Author Topic: To Shoot'em or Save'em....Bear Arrows (Read 849 times)

Tom I. · « **on:** June 07, 2009, 07:56:00 AM »

I lucked into some Bear Microflite arrows on 8bay the other day at a decent price. A full dozen in their original box. I really bid with the idea of shooting them...but now that they have arrived, I'm not sure. They seem brand new and unshot. Interestingly, the original price tag is in the box. Can anyone date them for me?
Should I shoot'em anyway?

Tom I.

jcar315 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 07, 2009, 07:59:00 AM »

Tom, Great find on the 'Bay. Love the look of the arrows. The Bear cresting seems to be very distinctive when I have seen it. I would be surely tempted to shoot them though.....

KYArcher · « **Reply #2 on:** June 07, 2009, 10:58:00 AM »

Thats a tough ? I been thinking about the same thing as I have a dozen Bear cedars on the way. Great looking arrows you got there!

Scott

TonyW · « **Reply #3 on:** June 07, 2009, 11:12:00 AM »

"Clothes moth larvae feed on wool, feathers, fur, hair, leather, lint, dust, paper, and occasionally cotton, linen, silk, and synthetic fibers. Most damage is done to articles left undisturbed for a long time, such as old military uniforms and blankets, wool upholstery, feathered hats, antique dolls and toys, natural bristle brushes, weavings, wall hangings, piano felts, old furs, and especially wool carpets under heavy furniture and clothing in storage.

Damaged fabrics have holes eaten through them by small, white larvae and often have silken cases, lines of silken threads, and fecal pellets over the surface of the materials. Moths are destructive during the larvae stage. Adult "millers" or moths are entirely harmless."

Shoot 'em before the buggers eat 'em! The microflite shafts are pretty tough, and any scratch made by your shelf or target is an honorable scratch.

That being said, I am afraid to shoot my mint 40 year old cedar Bear arrows.

Wade Phillips · « **Reply #4 on:** June 07, 2009, 02:38:00 PM »

Tom, This simple solution will give you the best of both worlds... I've done it many times with a dozen old Bear Arrows...

Pick out the 6 best for shooting and the 6 best for display.

Put the 6 display arrows in the top row of the box. The box will look nearly the same with just the top six.

Shoot the other 6. If one of the shooters becomes unshootable, try to fix it up and replace it with one of the display arrows or just live with 5 shooters until the next one goes.

Can you tell which of these boxes of Bear Arrows have 6 arrows and which boxes have all 12...?

When I looked at the photograph, then inspected the boxes from close up, I realized there were more full boxes than I originally thought...

frank bullitt · « **Reply #5 on:** June 07, 2009, 10:42:00 PM »

Shoot em, damit, Shoot em! You can't take em with you! They were made to shoot and hunt with! Good shootin, Ha Ha Ha , Steve

TRAP · « **Reply #6 on:** June 08, 2009, 12:35:00 AM »

I agree, Shoot em !!!!!

If you tear em all up, which you won't, cause they are tough as nails, buy some more and shoot them too.

Trap

Tom I. · « **Reply #7 on:** June 08, 2009, 09:10:00 AM »

Wade....great idea.....but I've made a decision.
I've decided that although I have a modest bow collection and several are Bear's....I'm not going to become and arrow collector....they're getting shot! Besides...not much looks better in a back quiver than a dozen matched arrows...
Thanks guys....all comments were appreciated.
Tom I.

Wade Phillips · « **Reply #8 on:** June 08, 2009, 10:52:00 AM »

Tom - Good decision given what the arrows are and their age. If they were 1945 Bear Arrows, I would have encouraged you to never take any of them out of the box.

Bjorn · « **Reply #9 on:** June 08, 2009, 01:46:00 PM »

Now that's a great idea Wade! I am shooting them all while looking for some 1945 Bear arrows!!

Wade Phillips · « **Reply #10 on:** June 08, 2009, 03:31:00 PM »

Bjorn - If you are at Compton this year, you will have a chance to see one of Fred Bear's Personal 1945 Arrows... There will probably be several more of Fred's Personal Arrows from the 1940s and 1950s on display too.

cacciatore · « **Reply #11 on:** June 08, 2009, 03:58:00 PM »

I agreed with you guys,shoot them

mullet · « **Reply #12 on:** June 08, 2009, 10:21:00 PM »

Here's a little trick I learned from a Taxidermist to keep the bugs from eating my mounted turkeys. He told me to use a feather duster sprayed with WD-40 on my mounts. You could wipe the fletching with a paper towel the same way.

seboomook · « **Reply #13 on:** June 08, 2009, 11:13:00 PM »

Hey Mullet
I wonder if sevin dust would work better.
WD 40 is petroleum base. But it would shed water.
No problems with discoloration?

TRAP · « **Reply #14 on:** June 09, 2009, 10:38:00 AM »

Brad, WD 40 does discolor them slightly, but may have some positive effects.

I havent done it for 20 years but the old guy that turned me on to fletching and burning feathers always wiped the feathers lightly with WD 40 on a paper towel.

His theory was burning, took away some of the natural oils and WD replenished them.

Trap

SlowBowke · « **Reply #15 on:** June 10, 2009, 09:50:00 AM »

Dang, I gotta see those arrows in person but agree with Wade.

Adding that to my Compton trip, short though will be by necessity.

Ol' Fred had them made for a reason and since out of production, I made a similar decision on some X-100s that I emailed Wade about.

Nice, Wade.......excuse me, Im going to go be ill now. LOL

Dang......

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