I dusted off my wife's old Red Wing this weekend and tuned it up a bit to take shooting. I must say that I am always amazed by this bow. They had a few things figured out in 68'. After a few shots a soda can under 25 yds. was in trouble most of the time. That was with overspined/heavy arrows from my bow.
My wife hasn't shot it much this year since she is in school and I feel bad seeing it sit on the rack. I'm really thinking about hunting with it some this year. I need to make up some arrows.
Let's see or hear about those Hunters that get hunted.
I love those old Red Wing hunters! I own 3 of them.
Used a 46# one last year to take a nice Iowa doe. Several years ago I used a RW Hunter to take an antelope. Great performers that would stand up to many newer bows!!!
45#@28" Red Wing Hunter
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/2treerats.jpg) (http://s47.photobucket.com/user/jjeffer/media/2treerats.jpg.html)
(http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f196/jjeffer/Appenzel01.jpg) (http://s47.photobucket.com/user/jjeffer/media/Appenzel01.jpg.html)
I wish that I had a Red Wing Hunter. In 1971 I was contemplating purchasing a Red Wing Hunter, and was talked into a Wing Thunderbird instead. 62 inches, 52 pounds @ 28". I still shoot it, and it is a fine bow. If I could change one thing, it would be make the grip smaller and narrower to decrease side torque, but I have always been afraid to mess with it, not knowing how much I could take off without compromising the bow structure.
Sure like the Red Wing Hunters, but I LOVE the Slimline Pro. Wish I could find a clean affordable one.
Red Wing Hunters are hard to beat. In 1972 I shot a 203# Minnesota 10 pt. buck with one. Forty years later I used the same bow to shoot a respectable 8 pt. Iowa buck. The 58" length of my Hunter is perfect for treestand or ground blind use. I love these bows!
Bernie
I've got three and deer hunted with one last year and did a bunny hunt or two and much stumping. Classic and great bows.
I've got one that I shoot pretty regularly. Very early, tiny tip Bob Lee era....48#er. It's faster than any old Bears I've shot in that weight range. I put a feather rest on it last week just to give one a try. I'm REALLY digging it with the new rest. Unless something changes, it may be the bow that goes to the woods with me next month....but I've got a Griffin and a Big Foot that should be here tomorrow so it's still up in the air.
I also have a lefty RWH...still Bob Lee era but slightly larger tips. I bought it to try shooting left handed. But that ain't happening! I'm a hopeless righty.
They are great bows!
Here are the pictures of Dad's (Bernie) bucks he mentioned above, great bows, I enjoy shooting one myself.
-Jay
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab47/jabjorkl_bucket/Dad-3013RedWingHunterBuck.jpg) (http://s848.photobucket.com/user/jabjorkl_bucket/media/Dad-3013RedWingHunterBuck.jpg.html)
(http://i848.photobucket.com/albums/ab47/jabjorkl_bucket/Dad-1972RedWingHunterBuck.jpg) (http://s848.photobucket.com/user/jabjorkl_bucket/media/Dad-1972RedWingHunterBuck.jpg.html)
Love those buck Bernie. Thanks for posting them Jay.
I think the red wing hunters are a highly underrated bow.
I have a very nice Slimline Pro that I had refinished a few years back and some great rattle snake skins added ... looks really nice. I have turkey hunted with it a few times, mostly it sits in the bow rack keeping my Stewart Multi-Cam company .... great little bows
I came across this old thread doing a totally unrelated search, but I think it's worth bringing back to the top.
The first trad bow I hunted with (second trad bow I owned) is a Red Wing Hunter. I hunted with it my first two years, but never killed anything with it. For the last two years and this year, I have gone to a little lighter draw weight, so it hasn't seen any woods time and only limited range time.
A couple weeks back, I got it out and dressed it up a bit, and now I'm really wanting to get it back in the woods. I posted it on here when I finished, but I figured it would fit in with this thread as well. Its from the mid '60s as far as I can tell and is pre-Headski. 58", 53#@28".
It was in great shape when I got it, other than two holes where a sight was installed, but I didn't really care for the black glass and high gloss finish for hunting. So a couple weeks back, I camoed the limbs, refinished it with a satin finish, and put a leather grip wrap on it. Now I just need to work back up to the weight and hit the woods.
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image_102.jpeg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image_102.jpeg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image_100.jpeg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image_100.jpeg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image_104.jpeg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image_104.jpeg.html)
(http://i1246.photobucket.com/albums/gg614/tomsm44/image_105.jpeg) (http://s1246.photobucket.com/user/tomsm44/media/image_105.jpeg.html)
Matt,
That Red Wing looks great. I had 52" one time but never really gave it a chance.
Thanks Marc.
