This review may be a bit long-winded, but it is also long overdue. I first met Ted from Raptor Archery sometime around 1998 or so. I had switched over from aluminum arrows to wood arrows and had purchased half a dozen cedars from one of those archery stores that have about five square feet of inventory space set aside for traditional archery. I then took them to the range with an older Pearson Jaguar recurve I had obtained to replace a long used, but retired, Martin, that I had had quite a bit of success with. As it turns out, the half dozen arrows must have had a ton of spine variation, poor craftsmanship, or both judging by the poor shot groups I was getting. Now I’m by no means an exceptional shot, but I was certainly not that bad. I figured it was either the arrows or the bow, but something had to change. So I did a little research and found this store out in Hood River Oregon, called Raptor Archery, that specialized in traditional archery gear. I took an aesthetically pleasing drive from Portland to this Raptor Archery and was welcomed with a vision beyond my wildest dreams. The walls were adorned with dozens and dozens of traditional bows of all shapes and sizes; modern bows, bows of yesteryear, and even a few artifacts; self bows and lams; long bows, short bows and recurves; a glass case filled with arrow heads made from flint and obsidian, indeed a sight to behold.
I spent the next few hours talking with Ted about bows and arrows and all things archery. I learned that the wood arrows I was using were underspined for my recurve, if they were accurately spined at all that is. I purchased a dozen arrows on the spot with Ted’s signature “Raptor Cut” feathers and used those arrows to great success. Over the years, I made sure to replenish my arrow stock only through Raptor Archery, and always promised myself (and Ted a few times) that I would purchase one of his hand-made works of art. The time had come when I finally had enough money put away to follow through on my pledge. This was around 2006. I spoke with Ted over the phone, as I had relocated to California. We had several conversations over the next few weeks and designed the perfect bow for me. It was a bamboo backed, yew core, reflex/deflex 66 inch longbow with a 65# pull at 27 inches. To this day, that is the best shooting, and best looking bow I have ever shot. It is still my main hunting bow and will most likely be as long as I am able to pull her back. (I’ll post some pictures in a follow up post later).
Well like all bow owners, especially those that visit this forum, one bow is never enough. I have since purchased several more of Ted’s masterpieces and haven’t had a thing to complain about yet. It was in a conversation with Ted that led me to TradGang in the first place. I was of course immediately hooked and have been ever since. One day, while perusing the classified ads, I came across a Ted Fry bow for sale. The owner, Shane H (thanks Shane) had no idea when it was made or what kind of wood it was comprised of, having obtained it from another shooter. Even still, I knew I had to have it. So I jumped on the post and was fortunate enough to get the first offer in. It turns out the bow was made of vine maple and was another work of art. Unfortunately, the handle had a bit of wear and tear from use and the tiller was slightly off. I called Ted and he said to ship it back for him to take a look.
This is where the store gets really interesting. Ted couldn’t remember who he made the bow for originally, but he certainly remembered that particular bow. In short order, he fixed the tiller and handle back to working order and only lost 10 pounds from the original pull weight. The only issue was matching the stain. Ted had used that particular stain on only one bow ever: mine. That particular stain is no longer in production, so Ted had to dig through all of his old gear to find the original stain, which happened to solidify over the years. With his usual fervent craftsmanship, he chipped away at the stain, mixed it with solvent bit by bit, and applied what he could of the stain. This took several weeks of this process in order to complete the entire task. Once finished, there was still an issue of the original stain having faded over the years. Ted had to rotate the new stained portion of the bow in and out of the sun to try to get a little aging without he could while fighting off the inclement Pacific Northwest weather. Upon finally receiving the completed reworked bow, I was shocked with what I saw. There was no way this could be the same bow I had originally sent him. The process of having to work the solid stain into a liquid format created these lovely and unique streaks that added so much beauty and character to my bow. Incredible! It was so gorgeous that I was a little hesitant to shoot it. Only a little, though. I went about as fast as I could to the range and fired off just about every arrow I had through this beauty. If you think I was impressed by the looks of her, you should see how astounded I was at the way she shot. Extremely fluid pull, smooth and gentle release, and silent as only a well tuned bow can be. But here is the kicker: Ted refused to charge me for the work. No I know that rewarding customer loyalty is key to any small business owner, and boy have I ever been a loyal customer, but this is above and beyond. There may be better bowyers out there, of which I am highly skeptical, but there isn’t a nicer guy or better person to do business with. For anyone that hasn’t fired a Ted Fry masterpiece, or at least sampled his spectacular arrows, I urge you to give it some thought. I can guarantee you won’t be disappointed.
Topic: Raptor Archery (Read 428 times)
