kodiak Magnum prototype / Little Delta?

[Hit-or-Miss]

Question for Bear experts? I remember reading in one of these threads awhile ago about a green 52" prototype (for the Kodiak Magnum), being tested on a Little Delta hunt by Fred Bear or another member of his party. Anyone happen to know if this is verifiable or documented? And although this seems highly probable as Fred liked to field test prototypes prior to mass production, I'm having difficulty finding reference in any of my books or other sources.  And was the original 1961 KM 52" a Bill Stewart design? Thanks in advance!!

[Blackhawk]

I'm no "expert", but enjoy these tidbits of archery history whether tales or facts.

I would say there's little doubt about the genius of Bill Stewart who worked for Bear, Howatt, Bob Lee, and others designing some of the greatest bows ever.  Bill was with Bear for many years and he has been credited with the Kodiak Magnum...but I also know of the debate regarding the short 52" Red Wing Hunter of the era that some say was the first shorty.

Interesting stuff about the KM on the Little Delta hunt, and I would not be surprised if it were there.  I just cannot recall any reference to it.

[Hit-or-Miss]

The Red Wing Hunter was first designed by Bob Lee in 1951 and was modified to its final form and most common length of 58" in 1957.... (prior to the KM's development),... and by 1958 58" was its standard length.. the 52" RWH didn't appear until 1967... long after the 52" KM had already been  available for several years... (the Bear Kodiak Magnum 52" was introduced in 1961). Of course... the dates on the RWH are approxomite and based on memory, but I suspect they are accurate.       .  The comfortable high arched grip design of the KM is VERY similar to the RWH... hence the widespread popularity of both models. The 58" RWH appears to be the first mass produced "short" bow (with the high arched grip),... in 1957... but in 1961 ... Bear introduced a shorter one... the 52" KM. I love them both.

[MR BILL SHORTY]

did bear make a 56" Kodiak in 1958 or did it start in 1959?    

[Hit-or-Miss]

Damon Howatt sold a 58" Mamba in 1957 (with a locator / dished out longbow style grip), and there were a few other lesser known, custom order bow makers as well who offered short bows. To clarify when I wrote "mass produced"... I meant one of the big 3 Archery manufacturing Companies...  Bear, Pearson and Wing. Good point / question about the 56" Bear though! I'm searching through my old catalogs as I type! I may stand corrected in my previous post. Interesting... that's why I enjoy conversing with you all... I always learn something.   However... I'm more curious about the Kodiak Magnum prototype.

[Bjorn]

MY EARLIEST 56" KODIAK IS 1957. Why did somebody invent caps lock?

[johnnyrazorhead]

I have the 52" Kodiak Magnum that was said to have been the one taken on the Little Delta Hunt. I aquired it from Glenn St.Charles son who told me that it is most likely the very first Kodiak Magnum made. If I remember correctly the story Joe St. Charles told me ,a gentleman brought the bow into Glenn's Northwest Archery Shop in Seattle sometime in the early 1960's and told Glenn he believes it came from there. When the bow was "rediscovered" years later and brought to the attention of Glenn,he said it was a bow Fred brought with him on The Little Delta Hunt to be tested to see how it performed. It is a 52" bow and said to be the very first Kodiak Magnum ever made. It looks more similar to a 1957 or '58 Kodiak than the 1961 Kodiak Magnum that most of us are familiar with. The bow is covered in camo paint and has an original Bear leather grip and side plate. Joe also told me that it is the center bow seen in the one photo of the pile of antlers stacked in front of a tree along with some other bows from the hunt. It is hard to see the whole bow in the color photo as it has a 4 arrow tape-on quiver with arrows mounted on it and is somewhat hidden amongst the antlers. But it is obvious in the picture that it is a camo bow and shorter than the others in the photo.
 As was stated earlier,it was quite common for Fred to field test some of the new,experimental projects  by him and his friends on some of his hunts before deciding to mass produce them. The bow is right-handed so it was obviously not intended for use by Fred or Glenn as they were both lefties.
 My computer is down but if I can manage to get some more pics of the bow I will post them if anyone is interested. Great little bow and a great piece of Bear Archery history.

[Hit-or-Miss]

Thank you for the info!!" Great story too! I (we) would love to see pictures when you get a chance. How lucky you are to have that special bow and the firsthand history. Thank you for sharing.

[Wade Phillips]

Originally posted by MR BILL SHORTY:
did bear make a 56" Kodiak in 1958 or did it start in 1959?          

Bear made the 56" Kodiak in each of the seven years from 1954 to 1960. There are 14 different 56" Kodiaks here at the Arsenal from those years. With 14 bows made over 6 years there were obviously some years with more than one model variation of the 56".

1958 has the most model year variations for the 56" Kodiak...

White glass 57 indented belly form
White glass 58 sow belly form w/ 57 scalloped sight window
White glass 58 sow belly form w/ 58 rounded sight window
Tan glass, no accent stripe around riser wood

Factory camo variations are not included in counting the 14 variations of the 56" Kodiak.

[Wade Phillips]

Originally posted by Bjorn:
... Why did somebody invent caps lock?

sOMeBODy pRObaBlY diDn'T kNOw WhEN lETtErS sHOulD bE uPPErcAsE oR lOwErcaSE ???

[Wade Phillips]

John -

Joe told me the same story you relate above. We talked about it several times over many years. Using the famous Little Delta photograph, opposite the title page of "Bows on the Little Delta", I was never able to conclusively determine the length of any of the bows to be 52".

I even tried arranging four 1959 Kodiaks in a similar configuration as the photograph, but only confused myself more.  

What color is the glass under the camo on the back and the belly? Does it have a maple sight window?