Damon Howatt Monterey

[tyee]

I have two 53 thunderbirds and they were ahead of there time for sure
the howatts of the late 50s were great bows I think a tad better in the craftsmanship
From what I have seen they started to beat bear in the speed department in about 65 with both companys running head to head in the early 60's
howatt has ate bear for breakfast since 69 those last great super k's were something else. But after 69 the hunter ownwed the super k in every way even today it is five times the bow as a bear
So here how I see it the 40's were bear all the way.
The fifty's while we all love the 59 57 and 56 bears, howatt and bear tied in the preformance department
howatt smashed bear in the  looks department except for the 59
I call  1960 a tie
1961 howatt
1962 bear
1963 howatt
1964 howatt
1965 howatt
1966 howatt
1967 bear
1968 bear
1969 bear
1970-Present Howatt
but I think wing kicked their hiney once in a while

[PAPALAPIN]

WADE

My comment was meant to get a rise out of someone, not necessarily you, but someone.

Look at what those three little words kicked off.  That's how we get discussions going here that lead to more information dissiminated.  There is not one of us here that knows it all...'specially not me.  Collectively, we have a wealth of knowledge that needs to be borught out for eveyone's benifit.

Rhat tyee stated above may only be his opinion, but it certainly brings out a discussion that will lead to a better understanding of our sport.  I am curious to see how the rest of us feel about his ranking of the Bear vs Howatts during what I call the "Golden Decade of traditional archery".  Again, in my opinion, there is no other time period that made the headway for quality bows than the '60's.  Unfortunately, after that, the compound emerged and it was downhill for all of the manufacturers.  Look what happened to Bear, Wing, Hoyt, Pearson, and others.  I'm sure the wheelie bow shooters were thrilled with the '70's, but not me.

I thank God that Jack Howard never got the notion to come out with a compound.

Although Fred Bear, Ben Pearson, Damon Howatt and Earl Hoyt were definitely competitors, I consider their companies more of a group of collaborators in the persuit of the development of archery as a sport, forall of their commercial bnifit.  A collaboration from which we all benifited.

They were the keepers of the flame during that time period.  That torch has now been passed on to us, and we must keep it buringing to insure that the newbies coming in with us now will carry on the tradition to future generations.

I see no "arguments" here.  Only stimulating conversations from which we all gain knowledge.

Wade, thank you for your disitation.  

Tyee, Wing kicked their hiney while it was Wing.  When AMF and Head Ski came in, it nose dived. Of course that was also about the time that Kidde and Victor Comptometer took over Bear.  Another nosedive.  Now it is Escalade.  The last nail in Bear's Ccoffin.

[TRAP]

Tim, You make the following comments.
   
"The fifty's while we all love the 59 57 and 56 bears, howatt and bear tied in the preformance department"

and,

"howatt smashed bear in the looks department except for the 59"

and then,

"I call 1960 a tie
1961 howatt
1962 bear
1963 howatt
1964 howatt
1965 howatt
1966 howatt
1967 bear
1968 bear
1969 bear
1970-Present Howatt"


I'd like to know  what you are basing your opinions on.  Have you shot all of those bows enough to make those kind of comparisons?

I havent even seen pictures of 50s and early 60s Howatts.  I'd like to see them all but dont even know where to look for that info.

Hopefully someone will come along and show us a Howatt collection that includes all of the models you mention.  

This is starting to sound a little like the threads you read on Stickbow about Black Widows vs. everything else

Interesting, Trap

[PAPALAPIN]

It's all personal opinion.

In my opinion...there are Jack Howards, and then there are "OTHER BOWS"

[Wade Phillips]

Tim - Thanks so much for your post and detailed comparison, especially your comment...

"The fifty's..., howatt and bear tied in the preformance department howatt smashed bear in the looks department except for the 59."

My objective is to get guys to compare apples to apples. It is unfair to make blanket statement for entire product lines encompassing all time, based on experience and knowledge of only a slice of that time.

Trap - Photographs and advertisements of the Howatt bows are in the the archery periodicals and catalogs of the era. Having a complete set of every national and regional publication might not be a bow collector's forte, but is an invaluable historical reference. Until a comprehensive book is written, the documents of the era are the best reference.

Jack - I'm glad you wrote those three little words. Similar comments were made previously but no one stepped up to back up or clarify their assertions about Howatt and the specific years. Discussion is great. Getting to the actual facts should be all of our objectives.

It is interesting that for 1959, Fred’s catalog ad stated “Bear Kodiak King of Hunting Bows – World’s Top Trophy Taker”.

Who will question that the 1959 Bear Kodiak was truly the King of Hunting Bows for that year… ???

[TRAP]

Opinions on performance can be of real value when they are based on experience, in which case they knda become an assessment.  I'd like to hear from someone that's had real experience with both Bears and Howatts through the ages.  I think the info would be valuable.  

Beauty of course, is in the eyes of the beholder and is strickly opinion.  It would be dificult to argue against the beauty of a Howard bow, but I guess someone could if they truly thought all of that rosewood was something less than beautiful. I think they are real "lookers" as are many of the Howatts.

Trap

[PAPALAPIN]

"BEAUTY IS IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER"

And I would love to be holdin' my Jack Howard Gamemaster JET.    

[Hatrick]

Anyone that has a 62" Monterey in the 45 - 50# range and would be interested in selling it,  please PM me.

How about it PAPALAPIN?

Thanks,
Dave

[bkupris]

Interesting thread. I would think the "measure" of the best bow/s of any year would be to get a hold of examples of them today (not repaired or refinished). How have they held up over the years? How do they shoot today (put them through a chrono)? How much did they cost when originally purchased? etc...

What old bows (models/makes) have been more likely to develop cracks/stress lines etc than others? Which ones shoot the "best" today. Which ones have proved to be most durable over the years?

Just my thoughts...  

[PAPALAPIN]

DAVE

You want it with black glass or green glass?

[Renaissance Man]

My experience with archery started around 1967, I have spent time both shooting and admiring bows from different manufacturers since then. I have owned several Bears old and newer, into the late 70's era and have owned two early Wings, some Brownings and several Damon Howatts.
Most of my bows have been hunting weight bows and got used a lot.
With all that preamble spilled I will say this, Bears seemed in general to be well made and stable bows with many of them in my mind beautiful to look at.
The two Jack Howards I had the pleasure to shoot performed great and were gorgeous. But expensive and did not fit my hand well.
In my experience the Damon Howatts were in a league of their own as far as being beautiful to look at, well made/durable and above all else out performed most anything across the board. To this day you can walk in and buy a Hunter off the shelf and it will outperform all but a handfull of custom bows costing two or three times the price.
I truly love them all, but if you told me Bill you can have just one bow to hunt with the rest of your life(God Forbid) and they were all laid out on a table in front of me I would pick myself up a 60's- 70's Hunter and feel very happy.
JMHO

[PAPALAPIN]

BILL

You chose an appropriate on line name.

You are a true Traditional "Renaissance Man".

Must be something about guys that started in 1967.  That's when I really got into it, although I had been playing around with plinking since about '59, I started competitive NFAA and NAA in '67.