Just in case you weren't feeling old enough today...
Consider that the young archers who are starting college this year were born in 1991.
That, by the way, is nearly 90 years after Fred Bear was born.
Those college freshman are likely too young to know the names Nels Grumley, Charley Kroll or even Frank Scott.
Their lifetime has always included bows with cables and cams.
The Bear Razorhead was introduced 35 years before they took their first breath.
The all-phenolic Super Kodiak burst onto the archery scene 42 years before they graduated from high school.
The vaulted 1959 Bear Kodiak appeared and was then was gone nearly five decades before they became teenagers
They have always had Cabela's.
Strangely enough, they think a Static Recurve is a rock group, Glen St. Charles is a blues singer and Grayling refers to a fish.
For them, arrow shafts are carbon, and almost always have been.
They've never used a bowstringer, and are pretty sure that the step-through method is a dance move.
They also believe that a KII is a mountain in the Himalayas.
The bottom line is that these kids mostly never walked down a wooded lane carpeted with fallen oak and maple leaves and thought about a man in a Borsalino hat.
I'd say that they're all damn lucky to have guys like Case, Parker, Eccleston, Reader, Whiffen, Phillips, Dickerson, Hopkins and so many others who have worked so hard to collect and preserve the history and artifacts of archery and bowhunting.
Just maybe they'll learn in college that to fully understand and appreciate where things are today, they must dive into the past.
But in the mean time, these whippersnappers – including my own grown kids who keep wondering what all these old bows and backquivers are on the walls - are making me feel decidedly old.
This TradGang forum, thankfully, is making me feel younger or at least useful.
How about you?
Bill Krenz
Colorado
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/TimberlineX/Trad81309A026.jpg)
Nice bow Bill.. Great photo
Nels Grumley- Bears first master bower.
Charley Kroll - Fred hunting buddy. and worked at Bear..
Frank Scott- Sarted working for Bear back in the early days of Bear archery And became director of the Fred Bear Museum in Gainesville..
I am sure I could add more about these man.. But I will let some of the younger guys fill where I left off at....
Cody
Bill,
Well said.
You made me feel like an over the hill, retired old fart on Social Security. Come to think of it, that's what I am...
(http://i386.photobucket.com/albums/oo301/WadePhillips/FB.jpg)
Excellent post Bill!
Yeah, I'm old...I think. When I was born, Harry Truman was President and Fred Bear was just getting ready to move into his new factory in Grayling.
Not only that, but I was born the same year as...
(http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d108/lwscott/hillary-thumbs-up.jpg)
...and that was 1947.
Hey...I think I'm eligible for social security.
Bill..had a conversation just recently with a couple of younger bowhunters at work. They had never seen nor heard of any of the old broadheads, including Bear, Howard Hill, etc.
Held a little show and tell today. Took in Wades first edition of " Broadheads 1871 - 1971 ". Will take in a few of my heads for hands on.
Cody,
Charlie Kroll wasn't just a hunting buddy, Also Fred's son in law. I had the privelage to talk and shoot with him at our TBOF 3-D tournament a few times.
A really personable gentleman, and very willing to answer questions and sign memorabilia. I'll miss him.
Being the oldest of four boys, I take my share of crap, and have earned the distinction of being as old as dirt in their eyes. What they don't know is I found the fountain of youth.
I have met both Howard Hill, Fred Bear and bought many bows from Glenn St. Charles. I feel better for having known them all.
K2 is the second highest peak in the world, and may be one of the most difficult to climb. I was a kid when my dad told me how his friend and co-worker, Pete Schoening saved six men from certain death on the mountain. The Belay is written about.
I remember when Jennings brought put the wheels on a thing they called a compound. Regardless of how it captured the attention of archers and bowhunters, it nearly caused the demise of a number of traditional companies.
Unfortunately, many people have not discovered the real enjoyment found in traditional archery. It may be the single reason why the new generation is unaware of the history in the sport, Pope & Young, Compton and all that followed. It is like living in the United States without understanding the history of the country.
