Shooting Feats by Howard Hill....Know Any?

[TRADITIONAL ONLY]

HES MY HERO! and hes from ALABAMA! as is Byron Ferguson, both are my  heroes! im proud that thier both from the Heart of Dixie!

[Matt E]

If Howard could of got his hands on a hybrid bow,ff string and learned to shoot three under he might have gotten better.  
  I went to the movies as a kid just to see the fillers. Howard Hill was my favorite but, as all heros go, he has become bigger than life.

[Naphtali]

Disk 2 of the Special Edition of Robin Hood (1938) includes a short feature of Howard Hill's,   circa 1945.

Total insanity!

Among the stunts was a "William Tell" shoot. Tell knelt about 15 yards from Hill. Hill -- using arrows with the Hill broadhead -- shot, first an apple from atop the man's head, then a prune! Tell was not in restraints. He did not appear drugged.

[Doug S]

I too was/am greatly affected by his feats and the book "Hunting the hard way". Even those who bash him can't match him.
In the book he and another fellow shoot 2 ducks from (I think) 150 yards while proving to the guide in B.C. they can shoot well enough to kill a moose. A duck at 150 yards! Ridiculous.

[Jim now in Kentucky]

Yeah, even  Hill said he  was as suprised as the guide  when  he hit the duck.

Also think that "Tell" guy probably had a helmet  under all that hair. Even  then,  amazing and a little  crazy.

[ozarkcherrybow1]

I love the story of Howard doing the Chrysler 500 commercial. As I was told, he rode on the hood of the car on a bumpy road and shot at baloons. One thousand dollars for each baloon hit. After about 4 hits the director was yelling "CUT, CUT", But before Howard was shut down, he had busted 7 baloons in a row.....(Best of my memory recalls)
 Also love the Buffalo hunt story. Hill is definetly  a "hero" of mine.

[ChristopherO]

Back in the 30's & 40's it was a crime NOT to shoot a hawk!  My grandma told me of the time she trapped a "Turkey Hawk" that flew into the barn yard with a bucket and had my aunt who was only about 2 or 3 years old grab a stick from the wood pile to knock it in the head.  
I know this isn't about HH but the point is that was an other era where you had to protect the little you had from the varmints and predators at all cost so shooting them with gun or bow was well accepted.
Funny thing is that I recently met an old fella who told me about that story as he drove a tractor through that barn yard the same day Grandma killed it and she had it strung up on the fence for all to see.

[Gun]

I used to have an old video of some of his news reel shorts. I remember one scene of snuffing out candles by richocheting arrows off of two sheets of what looked like plywood.

[Jim now in Kentucky]

DTala, did I post that thought twice?? Didn't mean to. No question he could make the shot. Just think maybe he was more careful of his helpers than we know.

[hunt it]

He used a African native for bait while croc hunting.

Good thing hunting ethics have progressed some.

[Pete Darby]

Not to detract from his shooting the apple and prune off the head but if you watch carefully you will see the arrows bounce off a standard target after passing through the apple.  I think it was John Shultz that said the greatest shooting he ever saw Mr. Hill do was to take six arrows and one after another effortlessly put them into a have bale at 100 yards, loosing every couple of seconds or so.  I think he is easily the best archer I have ever seen.  By watching his films on Slow motion and comparing what he does to other good archers I believe you will come to the conclusion that he not only mastered the ability to be consistant but his style of shoooting was deliberately calculated to make every shot the same.

[SCATTERSHOT]

In the trick shot mentioned with the apple, etc., if you watch closely, Mr. Hill is using a blunt to do the actual shot. You see the broadhead in the closeup, but if you're quick you can see the blunt on the drawn arrow.  

Still, even a blunt could kill at that range. Didn't see a helmet, though.

[Brian Krebs]

Just for the record; someone in the know should let us know what the target ranges were when Hill and other practiced and shot competition at.
 I can remember target set ups in competition that were really out there.
 Hill wasn't the only trick shooter; there were two guys whose names escape me that did some really good shooting too. I think one shot a biscuit out of the others mouth..
 Hill was the best; but he wasn't the only one that could shoot reeeeally straight.
 I think I recall Mr LaClair shooting an asprin out of the air-
  I'm just happy we didn't end up being 'men in tights'... I am happy to hit a sitting grouse at 10 yards    I beat Hill at numbers of grouse shot........ but I bet he let them fly first