HH bug got me ... Part One!

[Bud B.]

You guys and gals got to me.


I was waiting for the time to be right. And honestly I knew David Mitchell was a lefty and I've been hoping he'd post up something in the classifieds. Well he did. We worked out a deal.

Is there some kind of initiation I have to go through now?

I know the link will not be good once the post is deleted but here goes.

 http://tradgang.com/noncgi/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=5;t=047246
Thank you very much David. Christmas in Nov for me  

[Ben Maher]

Awesome Bud !
Great bow and Dave is a great guy to deal with ...

As for the initiation ... it ain't much , you just need a Safari suit , a mustachio and a back quiver full of "cool factor" .....

[Nate Steen .]

Bud, you are mandated to have fun with your new bow... that's the price of initiation...

Guys, we've had a few good stories about hunting with the Semi-Long and such....but I fear there's been a bunch of guys hunting who haven't shared their longbow experiences...  come on, pony up, let's have 'em.  Successful or not.

of course, seeing a guy posed beside some game in a flannel shirt with a longbow and backquiver does stir the blood...

I miss seeing photos of Louie Armbruster...he always looked classy in a watchcap and longbow and flannel shirt....that guy could shoot and he was always shooting animals.  Alot of stories floating around about that guy and his bows.  You don't see many of his bows for sale either....hhhmm

[Bud B.]

Oh I'm gonna have fun...

[Ben Maher]

I too a always interested in Louie Armbuster and his stories , and would like to hear anything about other men of his ilk ... straight limb kinda fella's . Jim Fetrow is another one who by all accounts is a fine archer who uses hill style longbows with some ability ...

[David Mitchell]

Bud, We'll leave the post up for a bit so folks can see her.  You're gonna' love that little Big Five.  Initiation rites?  Hmmm, let's see...like Ben said you have to have a nice leather back quiver, how's that? Says so right here          

[sou-pawbowhunter]

Have fun Bud.  

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Yes as part of the initiation it is mandatory to have fun!!!!

Dont let us catch you doing otherwise   :mad:

[far rider]

Sou-paw, the redman I just bought is much darker/richer color than my halfbreed. Don't know, but my Redman is older, but Craig may use a iffernt inih on the redman?

[far rider]

Dang! Sorry guys, "spell check"

[Bud B.]

quote:Originally posted by David Mitchell:
Bud, We'll leave the post up for a bit so folks can see her.  You're gonna' love that little Big Five.  Initiation rites?  Hmmm, let's see...like Ben said you have to have a nice leather back quiver, how's that? Says so right here      

[tradlongbow]

Bud-

That's a nice bow and you got a great deal on that bow.


Rossco-

Let's see that new bow. How did the arrows shoot for you.

Darren

[Rossco7002]

Hey Darren, thanks for asking. Yesterday was rough, pulled a 13 hours shift at the office with lunatics and drunkards spoiling Remembrance Day with their actions the resultant arrests that followed. Seeing that Fedex dropped my bow off a 1613hrs just made me that much more antsy to get home.

Eventually I got through the front door at 2000hrs and spent some time with the wife and kids. Fortunately for me they had done a pretty good job of tiring her out so she didn't seem to have the energy to take on another archery/hunting related domestic! lol.

When I unwrapped the bow I was really pleased. It looked even better than in the photos and the workmanship was flawless. The length of it (68 inches) really blew me away compared to my 60" Whips. Got the string on there and dialed in a brace height of 6 3/4 (most people seem to be about there with their Hills so it seemed like a good starting point).

Finally I got to shooting it. First shot I didn't even think and used my normal (light) r/d longbow grip and it felt like I'd Tasered my hand. After that I reminded myself that this was somewhat of a different animal and tightened things down grip wise and shot some more. That solved the problem and I moved on to have a really great session with this new bow. The long length and low draw weight really combined to make it seem effortless. Not having shot a large variety of bows 'smooth' had always been somewhat of an abstract concept for me but not anymore! What a pleasure, almost felt like I was drawing back on thin air.

