Howard Hill: Longbow Shooter Extraordinaire

Howard Hill is one of the most notable figures in the archery industry. I am willing to say that he ranks above Ben Pearson and the Fred Bear. This is not to take anything away from these other legends, but rather show you the amount that he put into this sport. He was one of the most decorated shooters in all of archery, but he was also a notable producer and writer. Since he was involved with both archery and Warner Brothers he helped to bring a larger spotlight on the sport that he loved by making movies that provided advice on archery shooting. Howard Hill was a huge user of the longbow and was said to have killed over 2000 different animals with it! He was also the first man to kill an elephant during this time. He holds the world record for shooting an arrow 391 yards, which happened in 1928. As if that was not enough, he also proceeded to win his 196^th field archery competition in a row the same year he made the world record shot. Another little known fact about him was that he was a stand in for Errol Flynn in the 1938 version of Robin Hood. His legend still resonates in the longbow community, as well as with traditional shooters today. While he may have won all of those consecutive titles, it should be noted that he was more of a showman and a bow hunter, then a competitive archer. The way that he spoke made everyone feel as though he participated in target archery to perfect his trick shooting and bowhunting shots. Had he not read The Witchery of Archery by Maurice Thompson, he might have pursued one of the many other sports that he was particularly good at like baseball, football, basketball, and golf. He preferred the longbow named Grandpa for bowhunting and one named Grandma for tick shots. Click here to compare and buy longbow.