I'm actually running a slight review backlog lately. Been real busy. I am still overdue on posting a Sarrels Blueridge SR/ Ms. Faith 2014 review as well as a write up on the Whippenstick Phoenix I acquired. I chose to lead with the Super Mag' 48 write up as this bow for me has the biggest fun-factor of any I have tried recently.
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Fred's American horse bow: Bear Super Magnum 48 ride in the saddle review
Ok, the title is a little misleading, the Supermag is not a "horse bow" in the common definition of the term, but I chose it for dramatic effect, you can't blame me :D
Bear Archery summarizes the whole deal pretty danged well:
"ONCE IMPOSSIBLE, STILL INCREDIBLE
In 1966 Bear introduced the bow that most experts said could not be made: an effective, comfortable 48” hunting bow, proudly called the Bear Super Magnum 48. All these years later, it remains a proven performer for those who need a short hunting bow ideally suited for hunting out of ground blinds and tree-stands, or for using as a lethal bowfishing tool."
Do I concur? Heck YES!
Ok, let me stop you also before you start listing off all the shorty customs that are out there that take this concept to the N'th degree. Yes, I KNOW. I love them too! LOL. And plenty of other shorties were available during back in the day from makers such as Howatt and Pearson etc, they deserve their due credit...but this is a BEAR man, and the only extreme shorty available from any factory currently, other than perhaps bows by Bearpaw/Bodnik bows offered by Kustom King.
Once again: FACTORY bow. Forget that those lovely and amazing custom shorty bows are out there for a spell and just marvel that something like this little dynamo was conceived of and actually brought to market 50 years ago...that and what better factory to be praising than Bear Archery? I don't care who you are as a traditional archer, at some point somehow, somewhere in your traditional archery career you're going to get the bug or at least the passing thought that you ought to own or at least fondle a vintage or new production Bear bow in hopes...yes in hopes that some of Fred's mojo will transmit itself your way, some of the magic of a bygone time when men were Men and hunting North America was a more raw and existential undertaking.
I love bows of all shapes and sizes, let me just get that out there. I love LONG longbows and short shortbows LOL. Low poundage, high poundage, whatever...I appreciate all of their quirks and curves!
I have owned several Bears up to this point, and have considered others from time to time but have largely focused on high performance handcrafted customs for the most part. For a couple years now I have had no Bear bows or really any factory bows save ILF risers/limbs hanging on the rack.
Not too long ago, I got the Bear bug again and wanted just an All-American factory bow that I could play around with and not get so danged serious about, call it a beater bow, a bow just for a care-free attitude, and maybe a little bow fishing, which can be fraught with peril for something more expensive and “purdy” like a nice custom. I thought my fancier bows did this for me, but there's something about a good solid bow at a down to earth price with some history to it, like an new 'old' pair of cowboy boots that you don't worry if you'll scuff the toes or whether or not you threw some polish on them the last time or not.
As I mentioned, I also had ideas about wanting to bow fish, seeing as I live near some excellent bow fishing waters, own a couple small kayaks and really ought to try something new in archery.
I started gravitating toward this shortest of Bears...
Sure, I looked at Kodiak Magnums. But go short or go home right??
I decided I was going to go for Bear's most diminutive hunting recurve and give it a shot.
So that I could give the bow a fair assessment I went lighter than I normally do and chose the 40# model. This proved an excellent decision because Bear marks them based on ‘nearest weight’ so the one I acquired from Big Jim on discount ended up scaling around 42@28 and around 45@29 for me at my draw. A nice poundage if you ask me. Fit for many activities. This way I could really focus on the bow’s manners and not on whether additional draw weight was skewing my reactions.
Yup, that's a full length Axis Traditional next to the strung bow. WOW!
I started doing my homework reading other reviews out there in cyberspace. My 29ish draw was going to be a tall order for this little bruin and I had my concerns.
I was surprised how split the field was concerning the Super Magnum 48...there seemed a definitive line drawn in the sand, one side damning and one side praising this model.
Some of the damning reviews said things like “stacky even at 26 inches”, “worst bow I have ever shot”, “what’s the point?”, “slow and hard to shoot” etc.
Luckily I try and take statements like that with a grain of salt if there are some defenders in the midst. Indeed there were. I recall reading a number of statements defending the ‘lil Bear’ with comments such as “why are you trying to make this model something it is not”, “this bow will shoot fine if you mind your form”, “a bow is only as good as its shooter”, and my favorite humorous blurb “think of this model as a snub-nosed .38 for making an up close belly shot”. LOL!!!
I think that’s exactly the case here. Let’s not make this little fella something it is not. It is obviously not a target recurve. It is not meant to be a recurve you take shots at long range on Elk with or some such.
If you just open your mind and accept that this petite Bear is a wonderful niche bow it opens all kinds of possibilities for fun.
I would like to emphatically state that in the 40# model this little Bear Super Magnum 48 is just a HOOT to shoot, aka ENJOYABLE, and the biggest little bow I have ever owned.
I literally guffawed as I shot it once I got it tuned…which took all of about 10 minutes.
No, she AIN’t the fastest thing around, but she’s no slouch…plenty quick and hard hitting to hunt IMHO.
