I appreciate the comments I’m reading on Leatherwall. Different archers naming different models of bows that I have made. I could write a whole book on my life with the traditional longbow. I’m going to be very short.

I moved to Alaska in 1959 still a teenager. I had two Jim Darling Howard Hill Longbows. Howard Hill was one of my biggest idols. I killed moose, mountain goat and other game with these longbows. In 1971 I made a move to Roseburg, OR. My direction in the archery world began to change. I now had to deal with archery seasons and became very interested in competitive archery shoots. I believe it was 1986 I became interested in producing my own bows. Because of the competitive scene I wanted a bow a little more competitive than the stiff rough hard shooting of the Howard Hill longbow. I tried to convey to my good friend, John Shultz what I was looking for. He started producing the Howard Hill recurve. I was pulling 75# plus in pull weight very easily in those years. But in the heavy weights John couldn’t get the Hill recurve to stay together. They would blow up. He stopped making the recurve bow because there was so much breakage.

When I started making bows commercially I had to cater to the market to pay the bills. I never liked a soft rubber band action in a bow. My form was very rough from shooting heavy bows. And with a soft sensitive bow I could hardly stay on the bales. So in short a lot of my bow designs were not my cup of tea. This is why on my bow rack, today, I only have reverse handle narrow deep cored Hill type longbows. I found the reverse handle more competitive as Hill did preferring his reverse handle longbow when he shot exhibitions at the World’s Fair.

I will end this subject with a personal thought. A number of years ago I was shooting on a competitive range on the Ben Avery shooting range in Arizona. I gathered up a group of traditional archers. We began to shoot the field range. Because they were shooting with me they brought their Hill type longbows. After shooting approximately 15 targets. I said let’s throw $10 in the pot, winner takes all. I witnessed a great time out. 90% of the shooters went to their cars and got their deflex/reflex or recurve bow for the competitive shoot.

The longbow, in my opinion, is extremely accurate and stable under adverse conditions. But for competitive shooting from like 9 am to 3 pm, the longbow is inclined to break down one’s form because it is rough in the hand and stiffer to draw. It caters to bad habits and a deterioration in your score. I know there are variables and exceptions but this is the way I saw it in my years past. Moosejaw Bowman Gary Sentman

I appreciate the comments I’m reading on Leatherwall. Different archers naming different models of bows that I have made. I could write a whole book on my life with the traditional longbow. I’m going to be very short.

I moved to Alaska in 1959 still a teenager. I had two Jim Darling Howard Hill Longbows. Howard Hill was one of my biggest idols. I killed moose, mountain goat and other game with these longbows. In 1971 I made a move to Roseburg, OR. My direction in the archery world began to change. I now had to deal with archery seasons and became very interested in competitive archery shoots. I believe it was 1986 I became interested in producing my own bows. Because of the competitive scene I wanted a bow a little more competitive than the stiff rough hard shooting of the Howard Hill longbow. I tried to convey to my good friend, John Shultz what I was looking for. He started producing the Howard Hill recurve. I was pulling 75# plus in pull weight very easily in those years. But in the heavy weights John couldn’t get the Hill recurve to stay together. They would blow up. He stopped making the recurve bow because there was so much breakage.

When I started making bows commercially I had to cater to the market to pay the bills. I never liked a soft rubber band action in a bow. My form was very rough from shooting heavy bows. And with a soft sensitive bow I could hardly stay on the bales. So in short a lot of my bow designs were not my cup of tea. This is why on my bow rack, today, I only have reverse handle narrow deep cored Hill type longbows. I found the reverse handle more competitive as Hill did preferring his reverse handle longbow when he shot exhibitions at the World’s Fair.

I will end this subject with a personal thought. A number of years ago I was shooting on a competitive range on the Ben Avery shooting range in Arizona. I gathered up a group of traditional archers. We began to shoot the field range. Because they were shooting with me they brought their Hill type longbows. After shooting approximately 15 targets. I said let’s throw $10 in the pot, winner takes all. I witnessed a great time out. 90% of the shooters went to their cars and got their deflex/reflex or recurve bow for the competitive shoot.

The longbow, in my opinion, is extremely accurate and stable under adverse conditions. But for competitive shooting from like 9 am to 3 pm, the longbow is inclined to break down one’s form because it is rough in the hand and stiffer to draw. It caters to bad habits and a deterioration in your score. I know there are variables and exceptions but this is the way I saw it in my years past. Moosejaw Bowman Gary Sentman

Interesting , and Good too, Take Care Gary

Interesting thoughts. Moosejaw is one longbow I wish had made it to my stable.

"Boys, make up your minds what you want to do, hunt or shoot target, because the two just don't go together".

EXACTLY Greg!

Good hearing from you Gary, take care.

Wow! talk about a timely thread....about 25 years ago I bought several bows here Stickbow. one was one of Yours that I still have and was out shooting today . serial # 98118 . I was out of archery until two years ago when 8 year old My Grandson pulled Me back. Anything You could tell Me about the "mid grip riser" on this bow and it's construction would be helpful. And If You would write a book I'll be in line. Thank You.

I would have grabbed my R/D or recurve too.

It's great to see you posting Gary. What ever happened to Lee Robinson? I sure enjoyed talking to him years ago and he absolutely loved your bows. I always thought that his Protege would be one I would like to try...

