Why Do HILL Style Bows Feel Different from All Other Bows??

Nala · March 05, 2015, 09:07:00 PM

Hey all,

Right now I have the English longbow from Alan Boice at Liberty Longbows. It's a pass around bow and my name came up and I've been fortunate enough to be trying it out for a week or so.

I have never shot a Hill style bow before. My normal weight is about 46 pounds, that's exactly what this bow is rated at.

Today was my 4th time shooting it and it was much better than all the other times. I noticed right off the bat that for the first time in my life I could stand there and call my shot on the target. I was about 18 yards away, but it stunned me. This bow is smooth, but what's strange is that it's rated 1 pound lower than my 1971 Bear Grizzly and I swear I could shoot this Liberty Longbow all day long without tiring. I can go about 3 quivers worth, which is about 50 arrows, on my recurve and I've gotta take a break or stop all together. Not so with this Hill style. The whole time today I never felt tired or stressed. I could just draw and shoot probably 200 arrows if I wanted to. It's hard to believe that a different bow design can make that much difference. It feels like the bow is about 5 pounds lighter than what it really is.

Another thing I noticed is that when I shot the bow in a relative standing up straight position my shots were not as accurate as they were when I shot with the bow canted.

It's amazing to experience this kind of thing shooting a bow. I wonder how a 46 pound Hill bow can shoot so easy and smooth and a 47 pound recurve is a strain for me to shoot a quiver full, which is 17 arrows.

Just thought I'd ask and see if anyone has explanations for me.

Thanks all.

Nalajr

ron w · March 05, 2015, 09:14:00 PM

let me guess.......it's about 10" longer than your Bear. It should even feel lighter if that's so.

Todd Cook · March 05, 2015, 09:59:00 PM

They don't have much pre-load in the limbs. You build draw weight smooth all the way through the draw. A recurve has much more stiffness to it at brace height.

I also think that's why they're so easy to point and shoot. That steady build up of weight helps me keep focus on my aiming spot.

Orion · March 05, 2015, 11:36:00 PM

Have you scaled your recurve? It could actually be heavier than marked.

Of course, the extra length and lesser pre-load also contribute to a smoother draw.

I expect your arrows are probably going left when you shoot the bow in an upright position. That would indicate a spine that's a bit too stiff. What works on a center cut recurve will be too stiff on a bow cut 1/8-inch or more proud of center, all other things being equal.

Hill style bows have a feel of their own, but so do self bows, mild r/d bows, recurves, etc. They each have characteristics unique to their design.

Nativestranger · March 06, 2015, 12:43:00 AM

Hill longbows have less stored energy than recurves so you expend less energy drawing the bow for each arrow.

Mudd · March 06, 2015, 01:37:00 AM

IMHO...it's because they are just awesome and they have the ability to take one to "Sherwood".

My 2 cents worth!

God bless,Mudd

katman · March 06, 2015, 08:05:00 AM

Mudd's got it.

Recurves shoot faster because they store more energy and/or transfer more energy into the arrow, guess where that energy comes from, YOU. No freebies.

ChuckC · March 06, 2015, 08:17:00 AM

I guess I am a bit confused. An ELB or a ASL (Hill style) ?

You found that we all have ideas of what is nice and what works well, and those ideas are often very divergent.
ChuckC

monterey · March 06, 2015, 02:48:00 PM

Check your actual draw length with the longbow. You may be drawing shorter with that design. Also check draw length on your recurve and actual draw weight on both bows. Sometimes the difference between marked and actual draw weight are surprising.

And, what is said above about effort to draw the recurve through it's force curve is correct. If you create F/D curves for both bows and compare them it will jump right out at you.

March 06, 2015, 04:32:00 PM

It could be that because you have the heal of your hand on the bow and a natural flex in the bow arm, that you are using stronger muscles to pull the longbow. The difference would be picking up a bucket of water close to you or reaching out and picking it up at a distance.

Butch Speer · March 06, 2015, 05:31:00 PM

I don't know about Sherwood but Mudd's got the rest of it right!

Sirius Black · March 06, 2015, 06:12:00 PM

I haven't shot every bow out there, but I prefer my Hill even to some static tip recurves I've owned. It's simply fun to shoot, and it's the longest (66") bow I've owned and also the lightest!

**DONOTDELETE** · March 06, 2015, 06:43:00 PM

QuoteIt feels like the bow is about 5 pounds lighter than what it really is.

It may very well be 5 pounds lighter than your other bow...

jhk1 · March 06, 2015, 06:50:00 PM

And if you're drawing the recurve a little longer than the Hill-style bow (which is typical, if you're using a lower-wrist grip on the Hill-style), an extra inch of draw on the recurve would add another 2.5-3 pounds of draw weight to the recurve.

Krex1010 · March 06, 2015, 07:59:00 PM

Its amazing how we don't notice things like hand shock, stacking, noise and fatigue from bows we can shoot accurately:)

March 07, 2015, 01:34:00 AM

I don't know about all Hill style bows, but with modern strings my Hill style bows have no more hand shock than my Robertson longbows.

Krex1010 · March 07, 2015, 10:27:00 PM

Pavan, my comments about hand shock were tongue in cheek. I was just joking with the OP that his love for the way that bow felt might have something to do with him stacking arrows in the bullseye.

March 07, 2015, 11:19:00 PM

On the other side of that, I have had longbow and arrow combinations that could make ones eyeballs pop out of the socket, as in an 89 pounder with strangely light cedar shafts.