HOWARD HILL
1900-1975
Archer, hunter, author, showman, adventurer.
Born in Vincient, Alabama, Nov. 13,1900. Howard Hill was to archery as Babe Ruth
was to baseball. Early in his life he moved to Southern California where he
remained until he retired in the late 1960's.
Some of Howard Hill's accomplishments with a bow were:
- Shot exhibitions in 3 world fairs, 5 Wild West shows and 14 major sportsmen s
shows.
- In 1941 drew 35,000 spectators in Grants Park, Chicago, where the crowd
literally tore the shirt off his back, and took his arrows, bow and quiver for
souvenirs.
- Produced 23 short subjects about archery for Warner Brothers.
- Filmed "Tembo" in Africa, shown in 57 countries and 7 different languages.
- Published 2 books, "Hunting The Hard Way" and "Wild Adventure".
- Did all the shooting for such movies as: "Robin Hood", "Buffalo Bill", "They
Died With Their Boots On" plus many others.
- Hunted in 12 countries taking over 2,000 game animals.
- First white man to take an elephant with bow and arrow.
- Won 196 field archery tournaments in a row.
- Wrote the first set of Archery Golf Rules in 1928.
- Won seven national archery golf tournaments.
- Set flight record of 391 yds. 1 ft. 11 in. on 2/26/28.
- Pulled heaviest bow on record by any man, 172 lbs.
Howard shot a straight limb, yew wood bow, generally of heavy poundage. He was
fond of saying he first shot a bow when he was 4 years old and hadn't missed a
day since.
There can be no doubt that through his accomplishments with a bow, both on the
movie screen and in real life, Howard Hill captured the imagination and
admiration of thousands of people. He was probably more responsible, directly
and indirectly, for generating interest in archery by the public, than anyone
before or since.
The flair of the man, his love of archery and his accomplishments with a bow and
arrow, truly made Howard Hill, during his lifetime and forevermore, a legend.
Inducted 1977