HH bug got me ... Part One!

[Mudd]

Here was the look for Missouri's opener this morning.

I couldn't find a pair of plain brown gloves so I had to wear something to cover my pasty white hands..lol

This is as close as I could get to old school.


 
 

I have somewhat the look of a raccoon....lol

God bless,Mudd

Originally posted by sunset hill:
 

...I like doing things the old way...my bows are like the old boys', arrows, backquivers, plaid, wool, you know the usual stuff.   But for me, this also means still-hunting, no pop-up blinds, no treestands, no high-fences...etc.  I like to "hunt" like the old guys did...not just a modern camoed stickbow shooter.....I like to immerse myself in tradition.....

Happy to have a few minutes to check out this amazing thread - especially the most recent posts.  What Nate said is all of what there is....at least for me anyway because it eloquently takes me back to the late 60s where it all started (and never ended)

Two weeks from now I can walk the dream in the Michigan hardwoods and swamps with my HH.

Mudd!  You are a mean lookin critter indeed!  Thanks for keeping in touch these past few months....

Good luck y'all!!

[stik&string]

Love the look Mudd!

Nate thanks for the eloquent writing which echoes how most of us feel!

[tradlongbow]

Originally posted by Tony Van Dort:
 

Originally posted by sunset hill:
 

...I like doing things the old way...my bows are like the old boys', arrows, backquivers, plaid, wool, you know the usual stuff.   But for me, this also means still-hunting, no pop-up blinds, no treestands, no high-fences...etc.  I like to "hunt" like the old guys did...not just a modern camoed stickbow shooter.....I like to immerse myself in tradition.....

Happy to have a few minutes to check out this amazing thread - especially the most recent posts.  What Nate said is all of what there is....at least for me anyway because it eloquently takes me back to the late 60s where it all started (and never ended)

Two weeks from now I can walk the dream in the Michigan hardwoods and swamps with my HH.

Mudd!  You are a mean lookin critter indeed!  Thanks for keeping in touch these past few months....

Good luck y'all!! [/b]

When I'm out hunting in the Everglades it makes me think about about how Howard Hill and Maurice Thompson hunted these very same areas at one time. Back quiver, wood arrows, and a Hill bow.

Darren

[Mudd]

Tony my friend... I am so glad to see you squeaked out a little time to get near some wifi.

I may look like a mean critter but I'm harmless...lol

I treasure our friendship so staying in touch is easy.

God bless,Mudd

[mikebiz]

Hey Mudd I hope you didn't walk past any schools in that get-up       I can see the terrified children scattering in all directions.  Maybe you should have.  Kids these days may need a good ol' Missouri haunting    

Personally I'm loving the old school look.  Sweet.

[MikeNova]

Mudd if I didn't know better I would think I was looking at Howard Hill!

[Aussie Stickbow Hunter]

I have somewhat the look of a raccoon....lol  

That you do Mudd.    

Jeff

[Claymore]

Mudd you are going to put all these fancy hunting camo people out of business.

[StanM]

pavan, you are a lucky fellow to have some of those old magazines.  I believe I got issue 13 or 14 as my first and then they went out of print by issue 17 or 18.  Really enjoyed reading some of those articles.

[Nate Steen .]

Mudd,  you are dressed for success!  lookin' fine and the deer will appreciate it...lol

[Peter O. Stecher]

Well said, Nate Steen!  I also belive, a nice built Hill-style bow is performing like a modern longbow - just hittin' a little harder with a heavy arrow....

[Nate Steen .]

Sticksnstones....

your experience with 3 under has got me thinking that maybe your limb tiller is off, and that shooting 3 under helps the lower limb tiller adjustment....just a thought.

[sticksnstones]

Hi Nate,
I've often wondered that. I was set for 3 under when I test shot it and bought it. Then I moved the nock point and started with split finger shooting and it went south.

Last night I shot it with my two nock points tied on that 14 strand string, un cant'd my bow, and shot 3 under with a glove and I was killing it. Actually had to replace some nocks when I got home (no real Robin Hood action.)

Is there a way  to know by looking at the bow or measuring two points with a micrometer or something? I've looked at the bow pretty closely a few times, the only thing that stands out is the top string grooves are slightly offset. Very slightly.

I appreciate your thoughts!
Thom

[3Under]

Roy,
You really look "ready"!!
Just checked on Rob D. Got a digital bow scale and checked my "green N.M. Shelton and my H.H. Tembo:
Shelton: 50#s @ 26" and 55#s @ 28"

Tembo: 55#s @ 26" and 60#s @ 28"
(Note: Tembo was marked 52#s @26")

Rob knows his stuff!(3#s to 6#s)HH rule.  

[Nate Steen .]

Thom,

unfortunately, the "measurement at the fadeouts" criteria has been widely accepted as what tiller is, when it's only a small part of the equation.  Limb tiller is how the whole limb bends, and how the limbs bend and recoil together is "timing".  This is just something that you have to see and feel.  It's hard to put a measurement on it.