No, you actually do have to use good form…BUT on this one it is not very difficult to do so, as the marked 40# (~45# @ my 29ish draw) allows a lot of control for the average man, getting a crisp release is not a labor, just something you dial in once you’ve shot this little puppy a bit. No sweat.
I’m also very pleased to report that as set-up by me it is VERY quiet…I skipped the usual bare string test and in this case and, cause I had been impressed with it on a previous bow, went ahead and installed some Bowhush and a pair of Hush Puppies on the 48. This yielded an extremely pleasing low and dull “doom!” post shot, with zero "handshock" or even bump of any kind while shooting a circa 500g arrow which works out to about 11gpp for me. And all this at the lowest recommended brace height of 8”. Pretty cool since the lower BH will aid in picking up performance. Yup, that Bowhush/Hush Puppy wool actually does work as advertised, yes sir! I qualify this by saying that based on testing this silencing material on a few other bows I’m certain that the little 40# Super Mag’ was fairly quiet to begin with. This model was actually quieter to my ear than a same poundage 64” Super Kodiak I owned for a little while at 8” BH. This makes sense since this bow is a little more low performance because of the short forward handle design. There is less limb travel.
Once tuned I just had an absolute ball shooting this thing all afternoon when I first got it. I couldn’t hardly put it down and tend to my yard work.
It’s just so dang tiny, and so handy and has way better manners than it ought to.
At my 29ish inch full draw I noted that the string angle at the tips wasn’t close to 90 degrees yet. At 28” not at all. This bow most definitely was not stacky. I think what the detractors did not like is that on such a short bow at a higher brace height like 8" you are just having to pull the normal draw weight over less distance, so while still being smooth you are just having to work a little harder VS a much longer bow where the weight is spread out more. Pulling a little further I noted that in agreement with the other favorable reviews the wall was indeed somewhere past 29” on the way to 30”.
Incredible for such a shorty. I’m hard pressed to believe that all this was simply attributed to it being the lighter weight 40# marked model. I’m actually very inspired to try a 50# marked model now because I really want to confirm my finding that this bow is WAY underappreciated for what it is and much better than most folks will give it credit for being.
Fred had it right. Everything about the design works in synergy. Some folks complained in their comments online that it has such a high wrist grip…IT HAS TO! Others that it was kinda slow…well yeah, it kinda has to be the way its designed…but it’s a 48” hunting recurve that can handle a 29” draw!!!
What about finger pinch Chuck? No, not on this bow. Again, the light draw weight may have some influence on this, however I have shot bows that pinched, but none of them were designed from the ground up to work like this little Mag’. At worst, on the Super Mag’ I notice some finger “crowd” shooting split. I wear a size large glove but I don’t have baseball glove hands, pretty average I’d say. Does this bit of crowd matter shooting 20 yds or less? I don’t think so. I noticed that at ‘sane’ distances for the little guy, 20 yds or less, its manners shooting split finger were just fine. The pointability of this bow helps. The way the high wrist grip works you can’t help but almost point your finger at exactly where you want to hit and make it so. I don’t think the focus this little bow requires to shoot is unreasonable at all. At up close hunting distances this kids’ bow-looking stick is quietly whispering to you “stop looking at the whole animal, look at the spot on the flank, FOCUS, pull me back from my high brace, and let her FLY!” Just pick a spot. I stepped out to almost 30 yds and noticed that yes things became a bit more difficult, but again, the bow handled so nicely with the lighter draw weight and pointability that it didn’t take much more work to try and hit what I wanted from out there. Would I make that a habit? No, not on this one. It’s like the snubnose .38 analogy I mentioned that I read about on someone else’s review from once upon a time. 20 yds or less on the Super Mag’ 48 I think you’re golden if you’re willing to put in the practice and clean up your shooting. I noticed that once I forced my mind to forget that I was holding and drawing a 48” bow things actually became even more enjoyable. The draw is smooth enough up to 29” that you can just trust the grip and do your thing.
Bravo Fred. Bravo for such a fun little stickbow. You can bet that I will be doing more than bow fish with this bow. This thing feels so good in the hand that it is 100% a keeper. I actually can not wait to go stalk in the swamp with this thing.
I’d like to finish out my comments with some words on the craftsmanship. It is solid and functional and actually quite nice for what it is, even when considering I bought it on sale as a closeout bow from Big Jim. The 2013 Super Kodiak I had was finished a bit better, but it’s also a more expensive Bear model. This bow actually had craftsmanship better than a few customs I have owned (yikes!). I was quite pleased with how nicely they transitioned the tip overlays into the limb glass. The satin finish on the bow is also pleasing to the eye. Just a no nonsense hunting bow is my first impression.
If you are in the market for a bow that is part curiosity, part niche tool, part belly laugh, part serious hunter, and ALL Bear, then I think you’ll be quite pleased if you give this one an honest go. You need to be confident in your form and your shooting, and willing to be self-aware enough to adjust yourself to this little giant, and when you do, GRINS will ensue.
Topic: Fred's American horse bow: Bear Super Magnum 48 ride in the saddle review (Read 4113 times)
