New Bear Archery Book

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

I need to get rid of some bows, so how about me sending you that 62" 1958 Kodiak Special for your collection plus some other bows that need refinishing and we can sort out the details after the bows arrive and you have had a chance to look them over.

To keep piece in the house, last month, I agreed to get rid of one 12"x18" box heaped up, per day. Mailing off a box of bows should fulfill more than one day's downsizing requirement.

Frankly, I've already disposed of the stuff that I should have disposed of long ago. I now need to get a little more creative in ways to to come up with things to send out the door.

[TonyW]

Wade's tomato stakes are the envy of the western world.

I imagine that your "blems" are better than most of our gems.

If you box up "The Little Rascal," though, I know that a comet will strike the Earth before you ship it anywhere!

[Larry m]

Brad
That is one very generous offer... Pictures posted  with info as you go along,,,, would be interesting and no doubt appreciated!!

[warpedarrow]

Wade,

Remember how the teacher would call on a kid in class and the kid would turn and look over his should to see if the teacher was talking to him or someone else?  Well I just did that!

Sure, that sounds like we can make it work.  Thank you for the offer.  The offer that I made on a refinish on that 61 KS from Floyd's collection still stands on this end, if you are interested.  
Do you still have my address?

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

These are 20 Bear bows that I found today that I want to get rid of. Some need to be refinished or are broken. Let me know what you are interesting in and I will let you know the details and send them along with the 1958 Kodiak Special...

1-10 below...

1- 1958 Bear Alaskan – 62”, 43#, – Rough
2- 1958 Bear Grizzly – Unmarked – a little rough
3- 1958 Bear Kodiak – 64”, 54#, – excellent all  original, replaced in my collection with a mint 75#
4- 1958 Bear Kodiak – 60”, 46#, – excellent except for break in mid limb lamination
5- 1958 Bear Kodiak – 60”, 48#, – good painted dark green
6- 1958 Bear Kodiak – 60”, 47#, – good painted OD green, putty on grip
7- 1958 Bear Kodiak – 56”, Unmarked –Broken lower limb tip missing 2”
8- 1957 Bear Kodiak Special – 66”, 34#, – Floyd’s shop rang bow, good
9- 1957 Bear Kodiak Special – 66”, 46#, – VG original
10- 1957 Bear Kodiak – 60”, 52#, – excellent refinished by BowDoc, grip missing

       

11-20 below...

11– 1966 Bear Kodiak Magnum – 52”, 50#, – lower limb lams separated, no coin
12– 1963 Bear Kodiak Special – 66”, Unmarked, – several holes, armature refinish needs redo, shootable
13– 1958 Bear Kodiak Special – 62”, 47#, – missing glass splinter lower limb, non-factory camo
14– 1961 Bear Polar – 66”, 40#, – 2 to 4 cracks in each limb, 22 stamp, #8 Floyd’s Range Bow, otherwise good
15– 1967 Bear Super Kodiak – 60”, 35#, – vg except lots of marks in glass with cracks that are glued up but not sanded off
16– 1969 Bear Super Kodiak – 60”, 58#, – amature refinish, 2 stablizer holes in back of limbs below riser overlays, 2 sight holes on belly
17– 1960 Bear Kodiak Deluxe – 60”, 45#, – amatgure refinish, crack at lower fadeout glued up, 2 filled holes on coin side
18– 1955 Bear Grizzly – 62”, 37#, – all original, needs new grip & strike plates, a few glass cracks
19– 1967 Bear Cub – 62”, 30#, – crack in lower limb lams and glass at fadeout, armature spray painted
20– 1959 Bear Alaskan – 62”, 50#, – low serial number NA094, rare no coin bow, cracks in glass, fair

       

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

These are three bows that might present a challenge for refinishing...