 Lay the bow down on the floor on a neutral color carpet/something similar without any pattern...stand over the bow, looking down at the handle, with the back of the bow towards your feet. look at the sweep of the limbs without moving your head....see if they look different.  The bend/curve of the limbs should look very similar, even if the bottom limb is shorter.  now flip the bow end over end/top limb where bottom limb was and look again....this maneuver will make out of tiller limbs show up quickly....

this HH stuff is simplicity.  Don't forget that.  Don't overthink it.  If you are shooting the bow well, grouping arrows well, don't change anything....and stick with that bow.  If you change bows like you change socks, the majority of bowshooters cannot be consistent.  Learn your bow inside and out, learn its inherent idiosyncrasies, and stay with it.  Believe me, it pays off in the field.  One of the biggest problems we face today as shooters is that there are so many bows/bowstyles we want to shoot, everyone's got a rackfull of various makes and models.  we never get to learn how to shoot one bow really well.  Hopscotching around is a detriment to consistent shooting for most of us.  Even 'exact copies' from a bowyer won't shoot the same.....

to quote Hill/Schulz..."if an average shooter would shoot one bow/the same bow all his life, he would be an above average shot".....why? because he 'knows' how the bow shoots in all circumstances.

[flint kemper]

Fear the man who owns and shoots only One bow!!!!

[Nate Steen .]

yesteday was the last day of Idaho's archery antelope season and I managed to get away to hunt one more time.....

The day started auspiciously....I was cold, shivering in the pre-dawn because I had stepped thigh-deep into a mud bog as I made my way by the light of the mostly full moon.  I waited for the sun to rise, hoping there were 'lopes nearby where I had seen them in the past.  I was in a river bottom with alot of willows for stalking cover...

dawn over the Rocky Mtns


as it got light, I could see there were no antelope anywhere near me, searching through the binos,  I saw them a couple of miles away near some sagebrush hills.....so I headed back to the truck to change my pants and relocate.

the hills where the antelope roam...


after freshening up,  I shot for a little while to steady the eyes and nerves...you ever have a day when you shoot lights out?  for me, this day was one of those.  I was shooting hat-sized groups out to 60 paces in the sagebrush, and even centered a 'lope sized bush at 85 paces with the second shot...I was pumped and ready to find 'em...

After some searching, I found a lone buck that I'd hunted earlier in the season...a real bruiser with long, thick, gnarly horns coming off his head at a 45 deg. angle...he was heading for another bunch so I headed there too.....I managed to sneak/crawl using the terrain until I was within 75 yards or so of the bunch and then I was in ankle high grass, waiting for them to make a move....shooting 75 paces at an animal isn't nothing like 75 paces at a bush...so I was awaitin'.....

eventually, the wind swirled and BUSTED..!

[Nate Steen .]

After the antelope scattered, I headed back to the truck to find some others that might be abliging....  Still-hunting through the sage,  I watched a doe muley moving toward me.  I stood still and she passed me at around 35 yards...never knew I was there.  I was standing in full view...camo must be working  

I decided to let the antelope settle down and try for them again in the evening, so I spent the day on the big mountain, looking for fresh elk sign for next week's hunting.  I headed up the mountain, getting within shooting range of a nice 3 pt. muley...straight down-wind before he spooked.  He never saw me, just smelled me.  I had to climb the mountain with the wind at my back in order to get in position for the hunting cover over the ridge... once there,  I still-hunted within 15 yards of another doe before she stood up, offering a shot under 20 yards...I waved her on.  Then over the next ridge I again sneaked with shooting range of another doe.....man, this camo must be working!

I took a photo so I would be able to see how it looked against the cover


yep, my usual hunting clothes doing their thing... ...  It's quite amazing actually how many times each year I get shooting close to game animals without the benefit of commercial camo....  stealthy movement, watchful eyes, quiet feet, wind direction are the fundamentals which no camo can take the place of....and it just plain looks cool with a backquiver     but I digress.....

after coming off the mountain, it was time to get serious with the 'lopes again.  I headed back to the area where the big bruiser was....


Dark clouds and a rain squall was darkening the valley to the west of me when I located the buck...he was in a stalkable position in the sage hills.  I would have to hurry my stalk to get to him before running out of daylite before the storm struck.  Taking off,  I got to within 80 yards or so just as he went over another ridge.  Now the wind was picking up and time was winding down.  I moved around the side of the hill before heading up a small depression and topped out where I judged him to be.  He didn't know I was anywhere around.  As I quietly sneaked over the ridge, my eyes searched for him everywhere...nothing! where was he?  Moving over the top and into a small depression, my eyes were looking too far ahead....too late I saw him to my right.  I had sneaked to within 35 yards of a feeding antelope buck in nothing but sagebrush, wearing jeans and a plaid shirt...

I got my bow into position quickly as I moved by body around for the shot and he saw the movement....and turned to run.  I got off a quick shot but underled him in his initial jump... then his afterburners kicked in.

He stopped and turned to look at me from a small ridge 150 yards away....."Whyyeeaa, whyyeeaa"...he snorted to me....

"Touche'" I said as I saluted him back..."see you next year"....

And then sheets of rain enveloped me and a flash of lightening put an end to the season....

[3Under]

Nate,
Thanks for posting the photos and the story of your hunting experience. I'm tempted to try pronghorns on my next visit to Pocatello.