I read this quote:
"Everybody wants to shoot like me, but nobody wants to train like me!" -Howard Hill
So, How did Howard Train to shoot the bow?
Is there a written description of how Howard trained?
I know that he had a weight rig on a pulley. He also worked on the fine points of his shooting form, shooting many more arrows than most people ever when working on form particulars.
By shooting lots and lots of arrows and knowing his equipment and the trajectory of his arrows.
I read once that he had piles of sand on his property and shot frequently using the sand piles as backstop. To me, that speaks to the idea that he was not much into paper and scoring rings.
You may be right there monterey. But, 196 consecutive field archery wins leads me to wonder.
I don't know how he trained, but he must have done something with paper targets.
Arne
He also had the ability to make the transition from the static target to the variable target. "Make up your mind, boys, whether you want to hunt or shoot targets, because the two just don't go together."
It is not that at all. It is what Hill said, so in his opinion, there were different aspects to consider. Sheesh, really? That gets a sheesh? The discussion is how did he train, so within that training, there must be something that took him beyond the standard target thumping. Shooting moving targets in practice and for shows was beyond the standard target game.
"When asked how he hit moving targets so easily, Howard replied, "You have to train your eye to look at a single spot. If it's a man, you look at a shirt button; if it's a Coca Cola sign, you look at the center of an O..."
I think he used the high poundage bows to help with the speed to get moving targets.
The entire article here:
http://discoverstclair.com/st-clair-history/howard-hill/
I would suggest reading the book..
you'll find out all sorts of things. It's an incredible read.
He shot until the damn fletches fell off LOL
Great feedback.
QuoteOriginally posted by nineworlds9:
He shot until the damn fletches fell off LOL
:thumbsup: Bingo
QuoteOriginally posted by moebow:
You may be right there monterey. But, 196 consecutive field archery wins leads me to wonder.
I don't know how he trained, but he must have done something with paper targets.
Arne
Oh, Arne, I wasn't suggesting that he eschewed paper shooting. Obviously he was highly skilled at it. Sometimes I wonder if his advice to decide targets or hunting was his recommendation to others but at the same time something that he himself had transcended.
Just my thoughts but I'm certainly not very Hill knowledgeable.
QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
I would suggest reading the book..
you'll find out all sorts of things. It's an incredible read.
Now Terry, with all due respect, that seems a little flippant. Which book? There are libraries full of them.
homebru
QuoteOriginally posted by Homebru:
QuoteOriginally posted by Terry Green:
I would suggest reading the book..
you'll find out all sorts of things. It's an incredible read.
Now Terry, with all due respect, that seems a little flippant. Which book? There are libraries full of them.
homebru [/b]
I think he's referring to Hunting the Hard Way, but I'm not sure.
Sorry that wasn't meant to be flippant....yes hunting the hard way.... that's what I get for assuming everyone would know
Arn if you read the book you'll find out about Target versus Hunting. He was accomplished at both ...EXTREMELY....hense the quote posted by Pavan.
There are so many pieces to the Howard Hill puzzle it's really unfair to comment on something he said if you don't know the whole picture ....it's like taking 3 pieces of a puzzle you've never seen and trying to explain the whole picture
Terry, I see that post Dennis made is gone. I understood that he was missing some of the info that I had. I have had numerous conversations with Ted Ekin and John Schulz over the years, My reply was just me smarting back at him a little. I have no complaints what so ever with him. We have been having a fun PM conversation. Nor do I care if someone wants to shoot different than I do, we are all wired different and have different levels of experience. I started out being a lucky shot instinctive shooter as a kid, turned dedicated target shooter with all of the various high grade gear, to becoming a Hill style shooter. Back in the early 70s adding Hill bows to my hunting and leaving the target stuff for just target shooting, I harassed and bled John and Ted for all of the information that I could get and they willingly shared it with me.
Hill was a natural athlete who probably put in as many hours as an Olympian. Most of us are working jobs where we don't get that opportunity, or have other responsibilities that take our time.
I suppose the same is true today, too. The top shooters are always the folks putting in the most time and focus. Although that sort of goes for anything. If you want something you have to work for it.
