Hey folks, I recently came into possession of a Howard Hill "Ruffed Grouse" Longbow. Someone dropped the bow off at one of our local churches as a donation. I'm going to sell the bow for the church, but I couldn't help myself from taking it home and running a few arrows through it.

I've shot exclusively trad gear including recurves and RD longbows for over 20 years now, but this was my first experience with straight "D" shaped bow.

It is super fun to shoot, but I really needed to use an arm guard. I have never needed to use an arm guard with any other bow. Is this common? I was thinking that the brace height might be a little low???

You need to change how you grip the bow. I've shot Hill bows for many years, with a 6" brace height and never use an arm guard. Try straightening your hand so the rear part of the bow riser is on the meaty part of the thumb base. That will straighten the wrist in relation to the forearm. When you grip the bow like a recurve you place the forearm in the path of the bow string when the brace height is low like a Hill.

Bob

My brace on my cheetah is 6.75”

Brace height should be at least 6 inches. 6.75 that Black Spot uses is on the high side, but obviously works for him. Regardless, the higher the brace, the less likely for the string to hit your bow arm.

Too, you can position your grip to avoid the string, as Bob suggests. But, bow arm protectors/arm guards were made for a purpose -- to protect the shooter's arm from string slap. String slap with an ASL is quite common and most ASL shooters wear an arm guard as a result.

So arowmaker, is that considered a "low wrist" grip?

"low wrist" grip?" they don't get any lower......

Just asking

My brace on all my ASL’s is 6-1/8”. And yes the string will have a very mild slap at the wrist.

Well I'm glad I put an arm guard on before I shot it. As it is, I'm not the best shot in the world. The last thing I need is to develop some kind of flinch!

Also, keeping a slight bend in the bow arm will help also.

ASLs properly braced and using a dacron string will often bite the wrist. Not unusual or incorrect grip.

My 66” HH has 6 1/4” brace height and my 64” HH has 6 1/8” brace height. I also grip like aromakr mentioned. Also, I keep a slight bend in my bow arm. I can sometimes get a mild string slap at my wrist, but nothing severe. As already mentioned, ASL’s are not meant to be gripped like a higher wrist recurve. They definitely are fun to shoot!

I also run my cheetahs closer to 6.75. Just seems to work out for me there. I know it’s on the high side but……

I also run my cheetahs closer to 6.75. Just seems to work out for me there. I know it’s on the high side but……

Make a donation and keep the bow!! I read somewhere that Howard Hill said the brace height should be low where it tickles the wrist a little.

X2 thumper. He just might fall in love with it. Give it the summer to shoot and see how ya feel. When I made the switch from recurves I shot my longbow only for a whole summer and was hooked bad. Lol. Specially with ASL’s

It’s already for sale in the classifieds!

Seems if the sale of this bow is for a charitable cause as indicated having put that in the ad may have been prudent.

The main take away I got when trained with Bob Wesley (RIP) was you want your bow arm, slightly bent with a ASL. This acts as a shock absorber, and allows the arm to get out of way of string with low brace height.

Thanks all for the comments and advice. Believe me, I have thought about just buying the bow for myself.

fdp: I was just trying to sell the bow for them straight up. I didn't want to play on anyone's emotions or charitable side. yslad

Todd, If I take the bow home and shoot it again, I'll try bending my arm. Makes sense.

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