Obviously, there are as many favorite vintage Bear bows as there are archers, hands and fingers. We often have our favorites for our own reasons.
That said, it's the "sleeper" Bears that should garner the most interest. Sure, we all know about the 1959 Kodiak, the 1962 Kodiak and '64 Kodiak. And in no way am I diminishing those bows, for they are highly desired classics for a reason, that being fantastic bows of any era and never going out of date and they shoot as well or better than any bows made today.
However, for the casual "collecter" who may not want to spend top dollar for a certain top dollar "year model" yet wants a great bow, there are some incredible vintage Bear bows that never got the limelight they deserve(d).
The great thing about collecting vintage Bear bows is that you can put the bows into a historical context, by year. They are hand held time machines you can still shoot daily and effectively hunt with, for years and years.
I may be showing my age, but I'm a huge Beatles fan and often compartmentize things by album era, and thus the creative vibe of the era and creative context of any given era. I also understand that the years of Bear bows don't correlate with my Beatle analogy years.
(I hope I'm not losing some here, but trust me on this.)
So if any of this makes sense, the bows you want to watch out for are as follows...
The 1954-57 Grizzly, 1956-57 Kodiak and 1956-57 Kodiak Special are like the "Hard Day's Night" to "Help!" era of the Beatles. Super great shooters, classic lines, yet more plain jane'ers, for lack of a better term.
Then things changed in 1958. 1958 was the "Rubber Soul" year for Bear bows. The '58 Kodiak, Grizzly and Kodiak Special are all-star bows. Anyone who shoots vintage bows should look to any of the mentioned '58's because they are spectacular in performance, yet mildly subdued in appearance at the same time. One could argue that the '58 Kodiak would be among the most desired vintage Kodiaks, but for the white glass.
Then of course came 1959, which in rock and roll terms was like the Beatles coming out with "Revolver".
Virtually everything changed.
The '59 Kodiak is known to all, but what less people know about is the '59 Grizzly, which is as fantastic of a bow that one will ever put their hands upon. (Same with 1960). The '59-'60 Grizzly is 62" of prefection.
Of course, then there is the 1959 Kodiak Special. One could also make the case, as I do regardless of length, that this was the finest bow to be boxed up and shipped from Grayling.
The '61-'62 Kodiaks are great, as many know, but for me they start stacking at 29".
But then comes the "Sgt. Pepper" era, that being the 1962 Kodiak Special, '62 Grizzly and '63 Kodiak and Grizzly. But for cosmetic issues, these bows are also arguably the best to come out of Graying.
If you want to listen along, here's the theme song of the '63 Kodiak...
The '62 Kodiak Special is an incredible shooter, fits the hand better than most any bow ever made, but the sea foam green glass spooks most hunters. The '62 Grizzly is, in my opinion, the best Grizzly ever made, but the white glass bothers some, if not most hunters. Finally, the 1963 Kodiak may be the best shooting 60" Kodiak ever made, but some are spooked by the design and fear that the bow may blow up.
Lastly, the 1967.5-1970 Super Kodiaks are the "White Album-Abbey Road" bows. By this point, the Kodiak Specials were not desired and the shorter. more plain Grizzly's, in my opinion, were a shadow of their past bows. Of course, many love this era of Grizzly bows.
I hope this helps if you you are trying to decide on a certain era of vintage Bear bows.
Topic: What classic Bear bows are your favorite? (Read 1828 times)