I'm younger than the majority of my bows. I guess that makes me old.
RonP
When I was six my fathers friend gave me a very used metal riser recurve (man was that an ugly bow), and a hand full of missmatched arrows. I had fun with that bow even though the bottom limb hit the ground most of the time I shot it. Alot was going on the world of archery during those days, many of the guys at the local archery club were already shooting jennings compounds. My first compound was a bear youth model. Looking back I can remember standing on the line of the indoor range and seeing a variety of bows, both wheels and curved limbs (I don't recall any longbows)! Soon the recuves became seen less at the shoots I participated in, and everyone fell victim to technology! Well as often in life things have come full circle for this almost 40 year old man. I returned to traditional gear about 10 years ago, went through a gamit of bows, and now I intend on hunting with a 65K, or an older K-mag. My son is 5 and he shoots a 69 little bear! I have enoough lighter bears to keep him in bows through adulthood. I imagine some day that he will go to wheels, but I hope to give him the tools needed to come full circle someday, and keep the tradition alive!
As long as there are places like this on the net my son will know the likes of greats. I learn here everyday, as I'm sure others do. It will get passed down.
If being born before D-Day makes you old I guess I'm old. However I did get to live through the "Golden Age" of archery and enjoyed every minute of it.
Quick story. Last night I finally got my daughter to bring my two oldest grandsons 9 and 7 up to shoot an evening 3-D round they have on Thursdays. I've been teaching them to shoot since March. Almost everyone was shooting tradional equipment except for one guy with a hi tech compound. They asked me about the guy with the "weird" bow. Priceless.
Damn, you're right Bill. I sent my youngest off to college at 6:00 A.M. this morning and felt like a dinosaur. He was born in 1990. He has never shot a compound and has my minuscule collection in his room/museum. I guess I agree with Wade, but I'm still confused about how fast I reached "geezer" status. But I gotta say, we were the lucky ones. We saw Fred Bear on Sunday afternoon and the new batch hit the hardware store; how could it have been better? GY
I always figured I'd love to be a fly on the wall about 100 years from today when someone finds all the trad info in the anals of archery cyber space and says who in the hell were these guy's.bd (http://i264.photobucket.com/albums/ii175/bowdocsarchery/glennfred002.jpg)
In the venacular of some of my youngest son's buddys...."DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE!" (Hey, the cornbelt runs a bit behind the rest of the country!).
Yep...Some of my family don't even KNOW what "older than dirt" means but it seems to be directed at yours truly, lol!
I don't have a Fred signed anything, My FIRST ex-wifey burnt my photos of him and I shaking hands. You think YOU married a "b*tch"? (no offense to your better half intended)
My deer hunting nephew's shake their heads looking at my bows and they aren't even "old", just 60's stuff. Yish.
They asked me if my micro-flites and Kodiak Supreme arrows were "something new on the market" then asked why the H I would shoot something that heavy when picking one up. The Herter's Farbenglass tipped with a Magnum two blade had them nervously looking at each other wondering if "Unk" had lost it.
I was showing them my newly acquired 67 1/2 Super K with pride and joy in my voice but saw one rolling his eyes in the mirror.
Doc says my bod's got parts too old to work but my driver's license says I'm not eligible for SS yet.....you wanna feel old and out to pasture? Give that a shot. LOL!
"Time is on your side" no longer applies when you reach this point in our lives but HOT DANG, ain't it fun?
Even with the bleakness of any logical methods to exist till SS can kick in, I am more at peace now with the things that rubbed me raw even a short decade ago.
"Important things" have been swapped for those that really are.
The weight of my bow is less a concern to me than the beauty of the arrow perfectly spinning towards the target (OR DEER, I hope!).
Each season finds the excitement I felt in my very first one returning with renewed vigor.
The importance of the size of the antlers or even if there ARE antlers, somewhere along the line has diminished compared to the importance of a well placed shot at an unspooked animal and a quick demise.