How did the 52" shoot? I've seen a few used ones, but never a draw weight I wanted and never when I had the spare cash. I bet it would be a handy little hunting bow.
I had a 58 incher years ago and shot it a bit and sold it.I had tons of bows at the time and never shot it that much.
Anyways I bought a 52 incher a while back as I wanted another a short bow after selling my Toelke Kestral as I needed the money.I like to have a short bow for many situations that they work well in.
The 52 incher is a very good short bow with the highly deflexed riser.I shoot it well.Its smooth,quick and stable.They are pretty rare.I would recommend them if you can find one and want a short bow.
I will definatly be hunting with it!It has a endless B-50 string and feather rest.I get very good arrow flight.
I have one from 1959. The old guy I bought from got it new, and only hunted a time or two. Being a long bow shooter, I don't use it much and have never hunted with it.
QuoteOriginally posted by Sam McMichael:
I have one from 1959. The old guy I bought from got it new, and only hunted a time or two. Being a long bow shooter, I don't use it much and have never hunted with it.
The guy I got mine from about 5 years ago, bought it new in the '60s. He hunted a few years and never killed anything with it. He put it up and it wasn't shot until I got it. If I get a kill with it, it'll be its first.
Matt,
Best I can remember it shot well and was quiet. That was the 80s and I didn't know anything about setting up or tuning a bow.
I have a 58" 43# RWH that is in almost mint condition. I like it better than my Kaibabs or Bob Lee takedown.
Unfortunately, I will not be doing much deer hunting this year and most of my time is going to my Hill style for small game, etc.
Have one also...58" shoots fast. Pre Head Ski and AMF ownership. Nice curl in the limbs. Heard stories that when compounds were making their entry, they would show the speed of the new compounds by shooting them thru chronographs at shows. Then a gent with a Red Wing Hunter would show up and be faster than the compounds. Both Mike Palmer and Bob Lee used to work at Wing Archery and I think the RWH was the basis for the very fine bows and these men make today. Palmer makes a fast bow and I think he lights up talking favorably about the RWH being so good and smooth. I think it's a fine vintage hunting bow.
QuoteOriginally posted by KodaChuck:
Have one also...58" shoots fast. Pre Head Ski and AMF ownership. Nice curl in the limbs. Heard stories that when compounds were making their entry, they would show the speed of the new compounds by shooting them thru chronographs at shows. Then a gent with a Red Wing Hunter would show up and be faster than the compounds. Both Mike Palmer and Bob Lee used to work at Wing Archery and I think the RWH was the basis for the very fine bows and these men make today. Palmer makes a fast bow and I think he lights up talking favorably about the RWH being so good and smooth. I think it's a fine vintage hunting bow.
Bob Lee did more than just work there. He started the Wing Archery company in 1951, was heavily involved in the design of all of the Wing bows, then later sold the company to Headski. He later bought back the rights to the Wing name and he'll occasionally sell a new bow with the old Wing decals and model names. I recently saw a used "Bob Lee Red Wing Hunter" for sale on RMSGear. Looked just like the old ones, except with a two toned riser and a steeper price tag.
I just snagged a superb condition circa 1967 RWH pre-Head Ski 58" 48@28 on the big auction site. I am just floored how sweet the grip is, just as good as any modern Bob Lee. It is super smooth for a short recurve and easily handles my 29" draw. I ordered a new B55 Flemish string from Allen at Tenring and can't wait to try it. I won't even shoot it with the old tired B50 that came on it Lol.
The piece of Shedua the riser is made out of is about the nicest I've ever seen.
How do you determine the age of a RWH?
QuoteOriginally posted by Drewster:
How do you determine the age of a RWH?
I've never found a way to get the exact age. I looked around online when I got mine and found a few tricks to narrow it down to a 3-4 year period. I don't remember all of the years that things changed though.
One thing to look at is the decal. They started with a gold sticker, then went to the white silk screen, then added the Headski info in small print under the Wing logo, and lastly had AMF with the Wing logo. You can find the years that these changes occurred pretty easily.
Another is the letter prefix on the serial #. The Red Wing Hunters originally had an R prefix. Next, they had an RW prefix. Later they had an RA prefix. If I remember correctly, some of the prefixes were used under multiple ownership, so you can combine the two to get a rough estimate. There may be a way to get more accurate, but I haven't found it. I wish I had kept up with all of the information I was able to find before where I could give you some actual years to go by.
Mine is pre Headski with an RW prefix. If I remember correctly, the range I came up with when I was digging around was something like 1963 through 1966 or '67, so I just call it mid '60s to make it simple.
From what I've heard, the pre Headski bows and the ones sold in the first few years of Headski ownership typically have nicer wood and a much better finish. Then that started trying to cut cost and quality went down. The later ones should be just as good performance wise, just not typically as pretty.