Ever shoot a Hill style and say "no thanks"?

[ron w]

quote:Originally posted by David Mitchell:
   Like I said earlier, I don't understand this handshock thing.

[arrow flynn]

no handshock with my Morningstar.

Dave does not know how to get the proper amount of hand shock out of his bows, obviously. What you need to do is, point the bow at the target, lock your shoulder against the side of your head, lean back away from the target, lock that elbow,squeeze bow grip until the glue is coming out from behind the leather, go for a huge draw, pull hard with your index finger and jerk the release. Or do this
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFqjNKC72dA&list=FLBUPq8uCA26B23gHSr6n1ow&index=27

[Sam McMichael]

I like Hill bows above all others.

[monterey]

I like em.  Prefer flat to reflexed.  Smoother!

[Adirondackman]

I prefer a bow with a thump. That's the way they should feel.

[LBR]

To be fair, the two bows with the absolute worst shock I have ever experienced were both recurves.  One I can't remember the name of...it was at the old Kentucky Klassic.  The guy selling it had to have help stringing it--a bow stringer wouldn't work.  It was really fast, but shooting it was akin to peeing on an electric fence.

The other...not going to call a name because it would likely aggravate someone.  I shot a few of those, they were all the same.

[Rob W.]

The name of this thread should be changed to "The Howard Hill bug bit my hand!"  

[Tajue17]

I've had 1 ML-14, 4 Hills, 1 strunk free spirit, 1 Harrison HHC, 1 Ron Maudling same as a Wesley,

I bought them all same as a lot of you guys and just couldn't hit decent enough to keep em and even though I regret letting a few go I could never shake that calling,, the true traditional calling to use American longbows and selfbows..

recently I purchased James Berry's personal bow that simply blew me away and was the only bow to ever make it into my sig,,,,, I knew there had to be something out there that I shot good enough to keep..     hill style bows is a bow that once you figure out how it wants to be shot and you can easily make the adjustment then it will work well..

[Gun]

I think its probably a good idea to try a bunch of them out some where.

I once stopped at a bowyer as I was driving by. He took some time to show me his wares. I shot his personal Buffalo Style longbow out the back door to a target. It shot unbelievably good. I told him to build me one just like it.

A few months later the bow shows up. Looking totally different. I could not hit a barn with it. Terrible hand shock no matter what I tried. That bow went on to a number of different owners. I should have bought the Bowyers right there

The Hill style bows that I have do not have hardly any more hand shock than most recurves and less than many others. If you are among those that jam your bow arm you will not like straight grip bows.  There is more or less a natural flex that happens. The whole Hill thing works better as a package and a fluid shooting philosophy. A bit of a hold at full draw is done by some and various draw techniques are used by others, but for the most part some or all of Howard Hills shooting philosophies are employed. It is not target shooting, but it is versatile. Handshock if it is not causing horrible pain is not the whole of bowhunting.  Actually, over time even a Hill bow with a B50 string that seems shocky at first will over time not seem so shocky at all. The shooter adapts and the timing of the reaction to the shock makes it get less.

[Jerry Jeffer]

For me, it depends who built it.

[David Mitchell]

pavan, the guy in that video is nuts!  I wouldn't let even Howard Hill shoot an apple off my head.    :eek:

I guess I need to try your suggested method of getting more hand shock out of my sweet shooting Hills and see if I can find out what these guys are talking about.  

[centaur]

I love the feel of handshock in the morning. Feels like victory! No wait, that's napalm.
I have shot recurves, r/d bows, selfbows, and I find that Hills are the bows for me. Honestly, I just don't get the handshock thing with Hills.

[lbshooter]

If you go directly from a recurve or R/D to a Hill bow you can sometimes feel the difference in recoil, particularly if you shoot with a straight arm, rigid target style.  After shooting a while the recoil will ususally become un-noticable. I have owned and shot numerous Hill style bows and the degree of recoil will vary with arrow choice, limb style, handle dimensions, and bow weight. Once mastered using the right form, right bow size, and well matched arrows they can be as, or in some cases, more pleasant to shoot as any other design.IMO.

[Ulysseys]

this thread is more entertaining than I thought it'd be...and after reading I'll say I'm definitely going to wait until I can try one....I'm looking to hold on to my teeth for now    

My grandson is here this week. He is shooting my son's old Tim Meigs Hill style kid bow. My son was kind enough to let his sister's kids have it. My grandson did not say anything about hand shock, considering that he is eight and kids are very sensitive to such things. I showed him the Schulz and Hill videos again.  We have an apple tree, a McKensie deer. I asked my neighbor if we could put an apple on his head, he said no, so I asked the McKensie deer and he did not say no. He only got hit in the head the one time. His ears are a different matter.

[jhk1]

If the bow is compatible with HMPE strings (fast-flight; D97, 8125, etc.), shoot one on a Hill-style bow and the bow will likely feel different (less handshock, a little faster, maybe quieter).  I love and shoot Hill-style longbows, but I've shot a few that did have a ton of handshock with a B50 string.  When I put a flemish-twist 8125 string (loops padded with several strands of B50) on those bows, most of the handshock went away and these "shocky" bows are now pleasurable to shoot.

But not all Hill-style bows are inherently "shocky".  I've got a 50# Hill Big 5 (an earlier Craig Ekin bow) that shoots real nice with B50 (just a very mild "thump" at the shot, and quite fast) that I recently made an 8125 string for-- the mild "thump" is now barely perceptible, it's a little faster, and even quieter.

[JDBerry]

Liked the one, "Howard Hill bug bit my hand" that was funny.

  Gun, I give or sell(at my cost) my bow, every year, my bow is nothing extra cool, fact is, I shoot the ones I don't like the looks of and it didn't make it out the door.

  Thread should be named "Wish I was ready for the ASL BUG to bit me"   ...James

[Mike Mecredy]

An important thing to remember about the Howard Hill bows or longbows with very little D/R, is they just need the proper components to shoot nice.  The string has to be the correct thickness, mass and material, the brace ht. has a very small sweet spot, as does the nock point, the arrow weight:poundage range is very small, the nock tightness on the string has to be perfect, and the arrow spine has to be spot on.  

Once you get all that and master the way you grip the bow and your clean release/follow through, you'll have a bow that's very hard to beat and is an absolute joy to shoot. You won't want anything else.  Most Hill styled bow shooters I've met may own other bows but they only shoot that one they've taken the time to get perfect. Then the other person they let shoot it, don't like it, because they don't draw the same length (no two people do) and it results in hand shock or something otherwise.  

Because of that, the additional efforts it takes to tune one, the Howard hill styled bows get bad reviews.