Fred Bear's Bow

[reddogge]

Wade,
Your photo and explanation clears up what I was trying to see in the Field Notes book.  Small B/W photos make ID difficult unless you can really see the profiles.  Any ideas on how he camoed a couple of the bows?  Didn't look like the factory camo I've seen, much bolder patterns.

Grant,
I saw you mods to the shelves BD did and it looks exactly like the ones Fred did to his.  How is shooting off of your hand?  For some reason I can't get past the thought of running a feather into my hand out of my mind.  I have a late 60s Shakesspear with a low shelf and it feels like I am shooting off of my hand or very near it.  I like the way it feels to shoot that way though.

[Tom I.]

I've read that he used wood risered take-downs utilizing the "B" riser with #1 limbs which makes a 60" bow.  I've never read a reference to him ever using a magnesium risered bow.
I have a Darton Predator (in fact, it's listed in the classifieds right now) that has a low cut shelf like Fred used on his bows. I have to use a glove on my bow hand to keep the burns and scratches under control.  I've never noticed that much difference in how a standard shelf shoots as compared to the lowered shelf.  
Tom I.

[cacciatore]

And wich one did you like more,Tom?And what about the arrow flight and point of aim(instinctive)Felix

[Ssamac]

I checked back in his bio and the lion was a 60# and then elephant was a 70#. This is from his field notes. He never mention the model. Maybe because it has been customized and he wants to be honest.

sam

[Wade Phillips]

reddogge – Fred’s camo jobs were made for hunting use and the ones I have seen look to be just sprayed … The factory camo was for the catalog and to attract sales. Production bows had to look like a professional camo job…

You listed...

Yukon 1956 -Compass handle Kodiak
British Columbia 1957- compass handle Kodiak


To clarify the bows Fred used these two years just a little more so nobody confuses them with the 1954 compass bows…

Yukon 1956 Hunt - 1956 Kodiak double shelf

British Columbia 1957 Hunt - 1957 Kodiak single shelf

Trap - The grain in Fred's dogleg looks good in the photograph of the poster, but it looks much better in the original poster, and looks unbelievably stunning in person...

Doc – The wood grain in the slabs on the Happy Scrounger Bow is similar Fred’s Dogleg… More than one cool story about the Happy Scrounger bow…

I don’t really care for 1965 Kodiaks, (I like 1959 & 1960), but I would own several 1965s if they were made of wood like this Brazilian Rosewood…

   

[Ssamac]

The pics are great. That is some beautiful wood on those bows. I have some old Pearsons that have really beautiful wood too. Hard to find like that today. I read that Howard Hill shot off his hand too, and Byron Ferguson also likes the arrow to touch the hand.

sam

[Wade Phillips]

Sam,

When Howard and Fred started shooting they did not have arrow shelves on their hunting bows.

Understanding the history of where they came from helps one understand why they continued doing the things that worked well for them all their lives.

The sanpshot of the 12 year period from 1955 to 1967 represented "Fred Bear's Field Notes", is only part of the story of Fred Bear.

Understanding Fred's involvement in archery for 27 year period before 1955, tells you how he got to the point that he was at when the book begins.

[SELFBOW19953]

Reddogge,

I really prefer to shoot off my hand (all my selfbows are made to shoot off my hand). You learn very quickly that it's necessary to trim the leading edge of the fletch as flat as possible and put a drop of glue over that front tip. After that you should be okay.  I have shot with wool gloves on my bow hand with no problem, selfbows to 65#'s.

Phil

[Grant Young]

Richard- shooting off your hand works fine as long as the bow is cut so you hold it the same way everytime. I've never run a quill into my finger but I've seen it happen to some self-bow shooters. I build my own arrows and take some minimal precautions by shaving the front of the quill down if its too high and putting a drop of fletch-tite on each end. I burn my fletching. I also have always rotated the nock slightly after fletching for clearance- left wing helical appears to have the nock dissected down the center of the slot by the rear end of the feather reverse for right-wing. I do that for clearance around the side-plate. I have done this to my bows since the sixties- from the time I was 12 y.o. or so after I saw one of Mr. Bear's bows. It became an ingrained habit-I'm 54 now- and I don't know if it helped anything but I'm confident it didn't hurt. Obviously it isn't for everyone but it isn't that uncommon historically as Wade pointed out. I get good arrow flight and I'm confident in my own method but I never encouraged my sons to do it-they shoot oof a radiused shelf or slightly elevated rest.                                GY

[PAPALAPIN]

It had to be great to be in that position...

"I'm going after Polar Bear...make me a white bow, exactly 67-1-2# at my 32: draw length.  Before you put on the final finish, bring it by my office so I can get the grip and rest thew way I like it".

"I'm going after an elephant...make me a 90# bow at my 32" draw length. Oh yeah, by the way...call Arthur Godfrey and tell him I want him to come to Africa with me so he can broadcast my hunts on his daily radio program"

He was the man that promoted our sport ot make it what it has become today.

He deserved it all.

[Ssamac]

Wade, correcto. Which is why I opened this thread. Other than knowing who Fred Bear was, I knew very little about him. I recently read Fred Bear, Bio of an outdoorsman (a book trade on trad gang) which fascinated me and then started reading his field notes. So the first book was from his parents and his birth, and how he just basically invented things as he went along. So I've become fascinated by this legend and want to learn more. Gotta start somewhere, like what was his bow?

Thanks for all your input and everyone else's. Keep it coming.

Sam

[Grant Young]

Wade- thanks for the pic of the "Scrounger"- you do a great service to all of us for sharing these things.                 Grant

[Wade Phillips]

Grant - Not a very good photograph of the Scrounger, but I suppose it is not possible to take a bad photograph of that bow.

Surprise you did not chime in earlier about the 70#...

[Tom I.]

Felix...
I shot the Darton Predator so little because it's a little heavier than I can comfortable handle. Arrow flight and aiming did not seem that much different from my Bear Super Kodiak,
at least not that I noticed.  I don't shoot at long distances...15 yds is about my max...so that's probably why I saw so little difference.
As to preference...I'd have to say I like my SK a lot better...
Tom I.

[cacciatore]

Yes they must be some really sweet shooter and from a tree stand they can still make a great job.I think that to hunt with those old ladies well this is tradition

[Ssamac]

I saw a pic of Fred shooting a snakeskin bow. What kind of bow was that?
What other archery equiptment did Fred Bear invent.

[Wade Phillips]

Sam - This is a traditional site. You said a bad word in your last sentence, you might want to edit that post and just remove the entire sentence... Just go to the post, click on the pencil and pad icon, and edit the text, then click "Edit Post" button.

To answer your question, Fred's Snake Skin Back bow is a Deerslayer model, top of the line bow in its day...

   

[Grant Young]

Nice pic Wade- Apparently Fred loved this bow. It seems like after the '59 he was shooting a different bow- new model or whatever- in just about every photo or film but there is a good picture of him shooting this bow in Kroll's book that appears to date into the sixties. He's giving instruction/encouragement to soldiers in the picture I'm referring to. Must have been a heck of a bow!           Grant

[Ssamac]

Great pic. You don't see bow tips like that anymore. Why is that.

thanks

[Grant Young]

Sam, those are static recurve tips with brush nocks designed to work like rubber brush buttons to keep limbs etc from snagging between the string and limb tips. Some bowyers are still building limbs of this type and some are building static recurves without the brush nock feature, like RER. I know of no major manufacturer who has produced this design since the mid 1950s.                        Grant