HH bug got me ... Part One!

[swampthing]

Myrtle in the shade.    

[swampthing]

Bamboo in the sun.

[Ben Maher]

A well used , hunted and worn Hill bow , with a bunch of memories in every pull of the string , is kinda what this whole deal is about to me .

Nice mate ... and glad its back home for maybe some more adventure .
And at the least a reminder that to some of us , our "happy place" isn't about money , nor fancy cars but the call of the forest , the dash of Hood and his merry men and the call of the mountains and creeks where we play our game ...

[Nate Steen .]

Rik,  I don't mean to be pushy, but I'd better see that bow again real soon, in person.  I remember him well. And yes, he's a good bow, and good bows need to experience some time in the southern mountains.....


Ahhhh Jesse.....finally.  Good choice, and after all our talk, you did it, and isn't it just fast enough to be deadly?  I think, yes.....

[30coupe]

Originally posted by swampthing:
Bamboo in the sun.  

Man, that bamboo is just way to pretty! Awesome bow!

Rik,

When are you going to post pictures of the ugly bow? I see the ones of the bow with lots of character, but where is the ugly one?

Thanks for sharing that with us. I enjoy your stories very much. As an English major, I think I am a pretty fair judge of prose and yours is consistently a 10! The exploits of your old bow make it a 10 as well. Bows are like fine hunting dogs. They don't have to be bench champions to be hunting champions. Give me a hound with a face full of scars any time. Glad to see your old friend return.

[swampthing]

I swung by my little brothers house today. There he was, trying to target shoot with his newly acquired Big 5. Ha ha started him young. I practiced my stalking to get close enough to see what the heck he was doing. After he made a, quasi target style, shot and returned to the  line to try again, he noticed me. 25yds easy super soaker range. After watching him shoot a couple times, and giving him reinforcements, I got an idea. I took a tennis ball and chucked it a few times and said " just shoot it!" After a half dozen quite close shots, we found ourselves about 25yds from the target, a plastic pail,  I said to him right then "put an arrow through that." In one smooth continuous motion, just like he was just doing on the moving tennis ball, he swung up on that pail and, pow! a perfect pass through! that pail did not even hear that Dacron string, not to mention the quiet wood arrow.           you should have seen the satisfaction on his 15y/o face. not to mention the shine of the 25y/o high gloss finish.

[Molson]

Originally posted by swampthing:
I swung by my little brothers house today. There he was, trying to target shoot with his newly acquired Big 5. Ha ha started him young. I practiced my stalking to get close enough to see what the heck he was doing. After he made a, quasi target style, shot and returned to the  line to try again, he noticed me. 25yds easy super soaker range. After watching him shoot a couple times, and giving him reinforcements, I got an idea. I took a tennis ball and chucked it a few times and said " just shoot it!" After a half dozen quite close shots, we found ourselves about 25yds from the target, a plastic pail,  I said to him right then "put an arrow through that." In one smooth continuous motion, just like he was just doing on the moving tennis ball, he swung up on that pail and, pow! a perfect pass through! that pail did not even hear that Dacron string, not to mention the quiet wood arrow.            you should have seen the satisfaction on his 15y/o face. not to mention the shine of the 25y/o high gloss finish.

Nice!  

[Nate Steen .]

Well said Jesse....

fluid is the key, no matter if the shots are stationary or moving.  Static is a killer to great Hill form....

[K.S.TRAPPER]

Some bows are just special Rik sounds like you have one back.    

Nice Miller Jesse and agree with Molson and Nate  :D      

Tracy

[Mudd]

I am loving this living book all the more each time I step in here for a read.

Thanks to all who are contributing.

Rik... I hope to have the chance to shake your hand one day. Thank you for your reports that always come with all the emotion and enthusiasm of a true "Hill" shooter.

It makes one hunger to grab the bow and experience the trip to "Sherwood".

[Rik]

Thanks for the kind comments. Kinda gives me the bug to start writing again. I haven't written for a U.S. magazine this year, even though the year has almost come to an end, but I have memories of some great hunts milling about in my mind. Giant rams in Australia. Big swamp boars up on Cape York. A big 6x6 bull elk at three yards. You guys have heard the tip of the iceburg, but maybe it's time for the full tales to come out.

Just so you know, my old friend is 75 pounds at 28 inches. A Wesley Special, bamboo through and through, 66 inches long. I bought him five pounds lighter than my hunting bows to use him for target shooting. He turned out to be a killer instead. Funny how things work out. He just wanted to hunt.

Ah, but I am derelict in my duties. In the excitement of my old friend returning from the past, I almost forgot to mention the mule deer hunt this weekend. What a fun hunt!