With the current "issues" in my life, the loss of close friends and family, this season is currently being viewed with a vastly improved perspective.
Without knowing if this one, (maybe the next? Who knows?)will be "it", the thump of the bowstring has a sweeter sound and somehow the arrows find their marks a bit more regularly out stumping.
The corn is changing now, a few leaves are falling and already I can see that the "small" things that I used to notice but brush off as simple season changes has taken on a brighter hue.
This fall is my new puppies first fall but in many ways I think him and I will view it and the first snowfall with similar perspectives.
I give thanks for that.
God bless you and yours, to each and every one.
Bill;
Remember what I said about how I feel about people who can get the same thoughts I'm thinking on paper? My respect just went up some more!
That rosewood Kodiak looks familiar. Is that the one I got for you many years ago? My memory gets foggy at times. Can I blame it on the 60s?
I started bowhunting in 1962 with a Bear Alaskan I bought myself at Chippewa Valley Sporting Goods in Eau Claire. I just applied for SS two days ago. Time flies!
ah yes time flies like an arrow......fruit flies like old banana's.bd
Ron, I just started drawing SS last December, time stands still for no man,luckily we have the mistical flight of the arrow and so many bows and elusive broadheads to collect. May you have many more hunting seasons my brother of the bow...
Bill
Very very well written.My first bow season was 1957 at ago 10 I wish I had all the equipment I have own over the years what a collection I would have.
Dave
Hunted deer the first time with a bow in '62, with a solid fiberglass Bear. There weren't very many deer then, but that didn't matter. I almost saw one! 13 years later I finally killed a spike, with my Ben Pearson Silver Sovereign. It burned in a house fire in '83, along with my wife's Golden and a couple of wheel bows. Replaced them with a Quillian longbow for me, another wheelie for the ex.
I traded for another Pearson last year, and it's set up for hunting this year. Just made some arrows for it this week. I have an old Kodiak that I recently inherited from my brother ($5 yard sale!). It may see some use this year, too. We managed to work the limb twist out.
I don't call myself a collector, but I seem to have accumulated a bunch of old bows anyhow. I think I have 10 at the moment- that's not a real collection, is it? The newest of them is at least 13 years old. The oldest is either the Pearson from the 60's or the Kodiak- I haven't tried to age the Kodiak yet. Or maybe the old self bow I'm afraid to string...
My sons have never shot wheels. They both worked in the Superceder plant with me while in high school, and both were excellent shots. We shot daily on our indoor range in the plant. Shooting our arrows was an employee requirement. :) The youngest has given it up, but my oldest will be shooting a 50# Quillian Patriot II this season.
Well, guys....I was born before Pearl Harbor but the only time I feel old is when I try to draw a bow heavier than 45lbs... I'm like the old bull....I don't run anywhere anymore or jump fences...just stroll along and open gates.
I wish, in my younger yesrs, that I had maintained as fervent an interest in archery as I have now. But, I didn't and missed out on a lot of fun. However, I making up for it by correctly indoctrinating my grandchildren into the ways of traditional archery. That is so satisfying. Here's a pic from this year's STAR.
(http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i156/win1885-1/IMG_0631.jpg)
I was born after the first man walked on the moon but before Bear standardized stabilizer bushings on their bows. I am not a serious collector by any means but I like the vintage stuff for sure. I often wonder if any of todays bows and archery items will ever be real collector material. For me at least, there has to be some history behind the objects for them to be of interest. This particular forum really triggered the collector in me. If only there was no money issues involved...
Simon
While I don't "feel" like a geezer at 42 but looking back and telling my kids about things I did way back when there have been quite a few years that have passed.
Is it the connection to Fred Bear that got us going? I too remember seeing him on TV as a young kid and the image never left me. Kids today don't know anything about Fred unless we tell them. Like lots of things they have no concept of what was just what is today. It is great fun to sit downstairs and put in a DVD of one of Fred's shows and watch it with my 2 kids.
