HH bug got me ... Part One!

[San Paolo]

Thank you very much Ron. Now we're waiting for the regular production of the bow. Other bowyers disagree the string material mix for safety but you make it; how many strands do you use for Shrewhill?
Marco.

[Ron LaClair]

Thank you very much Ron. Now we're waiting for the regular production of the bow. Other bowyers disagree the string material mix for safety but you make it; how many strands do you use for Shrewhill? Marco  

This bow has 12 strands of B-50, heavier weights would require 14-16

 

[Rik]

Well, I've had the Big Five for almost a week now. It's the first Big Five I have ever shot. That's the part that bewilders me.

Either the Big Five has some special magic, or the arrows I am shooting match the bow so well that they have some special magic. Or the combination of the Big Five and the new arrows have some special magic.

I am not sure which of the above magic elixirs is the case, but I can tell you that the accuracy I am achieving right now is not normal.

I have been practicing with no quiver for a while now, that is one thing that has changed in my shooting.

Another big change is that I am shooting 750-grain ash arrows. For my 75-pound Big Five, that equates to 10 grains of arrow weight per pound of draw weight. That is supposed to be the perfect match, but I have been shooting 625 to 650 grain arrows for a long while now, with good results. But, with the no-bow quiver challenge I have set for myself this year to celebrate my 30th year of elk hunting, I decided to ramp it up a bit and built myself some great 750-grain ash arrows. They could not possibly fly better out of the Big Five. They look kinda cool too:



I had been thinking that if I kill a bull elk this year without a bow quiver, that it would be the first big game animal I have killed without a bow quiver, but the other night I realized I have done this once before.

The first and smallest bull buffalo I killed in Australia got shot though the heart by a Howard Hill Wesley Special shooting a 860-grain Ipe arrow, sans bow quiver.



I was using a slip-on side quiver given to me by Kelly Peterson. I was growing rather attached to that quiver, but then got charged by a buffalo along a croc-infested river and had to do a bit of wide-eyed running sideways and backwards, and in the melee somehow lost the quiver in the long grass (sounds like a Capstick novel title---Lost Quivers in the Long Grass).

Well, luckily for me, one of my Aussie Mates had an extra bow quiver along, and in no time I had slipped it on the bow and, as they say Down Under, "Bob's Your Uncle!"

A week or two later, bow quiver attached, I had a two-hour running barefoot stalk on this boy, the herd bull. I will never forget that day as long as I live. It's amazing what a Hill bow and a wood arrow can do to a bull 300 pounds or so bigger than a Cape Buffalo. He was rutting so hard he never even knew he was hit.

Anyway, that's a long-winded way of saying that I actually did once kill a critter using a Hill bow without a bow quiver. Therefore proving against all odds that I am not a total heathen.

Still. . . for some strange reason, I am far more excited about trying to kill an elk without a bow quiver than I should be.

Five weeks and counting Man, five weeks and counting. . .

[Rik]

Oops. I forgot to attach a photo of the herd bull. This be him. We packed out every bit of meat for the Aborigines on the island, including the tongue. Wild country, and wild times!

[Rob DiStefano]

great stuff as always, rik!  

ah, the ash!  "Turn thy quiver to me, Aylward.  I love an ash arrow pierced with cornel-wood for
a roving shaft."  i like the simple looks of "utilitarian battle arrows", indeed!  hey, is that "scorched cresting" on those arras?

cool buf pics - slide show material!  

[Shinken]

Rik - you have done good - with and w/o a bow quiver!

             

This year it will be a 6 x 6 sans bow quiver with a 750 gr ash arrow!

Shoot straight, Shinken

 

[Kelly]

Rik;

Think I have the makings for another one of those slide on hip quivers, if in you want nother?

[Ben Maher]

awesome stuff Guys ...
Ron ... Man does that look sweet !

Rik... great pics .... what beautiful country ... surely a good test for  session of stumping with those ash arra's !