"""Boys, make up your minds what you want to do, hunt or shoot target, because the two just don't go together.""" Howard Hill

Irony that Howard competed in almost 200 (196) field shoots and supposedly took first place in all of them. So I'll leave it at that.

I remember when you came to Ben Avery range. It was great meeting with you and shooting a round. But those days of shooting all 3 ranges in a few hours are over for me.

Exactly George. Howard knew both and came to the conclusion when teaching his students later that different approaches and equipment were most efficient to accomplish which goal you want to excel in.

For those of you that have read Howard Hill’s book “Hunting the Hard Way” Howard Hill said in his book if high scores on the field range are your priority you might be better off with a recurve bow. He also said that he preferred the longbow when it came to making split second shots when shooting in adverse conditions.

Some of you may not know that John Schulz and his brother were in Howard Hill’s house visiting where they had strung up a recurve bow. The bow came unstrung and put out the eye of John’s brother. I have not read this. It was told to me by John Schulz himself.

Moosejaw Gary Sentman

Gary, am I understanding you to say when I run across the occasional Moosejaw bow it is not one that you would be happy with except for the forward handle ones. >>>----> Ken

Ken. I’ve shot a lot of bows over the years. Some I preferred more than others.

Moosejaw Gary

Well I have a Sentman Moosejaw Razorback and have had it longer than any other bow ever. Still love shooting it and stare at it everyday. Mr.Sentamn hid the Bullseye with his bow. Only one I seen at 45#.

Sticshooter. I grew up in a traditional age. When it came to traditional or performance in the traditional bow my goal was always set to produce the ultimate performance in the traditional bow. My newest model “Razorback” that you have, I feel, comes closer to my goal than any model I have ever made. If the day comes when I make another bow the new Razorback model would be the only one I would make.

Moosejaw Gary Sentman

Well Mr.Sentman I started shooting a bow when I was like 7 years old. started out with a York recurve from Whiffen and that's where I learned to shoot every Saturday. If I could I would love to have longbow like my razorback. You nailed that grip at least for me.<><

I'd be interested to know what weight bow you shoot now.

BRIBOWIE In the years past there was a lot of ignorance in my selection of bows. One never has too much power when it comes to killing big game with a bow. However if one doesn’t increase the arrow weight with bows pulling 65#’s plus they are basically spinning their wheels. Today I’m shooting 50 to 56#’s pull weight. I like a 20 18 arrow. The smaller diameter shaft gives me better penetration than 11/32 or 23/64.

Also I may add when it came to serious hunting, in my years, I preferred aluminum over wood. Wood arrows are like finger prints. There are no two the same. And if your hunting Alaska in September than winter in Arizona your spine in a wooden arrow changes tremendously.

I could go on but I hope you got my point.

Moosejaw Bowman Gary Sentman

In My post above I related that I had a Sentman Bow ## 98118. How do the earlier bows differ from the "Moosejaw Razorback " bow that sticshooter posted the picture above? It looks like the Razorback has recurved limbs....?

Butch 72 The one big factor in bow selection for an individual shooter is compatibility. Certain bows have superior performance in certain fields of shooting. People are different. We have male, female. We have Olympic form. We also have snap shooting. Some may weigh 200 lbs and be quite strong and another person might weigh 150 or so. So what this comes to is there is not one particular bow design that’s going to completely dominate over the field of traditional bows. A bow must be compatible to the archer shooting it. And also what is the main objective of the shooter in the archery world. Howard Hill may have preferred a long bow of 80#’s but he was no light weight and was athletically strong.

In answer to your question, my new razorback Moosejaw bow is a compromise in design to bring out the best in the shooter. It is more of a semi-recurve not as sensitive as a full working recurve. A certain amount of deflex and mass in the riser to minimize handjar. A working limb that doesn’t act like a spring but more of a thrust. And at the same time provides speed of arrow. Wood to glass ratio must be in the right balance for all these features to perform efficiently.

In my prime years, I preferred the simple longbow. The one factor that I never mentioned in those years is my snap shooting, half draw creep release, my follow through would deteriorate with the heavy rough longbow. I had a bear Kodiak recurve and a Jack Howard Game Master recurve that I would shoot for a couple weeks or so. These bows being more sensitive would force me to shoot with better overall form. When I went back to my longbow that was very accurate and stable I could shoot very well. Moosejaw Gary Sentman

Thanks Gary.!!

Alot of good common sense information here, that would help many of us.

I very much enjoyed this thread. I have a brochure that a friend gave me of Gary's bows. It had a longbow, a semi-recurve longbow and one called the Competitor? for tournament shooting.

I'll have to find it again to verify. I loved the looks of the semi-recurve longbow.

Another fine bow that is hard to find.

yes sir, thats why I am keeping mine<><

MooseJaw Strike Force,,one of my favorite bows. Great grip. fast, quiet, loved heavy shafts. Got to be too heavy for me. Wish I could find one at about 45lbs.

I had a couple strike forces and a recon years ago. What’s the weight on yours Mike?

I love my Sentman longbows. Due to health conditions I can't pull any of them right now but I am working toward that goal. Gary I enjoyed reading your posts in this thread.

I had your vhs tape. One of my favorites. I send it with several other traditional videos to another lw’er a couple years ago.

Gary: I have in my collection the bow John Schulz made for you when you were working out break Howard Hills weight record. If I remember correctly, its 108 pounds.

Bob

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here