HH bug got me ... Part One!

[Ben Maher]

John Schulz built him the bow with which Gary broke the world record Bow Pull ... it was over 150# pounds in pull .
I have spoken with gary quite a few times ... a gentleman who is very free with his time and knowledge . Good bloke !

[Overspined]

For keeping heads sharp, I like the folding 2 sided diamond stone by Smith. Its tiny, light, and cuts steel very well for knives and broadheads.  I use grizzly heads, 200 gr, and when they get dulled a little, just a couple swipes ,and one more on the flat edge and they pop hair again. Great for packing in the mountains too.  I don't mock files, but I can't get the same edge with them. The hard steel heads wear them quickly and I am more consistent and methodical with the stones.

[Rik]

I have one of Gary's bows. I had to whittle it down some to where I could shoot it accurately. It's 80 pounds at 28 inches, all bamboo except for a belly lamination of elm.

I think I will go outside and shoot it right now, just because.

[Overspined]

Also, for the shooting gloves, I use pitch blend liberally all over it for water proofing and it seems to conform to my fingers well.  I smear it all over, in and out of the stalls. Keeps it soft feeling on the fingers too.

[Ben Maher]

Rik,
That hurts me just thinking about it .....
20 years ago maybe ... but now ? Noooooo....

[MikeNova]

Gary Made a great hill style bow the razorback with regular, mid and reverse grips.

[Rik]

Well THAT was fun! Faster'n greased lightning.

It has a mild pistol grip though, and I shoot better with a straight grip.

Does anyone know if Gary ever made a Hill-style straight-limbed bow? This one is a deflex-reflex.

[WarDancer]

What page is Nate's thread on when he discusses the swing draw?

[Ben Maher]

Rik,
Yep ... i nearly ordered one off him a few years back just before he got out of bowmaking . It may have had a semi reverse handle ? I can't quite recall but it was a straight / maybe reflexed bow ... no R/D at all .

[Ben Maher]

The Razorback ! That it .. nice one Mike .
Posting at the same time I reckon .

[dragonheart]

I thought that was Gary Sentman in the photo, just was not for sure.  I had 2 of his longbows "the competitor" and another Hill style thicker limb mild R/D.  I gave that bow to my 16 yoa nephew who could hit with it from the first arrow he shot.  Very forgiving bow to shoot.    

A profile picture of the sentman.

 

[tradlongbow]

I came across this article the other day and really enjoyed it. It still amazes me the distances that these guys would shoot at game.

The article is "Hunting Big Game with the Bow and Arrow" on page 170, about 6 pages down when you scroll.

Darren

 http://books.google.com/books?id=k1cEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA169&dq=american%20longbow&pg=PA169#v=onepage&q=american%20longbow&f=false

[Berliner]

Darren-
thanks for this article. Very interesting indeed! Bowhunting is not legal in Germany, so I never hunted myself, but as far as I know, "typical" hunting distances for trad archers would be around 10-25 yds max, I suppose??
Even compared to the distances on 3D shoots (up to 60 yds - you mentioned it before) the Godfathers of bowhunting took REAL looooong shots. Phew......

[frank bullitt]

Shag carpet. That reminds me of my first trip to the GLLI, in 1986.

I was behind a gentleman on the range, who had a backquiver, made from shag carpet! He did a fine job, and it worked and looked pretty cool, too!

[Traxx]

Yeah,
My pard has been known to make quivers outa carpet too.We call em Casino quivers.Some of em even have cigarete burns in em.LOL

[Rik]

Since Nate is the most vociferous proponent of back quivers on TradGang, I hereby propose that he attend the North American Longbow Safari this year with a Shag Carpet back quiver.

It will be a good look for him, after all, he IS from Twin Falls.

[canopyboy]

Originally posted by tex-archer:
Has anyone ordered a bow blank from Craig at Howard Hill archery? If so, how hard was it to finish it out?

I ordered one just over a year ago.  Had it all finished pretty (go back prior to page 100 of this thread for pictures) and thought life was great.  But when I went to find that Hill Love everyone had been preaching I wasn't super happy with it.  I think it was mostly that it was too heavy and that's a bad attribute when learning to shoot a whole new method.  (Blanks are even heavier than Craig's finished bows, this one finished 7# over after a lot of sanding.)  The ever humble Nate has tried to help me over the distance (email and phone) tweak the tiller on it and reduce the weight a bit.  It feels much better, but I still don't shoot as well with it as I'd like.  I recently got a Craig-finished Tembo that I seem to do better with (it's lighter).  

As background, I'd say my skill level is moderate.  I grew up in the woodshop and I've built several laminated and self bows that have come out well.  Just not sure if I'd have bought the blank if I had it do over again.  I keep wondering if the problem is the shooter or the final bowyer.  If Craig had finished it, there wouldn't be that question always lurking in the shadows.  Now that hunting season is over, I plan to work with it some more.

[canopyboy]

And now I've caught up on about 20 pages of missed posts.  Wow, this thing seems to grow faster when the weather gets cold...

[dragonheart]

Originally posted by Rik:
Since Nate is the most vociferous proponent of back quivers on TradGang, I hereby propose that he attend the North American Longbow Safari this year with a Shag Carpet back quiver.

It will be a good look for him, after all, he IS from Twin Falls.

That would be awesome, dude!  LOL!  It needs to good and worn out shag carpet, stained, etc. something from the 80's colorscheme.

[Nate Steen .]

I'm thinking rust colored with avocado green trim and a floral design....

you guys are just jealous of the fine piece of  equipment I carry around on my back.