Could it be real?

[Xavier]

I just purchased a bear kodiak hunter and it had felt adhered to the site window. It's in good shape and i am stoked. It's a 67' 45# 58". 7T5106.

So I peeled the felt back and saw some writing. Could it be real? Pretty exciting either way. Looked up Basil Hughes and saw that another bow in 55' was signed similarly.

 

- Xavier

[dhermon85]

Not sure why it couldn't. Exciting is an understatement!

[johnnyrazorhead]

I wouldn't doubt that it's the real deal.I now have two bows signed by Fred to his good friend Basil Hughes,and have seen two others besides yours signed to him.I have the beutiful '55 Kodiak that you mentioned that Fred signed to him and dated the bow 1955,and recently aquired a 1966 Grizzly signed and dated 1966.One other bow I have seen is a Kodiak Magnum,and when I bought my '55 Kodiak many years ago I seem to remember another bow signed to Basil by Fred as being a 1970ish Super Kodiak.
 Basil Hughes was I believe a Conservation Officer in Michigan and hunted with Fred at Grousehaven.He may have had something to do with Fred being introduced to either Bill Boyer,the owner of Grousehaven or T.V. personality Arthur Godfrey.Basil can be seen in the one photo on pg. 168 in the Fred Bear biography book by Charlie Kroll of Fred Bear,Arthur Godfrey,Bill Boyer,and General Curtis LeMay at Grousehaven.
 He must have been a good friend of Fred's 'cuz it seems Fred gave him alot of bows.

[Xavier]

Yeah. The writing seems to have faded a bit. I'm sure the felt may have protected it a lot. Though I dont know how the adhesive may have changed the ink. Preserve it or shoot it?
Or both?

[Xavier]

Thanks for that info!!! Definitely a close friend. Pretty cool.

[Xavier]

The rug rest and side plate seem original. The felt is cut Out entirely around the side plate, which has a leather bit glued to it to increase strike plate thickness. Fine tuning to a degree I know not. Pretty cool.

[59Alaskan]

VERY COOL!!  Congratulations.  It would be neat to hunt a bow you know he held in his hand.  Especially one he signed for a friend that he shared the woods with.

[ksbowman]

Sure looks like Fred's Signature. Good find!

[Shane Reed]

Congrats! I owned one of the bows that John now has dated 1966 20 deer and a moose inscribed. Basil was a game warden in MI. Enjoy such a nice treasure and DON'T try to spray anything on that signature to protect it. Trust a guy who learned the hard way.

[Xavier]

Haha - thanks for the wise advice. I was thinking - 'What can i apply on there to protect it?' - i will leave 'as is'.

[Shane Reed]

apply nothing. I tried poly as suggested by min  wax. bad idea

[Shane Reed]

apply nothing. I tried poly as suggested by min  wax. bad idea

[Cyclic-Rivers]

That is pretty neat!  Great Find!

[locohunter]

Who's Fred Bear?  (I kid! C00L!)

[Bjorn]

Nice find! Keep it away from sunlight if you want the ink to remain visible.

[Wade Phillips]

Floyd Eccleston acquired a pile of stuff from Basil Hughs including many things that were signed by Basil as well as things signed by others to Basil. Many of those items were passed on to other collectors after Floyd's death so many of Basil's things have stayed within the circle of some of the more active collectors.