young age because that is what I wanted and it was not easy for them as they were poor farmers.

I sure did stand on the shoulders of giants chief among them were my mother and father of eternal memory.

Jawge