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.



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?