Fred Bear's Bow

[Ssamac]

Just finished reading Fred Bear's bio and it never mentions what bow he used. I guess he test drove them all, but I'm wondering which one was his go to bow. I think in one place he talks about a 60# bow so maybe that was his pull. Also, from the pics, it does not seem like he preferred a very long bow. He was a tall guy so he would make the bow look shorter, but still seemed like he liked the recurve, the bow quiver, and a shorter bow.  Also did he use those aluminum arrows he sold or did he stick to wood? Anybody know??

Thanks
sam

[Blackhawk]

I believe his all-time favorite was the custom Kodiak takedown which came out around 1969-70.  Prior to than, you are probably correct in saying "he test drove them all"...especially the Kodiaks.  He had a new and different Kodiak to be introduced every year and being the ultimate businessman, he would hunt or kill a trophy with it for the next year's catalog.  

It has been said that his favorite Kodiak was the 1964 model and I've also read he had a special fondness for the Super Kodiaks, but do not recall a specific year model.

[reddogge]

He seemed to prefer 60" bows and in the 65# range.  According to one interview with one of his bowyers I saw when he ordered one it had to come in exactly at the weight he ordered, not a pound over or under.  He then took it to his personal shop area in his office in an unfinished condition and reshaped the grip and shelf to his liking so he was almost shooting off of his hand.  He then turned it back to the bowyers to smooth it up and finish it.

[Ssamac]

I guess a 60" bow looks short in Fred Bear's hand. I did read about the 60# that he hunted with. Took elephants and lions and bears with that.

If the book had color photos could probably see the model better.

Thanks again
sam

[Blackhawk]

Sam,

I believe Fred took his elephant in 1964 with a 75# recurve.

[Ssamac]

Likely
could have it confused with the Lion.
sam

[Ssamac]

Lon

Do you know which recurve it was?  

sam

[Blackhawk]

I'm not positive, but since it was 1964, I bet it was a '64 Kodiak.  He took his tiger the previous year with a '63 model.

[reddogge]

His "Field Notes" sometimes doesn't go into specifics but in the photo of the elephant he took in 1964 looks like a 1964 Kodiak.  The one in the photo of the Kudu you can see it's a '64 better.  No mention of weight but he took 48 arrows over and brought 40 back.

I skimmed through the book tonight and no mention at all of weight, model, etc. but here is what I could tell from B/W photos.
Yukon 1956 -Compass handle Kodiak
British Columbia 1957- compass handle Kodiak
Little Delta 1959- '59 Kodiak camo
Alaska 1960 -? Kodiak camo
India 1963 -'63 Kodiak dogleg
Africa 1964- '64 Kodiak
Africa 1965 -'65 Kodiak
Alaska 1966 -? Kodiak white limbs and quiver
Brazil 1967 -? Kodiak or Super Kodiak

So it seems he used the current model every year.  One other thing is the bows were never photographed so you could see the shelf.  They were always shelf down and against the animal.  Maybe so you couldn't see the modifications he did to them.

[Blackhawk]

...and to think ole Fred got to write all those trips off to the IRS.   :eek:  

[azdriheat]

Reddogge - I saw some of Fred's personal bows in Springfield when they were in process of moving his museum from Florida. His personal bows that I saw were all different than his production models.You may be able to see some resemblance to the production model but to my eye they were quite a bit diffent especially in the risner.

-Joe-

[Wade Phillips]

Sam -

If you dig through the old "Archery" (NFAA) Magazines, in the Pre-Pope and Young Club Days... you will find the annual listing of the NFAA Big Game Awards, which lists a lot of great information such as the bow weights used to take the animals...

All of Fred's listings that I noticed had 70# for the bow weight.

Fred used the best bow for him that was available at the time of each hunt from the 1930s to the 1980s... these are some bows he used to kill big game animals with in the 1960s... This information is from the poster shown. On some of the bows in the poster, the hand written dates and animals are visible on the tape on the bow...

Top to bottom...

1959 Kodiak purple heart sight window… in 1960 Fred took the world record Alaskan Brown Bear with this bow and it in 1961 Fred took a Grizzly in British Columbia with it.

1965/66 Kodiak white glass… in 1966 Fred took his Polar Bear with this bow.

1965 Exp T/D… in 1965 Fred took his Cape Buffalo and African Lion with this bow.

1964 Kodiak… in 1964 Fred took his bull elephant with this bow.

1963 Kodiak Dogleg… in 1963 Fred took his Indian Tiger with this bow.

Keep in mind there are several conflicting dates in Bear documentation about Fred's Hunts and the animals taken. Probably typos or someone not remembering a year before or after...

   

[d. ward]

Little trivia I personaly know who has Fred's 1962 Kodiak.Or let me refraze that.I know who has the handle of Fred's 1962.It was taken from a barrel of bows in Fred's office the same time the scronger was taken thats way there is no 1962 in Fred's poster(it broke).The limbs have been cut off the 1962.I did have an offer several years ago to buy it.However at that time it was well beyond what I would pay for a broken bow no matter who's it was.One of these days when I ai'nt got nothing to do I will drive out there and ask if he will let me take a few pics for my buddies on TG.bowdoc

[Abear]

last year i acquired a 60# walnut compass Kodiak and guess where it came from.British Columbia  The shipping was kinda high and it went real cheap.got it home and I actually hunted with it last year ,what a shooter! anyway wonder if Fred gave his away after his last hunt up there with it.....I can dream cant I.....

[d. ward]

was the original leather grip missing ? bowdoc

[Abear]

I wish, no it was origional and hardly used ..just dreaming out loud

[TRAP]

A couple observations,

There is no doubt a quiver bushing on the other side of that 59 Kodiak.  Not much wood between the compass and the bushing.  

The wood on that dogleg is scary beautiful.  WOW

Trap

[d. ward]

I believe that unlike yours and my 1963 Kodiaks being bubinga.Fred's personal bow was rosewood same wood combo as the happy scrounger.bowdoc

[Grant Young]

You are on the money about the '63 BD-as usual. The wood in his personal bows (at least the few I've seen) was beautiful. You already know how much the risers were altered from production models. Redog- the arrow wasn't almost on his hand-it was on it. According to Owen Jeffery who was Bear's Master Bowyer for a good while, that wasn't all that uncommon in the 40s and 50s. I learned to shoot that way and always have with no problems except that I have to use feathers and can't shoot with a glove on my bow hand.

[Grant Young]

Oh BTW Wade- good post of the bows Bear actually used. Always wanted an enlargement of that for man bow room wall.         GY