Tom: I have a picture of that target with my kids from Sawmill. That was their favorite!! Thanks again for the heads up.
Well I wasn't born before Pearl Harbor, but I was born just a couple years later.
I won't teach kids to shoot wheels till they master the stick and string.. I figure most will go to wheels later but if they have the seed, many will return.
Worst hunting season I ever had was the one I shot a buck on opening day. Back then we could only get "One" permit
I'll be 48 next week which is old enough to know better, young enough to keep on trying. Not sure if the next generation will have much of an appreciation for antique archery and it history until the Fred Bear BowHunting Adventures video game comes out on Wii or Xbox.
Tom, what IS that thing the kids are shooting? Can't decide whether it's a walrus, a crawdad/lobster, or a manatee. :)
Don, I think it's a Cobra.
Chuck, Happy Birthday a week early. I turned 48 in April.
I think future generations will have an appreciation for Archery's rich history if we do our part to preserve it, document what we know and most importantly, share it freely with others.
I'd hate to think the effort of today's "caretakers" would go to waste. Traditional archery is still growing and a certain segment of that brotherhood will always be attracted to collecting and the historical side of things.
I have 3 young girls. My 7 year old is in the middle of my small colllection all the time, asking questions and looking at stuff.
Plant a seed, watch it grow.
Trap
Hey Ron ----ss is ok! for us old guys, does your wife shoot that Grizz we swaped for? Nice to be retired! Dick-vtas
It is nice to see all of the "OLD" guys fessing up on how old you are, I finally figured it out when we had three young fellows visiting at our booth in Arizona once and one made a comment about the crazy arrows that I was selling. The cedar arrows had a swirl wood grain stain and after his close inspection he turned to me and said "This is wild, you are SICK man!" My wife explained the real meaning later. After a shooting round with my brother in law a few years back we both decided that this was one of the few ways that we could feel like we were twelve years old again. Yes it has been a good journey since I would open the box of new cedar arrows that I had ordered out of FonDuLac mich and the "SMELL" would overpower my senses. I still make the sixtys come back occasionally when I purposely break a cedar shaft just to smell it!
HI Dick,
That bow shoots great, she really likes it.
Thank you for the trade.
Ron
Don....yep....it's a Cobra. We all thought it was one of the most unique targets we had seen and shot. My son-in-law, the father of that brood of youngen's, took the picture. We had all made a hit on the target with our first arrow...so we thought it should be commemorated with a picture.
Tom I.
Should have known- I used to have a wallet made from one. :)
The more I read this post the younger I feel:) I turn 40 next month! Took an interest in bear bows a few years ago. I am not a collector by any means, but I am here a few times a week and enjoy learning the history of Bear Archery, and about the life of Fred Bear.
I'm a newbie to the Forum, this being my first post. 58 and retired.
Started archery in the early '60's with a little kid fiberglass bow. As I recall, the bow, 3 arrows, plastic quiver, finger tab (don't think there was an armguard) sold for $3.00. I wore it out.
I can remember poring over every page of a 1965 Bear catalog (still have it), dreaming about all the bows, which one I would buy if I could. Fell in love with those beautiful bows, with their exotic woods and curves.
Since then, I've always been a recurve man. Have still never shot a compound.
The nice thing about being retired is that you have plenty of time to shoot. Unfortunately, the body doesn't cooperate like it once did.
Everything I like is now being called "traditional." Go figure.
I'm glad I found the Trad-Gang and have enjoyed going through the threads.
Thanks for reading. --Larry
Welcome Jerry, nice to have you on board.
Trap
my wife says I've been working on geezer-hood since I left the womb.... :knothead:
Kinda new to this forum but turned 50 and feel honored to be the same age as those 59 Kodiaks!
Must of been a good year. Archery has always been in my blood. Love to watch arrows fly and the arc of the bow. Have always loved the history, Hope we can keep it going. Dan