Vintage bear

[krossh]

Anyone have any experience hunting with vintage bears?

 

[Hawker]

Yes. Which bow do you have and what are you hunting?

 

[krossh]

I've been looking to pick one up.. I'm looking for a 60's or 70's kodiak or kodiak hunter.. What should I look out for? If you know of anyone wanting to get rid of one let me know!

 

[larryschwartz]

Bear bows from that era are still good shooters as long as they haven't been stored in a hot attic that may have weakened the glue in the laminations. I would check for any cracks that went down into the glass on the limbs, vertical are often no problem but horizontal ones could lead to a blowup. I hunt with a '72 Bear Field Model, the magnesium handle version of the Fred Bear Takedown, and love it.

 

[Timberninja]

To echo what Larry said, check the limbs, not only for cracks but also make sore they aren't warped. An easy way of doing this is placing the bow on a table or other flat surface with the backside of the limbs on the table. If it doesn't rest "flat" and wiggles, it's likely the limbs are warped. This happens if a bow is stored standing, strung incorrectly etc. If you are looking on eBay, look for sellers that have sold bows before. For bargains, go to flea markets etc. eBay is tough as there are many collectors picking up bows. If you want a good shooting bear bow that doesn't break the bank, is look at kodiak models from the 70s. Another good vintage brand is Damon howatt bit there are many others.

 

[Timberninja]

And on cracks on the limbs, not all are "bad", google it and you can learn the basics of evaluating vintage bows pretty fast.

 

[krossh]

I've been spinning up on vintage bears.. It's been a while since I've shot traditional.. Built my first recurve from a Bingham kit when I was 16.. Now have a good compound but there are times when I want to shoot traditional.. I'll be searching forums for an older bear so if anyone has a hot tip on one let me know!

 

[tuffcity]

Ben Pearson made some decent bows back in the day as well. Often marketed under different names for department stores, etc. The one in the picture is a "Western Hunter" (which I think is a BP) made for Montgomery Ward stores. Still draws an honest 45# and I picked it up for $40 out of a local buy & sell.

RC

 

[Coyote Commander]

My '72 Kodiak Hunter shoots every bit as good now as when it was new no doubt.

Love shooting that bow and still shows 54.99 lbs on my scale.

It had a light twist in the lower limb (im betting it stood in the corner of a closet for ohhhh, 20-30 years). I just left it strung for a week, and would un-string and counter twist it every once in a while. Shes good as new now.

Thats the beauty of laminated bows. They want to return to their proper shape, they just need a little coaxing sometimes.

I always look for non-original holes. (Lots of old bows with sight or rest holes drilled in them). Really degrades the value. I also check for limb twists (severely warped limbs I shy away from, light twists are easy to correct). I also look closely at the limb tips. This is where most wear and tear shows itself. Chewed up limb tips really make me look over the rest of the bow extra carefully.

Slight limb twists are pretty common from back in the day of the "step through" stringing method.

 

[CrabbyMcNab]

Found a Kodiak Magnum off craigslist and have been shooting it all summer. It is much more fun than the compound.
Now if I can just figure out how to hit the target! I did get the multi weight pack of arrows from 3rivers, but haven't had time to make the arrows yet.

 

[TwoTikkas]

Ben Pearson made some decent bows back in the day as well. Often marketed under different names for department stores, etc. The one in the picture is a "Western Hunter" (which I think is a BP) made for Montgomery Ward stores. Still draws an honest 45# and I picked it up for $40 out of a local buy & sell.

RC

Sweet! Love that pic.