I read somewhere that Mr. Hill played some sort of practical joke on Mr. Bear on a pronghorn hunt, disturbing a potential two-with-one-arrow-on-film shot opportunity, and Mr. Bear didn’t like it; and that on another occasion Mr. Hill with his Southern sensibilities got offended when Mr. Bear told a crude joke in mixed company. And then, of course, there are the comments Mr. Hill made about not liking to shoot recurves, despite making some and hunting quite well with them on occasion. Obviously such disagreements are only human, and have long since blown to the four corners of the Earth. But I do wonder what gets said, in hushed tones, on my bow rack at night between my few old Bear recurves and my two newer Hill longbows.
Today, with the sun shining brightly, I ventured forth to my little range armed with my 2011 Howard Hill Archery Redman, a 70 inch string-follow longbow of 60 pounds at 28 inches of draw, and my 1956 Bear Kodiak Special, a 68 inch recurve of 61 pounds at 28 inches of draw. I figured both would shoot the same 30 inch Douglas fir arrows of 80 to 85 pounds of spine rating with 160 grain blunts well-enough for some fun.
Now, the emphasis is on the word fun, which leads me to my pet excuses for the appalling and nauseating shooting skills of Yours Truly. A friend of mine who is a hell of a good shooter with his longbow maintains that an archer’s excuses are only limited by the number of arrows left in his quiver, so here goes:
1. Aside from six arrows a few weeks ago, during which I shot an imaginary French knight (wheely bin) once out of the six shots (to demonstrate, poorly, Henry VIII’s shooting skills to the students), at a range of 155 metres (I think), I haven’t actually shot my Howard Hill longbow for a few months, having concentrated on the Black Widow and Schafer Silvertip recurves instead.
2. It has been even longer since I have shot my Bear Kodiak Special – about ten months ago – and I actually only shot it on that one occasion; so today was only the second time that I’ve actually strung it up and shot it.
3. It’s warming-up here, and today’s seventy arrows had me a little on the jellied side, just slightly.
4. In all honesty, I’m not a very good shot at the best of times, despite some spectacular flukes. I prefer to be closer than fifteen metres, and six metres is even better!
5. As much as I like Hill longbows, I must admit that they take more practice for me to be proficient with them than do my modern recurves.
Actually, I only had three arrows – and just two by the end – so that is two excuses too many. Anyway, on a whim, I wanted to play with a couple of bows that for me are quite challenging to use without a fair amount of practice. I just felt like shooting them. I’m not planning on hunting with either for some time, either, as when the bowhunting gets tough, I rely on Black Widow and Schafer Silvertip recurves; at present for me, shot opportunities are few and far between. And when shot opportunities are rare, so too are opportunities for really close shots, such as I prefer with the Hill and the Bear in question.
It was just great to be out there bending those bows and sending those feathered wooden shafts flying!
Topic: Hill longbow versus Bear recurve (and both spoilt by me)... (Read 524 times)