1960 Kodiak Deluxe - 64", 48# - armature camo paint, rear corner of shelf broken off

1959 Kodiak Special - 64" Unmarked - armature partial refinish, tips overlays missing, unusual sapwood in Brazilian Rosewood Inset

1961 Kodiak Special - 66", 39" - Floyd's Shop stickers, 22 stamp, some cracks in the glass, all original finish so needs complete refinish

 

[Wade Phillips]

Brad -

Got 11 bows off to you this afternoon. The 57 KS was too long for the box so will send it later. They are expected to be at your doorstep Tuesday. Let me know when they arrive.

[warpedarrow]

Thanks Wade

I will sit on the front porch all Monday night waiting

[Archery_Collector]

Jorge, Ordered my copy the other day, due to arrive tomorrow, looking forward to reading it!

I used to have, along with Gene Hopkins, the only archery collecting site on the web named The Archery Collector.I started it in march 1998. It had, with permission, articles from Al Henderson, Joe St Charles and others. My big claim to fame was an article I wrote for Archery Focus magazine (Nov/Dec 2002). Though I am knowledgeable on old bows, I am no where near the expert as you, Wade and others here. I wrote on my web site how a book as yours was desperately needed, so you can imagine my delight in knowing this had been done. One day I hope to get my web site back online.

Thanks again!

Tim

[papabear08]

I hope the hell you do Tim. I really miss it. Learned a lot from it.
Gary

[Larry m]

I remember that Archery Collector site. It was great in it's time! It would be nice to see it come back.......

Jorge's book is getting some well deserved solid feedback on Amazon. As stated, "the first of it's kind".

[Archery_Collector]

Thanks Papabear and Larry, hopefully one day soon  

Also, I got Jorge's book, very pleased. Much more content than I expected plus I loved that the less collected bows were included, great job Jorge!

[Ardent Archer]

Thanks Tim.  Haven't been here in awhile. I hope you're enjoyiong the book. I do not consider myself an expert. I just decided it had to be done and took the bull by the horns and get it done. Incidentally, in the next couple of weeks I'll be making some postings about what will be a 2nd edition of the book and where to get a revised errata (corrections to the 1st edition) to keep handy. Be on the lookout. Thanks!

[Larry m]

Looks like this nicely done book is still receiving well deserved positive feedback.
Updates to the first edition will be very much appreciated when available!  

[Blackhawk]

I find myself referring to it on a regular basis.  When I find an old Bear I want to date or a friend asks about one, I check out Mr. Choppen's book.  He may not consider himself an expert, but all the educated guesses can now be found in one place...LOL

I'm also looking for an updated version.

BTW, "Expert" is someone who makes 3 correct guesses in a row.

[TonyW]

As the newspaper reporter says at the end of "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence" :

"No, sir. This is the West, sir. When the legend becomes fact, print the legend."

[Ardent Archer]

Bear bow enthusiasts:

I am posting the corrections (the updated Errata) for the first edition of the book "Bear Archery Traditional Bows: A Chronological History." Fortunately, these represent less than 1% of the book and only 6 of the 615 photos had to be replaced (they came to me already mislabeled/misidentified).

NOTE: The 2nd edition with all corrections and many more updates will be out in April! Be on the lookout!

Here's the link:

 http://www.pagepublishing.com/books/?book=bear-archery-traditional-bows-a-chronological-history  

Just click on: "Read the upcoming Revisions to Jorge's Book."

[Ardent Archer]

TonyW, You might be interested to know I recently saw a Super Grizzly on the big auction site that came with a card stating it was sold July 29, 1972. So much for the theory that since factory production ran Sept. to Sept. then 1972 Super Grizzlies were likely made Sept. to Dec. 1972!  

But, as I wrote on page 26: "Al Reader noted that bow model changes typically ran from September to September but acknowledged that often, factory production changes came about at any time of year."

[Larry m]

OK, easy to use link for getting the updates!
Thanks  
Looks like your getting some good exposure......

[Ardent Archer]

Hi Larry.  Well, I hope so! The 2nd edition with corrections and many more new updates is coming in April...Thanks! I'll find out in April how it's doing...get my first check then (I hope).