Hey all,
I got out a favorite video of that I haven't seen in a while and watched it. It was the first Byron Ferguson Trick Shot video. In the video he is going to try and hit some quarters out of the air and he makes a remark about how Howard Hill once shot 10 DIMES IN A ROW out of the air without missing and that the best he has ever been able to do was 7 pennies. He also made the remark that through his life Howard Hill was said to have taken THOUSANDS of ducks on the wing with his bow.
After hearing those 2 feats I got out my older Howard Hill Archery catalog and looked at his bows and read a bit about what else he had accomplished with his bow. What an INCREDIBLE man. He was pulling VERY heavy bows with ease and would try and shoot several times a week up until his death.
I started thinking about what some of the other feats or amazing shots he may have accomplished that I have not heard about. So I thought I'd ask the experts here if they have any information or stories about Howard Hill and his expertise with his longbow.
Do you know of any incredible archery shots made by Hill? If you have any information about his shooting and his proficiency with his bow over his life you should post it.
Any information you have will be appreciated.
Thanks for the time.
Nala
Craig Elins's book talks about a few. I have a dvd that is made up of Hill shorts. Got some good stuff on there. DB
I know that he regularly shot 75-100 yards and cleanly killed game.
Now THAT is a feat in itself.....Most of todays compound-laser-rangfinder-sight-shooters can't even HIT targets at those ranges.
Get a hold of Dtala, he knew Howard for a few years and has a lot of good stories.
Nala....
Mr. Hill liked to shoot an arrow straight up, and as the arrow came down he would shoot it with another arrow....
I read that he shot an elk at 185 yards in front of witnesses.
he also did all of the trick shooting in the movie Robin Hood with Errol Flynn.
In Cavalcade of Archery he shoots a prune off a guy's head with a razor head.
He also did the stunt shooting in the "Black Swan" and several others.
When I was a Kid, some time last millennium, I saw him shoot live at the FOX Theater in Houma, LA. I was about 7. The one thing I remember was him setting off the primers on shotgun casings (primer only, no powder, no shot). As I remember it, he set off about 10 - 12 of them with no misses.
Come on...stick to the topic...great shooting, not what you think was a bad idea 7/80 yrs ago.
The guy could shoot...if I had to have someone shooting an apple off my head (something I would avoid with great pains), it would be him...nobody else who has ever lived or currently lives....NOBODY The Robinhood movie should be a testament alone, along with the shooting of a "robinhood".
FROM THE BOOKS I READ
IN THE ROBIN HOOD MOVIE HE SHOT THE PEOPLE WITH REAL ARROWS THEY WORE A 11X12" BLOCK OF WOOD WITH A STEEL BACKING.WHEN ASKED WHAT WAS THE HARDEST SHOT HE SAID WHEN THEY WHERE RUNNING ON HORSE BACK.HE ALSO SAID IF HE MISSED HIS MARK THERE WOULD BE SEVERE INJURY OR DEATH!WHEN YOU WATCH THE MOVIE YOU CAN SEE THE BLOCK UNDER THE CLOTHES. AFTER READING BOOK IS WHAT INSPIRED ME TO BE A TRAD. ARCHER 8 YRS. AGO.
Like I said sorry if i offend anyone with my comments.
Desert Dude, I'm a fan of Howard Hill but not really offended by your comments. I have watched a few of Howard's videos and some other big names in archery, and it seems back in there day anything went. in some of the films long shots were taken and game was just wounded and then persuaded and finished off, all involved seemed OK with it. Don't forget that at one time birds of prey were not protected and were considered pests by many. Things differ in today's day and age most hunters are very ethical and would never kill half the kind of animals that were killed back in the thirties. I don't agree with all that was done in the good old days but i still enjoy the old films and have a great respect for the archers of yesteryear.
Amen Jim!!!!!
Stone, Thanks for your comments. HH was a great archer and shot. I've seen most of his films and was very impressed. Some times you say something and it's out before you think it through. (Mondays) mark
The man did what was considered ethical for his times and let's leave it at that.
I have seen the prune stunt.My guess is the guy had the long hair to cover the steel helmet he was wearing. Who's to say the broadhead wasn't made of rubber too. It was a great shot, but it was entertainment, after all.
Again, not taking away from the shooting, just saying it may not have been quite as dangerous as it looked.
In one of my DVD's, Howard shoots an apple off the barrel of a guy's lever action rifle that he is holding by his side. The apple is not far away from the guy's body at all, and when viewed in slow motion it appears Howard intentionally hit the side of the apple that was away from the guy so as not to ricochet his arrow into his body. Or at least i like to think he was good enough to pick what side of the apple to hit.
Don't know about 1000's of ducks :D ...Van
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v77/VanTX/Dads%20Archery%20Friends/HowarHillKills.jpg)
a conservative estimate of 1500 rabbits!
