Interesting, people are mainly voting for the 3 bows I posted pics of. To give the '59 KSpecial a chance, here's a pic of all the '59s. The KSpecial is the second in from the right. That was right after I took off the handle wrap and just a day or two before shipping it to Rich.
The Kodiak (bow on the far right, pic taken before I replaced the plate and rst) has the nicest looking rosewood riser that I've ever seen! The other thing I really like about that one is it tells a story about the original owner. He was married - polished spot in the leather right where my wedding ring falls; he was used to a much lower grip - you can tell by how stained the leather is he heeled the bow more than is typical with a medium grip; his hands were nearly exactly the same size as mine judging from how my fingers line up with the finger stains on the wrap; no index finger stain - he must have used it to keep the arrow on the shelf; and his pinky was mainly just floating off the grip - again, very little staining there and it makes sense with the amount of heel. The bow was probably only shot for a few years and either rarely hunted with or he was hunting in mostly open country.
The Grizz tells a different story: she's been around the block a time or two and been in many hands. She's been looked after well, but the facelift doesn't hide that she's seen her share of fields and woods.
The '59 KSpecial looks to have been hunted with for a season or two and then forgotten about and stored somewhere hot. The finish was nearly perfect when I opened the package, but it was very brittle and started crazing and flaking as soon as I started shooting it. The only bows I've seen get that bad had their finish baked in an attic or barn for years.
Hard to tell much about the '57 KS other than someone dropped it on a rock at some point and dinged a limb edge.
All four of these bows are 'shooters'. I can pick up any of the '59s and be knocking a tennis ball around the yard with blunts. Some of the quickest to point bows I've handled. The '57 KS is a sweetheart too. I fell in love with the LDB when I had the chance to hunt with it and I like the manners of this one even better. It's the only old Bear I've had in the woods with me so far - my deer hunt quickly turned into a stump shoot b/c it was too much fun to watch the arrows hit right where I was looking in the field.
Topic: Hunting with History - Polls are closed (Read 763 times)
