Fred Bear 1940s Bush Bow

[Wade Phillips]

John - Nice bow. I have seen several like yours with no brush nocks, and  BEAR ARCHERY written on them in the exactly the same printing.

I have the same bow except it place of the BEAR ARCHERY printing, it has "Hunter" Decal, in script and placed at an angle like the Bush Decal or the Deerslayer Decal.

While I have only seen two with the "Hunter" decal, there were likely hundreds produced with decals. Would guess that many others with the "Hunter" decal have survived but we have just not seen them yet.

[johnnyrazorhead]

It seems overall,starting with the early Bear Products Hunter models up through the last versions,that there were less Hunter models made than either bush or deerslayer.At least that is my observation as I've seen far more of those two models than the Hunter.But then,as rare as the take-down versions go,of the six that I have owned,four of them were Hunter models.I guess nothing surprises you when collecting this old Bear stuff.

[Wade Phillips]

John - We sometimes look at too small a sample to get a realistic view of what is still in existence or what was actually produced. At one time, I owned more Grumley Hunters, than other models of Grumley bows. For me, I have owned 12 Grumley Take Downs, and only one is a Hunter... and of the six you have owned 4 were Hunters. I know none of these 18 T/D bows are counted twice. Either sample by itself is totally misleading.

It is even doubtful that both samples together would closely represent the actual proportional number of each T/D model produced.

At this point in time, given the total number of all Grumley bows that I have seen, I would have to agree that there are fewer Hunter's known to me than Bush Bows or Deerslayers.

Even though it may seem logical, given our small sample size of perhaps a couple hundred Grumley bows, I'm not sure we can extend that to assume that fewer Hunters were actually made.

[johnnyrazorhead]

Actually I stated that of the six I have owned,four were Hunters.I guess we will never know for certain unless we can account for all of the Grumley bows ever made and then see what the ratio of Hunters are compared to Bush and Deerslayer models.But for the amount of Grumleys I have seen,it seems more are Bush and Deerslayers than Hunters.Now maybe that observation would change if you sent a few of your "extra" Grumley Hunters to me,but until that happens,that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.
 All kidding aside,I wonder just exactly how many bows ol' Nels did make in his lifetime.He certainly made his share.

[Wade Phillips]

John, Sorry I typed 6 rather than 4. Just edited my post above to be 4.

I've probably seen about 200 Grumley Bows in my life. My very limited knowledge is based solely on those bows.

Not sure if you have seen more or less than 200. You may have seen alot more than I have.  

The number of bows that Nels made in his lifetime would be an interesting number to know.

A more important number is .... how many of the number he made... still actually survive today ???

But the most important numbers to me are ... the phone numbers of everyone who has a Grumley bow that I do not own!!!!!!!!

[johnnyrazorhead]

I hear you Wade.There can't be too many left that you don't already own.You aquired quite a collection there.Ya,gotta keep searchin' for those phone numbers.

[Wade Phillips]

John - I was joking about wanting to know phone numbers of everyone who has a Grumley bow that I do not own...

Actually I would like to talk with other owners and see their Grumley bows just for the education. Rarely are two of his solid wood bows close to being identical.

I actually have more than enough Grumley Bows right now.