On a Howard Hill bow I see some have the leather wedge under the leather wrap. Why do some have it, and some don't? I would like to see why people use this.

If you look at Howard Hill's personal bow close you can see that his bows were not anywhere near as center shot as many longbows are today. The leather extension was an active part of arrow control, because the wood shelf only extended to about half of the arrows width. These are my two go to bows, pardon my grumpy look, I was out with my telescope until sunrise.

Personally, I like it, or did when I was shooting HH bows, because I like a little more arrow shelf. I think it’s purely personal preference.

Thanks Dean. It looks like that gives you much more shelf, so to speak. I know some people who shoot straight up and down with no canter. I have a slight canter. I wonder if the leather wedge helps the arrow stay on the shelf better with a no canter draw? I have not shot a HH bow as of yet. Do they put the leather wedge when ordered, or is this a custom thing? Thanks a lot guys.

I have both styles on my hill bows, makes no difference, it is a little harder to replace arrow shelf leather when it is tucked under grip,

Every bow looks cut so different. I would want mine cut more generously to fit a 11/32 arrow. Do Howard hill cut them close to center if requested, or does this cause a problem? Some look like they give you almost nothing in terms of a shelf. So the hard leather wedge must be needed on the type with almost no shelf right?

all my hill bows have more than enough shelf for a 11/32 arrow, I shoot several English longbows with no shelf at all,all the same to me

Dave, On the bows in the photo they are 3/8" from center, left and right. The 50 pound clear glass 50 @ 26" with a fast flight string Berry, according to the dynamic calculator on 3 Rivers, has a dynamic requirement of 37 pounds at my draw. I made a 37 dynamic spine arrow, it almost blew up in the bow. The arrows that fly perfect out of it are 52 pounds of dynamic spine. The white 55@26 Sunset Hill with the B50 requires 41 pounds according to the calculator. The arrows that fly perfect out of it is a Surewood with 61 pounds of dynamic spine and a 1918 that comes to the same 61 pounds and the same weight. I would not make too many preconceived predictions based on how much center shot a bow has. For myself, I find that the less center shot bows are easier for me to get on target fast. I probably cant the bow more than some, but I acknowledge the arrow even on very fast shots, indirect aiming some call it. I do it automatically, but when I shoot a bow the is center shot or past center shot, I have to deliberate and recalculate my aim. I have friends that stop by, one gave me the whole 'wouldn't more center shot be better' thing. He took a cold shot from 25 yards with my Sunset Hill, hit my deer target right behind the shoulder crease. He said, "that may have been an accident" and wanted another arrow. He shot the second arrow tight up with the first one and said, "What the hell?" That much outside of center worked for Hill, he may have been on to something. A cop tried it from the curb one day, I am sure people that saw him were sure I was getting investigated. He asked if he needed to aim to the side, I said, no. He was dead on with his first shot as well. It is not just me, that bow puts arrows where the shooter is looking. A number of people have found the same thing with the Berry as well, when they shoot my arrows out of it. My right hand shooting son tried to shoot my left hand Morningstar one day. He cannot hit the broad side of my garage wall when he is inside my garage, but for some odd reason he could shoot the Berry dual shooter accurately, both left hand and right handed. It has to be some visual advantage, considering how my son, Mr. Feather Ripper, couldn't hit the target with my left hand recurve earlier.

There a nice touch. Here's a pic of an older bow Dean once owned.

I lost count of how many game kills John built into that bow. It was a deadly smooth shooting killer.

I didn't want to make it sound like my son was not a good shot, he is a super shot, but considering that both his parents are ambidextrous, his inability to do things left handed is remarkable sometimes. Over Thanksgiving he took a few shots left handed again with my Sunset at various weeds and whatever, when we were getting ready to hike to the middle of a piece of public land, and he cannot figure out what changed in his shooting from not even being able to draw left handed to being able to shoot nearly as well left handed as right handed. He has strayed from Hill bows and only hunts with Robertson longbows these days, and heaven forgive him, Lone Wold tree stands.

I've always found longbows cut 1/8-inch or so proud of center to be easier to tune and shoot than most other bows as well. And, like Dean, I usually have to overspine a bit.

Even cut 1/8-inch proud of center, I have plenty of shelf width on my moderate r/d and Hill longbows that I haven't added a piece of leather to widen it. Probably would if there was no shelf there at all.

I love the look of dual shelf bows. I have a new classic ordered. May just do it.

I have always been able to shoot left handed, but with I damaged the base joint of my middle right hand finger while shooting a 96 pound bow, I was forced to go to all left hand shooting for a number of years. I can shoot right handed again, but I need to resist the temptation of loading up my quiver and thumping targets for hundreds of arrows. I can shoot three arrow ends right handed at a stump shooting pace for a few hours three days a week without having a flare up. It looks something like this, sorta kinda. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJazvAm1PAM

'when' not with.

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