I am no way a Hill expert, but have had pleasure of learning about the man. One of his favorite saying's was "Everyone wants to shoot like me, but no one want's to practice like me". Howard was a gifted athlete. He was a baseball player, football player, and and very accomplished Golfer. He is said to train with pulling several bows for building the muscles for heavy bows. I believe his ability came from a life long dedication and pursuit of actually shooting. He built up to heavy bows, he practiced likely more in a week than many of us do in a year. Keep in mind, he made the time to do it, it was before TV and many other disctractions we have today. He had a target butt at the door of the house and shop. Everytime he went from one to the other, he shot 12 arrows. Every time he would see game, he would practice his "air" shot, without tackle. Couple natural ability, with long hard practice, life long dedication and very frugal about proper tackle will equate to a legend.
Believe I read once that he had a bow, strung and at the ready, at the back door and front door of his home. Would shoot a few as he passed through.
Just an incredibly, naturally gifted archer.
Terry, I own and have read the books -- several times. I was just trying to reinforce the fact that Howard shot paper too and as you say,EXTREMELY well. Folks seem to think that Howard was JUST a hunter and want to disclaim his ability in some areas with "the target and hunting are different" quote.
He did it all and folks would do well to remember that, IMO.
Arne
As mentioned above, one of the best things one can do to become proficient at a difficult skill, is to never watch TV. I will admit, however, that when Hogan's Heros is on 9 PM to 10 PM on the ME network, I am mindlessly practicing my daily arpeggio exercises and scales on a guitar. The brain numbing affect of the flicker rates have a relaxing affect on my muscle tension in my hands. One aspect of Hill's shooting that gets ignored is that he was constantly trying to come up with fun stuff. My latest is the use of an expandable crappie rod, the most worthless fishing device ever created, but it is very handy when Gorilla taped to a tall Little Giant step ladder. I have lost my good coin tossers, the ones can can accurately toss a coin both across my target stack and into the path of an on coming arrow at the same time. Now I use the super long fishing rod to either swing stuff across my target stack or to sometimes just have a dandelion head blowing back forth in the breeze. I do NOT shoot at bumble bees, butterflies, squirrels and hummingbirds that are also in my backyard and sometimes between me and my targets. The squirrels are tame, they have no fear of the arrows flying past them or me walking a couple of feet from them when I get my arrows. I would bet Hill would have had them cooked and eaten if he would have had the chance to shoot in my back yard. I am against baiting and it is illegal in Iowa, I feed those squirrels everyday and they come running when they see the sun flowers seeds come out.
I think Howard Hill was just meant to be an archer, much like Peyton Manning was meant to be a quarterback. (Howard Hill) happened to find his niche in the universe and ran with it. He may well have shot more arrows than anyone else, but that doesn't do it. If I shot as much as he did, I wouldn't probably get worse; I don't have the knack. I'd have to say he was a combination of rare talent and dedication to his craft.
I must have missed all the ragging on target archery post....
I hear you Arn.... I must have Miss read your post I'm in total agreement with you
I sort of feel like Wallace
I think his best practice was the day he was born
I have a rather skinny hard cover book written by Don Carson, Early Adventures with Howard Hill. While the book does not speak much of shooting techniques, it does allude to the tempo and positions of the shots taken during their hunts. There also chapters about range shooting, where Hill was unhappy with his shooting, but kept going until he was shaking from exhaustion from shooting over a hundred arrows with his 110 pound snakewood bow. There is also a bit about how Don Carson used a radio light or something similar on his bow as a bow sight. Hill said that would probably help with shooting targets, but would be a deterrent to have on the bow for hunting and advised him to get rid of it. this was the early snakewood bow days. so apparently hill had the ability then to shoot both targets and variable shots. I have always been curious to know if Hill changed things when shooting targets. There is a one shot segment of what I think was Hill in his youth shooting next to Larry Dixon. if I am correct that was a young Howard Hill, it is not the same shooting style that was filmed a few years later.
Awesome history Pavan. Thanks for sharing!
Pavan, The lightbulb that you were talking about was actually placed on the ground between the target and the archer. Then the archer would look at the point of the arrow and place the point on the bulb and shoot. If he shot low, you move the bulb closer to the target and so forth.
There is a picture of Don and Howard together leaning against a railing in the book you spoke of and I have both of those bows.