Hey all,
Fletcher sent me a message and the bow is at his Post Office awaiting his pick up. I'm excited for him and the rest on the list to experience this fine bow, especially if you, like me, have never had a Hill style bow and this will be your first.
I think I'll go ahead and post my thoughts on my time with the English.
As I just mentioned, I have never shot a "Hill" style longbow. I've always wanted to shoot one, but until now, never had the opportunity.
When I opened the tube up, I was pleasantly surprised. It was a sleek and attractive bow at 68 inches and 46 pounds it was longer than any bow I had ever shot. I strung it up and as my luck would have it, the weather was terrible. For the first week I had it I think I was only able to shoot it 1 or 2 times. From the first time I put arrows through it, which were all 500 spine carbon and aluminum, I really liked this bow. What I did find kind of strange at first was the shape of the handle. Go and look at it on his website and you'll see what I am talking about. It is not like a "normal" Hill style grip. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but the more I shot it, the more I grew to like it.
I found it was very smooth to shoot. Before I shot my first arrow I was telling myself "I wonder what this shock is going to be like" but it never really showed itself. This bow had no real hand shock. Sure, there was a bit of a jarring, but not much at all. Jarring is probably not the right word to use, but it's the only one I can come up with right now. It wasn't unpleasant at all, not even a discomfort.
The bow is also quiet as a mouse. That's what really impressed me at first, the total lack of string noise upon release. This was the case with all my arrows, even the lightest carbon arrows I had in my quiver.
This bow prefers the heavier arrows I had in my quiver which would be the GameGetter II 500 spine. All the arrows flew really nice and grouped well. My GGII arrows have a white wrap and yellow feathers 4 fletched. When I loosed those arrows I just stood there and watched those arrows spin and arc right down into the place I was aiming. It was a beautiful sight.
My target is a 3'x3' foam block made up of 9 individual 1'x1' foam blocks. One day I went outside with the bow to do some shooting and I had probably had 5 or 6 sessions with it up till then. I took a stance at probably 17 or 18 yards and thought I would try and play a little game to see how I would do. I started thinking of a place to see if I could hit it in an individual block. The first time I tried it, the arrow landed right where I was wanting it to land. Beginners luck I thought. Then I done it the next time and the next and the next. This went on for 6 or 7 straight arrows. I was just standing there with my mouth open wondering what in the world was going one here. I have never been able to do that with any bow I have ever owned or shot. For a second I thought I might've been channeling Byron Ferguson!!
At each successive shooting session I would find myself getting more and more impressed with this bow. The "strange" grip I thought it had in the beginning now wasn't an issue at all.
As luck would have it, I had a chance to compare this English bow with one of his other longbows, a Sherwood. This was his Hill style longbow that has the standard Hill style grip that everyone is familiar with. This bow was 66 inches and 48 pounds. I was really eager to compare them.
As expected this bow too shot great. There was just a slight THUD when I loosed an arrow. Nothing harsh at all and very easily handled by anyone. I would find it very hard to believe that anyone would find this bow unpleasant or would say it had hand shock. I didn't experience one bit of it. I don't know if he knows something these other Hill style bowyers don't, but this was the 2nd Hill style bow of his that I had a chance to shoot and neither had any Hand Shock.
This bow was 2 inches shorter than the English and I think it made it just a little bit less smooth. It too liked the GGII arrows over the others I had. They flew just as pretty in this bow as they did in the English.
This bow, the Sherwood, did deliver the arrows with a bit more authority than did the English, but I wouldn't feel underbowed with either heading into the woods on a hunt. I would've liked to see what wooden arrows performed like in these 2 bows, but I have never had a wooden arrow.
One thing I did notice with the Sherwood was that on occasion I would get some string slap on my wrist. I have never had to wear an arm protector with any bow I have ever had. I would get bit maybe 1 out of 3 arrows and it puzzled me as to why. The only thing I could figure out was that the standard grip on this one was thinner at the back end and that caused me to rotate my wrist around a bit. At least that's what I changed and never had it after that. If I were to own this bow, the Sherwood, I would ask Mr. Boice to round it off just a tad at the back for me.
I wish I didn't have to give up either one of these great bows, but I did. Even today I don't know which one I would take if I were allowed to keep only one. I can make an argument for both. I think if I were to pick a bow to just shoot from now on for enjoyment sake...I'd take the English. If I were going to have a bow that I was going to hunt hogs with, I think I'd take the Sherwood. I shoot both equally well and accurate, maybe the English very slightly more so.
I am very glad I signed my name up to try this bow. I can see now why so many shooters love these Hill style bows. I find myself now wanting one too.
I want to publicly thank Alan Boice of Liberty Bows for giving me the opportunity to spend time with his beautiful bows.
I am eager to see if the rest on the list enjoyed the English as much as I did!!
Nalajr
Topic: New Liberty Bow Review & Test Drive Opportunity for ALL (Read 8327 times)
