HH bug got me ... Part One!

[stik&string]

I love that look!

[Nate Steen .]

It's a polyurethene based finish....antiqued like you would do on your walls....same durability as regular poly....

[Benny Nganabbarru]

You know who I've missed on this thread? Jose from South America, the fellow shooting wickedly-heavy Hills. Has anybody heard from him?

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Mr. Maher, first class as always!

[Okie man]

Nate, Those are beautiful bows! Now you've thrown in another option for me to think about.  I will look at that picture for hours and agonize over which one I like the best. I think the only solution is to order another one with the different finish whenever you start taking orders again.

[sou-pawbowhunter]

Nate,
That ivory finish is just stunning.  Between you and Mr. LaClair and the beauties you two are showing us, I am getting a terrible case of the bug that started all this.

[mikebiz]

Originally posted by SlowBowke:
244 pages of posts. What the RIP is going on in here anyway?

Like a 59 Kodiak........Ive never held nor shot a HH bow.

*sniff*

HOWS THAT HAPPEN????????????

Oh yeah...broke. I knew there was some catch. lol

Do they MAKE them in "weenie weights" for us old "has beens?"

My days of 75-90lb bows ran off with my third ex wife......now about 52lbs I could think of letting it move in with me.

Someone open up a trad shop in N IN so I can see some of this stuff first hand, for crying out loud. Im running out of years to shoot all these bows!

God Bless (ya buncha animals)

Slow

There's lots of cool stuff going on in here.  You're stuck now.  I went on vacation for 4 days and this thread blew up from 245ish to 259 pages.  I have some catching up to do.

And SlowBowke, yes I know for sure that Craig at HHA makes under 50 bows.  All of mine are sub-50# and zip an arrow right along.  And I'm not 60-something, just can't handle the weight at my 36 years.  Proud to shoot the lightweights.  Captain Dick who you'll see around here (he may have chimed in already) makes and shoots really nice lightweight (20-30# these days I think) Hill style bows.  

Since I mentioned Dick Wightman here's a link to his Hill bow page.  Very nicely done with a ton of good info.  Great pictures of Hill's to drool over too. Enjoy.  

http://www.dickwightman.com/howardhill/hhsindex.html

[Nate Steen .]

the whole purpose of that photo was to get your heads spinning, thoughts turning 'round.....a short time ago, no one had ever heard of carmelized bamboo in their longbows...if you didn't want light colors, you went to stained or veneers.....guess what!  guys saw the carmel, wanted the carmel, and Craig delivered!   now how cool is the vintage?  reallly cool.  Let's get you guys talking about the old, cool bows, cool fiberglass colors, neat color combos..etc.  you never know where it will end up    :D      

I remember the old Shawneer Archery longbows' colors,  Louie Armbruster's longbow combos, Howard Hill Centennial longbows,  etc.....

one more thing you guys....there are many, many readers of this thread who don't post at all or very little, who I've had very pleasant conversations with over the years concerning the Hill style longbows.....you need to speak up once in a while....chime in....we'd love to hear your .02 worth      you never know how many people this bug will infect.....    

Nate

[Mudd]

Nate the biggest problem with the infection is that there is NOT a cure.

I think that about the best a person who is infected can hope for is to add a bow every so often to keep getting a bad case of the "non-bends).

It doesn't have to be a new bow to ward it off but a new one seems to stave it off a little longer than a nice used bow.

God bless,Mudd

PS: I was blessed that I was able to make a trade last week so my hands are steady once again.. for awhile...lol

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Mudd:
Nate the biggest problem with the infection is that there is NOT a cure....

imo, this is an infection that's NOT a problem.    

Ah those off colored bows, this reminded me of an Armbruster Zebra Super Grevy that I need to get back, purple heart,grey glassed and rosewood.  It started life as a 70" 45 pounder, shortened and whip ended to be a quick 67" smaller gripped 53@26".  One of the most blood stained bows I have ever hunted with.  When my son was four years old, I took him along on his first deer hunt where he had his own longbow, a little green and white Miegs, and killed a doe with a long shot, within a half hour, with the purple heart, probably messed him up for life with that stunt.

