The thread title is just bait...I've had this bow long before the movie (s) and I'm completely baffled on what to do with it.
I bought this bow on that unmentionable site. , where the seller didn't know what it was and I did...a 1961-ish Drake Hunter Flight. I'd had a Hunter Flight and it rocked but was a bit heavier draw than I wanted. This one is a lefty - but I shot left for 40 years before I learned righty. Because it was a Drake of that vintage, the draw weight was not labeled in a conspicuous fashion. Harry sometimes noted the length in foot/inch and draw weight in pencil on the side of the upper limb lamination near the fade.The ad photos showed no decal or markings. The bow had two un-filled screw holes, about an inch apart, on the belly side of the sight window, just above the shelf, but otherwise appeared to be in very good condition. I made and offer and got the bow.
The bow arrived and a) it is clearly a Hunter Flight of 1961-62 vintage, stamped serial number 4131, and has the classic Drake laminated linen micarta tip overlays; b) it is in extremely good condition, with evidence that an arrow ever passed over the white cotton flocking on the shelf; c) it has no side plate above the shelf; d) the back side limb glass glass is olive green and the belly side side is black, e) on close inspection there are three parallel scratches across the back side glass, perpendicular to the sting, with 2 1/16"between them , the top scratch just barely above the shelf; and f) (as in f%&*!) when I held the bow at the right angle to the light, there, in VERY fine pencil on the black glass above the fade, was "9/96". I had a sinking feeling that was quickly confirmed when I tried to string the bow with a new 54" string I had for an old Damon Howatt Diablo.
I got in touch with Kay Koppedrayer, who just recently published her extensively-researched book on Harry Drake and Flight Archery ( which I heartily recommend), and Kay reminded me that Harry Drake carefully developed the Hunter Flight to be a flight-shooting bow and/or a hunting bow, and that several NFAA Flight Archery champions used Hunter Flight bows. The design specifically accommodated an aluminum overdraw shelf that screwed onto the belly side of the sight window and was stabilized by a tight fit on the back side. Thus the screw holes and the parallel scratches. She said Danny Lamore, 1959/60 NFAA Flight Champion, shot an arrow over 900 yards with a Hunter Flight, and sure enough, I found a photo of Lamore doing just that in the NFAA photo history I had downloaded years ago.
Thus, I am the lucky owner of a perfectly preserved, historically badass bow that I cannot even string without using the cable pull I use with my bow scale. Using a stringer, push-pull or even sitting, that 54" bow just laughs at me. Part of me wants to send it to the San Diego Archery History Museum curated by Jim Baker, as I doubt there are many similar examples. The other part wants to find a truly dedicated, physically capable left-handed shooter who wants to hunt Cape Buffalo, Water Buffalo, hippopotamus or elephant and invite that hunter to make history, courtesy of Harry Drake.
So, gals and gents, is this a project for the Trad Gang St. Jude fundraiser, the Dangerous Game page or the museum? I invite all suggestions. I'll add some photos, but they do not reveal what this beautiful but somewhat plain bow truly is.
Did I miss the specs?
In 1971 Harry Drake shot is own foot bow a distance of 2,028 yards, that is 1 mile, 268 yds.
here is an article about Harry Drake who died in 1997. It was a long walk to retrieve his arrow and died riding is motorcycle to find his arrow.
https://www.bow-international.com/features/curious-objects-1977-drake-flight-bow/
I have a Holcomb replica of a Drake recurve.
Its beautiful and fast as hell.Its 62 inches.
Very interesting :archer2: and what a way to go, chasing down an arrow :scared:
pdk, the bow is 54" , which in early Drake nomenclature would be written 4-6, and 96# draw. I don't know what the 9 in 9/96 means, as I've never seen another Drake marked that way or marked on the glass. But the fine pencil is pure Harry Drake.
Looks good.Its Got some good hooks on it