WADE
Sorry to be so late with this. Just noticed your challenge.
Well now we have the old addage "If ya cain't take the heat, git outta the kitchin"
I openned my mouth, now I gotta justify it.
First off, everyone here knows that I can't spell, and am the worst at proofing. If you see a post with my avatar, and everthing is spelled correctly, with perfect grammer, you know it is a forgery.
As far as the '59 Bears vs 59 Howatts go, I was not into the sport at that time, and my comment was based on my personal experience in the late '60's. In 59 I was shooting a flat bow, hand made by the Cherokee Indians that I bought on vacation in Gatlinberg, TN. You know what I am talking about. My matched arrrows consisted of three cedar arrows, One 5/16 with a field point, one 11/32 with a target point, and one 5/16 with a target point. zThe bow was probably about 15#. So much for my knowledge of the proper balance of equipment in that year.
My response "Bette than Bears" was probably an unjustified statement, but I always though, back in the '60's that Howatts were better bows than Bears. I shot a '68 Bear Tamerlane in NFAA and NAA competition, and envied the guys with the Del Rey's,Palomars, etc. I bought my bride a Howatt Monterey, and was very impressed with it. I hunted with a '64 Kodiak, and later a '68 Super Kodiak. I thought the guys that had the Howatt hunting bows, had better bows than me. Personal opinion.
Now back then, I was "PO FOLK" and had really stretched my budget to get the Tamerlane. I was not affluent nough to turn around a buy a Howatt once I had invested about $175.00 in my Tamerlane, and $60.00 in my Super KOdiak. So I just stuck with the Bears and drooled over everyon elses Howatts.
As Rich stated "Better than this or that, is again purely personal choice". Can't tell ya how much drool I got on the pages of Archery Magazine staining the ads for the Jack Howard Gamemasters. Most teenagers of that time period were causing the pages of Playboy to get stiuck together with their excitement. Mine were Archery Magazine, TAM, Bow & Arrow, and later Bowhunter Magazines. I only ever saw one arcehry ad in Playboy (May 1978 ?) so it was not worth my time.
I have never pretended to hold the expertise of you, bowdoc, Rich, or anyone else on this forum. I put my two cents in and cross my fingers. I have been wrong a lot, and as a result, learned a lot.
When you pick up the 1960's record book of the top Tournament Archers, most were shooting VBears, Hoyts, and some Ben Pearsonsd (Sovereigns). Those were the common bows on the tournament lines. But you cannot discount the quality of the Damon Howatts, Bud Hitts, Dickie Roberts, and many others. Bears, Pearsons, Wings, and Hoyts were the big boys with the big names. However, those lesser know brands certainly made their mark on out sport.
IN MY OPINION...the Damon Howatt bows were prettier, better balanced, smoother shooting, more stable, and just all around finer bows than Bears.
Papa Bear did more for the Sport of archery than any man that ever lived. His hunting exploits, his support of top shooters like Frank Gandy, Gentleman Jim Pickering, and Owen Jefferies kept the Bear name out front on the tournament line. He was a Master Marketer.
So, to put any controversy to rest, let me restate my comment.
In my humble, uneducated, ignorant, and probably disrespected opinion.
"HOWATT BOWS WERE BETTER THAN BEARS"
Even spelled "better" right this time...getting better.
OK, "a;drgj" Had to spell something wrong or it might have been mistaken for a "forgorery"
Topic: Damon Howatt Monterey (Read 2574 times)