[droz il]

Both bows look great Nate, but I also prefer the ivory finish.

[xbmedic]

Nate, the ivory finish is unbelievable! Wow!

[Dick in Seattle]

Been out sicker than heck for awhile, still not right.   Came back with some catching up to do.    

Nate, that finish is fantastic!.   I would have thought it was a special color glass.

Had a heck of a time the last six weeks, problems with a build and then the heavy duty cold, almost got myself put in the hospital.   Anyway, off and on I did get some work done, salvaged the build and just posted pix and a bit of narrative to the Bowyer's Bench under the thread title:  New Forward Scout.

[K. Mogensen]

Great looking bows! I can already see myself getting another...

 

[arrow flynn]

shot my highest score ever in 3d with a wesley special great bows but one needs to fit the handle to your hand so it will be the same every time i think a wedge grip is the best for me anyway

[dragonheart]

Pavan,

You reminded me of my first laminated longbow (very first was a glass red bear, remember those) was a Tim Meigs Green and White glass, bamboo core.  It was 66" 66# @ 28".  It was a shooter.  I remember at 15 yrds I could blow mercury nocks off at the hay bale with no target.  Just pick a piece of straw, and keep shooting at the same spot.  I had great wood arrows made by a local master arrowsmith.  

At 16 years old with strength and the eyesight, I was awed by the longbow, Hill, Schulz, Swinehart, and all that was traditional longbow.  

At 41, some things have changed.  I continue to feel rejuvenated with that spirit of awe and desire to shoot the longbow from my youth.  I think the commitment in myself to shoot one way, one style of bow, one discipline is refreshing and has put me more at ease with archery.  

It has given me a renewed sense of focus on this sport, and what it means to be a longbowman.  It is a return to innocence.

[Steve Clandinin]

I never thought it would happen,was pretty well set with what I thought I liked in a bow,until this post started.
I had never really given longbows a fair chance ,yes as a kid I started with them,but thought I was moving on to bigger and better bows.There was something deep within me ,nagging me ,especially after watching "Tembo",in Howards hands the longbow became magic I had to give this bow and shooting style a more honest chance.My HH string follow Cheetah is getting MORE efficient every time I shoot it,nothing to do with me!LOL. The system is jelling,maturing and my god my whole beliefs in a bow have dramatically changed.There is a magic in these bows and the shooting of them.My efficiency has gone from zero to realistically huntable.I really have fallen hook,line and sinker.
Nate showing us all those beautiful bows is like dangling a worm in front of a large Trout,I just wish there weasn't such a long wait time,Heck I don't know if I'll even be alive in a year and a half.That antiqued Ivory would be to kill for. Ah maybe some day!

[Rob DiStefano]

dick, i'm not a fan of the forward riser but this one of yours is drop dead gorgeous!  trust yer well on the road to recovery and feeling better.

[ErikT]

So- I got my first Northern Mist Whisper back in May and just now settling in to shoot it and get used to it.   I need some tuning suggestions.

I just finshed 3 dz Surewood Shafts. I ran all of the stats thru Stu's spine calculator and came up with what should be an ideal arrow but I'm getting some flight problems from time to time.  

The arrows will sometimes wag, or fishtail from side to side.  It's not a quick flagging back and forth but more of a slow wag until the shaft corrects itself.  It's kind of annoying to see in flight and I'm sure the arrow loses a ton of efficiency.  The arrows are hitting pretty much where I want to hit but the wag is present.

Bow Stats:  64"  50# @ 26",  I think the string is 8-strand but not sure, whatever Steve puts on his bows.

Arrow Stats:  60-65# Surewoods, cut 28.5" to bop, 190 grn point,  3-- 5.5" fletched.