Howard Hill quote? Shooting at came quickly

[bowzonly]

"You will do better shooting at game quickly".  Anyone know the exact quote, context, and were its from? Thanks,Bruce.

[Owlmagnet]

In his video, "Hitting 'Em Like Howard Hill", John Schultz asserted that Howard Hill maintained that a smooth, fluid, swing draw and a release when the archer came to anchor was more accurate on game than a more deliberate set-arm draw and holding at anchor.  At least, that was my take on it.

[dragonheart]

From the video by John Schulz.  It was in reference to shooting more accurately when you have less thought into the shot, and respond in a manner of conditoned instinct based on alot of practice of the basic techniques.  

The idea is that if you think too long, hold at full draw, etc. leads to a break down in your natural reaction and shot execution.  In hunting situations many times there is not alot of time to have a long hold for a shot.  Not a hurried or poorly timed shot, but the ability to get on target and shoot with a quicker speed.    

Like shooting a shotgun, you have a quick time to get on target and shoot.  It may be mentioned in Howard Hill's book Hunting the Hard Way.  Not for sure, would have to reference the book.

[TOEJAMMER]

I can attest to the truth of that statement........too many times.

[Nate Steen .]

Hill wrote that in his book,  Hunting the Hard Way

Howard Hill said that too much thinking can be bad for the concentration. He suggested to shoot with every part of the form at the same tempo, start slow and then eventually, when the form requires little thought, speed it up until a faster tempo of swing draw anchor release is natural. Use that for trying to hit an animal. Practice form one aspect at a time separated from trying to be accurate. I think where most folks miss on this is that they never stop practicing form and when they speed it up they mess up parts of the form. It is all still there, it is just less time spent on the individual parts and with less mechanical thought.

[dragonheart]

Pavan you have a way with words.    

[mikebiz]

Well said, pavan.  We all rode a bike all slow and wobbly at one time, but now pretty much any of us can get on one and ride with speed and stability.  When we first jumped on two wheels it was slow, but over time the movements were sped up.  Just apply that to the swing draw, aim, and release.  It's not so hard.  At least that's what I keep telling myself.  

Here is the passage from Howard Hill's "Hunting the Hard Way".  It is found in Chapter 6, Helpful Hints on pgs 75-76.

  "It is extremely worth while to learn to draw, nock, aim and loose an arrow fast, as one often gets two shots at an animal by shooting fast, whereas the fellow who is too deliberate and in no hurry may get only one shot. Many archers think that if they hurry a shot they lose accuracy, and in some cases they are right, because to hurry a shot means to shoot an arrow faster than one's normal rate of speed. However, it is just as easy to learn to shoot fast as it is to shoot slow. In fact, I believe it is possible to shoot more accurately by shooting quickly, once the archer becomes accustomed to it. There is less time to think, and the less thinking about how and why one shoots a bow, while he is actually shooting, the better. Too much thinking is bad for concentration on any given operation which one is trying to do, provided of course that the archer already knows what he is doing. A man does not worry about where he is going to place his feet when he walks or runs, yet he places them perfectly."  

That last line sounds like muscle memory to me.

dragaloin, you pikkin' on me? Most of the time I only get to talk to music people with degrees and political liars that are experts at double speak. Twice this year I was accused of using foul language when ripping people apart, after they  called me names,  to shreds, when I know that I purposely used no bad language. They just felt like they were getting cussed at. Folks have a way of reinterpreting things they hear into their own language. All I did is say what you said, but with an emphasis on how practicing can achieve the results, with setting up a frame work that would prevent confusion, hopefully, as to how it is achieved. The one point that is important, is that one always, always, needs to be able to, no matter how quickly it is done, plant that anchor. when I play  rapid tremolo passages on guitar, my right hand fingers plant the string, it is not just a fly by. the same holds for accurate shooting, it is where most longbow shooters fall apart. The anchor gets away from them.  It goes from a plant to a well timed skidding release, then to a fly by, then to a short release and the fingers fly by the anchor point after the release.  The one weak part of the form, when going fast the easiest part of the form to miss is the anchor.  
   Ooops I am doing it again, I always say the same thing three different ways, it drove my kids nuts, but it is the best way to get someone to remember what you said.

[lpcjon2]

Howard is still teaching us Trad from 6ft under.Just goes to show you that they knew what it was about back then.Thanks for sharing the quote.

[dragonheart]

Pavan,

I really liked the way you said this:

 "Practice form one aspect at a time separated from trying to be accurate. I think where most folks miss on this is that they never stop practicing form and when they speed it up they mess up parts of the form. It is all still there, it is just less time spent on the individual parts and with less mechanical thought."

I did not mean my comment as sacastic in any way, I really liked the straight forward way you described that.  No offense intented whatsoever.  

Jeff

[bowzonly]

Thanks!

[mikebiz]

This quote question came up for me at a perfect time.  I just started reading "Hunting the Hard Way" so the "think less and shoot" stuff was very fresh in my mind as Howard covers it in Chapter 6. I'm up to Chapter 8 and it's been a great read so far.  

Though I have yet to finish the book I can tell you that if you haven't read it you must as a longbow shooter.  It's available in paperback for about $20 online.  If not borrow a copy.  It's worth the read for Chapter 5 "How I Shoot A Bow" & Chapter 6 "Helpful Hints" alone.  I have already read those chapters twice each.  It cleared a lot up for me.  

And if you've read the book before, read it again.

Dragon - I know. I don't take compliments very well, unless I am singing or playing my guitar.  Maybe, I should learn how to do those smiley face things. Rereading my second post, unless one would understand my divergent angles I converse with, it would be a guess at my intentions.  In reality I was agreeing exactly with what you said, I was trying just to put a spin on it that a beginner could digest.  In the circles of Hill shooters there is a specific language that has developed that can be miss leading to static styled shooters, in reality there is two different worlds of traditional archery at times.

[JDinPA]

I read that in his book, "Hunting the Hard Way".

[dragonheart]

I liked what you said.  I know I am guilty of the getting to hung up in each part of a shot and the way you worded that would help anyone.  We can just be too dang critical.  Is my anchor just right, is my swing just so, etc.

As you put it .." it is just less time spent on the individual parts and with less mechanical thought". I got the image of the choppy shot, where each movement is a piece to itself.  The opposite of fluid Hill style!  Man I have been there in the past.  When you look at people who are great at a given activity they make it look  so effortless, fluid.  They also can slow it down or speed it up, but it is a flow with that less time on each movement.  It blends until each individual aspect of the shot sequence is, in essence, one sequence.  The parts simply equal the whole.  Just watch Howard Hill shoot and you get it.  Shooting quickly and with fluidity just pays off in hunting situations.

[dragonheart]

"...you can do things better from habit than you can on purpose."  

Howard Hill, from My Method of Shooting

[buckeye_hunter]

Ummm. I have finished looking up all the big words in my dictionary now...    


Just kidding. Eloquently stated gentlemen.