I kilt more Armadillos than HH :bigsmyl: :bigsmyl: ...Van
I haven't started yet, but I plan to kill more red squirrels than Hill did. Course, some of you already have that record beat!
Did you guys forget the recorking of the floating barrel off the scirocco. Ronald Reagan narated that one. He shot the cork that fell out of the barrels hole .Realigned the cork on the front of the arrow and while the barrle was bobbing in the water he shot it back into the hole!
That story always seemed a bit far fetched. He must have shot a light bow for that one :goldtooth: :biglaugh: :biglaugh: ...Van
Woo Hoo...I am even Steven with Howard on the armadillas...now I have to catch up with my other hero Van. ;)
If he could shot dimes out of the air I bet he could pick which side of the apple to shoot! I love the buffalo hunt story in 'Hunting the Hard Way', seems riding that pony bareback was plenty hard let alone pulling a 110# bow while doing it. Yeah, Howard, He's the man.
HES MY HERO! and hes from ALABAMA! as is Byron Ferguson, both are my heroes! im proud that thier both from the Heart of Dixie!
If Howard could of got his hands on a hybrid bow,ff string and learned to shoot three under he might have gotten better. :)
I went to the movies as a kid just to see the fillers. Howard Hill was my favorite but, as all heros go, he has become bigger than life.
Disk 2 of the Special Edition of Robin Hood (1938) includes a short feature of Howard Hill's, circa 1945.
Total insanity!
Among the stunts was a "William Tell" shoot. Tell knelt about 15 yards from Hill. Hill -- using arrows with the Hill broadhead -- shot, first an apple from atop the man's head, then a prune! Tell was not in restraints. He did not appear drugged.
I too was/am greatly affected by his feats and the book "Hunting the hard way". Even those who bash him can't match him.
In the book he and another fellow shoot 2 ducks from (I think) 150 yards while proving to the guide in B.C. they can shoot well enough to kill a moose. A duck at 150 yards! Ridiculous.
Yeah, even Hill said he was as suprised as the guide when he hit the duck.
Also think that "Tell" guy probably had a helmet under all that hair. Even then, amazing and a little crazy.
I love the story of Howard doing the Chrysler 500 commercial. As I was told, he rode on the hood of the car on a bumpy road and shot at baloons. One thousand dollars for each baloon hit. After about 4 hits the director was yelling "CUT, CUT", But before Howard was shut down, he had busted 7 baloons in a row.....(Best of my memory recalls)
Also love the Buffalo hunt story. Hill is definetly a "hero" of mine.
Back in the 30's & 40's it was a crime NOT to shoot a hawk! My grandma told me of the time she trapped a "Turkey Hawk" that flew into the barn yard with a bucket and had my aunt who was only about 2 or 3 years old grab a stick from the wood pile to knock it in the head.
I know this isn't about HH but the point is that was an other era where you had to protect the little you had from the varmints and predators at all cost so shooting them with gun or bow was well accepted.
Funny thing is that I recently met an old fella who told me about that story as he drove a tractor through that barn yard the same day Grandma killed it and she had it strung up on the fence for all to see.
I used to have an old video of some of his news reel shorts. I remember one scene of snuffing out candles by richocheting arrows off of two sheets of what looked like plywood.
DTala, did I post that thought twice?? Didn't mean to. No question he could make the shot. Just think maybe he was more careful of his helpers than we know.
He used a African native for bait while croc hunting.
Good thing hunting ethics have progressed some.
Not to detract from his shooting the apple and prune off the head but if you watch carefully you will see the arrows bounce off a standard target after passing through the apple. I think it was John Shultz that said the greatest shooting he ever saw Mr. Hill do was to take six arrows and one after another effortlessly put them into a have bale at 100 yards, loosing every couple of seconds or so. I think he is easily the best archer I have ever seen. By watching his films on Slow motion and comparing what he does to other good archers I believe you will come to the conclusion that he not only mastered the ability to be consistant but his style of shoooting was deliberately calculated to make every shot the same.
In the trick shot mentioned with the apple, etc., if you watch closely, Mr. Hill is using a blunt to do the actual shot. You see the broadhead in the closeup, but if you're quick you can see the blunt on the drawn arrow.
Still, even a blunt could kill at that range. Didn't see a helmet, though.
Just for the record; someone in the know should let us know what the target ranges were when Hill and other practiced and shot competition at.
I can remember target set ups in competition that were really out there.
Hill wasn't the only trick shooter; there were two guys whose names escape me that did some really good shooting too. I think one shot a biscuit out of the others mouth..
Hill was the best; but he wasn't the only one that could shoot reeeeally straight.
I think I recall Mr LaClair shooting an asprin out of the air-
I'm just happy we didn't end up being 'men in tights'... I am happy to hit a sitting grouse at 10 yards :) I beat Hill at numbers of grouse shot........ but I bet he let them fly first :)