HH bug got me ... Part One!

[Stone Knife]

I unstring mine when I'm done shooting or hunting.

[Rob DiStefano]

there is never ever a need to unstring laminated bows - those MODERN stick bows with core woods/grass sandwiched 'tween glass with baked epoxy and high pressures.  unstrung only to change strings for transport.  won't hurt a thing AS LONG as they're not stored where there are swift and drastic changes in temperature, or if they're stored at a constant radical temperature for long periods of time.

[njloco]

Hey Rob,

I have a question about the above statement, If one strings a bow, and then goes out to hunt and it's very cold outside, won't that adversely effect the bow ?, it's at a warm temperature and then it immediately goes to a cold temp.

Thanks

[Aussie Stickbow Hunter]

Congrats on your deer Stone Knife; it should make for some good tucker.    

All this talk of new bows, I better do something about that myself.      

Jeff

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by njloco:
Hey Rob,

I have a question about the above statement, If one strings a bow, and then goes out to hunt and it's very cold outside, won't that adversely effect the bow ?, it's at a warm temperature and then it immediately goes to a cold temp.

Thanks

just as with a fine stringed instrument, a strung stick bow shouldn't be subjected to immediate harsh changes in air temps.  if at all possible, there should be some kinda staging area both before going out to drastic change in temperature as well as coming in from such an environment.  

i need to qualify my statement about leaving a laminated bow strung up forever - it must be a MODERN laminated stick bow; some of the older lam bows used less durable glass and epoxy.

[ChrisM]

I believe its the extreme heat when stung that will get them, like in a car during the heat of the day.

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by ChrisM:
I believe its the extreme heat when stung that will get them, like in a car during the heat of the day.

... yes, that's a bow killer for sure!

[Ari]

I'd be interested to here what you guys think of arrow weight in grain per pound for a Hill bow and what Howard himself preferred?

[njloco]

O.K., so put it say in the garage for a length of time ?, then string it and take it out ? Or string it first then put it in the garage ? I ask because it has always weighed on my mind as to the correct way to acclimate the bow under severe conditions.

Thanks

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by Ari:
I'd be interested to here what you guys think of arrow weight in grain per pound for a Hill bow and what Howard himself preferred?

imho, 10gpp at the MINIMUM, 11-12gpp is better yet.  i'm shooting 580-620 grain surewoods out of about 52@29.

dunno what howard used, don't care either.   :D

[Rob DiStefano]

Originally posted by njloco:
O.K., so put it say in the garage for a length of time ?, then string it and take it out ? Or string it first then put it in the garage ? I ask because it has always weighed on my mind as to the correct way to acclimate the bow under severe conditions.

Thanks

can only give my view, what i do ...

my bows *always* stay strung and hung by their strings in my shop, which is regulated for about 50% humidity year round, with air temps between 60-75 degrees.  NO air conditioning, that's too dry for my shop, but it's really the air temps that matter.  if going out from the shop to 90f+ or 32f- air temps, the bow stays strung and i'll wait a bit 'til it comes up or down in temp before exercising the limbs.  that 'bit' of time is between 10 and 20 minutes, and i'll work the limbs a bit before launching a shaft.  

a real concern for me will be something like transporting in the back of my station wagon, with the heat on and cooking in the early winter sun during a road trip to the range or hunt woods, then taking it out to 40f air and immediately shooting.  gotta do some baby steps waiting before bending wood (and glass    ).
 
ymmv.

[58WINTERS]

Ari,
No expert here.  My Hill Wesley Special and my Liberty English tell me what they like. Too light an arrow and they bump you in the hand.  Start bringing the arrow weight up and giving that energy some where to be used and you will feel it in the riser. That being said what Rob posted has been my experience.  11-12gpp is the sweet spot for these bows 50 -52# @27  550-600gr.  They & I don't care for 10gpp not quite enough.

