How many of ya'll just shoot the oldies but goodies? I'm startin to lean that way. There's just somthing about the old Bears, Ben pearsons, Wing, Browning...just to name a few. Gotta love them old bows!
Thanks' Jason
Pretty fun to play with! I have a weakness for those Browning recurves.
I love those old Ben Pearson bows!
Ben Pearson for me.
Pretty much old Bears, but definitely older bows!
RonP
Older Wings for sure; never really liked the Pearsons or Bears back "in the day".
Since I started refinishing the old bows I have really developed an appreciation and fondness for them. Some of my current favorites are the Bear Super Kodiaks and Damon Howatt Hunter and Super Diablo.
Those boys knew what they were doing back in the day!!
50 year span from 1960 to 2010.
DDave
Nothing like them,Bears Super Kodiak, Stemmler, Ben Pearson, Herters and a myrid of #45 all fiberglass bows. They are fun and still do the job. I'm shooting a variety of these in the Paper league going on now.
I have several old Bear bows but I would like to find me a Ben Pearson Mercury Maurader (50-52lbs).
i am a big damon howatt fan. i've had 2 super d's and a high speed, and i wish i still had them. best "production" bows ever made, IMHO. also like the bows from wing archery.
I really like the Wilson Bros Black Widows.Just something about them,and the H-101 is my favorite.
Regards,Ray
Well, I've got a '96 Martin/Howatt Dream Catcher but the next newest is a 1988 Bear Kodiak. I like the classics of the 60's and 70's.
If someone held a gun to my head and said "choose only one" I'd keep my 1966 Browning Explorer.
I got the bug. The best thing about the old bows is they are relatively inexpensive compared to new or used custom bows. I started a little collection with the idea of trying out a few different 'old' brands to find a good shooter that suits me. I purchased Pearson, Bear, Howatt, Browning, and Shakespeare. I haven't shot them all... But I will. The ones most dear to me right now are the ones I have put time into refinishing. Fun stuff!
I really like the old Pearsons and bears.An old Pearson has been my go to for the last year.
Take a look at the old Groves, they had the speed and looks. The first one I bought was new in the 1960 with a 3" overdraw. The other 3 are 40#-50#-60# without a overdraw bought through the years.
I like the old Root Gamemasters and BrushMasters,still getting the job done,40 years later.
I still shoot my old Astro and Wing and still hunt with them. Although I have a new bow I still love the older bows.
Howatt Hi-Speed .... Not the only bow I shoot but a Real Sweet Oldie :)
(http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c210/coaster500/BagandaRinehart005.jpg)
I love shooting old bows they look to be smoother and quiter,maybe because most of them are at lower poundage.Bear,Damon Howatt and Browning among my favourites.
I like the Bear's and Brownings!
All my recurves are the old ones,Bear,Darton,Bingham, and even have a old Black Widow that the top limb delaminated. It was a sweet shooter until that happened. Still trying to figure out how to fix it.
All my Longbows are fairly old as well.
I just like how the old bows shoot.
I love them,have had most of them great shooters I should have kept. :knothead:
I would enjoy seeing pictures of the "old" bows, if you guys could post a few..Thanks
I'm not strictly old bows but I do love the oldies! I've got a '72 Howatt Hunter, a '77 Bear Kodiak Hunter, and a Pearson Cougar that's from the '70s too just not exactly sure when.
Here's the Howatt:
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/wbyrd01/181.jpg)
And here's the Bear:
(http://i98.photobucket.com/albums/l267/wbyrd01/184.jpg)
I recently took an interest in some of these older bows after seeing some of the ones that come up for sale on the classifieds. I bought a 67 KH that is in excellent condition.
There's just something special about shooting a bow that has been around for as long as I have!
wbyrd love your howatt.
I have two old Kodiak mag's. My son has laid claim to them, but thats alright. Little to short/ light for me anyway. They draw smooth and are super quiet. One is 38# at 28" the other is 40# at 28". He's 12 years old so they fit him purdy good. I would love to find me a couple in the 50# range. Thanks' for all the response! Jason
I'm currently shooting Bears, Damon Howatt, Root, Browning, Tice and Watts, Shakespeare.
I have 3 old Bears. cut my teeth on a kodiak Hunter in the early seventies and got the first deer I ever shot at. Gamegetter shaft and Bear razor head. It was a magic moment.
Bill if you go in the collector forum here you'll see plenty of them.Some people have lots of amazing bows.
The thing I hate about a lot of the older bows, is that they are to short for those of us with a longer draw. Some of the best looking models out there are like 58" and that's just to short for me. Even some of the 60" ones stack at 29" and cause finger pinch.
Wannabe1, I know what you mean, I draw a little over 30", so some of the older bows are to short. When you get some of them past 28" they seem to load up. I still like'em though! :D Jason
Red Wing Hunter is a really nice bow :)
Old Howitt Banditto and old red wing hunter.The wing is one of my to go bows.
i'm going to be playing with a 1967 bear super kodiak this year. hope to be good out to 25 yards or so by the end of summer :D :archer2:
50# 28"
I have a BP mercury hunter in my stable that I shoot often. Great bow.....
><>
glenn
Gotta love them Bears.
Guess I forgot to include a picture.
In the pile there are 2 1960 Kodiaks, a 1961 KS, 1963 KS and 1963 Polar.
(http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab54/damascusdave_2009/IMG_0253-1.jpg)
DDave
Bears and Brownings here....sold my Wing and regret it
QuoteOriginally posted by Wannabe1:
The thing I hate about a lot of the older bows, is that they are to short for those of us with a longer draw. Some of the best looking models out there are like 58" and that's just to short for me. Even some of the 60" ones stack at 29" and cause finger pinch.
