Howard's arrows

[Dan bree]

Did Pearson. Make most of his arrows  .  And shooting 100lbs.  What did he use  before plastic. Nocks. ? Footed and wrapped ?  I remember reading that  mr rich of California  had to sort and spine all his arrows

[Raminshooter]

Hey Dan.  Howard had three brothers working for him for more than 25 years, the Stotler brothers. They not only made bows, quivers and arrows for Howard Hill Archery (they were the bowyers) but they also were Howards hunting partners, camera men and back up rifle men when he filmed Tembo.  Howards talks about how they would make up a batch of 250 arrows...that's completed arrows, and then howard would shoot them in the backyard of the shop at a target he would set up in a pile of sand and a known distance.  those that his the target were his hunting arrows and everything else became a small game or roving arrow.  
When the St. Charles family had the museum near the SeaTac airport I visited more than a dozen times and they had quite a few of Howards hunting arrows that were mostly self nocks with horn reinforcement.  His feathers were lower profile but were a full six inches long back then.  I lived in Southern Calif. for a while and was lucky to run into quite a few old timers who remembered howard hill and they say that when the first aluminum arrows came out howards favorite was the good ole 2018.  Hope this has helped alittle.

[Bjorn]

There is member here on TG who worked for Hugh Rich and made arrows for HH perhaps he will see this and chime in?

[Dan bree]

Thanks raminshooter. I hope they weren't  those Eastman swifts  man they were soft like noddles. When  you pulled them from the target your hands turned black !!!

[Caboo]

I have an old metal nock that looks a lot like a mid-nock but not tapered as much. I think it's aluminum but never put a magnet on it. Maybe I'll try that tomorrow.

I'm sure Craig at HH Archery could answer lots of your questions.

[JamesV]

Pearson Archery did make arrows for HH but to what extent I don't know.

[SELFBOW19953]

I believe I read that Pearson Archery made Hill's arrows for his Tembo safari.

[two4hooking]

Howard used to make his own arrows back in the day.  Watch this vid as it shows some pretty cool arrow making at the beginning.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1iQhBhngD8


BoB Burton's book has pictures of some of the arrows Howard made for clients as well as himself, also some Pearson's.  

As he got busier with his archery shooting carrer I think he left the bow building and arrow building to others.

There are examples of selfnocks, then the mid nocks.

[Dan bree]

Great vid never saw that one   Howard had some cool machinery , wonder  if any body has it all?

[Duker]

Great video Greg       Thanks for sharing    

[Hermon]

250 fps???

[Green Arrow]

holy geez did he actually shoot an apple off that fella's head?

[mike g]

In Longbeach one time he shot a plum off a guys head....

[JamesV]

If Howard did shoot an apple or plumb off anyone's head with a bow they both should have been commited.

[Stumpkiller]

Someone once told me nocks were made of nitrated cellulose - as were billiard balls and dolls.  If you broke a nock you could hold a lighter to it and "poof", you were ready to glue a new one on.  Don't know if that is true.

In the 1920's and 1930's aluminum nocks were available.

[guspup]

Can anyone tell me what type of tool he is using to turn down the arrows?
Great video!!

Watch that first arrow fly in slow motion, that is one of his tricks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFqjNKC72dA

[Liquid Amber]

Read his book "Hunting the Hard Way."

Chapter 9, page 115.

There is no "one way" he made shafts/broadheads.  The film clip of him making arrows was 1930s in California and varied even from the method used in the late 1920s in Opa-locka, Florida.  Hill's arrow making evolved along with everyone else's into what it has become today.  

Arrow making was a tedious process and Hill, like many others,  began purchasing shafts/arrows from commercial operations as these sources developed.  According to Ben Pearson Jr., Hill and Ben Pearson enjoyed a long and close relationship.  We know most of the arrows if not all that he took to Africa were provided by Pearson.  It is likely he purchased or was provided them for services for a number of years later in his career.  But, I suspect, he could still "roll one by hand" in a pinch.  

[Stumpkiller]

Here is a great chapter in Pope's book on how Ishi made [bows and] arrows:

 http://www.archerylibrary.com/books/pope/hunting-with-bow-and-arrow/chapter02_1.html


I have heard it attributed to Ishi that "Any tree can make a bow but the arrows take work."