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!

After six warm-up shots into the longjump pit sand, I was ready to shoot at ten metres with the Hill. I'm not sure how many arrows I shot, but it was perhaps an additional twenty or so into the cardboard, before I swapped-over to the Bear, again beginning with a few warm-up shots into the sand to get the feel of it. A further twenty or so shots with the Bear at ten metres, and I posed the two bows for a photograph to record my appalling "fliers" for posterity.

And then it was out to twenty metres range, where I shot fewer arrows for each bow.

The Bear:




The Hill:

Partway through shooting the Hill at twenty metres, I hit a steel upright:


Surprisingly, the actual shaft was unscathed, despite the ominous ringing sound that met my ears, as it glanced off a tubular section. The only damage was that the Ace Hex blunt had disappeared into the sunset, the impact breaking the Loctite 406 bond.

Gabby was the umpire thoughout the event:

Then I posed for the self-timed propaganda / proper-gander pictures. I don't notice how much I seem to cant the bow; it just happens naturally. I shot during the propaganda / proper-gander photos, and two were horrid, and two were near-perfect.

Cool day out mate! Nice shooting on both sides  

The bows were ready for a rest by the end:

Some final notes to compare the two bows:

- The 68 inch Bear seems longer than the 70" Hill, and is an absolute mongrel to string-up. I tried four different stringers plus the step-through method before I finally got the thing strung with a Black Widow stringer.

- The Hill is a piece of cake to string-up.

- The Hill has a low-stretch string, and virtually no hand-thump at all.

- The Bear has a Dacron string, seems a little faster, but thumps the hand a bit.

You' ve got some nice equipment there, Ben.  Looks like a fun day. A pretty patient umpire too.

nice bows.   i love shooting my old bear kodiak. little to light for hunting deer though.  great shooter though

Outstanding !! And I also read the story between those two Archery Icons ... If they could only be here Now ... Thanks ...

Northern Ben ... very cool pics and smashing pics .That Bear looks beautiful ... and the Redman is one of the nicest I have seen . but I do love that Bear !!!

Gabby looks far more patient than my pups who would have run away with my arrows within 5 mins .

Next series has to be Schaffer V Widow please. A great way to spend the arvo .
Are you wearing thongs ? It was 4 deg here this morning .

Thanks for posting .

Ps...
6 metres is about my preferred too !

Thanks, fellows. Yep, Ben, I'm wearing my special Chinese safety boots. This week I hope to compare the PCH to the take-down Silvertip.

day out Ben. A few more days with either of them bows and I bet you will be able to get some game in the bag. Thanks for the comparison.

T/D 'Tip ... I thought you had a 1 Pce ? Or have you been shopping whilst I miss the gossip ?

Thanks for a good read and pics.

A friend recently asked me, "How is a longbow vis a vis a recurve when it comes to drawing?" but I did not have the answer. Since the two bows in this post are somewhat similar in specs, could you answer his question please.

Hey, Ben, my first 'Tip was (is) a take-down 80 pound jobby that I don't shoot anymore because I am a wuss these days; but I have a set of 66 pound limbs for it, also. And then I have the 66 pound one-piece 'Tip.

Dodger, I think that recurves often feel easier to draw, at least to me they do. Although a shorter recurve that begins to struggle at my draw length isn't much fun, either. A longbow is much better to draw than a too-short recurve.

Nice pics and an interesting comparison.
For what its worth that shooting is not the worst I have seen at those ranges... I often do much worse!