Take a look at my pile of bows pic. In truth, with a light draw bow my length is the better part of 31 inches, but I call it 30 because nobody will believe that a guy under 6 feet tall will have that long a draw.
There are three bows in that pile that are 66 inches long which exceeds any draw length recommendation anywhere for a 30 inch draw length.
Oops, there are actually 5 bows in the pile that are 66 inchers if you include the ACS and the Ben Pearson. I do not consider the 1980 Pearson to be an old bow, merely middle aged.
Even the 60 inch Kodiaks shoot quite nicely for me. Sure they stack a bit, that just creates a nice wall effect to draw to consistently. And the solution to finger pinch is simple, use a good cordovan leather glove and shoot 2 fingers under.
I am going to a large 3D shoot this weekend and I will be shooting my Gharing which is marked 47 pounds at 30 inches and is 62 inches AMO. Because of the static recurve bamboo limbs it is the easiest bow to shoot that I own (so far). I expect that my Chek Mate with yew limbs will be even nicer.
Normally I would not even think of shooting a 47 pound bow for 40 3D targets in a day. With the Gharing I will just be getting warmed up.
DDave
QuoteOriginally posted by duncan idaho:
I would enjoy seeing pictures of the "old" bows, if you guys could post a few..Thanks
Okay, Bill, for your eyes only.
(http://i849.photobucket.com/albums/ab54/damascusdave_2009/002-1.jpg)
DDave
DDave,nice bows thanks for posting.
My favorite is a supper kodiac 60# . If I were someone that believed in spirits and other great things one may encounter in the great caithedrial of the outdoors I would swear that this bow is magic. I have saw it make shots (by me and friends) on a fox squirrel high in a red oak in the Mo. ozarks, a black bird in a water oak in the hatchie bottom in west tn, cow elk in colorado, mule deer doe in colorado, white tail buck walking the far bank of a river bottom slough in the very last light of the day. It appeared that these arrows where guided by more than the archer. We have past this bow amounst friend so much that it know not where it belongs.I'm sure that the one that belongs to it will remember.
I have fond memory of the Bear Kodiak Hunter .. that was my bow growing up
Yup, there sure is something special pertaining to old bows. Last fall, in a bucks only zone of Northern Maine, I had 4 does trot by my blind at 20 yards. The 1969 Bear Grizzly #65 recurve came up smooth, but I held my shot. But what a feeling drawing back, just knowing that all that vintage power was there, waiting to be released! The next day, the old Bear launched an arrow on auto-pilot and took down a squirrel.
I also have an old late 60's Browning Explorer 2 and a 1968 Bear Kodiak Hunter. It matters little if I'm hunting with them, or shooting at dandolions in my back yard under the summer sun, the old bows sure are sleek and seductive. Shooting old bows just "feels" right, know what I mean?
I suspect part of the allure is that old recurves and longbows remind us of the days when the sport of bowhunting had not yet been ruined by the "spinning wheels" of technology and profit seeking, multi-national corporations.
Ok, now I'm thinking negative again, time to forget about the way the world is, and pop one of my Fred Bear DVD's in and lose myself in the past and dream of my planned adventures next fall!
I just picked up a 60 Kodiak to make 3 with serial number prefix BH. You have or know of any more please add them to the thread. Lets bring a smile to Papa Bear's face that we appreciate his fine children.
DDave
Of course, being old and a bit feeble, I neglected to add that I have started a new thread expressly for documenting those bows.
DDave
Well, I found a 1967 Damon Howatt Monterey and it will be arriving here sometime next week. It is 62", 42# @ 28" and looks to be in decent shape. I have a shoulder issue and if I can't work my way back to shooting consistently at 53#, I may end up hunting with it this year. We'll see. I'll post pics when she arrives.
love em all,shakespeares,brownings,bear,damon howatt,root,wing,ben pearson,hoyt,black hawk,york,amer.archery,darton,us archery,colt,herters...i dont worry about refinishing,many are in very good cond.as are and i hunt with all of them...my first bow was a 55" shakespeare necedah in 1964...i still shoot it...and hunt with it...
Love the old Wings when Bob Lee was still with them! Shawn
Yup, I like any old recurve, as long as it says Wing on it somewhere.
I like the oldies but shoot the new ones as well. The oldies certainly have their place.
I wish I still had some of my old bows from the 60's they were shooters and I didn't fully appreciate them then, like I do now. Given a chance to do it again I would never have sold the bow I shot my first deer with, it was magic and I still remember it like it was yesterday. Good memories though.
The oldies have a cool factor about them. I still pull out the old Ben Pearson quite a bit.
I love the old bears and brownings and am quickly becomeing a believer of the shakespeares. These are the only bows I have at current. But I am takeing the plunge into the 21st Century with a brand new Cascade Whitetail Hawk on order.
NEAT CLASSICS....
Anyone have any pictures of the old Herters recurves? thank you..
I don't have the money to afford any "new" bow. I have a bear grizzly and a kodiak hunter. All money invested? $50.00. I like the way the old ones look anyhow. To each his own.
my only bow right now is a 1966 66" bear alaskan. eventually i will probably own a few more old classics like this one, but this one will still be my favorite. i got it from a family friend round about 82-83 time frame, and even then at 12-13, it fit me like a glove. i'm just hoping to be able to find more bows with a grip like this one. oh, did i mention it's smooth all the way out to my 30+ draw?