I didn't get to spend a great deal of time shooting but soon enough I was dialed in and hitting consistently. Something about the grip and arrow trajectory caused my sight picture to change with the arrow much more visible in my peripheral vision, I liked that. The bow was very quiet shooting a B50 string with no cat whiskers at all.

As to the arrow everything SEEMED good. After a bit of practice I screwed on a broadhead and dropped it into the bull at 13 yards (a positive sign). Arrow flight appeared good with no fishtailing or plaining visible. I need to spend more time with this set-up before delivering a verdict but I'm hopeful things will be good to go.

I was hitting left once in a while during this inaugural session which leads me on to a question. Is it common to see some left hits when first switching over from a center cut bow to a Hill style longbow?

All in all I'm really pleased that this thread caused me to spontaneously purchase this bow AND furnished me with some valuable insight into how to get it shooting well with minimal fuss. Thanks.

Most importantly, as a veteran I always find Nov. 11th to be a pretty somber day. Having this little morale boost waiting for me when I got home caused me to go to bed with a smile on my face - and as a result this bow already has some good mojo stored up in it.

Deer hunting leave starts next Wednesday... wonder if this will be the bow that helps me take my first archery whitetail.....

[sou-pawbowhunter]

Rossco you seem to have forgotten one detail. WHERE ARE THE PICS?

[David Mitchell]

Rossco, glad you had a good experience....it will get even better as you and your new bow connect and learn how to relate to each other.  Enjoy the journey.

[Kituwa]

Rossco, i just recieved a hill style longbow in the mail several days ago too. I also was hitting left.I found that if i make sure i use the heel of my hand that it hits dead center.I would have had a lot of trouble with this bow if i hadnt already been reading this thread. It demands a bent elbo and the right hold on the grip.I also lost 3 inches of draw, i draw 30" with a recurve and 27" with the longbow i think mostly because og the bent elbo.I also shot my recurves straight up and the longbow dont care what cant i use.I have some sore muscils too, it seems i am useing some muscils that i wasnt with my recurves.Another thing i noticed was a recurve gets progressivly harder to pull as you draw it back but the longbow seems to start off being hard and does not change as much as i come to full draw.Mine is marked 55# but feels like 65#.I also expected it would be a lot slower than my recurves but if anything it seems faster.It is strange walking around with it,,it is feather light. I have tried a lot of diffrent arrows in it and it does not seem real picky about spine either.

[Rossco7002]

Yeah, really neat experience shooting this bow. I didn't seem too fussy with how I gripped it or canted it and took very little for me to get it shooting where I looked (admittedly at close range). That extra 8 inches of limb length really made a huge difference with finger pinch and the release. I don't anticipate it will cause any issues in a tree stand either.

.... and I'm already debating what sort of set-up would suit for moose and bear......

PS- Pics to come when I've finshed work this weekend. Pretty standard looking Wesley though, black glass and walnut riser with black grip.

[Mudd]

Congratulations Bud!!

How cool is this?....Way!!... I'm saying...

God bless,Mudd

[Swamp Yankee]

I came home this morning to find a long skinny box from the post office with my first Hill longbow.  Wow, absolutely perfect fit and finish!  Craig sure knows his craft.  68" 45# @ 29", all yew limbs with bubinga riser and tip overlays.  I've been hesitant to make the jump to a Hill style bow after a bad experience with severe (fire cracker going off in  your hand severe) hand-shock from a mass produced longbow I had several years ago that I was never able to cure.  Well, it's pretty clear to me now that the problem was definitely with that old bow, not the hill style.  What a sweet shooter this one is!  Looking forward to a lot of fun playing with my new toy "Swamp Yankee" (a.k.a Redman).



 

[Red Tailed Hawk]

Swamp Yankee that is a beaut !!!!!