I would like to point out that thick bamboo cored longbows that I have left strung for long periods did take a bit of a set for a time when unstrung. My daughter left her Hill strung for a month. She was very pregnant and did not want to strain to unload her bow, it took a set that took over two weeks to come out. The bow and the future little huntress are now doing fine. Savannah at three days old.
 

[Rob DiStefano]

beautiful li'l huntress in the making ya got there, pavan!  

welp, that's a first - i've never seen a modern stick bow (built within the last 15-20 years) that was backed and faced with modern glass, using modern epoxies and oven baked with proper heat and pressure, ever take a set let alone come apart as long as the temps the strung bow was stored at, and used at, were not severe, or that the bow didn't incur dramatically rapid extreme temperature changes.

[Stone Knife]

Originally posted by 58WINTERS:
Ari,
No expert here.  My Hill Wesley Special and my Liberty English tell me what they like. Too light an arrow and they bump you in the hand.  Start bringing the arrow weight up and giving that energy some where to be used and you will feel it in the riser. That being said what Rob posted has been my experience.  11-12gpp is the sweet spot for these bows 50 -52# @27  550-600gr.  They & I don't care for 10gpp not quite enough.

My cedars are at 10  gpp I'm going to make up a set of ash to bump up the weight a little.

The case with one of my bows was it was a 68" Schulz Hunter, 3 lams, one of his first bows when he restarted his own line of bows. I fell and broke off the bottom tip. I cut off the ends and turned it into a 66 inch bow, added nock caps and retillered it. It shoots almost better than my other 66" Schulz bows, softer feel and perhaps a little bit less cast. I left it loaded for six months, hoping that it would take a set so it would be easier to load because the tips are too small to use a bow loader, I did not have enough material to make the top tip longer. The set made it just a little less than straight at first, but a few days late r I checked it and it was back to its normal back set. with my daughters bow, the top limb had a noticeable string follow and the bottom limb was more straight. It is a 64" 37@26 Cheetah reflexed. A week later she said it was less but it still had some follow in the top limb, the next week, I had a chance to check it again and it had the same reflex as before. Both bows were kept on horizontal racks and at constant temps while they were left strung. So I guess they can take a temporary set, but leaving them strung does not seem to turn them into a string follow. I do wonder if the temporary set can still damage the fibers of the core.

[Molson]

I really like Ash.  Tough, heavy stuff. You can really get some weight with it.  Maple is a good choice too.  I always seem to end up liking arrows that are 12-14 gpp best regardless of the bow.

It's pretty obvious Howard Hill knew that heavy arrows meant penetration.  I think his elephant broadhead alone weighed in at 1500 grains!!  I would imagine he probably had arrows that were heavy and arrows that were light, depending on the situation.  Shooting the bow weights he did, I bet his light arrows were still pretty heavy!

[swampthing]

90-100# 3/8 dia. Cedar shaft right around 15-16 grains per inch, a 28.75" with 3 feathers, nock, lacquer, and a 150g broad head will go about 650g, bear in mind that is a parallel shaft, tapered, as he would would bring it down to about 625g. On a 84#'er that would be approx. 7.5gpp. Depending on bow weight, and spine class of course, he was most likely shooting...........
7-8gpp. and no fast flight! On his, non glassed, all bamboo bows, I highly doubt there was any "roughness" in the hand.

[stik&string]

Pavan that is the best pic in this entire thread and there has been a lot of good pics so far. Congrats!

She is a week and a day old today. She was born on the end of a half mile drive near Battle Lake Minnesota. A very kind and brave man delivered her with over the phone coaching from a midwife some distance away. I gave the brave man's 14 year old son  a perfect 1966 42 lb Bear Grizz some wood arrow and a leather back quiver. He gets our Jim Fetrow reworked Zebra purple heart Super Grevy and some arrows and I will get him a Hill back quiver. I taught them both how to shoot when we went up there and they both picked it up very quickly and cannot wait to go hunting with there bows.
 The problems is I am having a hard time deciding which Hill model and specs to get for baby Savannah. It would have to be very short.