Shooting Termite Mounds with a 1956 Bear Kodiak Special...

[Benny Nganabbarru]

G'day All,

Well, way back in February, I was casually doing some online window shopping at sponsor Rocky Mountain Specialty Gear, just to pass the time, when a battered, old 1956 Bear Kodiak Special caught my eye. It was 68", which would be perfect for my 29+" draw, and it was 61#, a suitable weight for my part of the world, and a pretty rare weight, too, it seems. I didn't intend to buy it, but it looked at me with those puppy dog eyes, saying, "Take me to Australia!" Well, I asked TradGanger Don Ward if he would be able to check it over and do a restoration job on it, and he kindly agreed. The kind people at RMSG sent it over to Don, who worked his magic on this vintage bow, restoring it to its former glory.

Here is the advertisement from the 1956 Bear catalogue:

 

 

 

[Benny Nganabbarru]

So, she now resides in Katherine, Northern Territory, Australia; today, she hunted termite mounds with Gabby and I.

Here's the range:

 

You can see that it is pretty overcast, and although we didn't get rained-on, and it was very pleasant indeed out there, our wet season has started early, which has put a dampener on serious bowhunting endeavour, having already begun to scatter the feral game "hell-west and crooked".

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Here she is:

   

   

   

You can see the green pick coming through the dead grass, from the rains we've already had, to the delight of all creatures great and small.

[sagebrush]

Sounds like fun. I'm looking forward to pictures of the new gal. Gary

[sagebrush]

Nice bow.

[Benny Nganabbarru]

We shot the first decent termite mound we came to, and Gabby and I posed triumphantly with our trophy:

 

 

 

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Whenever a termite mound saw this view, it had good reason to be afraid, or good reason to have a laugh at my expense:

 

But mostly the joke was on the termite mounds, much to our delight:

 

 

 

[PaPaFrank]

Beautiful Bow Ben! Thanks for sharing with us...

[Pegen]

Wonderful!!

[Benny Nganabbarru]

As always, I am quite pleased with the durability of these Douglas fir arrows from Surewood Shafts; they seem to take an absolute beating without giving-up. Shooting termite mounds is still a bit of pot-luck at the moment (they'll soften as the wet season progresses), as some can be penetrated nicely, whilst others are rock hard, and the arrows bounce off them.

 

It sure was a fun, relaxing morning.

Thanks for reading!

Ben

[Bjorn]

Great bow! Thanks for sharing Ben!          

[PhilNY]

Nice bow and good shooting.

[Mudd]

How cool is this? Way!! I'm saying...

I guess it's a chance one has to take, sort of like stump shooting.

Not all rotten looking stumps are as rotten as they look..lol

Nice job on the bow and some awesome shooting.

Thanks for sharing ben.

God bless,Mudd

[Looper]

They look like fantastic targets.  What kind of distances were you shooting at?

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Thanks, fellows; I'm glad you got a kick out of it. Looper, nothing spectacular distance-wise, just shots from five to twenty-five metres today. Termite mounds are pretty docile, and allow me to get pretty close! Seriously, though, we do sometimes try for eighty or ninety metre termite mounds, but usually only real monsters.

[JEFF B]

way cool Bro!  

[cacciatore]

Ben,congrats for your vintage bow.Doc refinished my Kodiak 56 as well.What do you think of that old bow?

[Benny Nganabbarru]

Felix, it is a lot of fun, and shoots really well. It is pure class. I really like it.

[RC]

Good stuff Ben . Always enjoy your pics.RC

[Jack Shanks]

Ben,

 Nice shooting! I have a 60" 56' Kodiak Special that's one of my favorites. I have a 64" on the way that I can't wait to try out.