Let me begin this story by explaining the name of this bow. This bow did not belong to my grandfather. Neither of my grandfathers were bow hunters or archers. In fact I am fairly certain that I am the first archer or bow hunter in my family’s recent history.
The name came, as the best bow names often do, from a hunting story.
I left my SUV and began the mile long hike up the steep dry razor edge ridge. I was heading into the mountains to hunt goats on a warm February morning, opening day in Hawaii. On my back was a large pack filled with 6 liters of water. The beating sun and 86 degrees F. Temperature in addition to the intense hike was sure to tax my water supply. Slung over my shoulder was a homemade goatskin quiver, the long brown and black hair were quiet when moving through the brush and arrows were always close at hand. The bow in my hand had mint green glass on the back, a maple riser, white glass on the belly and a simple B 50 flemish twist string. No over lays, no leather grip, no fancy inlay work in the riser, just a strait forward functional meat maker.
Walking up the trail I caught up to a 40 something year old compound shooter and we began talking. Stalking methods, boots, camo, and bows were the topics of this brief conversation. At the split in the trail we parted ways I wished him luck and after a few steps he stopped and said, “ Go get some action with grandpa’s bow!” as he pointed at the bow in my left hand and threw a shaka. I smiled back and climbed the hill. I did get a goat that day. I was shooting a 29.5 inch long, 500 spine carbon shaft, with 200 grain VPAs and three 5 inch fletching. I double lunged a nanny at about 20 yards.
“Grandpa’s bow” is 62 inches long, draws 52 lbs even though it is marked at 50. This bow is one of the oldest in my collection, and the least pretty, but it is by far the smoothest shooting bow I own. This is a vintage favorite of mine and it is my go-to hunting bow. It couldn’t have cost much bran new as the Cub line was considered an introductory level budget line from Bear at the time. Image below is not the same year but you get the idea on price point.
I bought it off of ***** for 60 dollars in 2015. It had cracks in the glass and a tip needed repair. The finish was chipping off of most of the bow. I felt I had paid too much for it when it arrived.
Refinishing the bow turned out to be a lot of fun. The cracks in the glass got a liberal dose of Loctite 420 and a scrape to even it out, followed by more 420. The cracks in the back were still visible but structurally sound. The bow was hunted with these repairs for a season. The season was successful as I took 2 goats and 3 pigs with “Grandpa’s bow” the same season that “Grandpa’s bow” got its name.
During the off-season, boredom and the incessant nag in the back of my head to tinker with things led to an idea. What if I sand all the finish off of it, change the color of the riser, and put on some sort of covering so that neon mint green is not so visible?
Thus began the next chapter of Grandpa’s bow, the second makeover. The entire bow was sanded and the riser was, as an experiment, wiped down with vinagroon, to turn the maple from a bright yellow to a mild grey. Once the riser color was changed I really liked the contrast between that and the mint green glass. I decided that everything was sufficiently uglied up, so I put about 5 coats of poly on it. And hunted it that following season.
Half way though the 2016 season I got a new long bow that I also love. The new bow bug got me and "Grandpa's bow" went on the shelf.
It sat on that shelf for 5 months, just collecting dust and not enjoying the Hawaiian mountains much. I was shooting some arrows recently and had an itch to get back to that old, simple bow. I picked it up, wiped the dust off and strung it up. That first shot was like talking to an old friend that you have been out of touch with for a long time. An old, ugly friend who has a mint glow about him...
Apparently I had outgrown the green glass and grey contrast. I sanded the bow back down and applied artificial copperhead snake skin fabric to the back. After several coats of poly "Grandpa's bow" had a fresh new look and we picked back up right where we left off. Shooting beer cans at the end of the road and walking through the woods wreaking havoc on the local stumps. Hunting season is right around the corner, and this opening day I will be taking my ugly, old, simple meat maker for a walk on a warm February morning as I leave my old beat up SUV and make that steep hike up the razor edge ridge to find this years freezer filler "Grandpa’s bow" will be in my left hand once again.
Thanks for coming along!
Msturm
Topic: “Grandpa’s bow.” A story about the evolution of my favorite bow, a 1968 Bear Cub. (Read 1151 times)