I headed south east toward the Utah border Friday night after work, and slept in the back of the Tacoma, curled up under two thick sleeping bags, anticipating a great day afield after mule deer. Seventeen degrees  isn' all that cold when you have some good hunting to look forward to. The wind didn't start blowing until an hour before dawn. That was also just about when I saw a perfect eclipse of a full moon.

That was the harbinger of of great day. Here is the view from about half-way up the hill toward where the deer are. Can you see that red arrow at the lower left of the screen? It's pointing at my Truck. It looks rather small from here, so do those rocks. They look even smaller from the top, but there are deer here, so the camera has to go back in the pack.



Once at the top, I headed south west, and soon found lion tracks. A half hour later I found another set of smaller lion tracks. Here is a photo of track of the larger tracks, from a medium-sized lion:



I spotted a herd of 11 does and one buck just seconds after they had spotted me, and once they were out of sight, I went after them around the ridge. That's when I saw the second coyote of the morning.

Five minutes later I saw the third coyote, larger than any I have killed, so I tried to squeek him in. He bolted immediately, but then changed his mind and began walking toward me. At just over 35 yards he was broadside in the open, but before I could draw my bow, he caught a whiff of my scent and loped away. Such is hunting.

It wasn't long after that when I saw two golden eagles soaring. I had my binoculars on one, watching the sun glint off the top of his wings (this is what you might call a "high" ridge) when I saw him fold his wings and dive like a meteor toward the earth. What a sight, especially in binoculars! Unfortunately, some trees hid the last half of the golden eagle's dive from me, so I could not see what he was hunting-----or if he nailed it.

Later I jumped a buck in the heavy brush, and about 300 yards away as he was trotting, I saw him jump a snow-white snowshoe hare that ran about 40 yards at warp speed! It's little things like this each day that make hunting wild country so much fun!

On this hunt, I was having to sneak through dense, noisy mountain mahogany thickets, and my X2 backpack, even though it is a quiet one, kept scratching against the limbs no matter how far I bent over. Quite simply, I did not have the right gear for this area. So, next weekend I will be returning with a totally different setup that will allow me to ooze through the brush with silent ease----soft clothes and a Haversack slung low behind me. It just might work.

I also learned, for the umpteenth time, that mule deer seldom stay still when you shoot an arrow at them while they are looking in your eyes. It was a great shot, but for the second time this season, the arrow flew through empty air. Empty air that had recently been occupied by a mule deer. Still, it was nothing short of beauty to watch that arrow fly where I had aimed it. Perhaps the third time's a charm?

Well boys and girls, that's it for this week's mule deer hunting episode from your humble Southwest Idaho Howard Hill Longbow Correspondent. Tune in again next week, the last week of the season. It just might get interesting.



P.S. As I mentioned last week, this area is rumored to be the haunt of an elusive snow yetti. I think I may have accidentally snapped a photo of him in his cave.

[Jon Powell]

[Shinken]

Thank you Rik for sharing another great outing with Trad Gang!

Sounds like you had some excellent action and will be prepared for even greater things next week - including fresh snow - most likely....

Looks like the yetti hasn't attained its full winter pelage - more snow needed!

Enjoy the journey!

Shoot straight, Shinken

 

[Red Tailed Hawk]

That Yetti looks deadly!!!!!  also has great taste in bows.

[Steve Clandinin]

The anticipation of this thread ceases to amaze me.
Heres a thought if some energetic soul could turn these threads into a book I'm willing to bet it would be a best seller .What a fund raiser for St. Judes,Mark me down for the first copy,I'm sure many would be sold.
"Howard Hill lives through the Soul of Trad Gang"
A dedication to St. Judes.

I hope we never see a power crash and these pages are lost for ever.

[stik&string]

Wow I've been away a few days and boy I missed a lot! What a great thread!

[Ray_G]

Rik,

My work computer and my phone both have the COR as wallpaper but from a different angle of your first photo (the one with your truck).  Nate sent me a text about the day, on his way home after he got into cell coverage.  Maybe next weekend will be lucky for all - we can only try, eh?

[Ground Hunter]

I like the cave - is it WiFi????        

[joevan125]

I have been shooting take down recurves and longbows but shot a Hill at one of the shoots last year. Just as soon as i can get ahead im for sure going to order one. Especially after reading this thread but my goodness it may take forevever, sounds like they are going to be busy for a while. I have no clue which one to get and how long, i have a 30in draw and like all my bows to be 30@50. Any suggestions from all you Hill shooters sure would make me feel better about what i order.Oh yea i forgot to mention i love bamboo.

[David Mitchell]

You might want to order just a bit less than the final weight you want--maybe 3-4# as all my Hills come in about 4# heavier than ordered and marked--others here have the same experience, I know Rob D. has.  Also, at your draw I would not go less than 68" long and 70 would be even better in my opinion.  Love my Hills.