[Ben Maher]

Rob ... that is one cool slide show !

[Overspined]

Seriously, I don't care who or with what...I am not letting anyone shoot an apple off my head, not even with a rubberband gun!

Crazy video

[swampthing]

I got one for you Hill fans.
How did Howard shorten his draw?

[Rik]

Rob, you have a good eye. That is indeed scorched cresting on the arrows. A little trick I learned on my trip to Vancouver Island a few weeks ago.

Okay, time to fess up. I forgot to mention something about my Big Five that just might have something to do with the magic elixir mentioned above. I mentioned three things that are new to me, that may be to blame for the magical accuracy bump, but perhaps the thing I forgot to mention may impart some magic of its own.

First, I mentioned that this is the first Big Five I have shot. That definitely has to impart a bit of magic.

Second, I mentioned that I am shooting barebow, without a quiver. That can definitely change how a person shoots.

Third, I mentioned that I am, for the first time, practicing with hunting arrows that provide 10 grains of arrow weight for every 10 pounds of draw weight. 750 grains of accuracy magic right there. Plus, the heavier arrows seem to provide a certain steadiness to the shot.

However, I forgot to mention the final, and perhaps most potent ingredient in the elixir. Seems I asked Craig to cut the arrow shelf closer to center shot than he normally does.

So, in the bubbling cauldron of what could possibly make me shoot this Big Five so well, there just no telling which of the many new ingredients is to blame, but there seems to be some magic going on somewhere.

Sometimes the mysteries of archery are its greatest delights. . .

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by swampthing:
I got one for you Hill fans.
How did Howard shorten his draw?

how?  i'd say he bent his bow arm a whole bunch!  

from what i've read, he had some logical reasoning about effect arrow length for hefty holding weight longbows - he needed some really stiff shafts!  ah, if carbon shafting was only available back in his day, what would howard do???    :confused:     :D  

and here i am, going backwards yet again and stocking up on a gross of surewoods!  yikes!    

[swampthing]

Never seen him "not" pull his thumb knuckle behind his jaw bone, tells me that he would not give up his draw length that way, but bending his bow arm was OK.

Hill probably saw other advantages to the bent bow arm and the slightly open stance, besides dealing with the spine limitation of his arrows. We cannot know if he thought about it all that much, but according to Schulz it allows for more flow and flexibility for taking quick shots on moving game or moving targets. It seems to me that bending the arm a bit helps for me, straight arming sends a harsher reaction to my elbow joints. I shot a deep gripped recurve today straight armed, now my elbow hurts and I have a spasm in my wrist and forearm that is making it difficult to hang on to my tea cup.

[K. Mogensen]

Hello guys, I had a quick question.

I noticed when I was unstringing my Hill (with a stringer) a very small area in the bamboo around the string groove was chipped. Just under the overlay. The chip is maybe the size of the end of a pencil and there aren't any rough spots in the groove. Would this be a big deal?

I found the chip when I was pulling the string out of the groove and down the limb, it was stuck in my thumb and hurt!

[Looper]

Post a picture for us.  Does the string touch the chip?  If so, don't string it until you can sand it down. It doesn't necessarily have to be a rough edge for it to be a problem.

[Ben Maher]

If we are posting pics ... i have been a bit slack the last few years with the camera but here is a few refreshers ....

   
Hunting High country hogs with my osage and elm Hill by Craig
 
A nice eater hog ... Hill Halfbreed named after my horse "longshot "

   
On a hot day , in the need for water ... a bow quiver can be handy !!! 42deg celsius

   
Another nice eater ... wearing my Dad's Swanndri which he bought in the early 1970's still in good use ... A Hill Redman did the job with a tapered cedar

   

 
T/D Wesley special and a wild goat for the pot

[shick]

Ben, awesome pictures.  What length are you shooting?  ............Shick

[shick]

I'm glad I decided to revisit this one.  Just too good to let it get away.
Shick