Bear collectors; ever seen one like this?

[oldbohntr]

It’s just an old Cub from ’65.  The guy I got it from had a lot of pristine bows.  Most were Bears, maybe 3 or 4 others.   To him, model didn’t matter, weight didn’t matter.   A perfect Cub was as desirable as a perfect Kodiak.   He was adamant and said he’d never have a bow refinished, or own a refinished one, no matter what!   Well, his bows showed it!  This was far from the most valuable of the lot…but it’s always intrigued me.  
Have any of you seen one like this?  What’s the riser wood?  It doesn’t look like the wood used in any other Bear bow from the mid-60s to me.  And, why is it in a Cub?  My guess was it’s stained Shedua.   If not that, could it be rosewood?   There are a lot of places where the finish didn’t fill the wood grain-in the pics those appear to be scratches, but they are not.  What kind of wood did Bear use with grain that open?    
I just kept it around because it is pretty and wondered if someday I’d figure out what wood was used in it. By the way, I'm extremely confident it was not refinished?  Maybe a "lunch-box special" by a Bear employee?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Jack Shanks]

Tom,

 That is a unique one! I've never seen a Cub like that.

[Larry m]

Every Cub I have seen the wood on the riser was Maple. Yours is very unique. Perhaps a special order for a special employee. Very Nice!

[Jack Shanks]

Larry,

 Not all were maple but the vast majority were.

 
 
 

[Larry m]

Ohhhh Jack
I like that a LOT!!! I have several Cubs and have found the 62 to be a surprisingly fun one to shoot. The two above are certainly very NICE!

[oldbohntr]

Well, over the last several decades, I've had every model Bear made in those years and nearly all the woods they used.  And, some Bear "lunch box specials" because I lived in Michigan for 20 years.  Maybe everyone doesn't know it, but Bear was ok with employees making bows for themselves on their own time(ok, maybe not every employee, but some could!)  If I have ever seen this wood in a Bear bow, it wasn't this color, and the finish surface was completely different.  1965 is earlier than any Tigerwood Bears I've seen and the only things that make sense to me are shedua, bubinga, or rosewood.  Those might have been laying around the shop in small chunks in '65....otherwise, why make a Cub out of a premium piece of wood?  I just thought maybe someone would see it and know right away what it is.

[d. ward]

god it is so great to be alive is'nt it ? I mean look at all the cool bows we get to see.I love it.Thats a dandy right there Tom and Jack both those are super neat looking.I will have to try and look at some notes but I believe your wood is the same as some 1965 - ish Tigercats Tom.And your right.Any Bear worker could buy a bow at half price and yes some did get built out of different woods and or whatever woods and fiberglass colors.
One of my all time favs ? the 1961 or 62 Grizzly's that were all factory camo ? rub a little camo off those and there is sometimes a prize inside.I've seen several of them that have clear glass under the factory camo paint.One other thing or food for thought ... is Bear archery did not waste anything.If it was a large enough peace of wood or fiberglass to use in a bow ? it got used on something.Again really cool to be alive huh ? bd

[Larry m]

I thought that looked familiar. I just needed time to get up in the garage and take a look. A quick look in the catalog and I don't see it in 65 but 64 speaks to a Hard Wood Riser. I know, not much help there. Still Nice looking.  

[Cyclic-Rivers]

Nice bows here!

[d. ward]

man oh man I love this place bd

[Danny Rowan]

from looking at the first pic of your cub showing the fade at the top with no stain and the one showing where the old side plate was I suspect the riser is maple that has been stained very dark, just my observation.

[oldbohntr]

Danny, that's just glare in the top picture.  I should have gone back to the shop and taken another pic, but just assumed the glare wouldn't mislead anyone.  The finish is the same there as the rest of the riser.  I'm very confident that is not maple.  And it doesn't have the grain pattern of Larry's tigercat. No question it's a hardwood. I think shedua or a fine grained rosewood. But I don't remember seeing any Bear bow that didn't have the wood grain filled and a very smooth finish. Made me think it could be an uncommon wood, or someone left out a process to fill the grain before final finish.  It's certainly not worth beating a dead horse on this...just thought this might let me ID it and move on!

[d. ward]

I often wonder if maybe bear would get samples of wood sometimes from their suppliers.And then maybe they would build as many bows as they could from the sample wood and then just never used it again ? I think thats all part of the love of doing this....geeszus what will we find next ? you gotta love it you just gotta bd