HH bug got me ... Part One!

[MikeNova]

Brazos I am right eye dominate. I talk to the fellow and what he was basicaly telling me was if you are missing to the left you may be primarily using your non dominant eye. So i pulled back with both eyes open as I shoot but intentionly closed my left eye and noticed i couldnt even see the target with my right eye. I'm thinkinkg he used the power of suggestion to "trick" me because since I have shot since am aware the target is being seen by my right eye. I guess the moral to the lesson is if you turn your head to much you will use your left eye as knapper pointed out Howard did which is fine if you are left eye dominate but if you are right eye dominate you dont want to turn your head in such a way as to take your dominate eye out of the shot.

[tradlongbow]

I just received the June 1975 issue of Bowhunter magazine that is contributed to the life of Howard Hill 1899-1975.

I was surprised that they were two articles, the first one was by Marvin Tye, and the second one was by Ted Ekin.

I really enjoyed the one by Ted Ekin, he points out that Howard was already 52 yrs. when they meet, but he goes on telling about Howard's amazing ability with the bow. If an arrow didn't hit it's mark after being shot twice, Howard would either give the arrow away or throw it away.

He points out that on a hunting trip with Howard and Elizabeth in Utah, Howard shot a big four point buck at 110 yards. Howard would warm up before a hunt by shooting all his arrows at a bush of at least 60 yards.

There's also a advertisement for Howard Hill Archery.
Heat Tempered bamboo longbow $104.50
Redman with Yew $89.50

[MikeNova]

Good tip thats what I'm going to do to warm up 60 yard shots!lol.

[tradlongbow]

Originally posted by MikeNova:
Good tip thats what I'm going to do to warm up 60 yard shots!lol.

Mike-

Ted Ekin also wrote that Howard's arrows were so important to him, if he didn't hit the mark after two shots, he would give the arrow away or throw it away.    

[dragonheart]

Howard Hill

[Mushin]

If I gave away every arrow i missed twice with id have alot of freinds at shoots.lol.

[kestimator]

Cool post tradlongbow!!!
Thanks for sharing that!!!  

[canopyboy]

Originally posted by Mushin:
If I gave away every arrow i missed twice with id have alot of freinds at shoots.lol.

And I'd have nothing left to shoot...

[Rod Cam]

ttt

[tradlongbow]

I left the house on Thursday and drove over to a WMA that opened hog hunting during small game season during Feburary.

Thursday evening when I was walking back, I spotted three doe. We locked in on each other and had a starring contest. I was able to walk up to them within 30 yards, they even posed for a photo until they eventually ran off. (check out picture #3, there's 3 deer in the picture)

Unfortunately, I didn't come across any hogs but it was a great night to camp-out, weather was in the low 60's.

 

 

 

[nineworlds9]

Sweet.  I'd like to look for some hogs either Saturday or Sunday afternoon up here.

[Brianlocal3]

Thank you for those pictures. It looked like you had a great time.

[Rossco7002]

That green grass sure looks lovely Darren! We got a foot of snow here today....

Just wanna say 'thanks' to all the veteran Hill shooters on this thread for getting me hooked on these bows and backing it up with solid advice to get me shooting straight.

After a hard day at work and going solo with the 3 kids after that I just spent 20 minutes shooting silver dollar sized groups in my 15 yard basement range and all is right with the world. Time to sink a few cold ones and compile my kit list for the Hog Hunt!

[JohnI]

Good shooting Ross, those hogs are in trouble.

[tradlongbow]

Originally posted by Rossco7002:
That green grass sure looks lovely Darren! We got a foot of snow here today....

Rossco-

I'm taking my wife to the beach today for our anniversary but she's been begging me to take her to see snow.
We might have to make plans to visit each other, bring the family, and do some hunting too.

[Rossco7002]

That sounds like a plan Darren! Too bad you guys aren't here today, I could use some help clearing the driveway..... ;-)

[dragonheart]

Ross,

Which bow you taking on the Hill Hog Hunt?

[Rossco7002]

I'm really leaning towards the Old Tom but the Schulz is always waiting in the wings for a last minute change of mind.

If anyone is interested to shoot a particular bow I'd bring it along too.....

You?

[C.Cannon]

I've been doing a little more reading in Hunting the Hard Way and Hill talks about his method of ground hunting and a weird walk he used to not make noise in the woods. Does anyone have any info on this?
I'm really new to hunting in general (never been successful) and don't really know the techniques for ground hunting. All I know is I make too much noise in the woods even when I am trying to be quiet.  

[mikebiz]

Howard stalked "Indian" style, which requires a little practice (and balance), but it certainly quiets the footsteps in the field.  Basically, the idea is to place the ball of the foot, which is the roundish muscle at the base of the big toe on the ground first, then roll forward and out (away from the big toe) onto the toes.  In normal everyday walking we place the heel of the foot on the ground then roll onto our toes.  There are several reasons why you should place the ball of the foot down first when stalking:

1) The ball of is much more sensitive than the heel.  It is much easier to detect things like sticks, stones and other potentially noisy debris with the ball of the foot.  When you feel something under the ball you can easily adjust your step to miss that obstruction.

2) By placing the ball down first you are walking with a drastically reduced footprint which limits the amount of ground surface the foot contacts during the step.  Less surface area should mean less noise.  Only about 1/3 of the foot contacts the ground with this stalking method.

Now remember that Native Americans, for the most part, walked barefoot so the sensitivity of the foot was higher than if one was wearing shoes.  Wearing thin soled shoes will allow the wearer to feel debris underfoot much easier.  

A very important aspect of this stalking style is balance.  If you try to stalk rather stiff legged standing straight up like you do when you walk normally it won't really work.  Your balance will be thrown off as you try to walk on your toes.  In order to stay balanced you need to crouch a bit by bending at the knees and bending at the waist to place your center of gravity over the feet.  You're going to look a bit odd, but this technique works really well.  It does take a bit of practice, so I try to use it when I'm out hiking around the woods when nobody's looking    :D   Good luck.