Bear Bows

[txcookie]

Alright Last week there was a great post about Bear bows and their problems. Are there any good stories. I grew up on Fred Bear and and Byron Furgason and would one day like to buy a Byron longbow from fred bear.

I have had My bear since 97 its a 96 Kodiak Mag. Killed copperheads, cotton mouths, rabbits armadillos, pigs ,and one corsican ram.  No problems with it  (Knock on wood) And am just as proud of it as if it where a Black widow or Bob Lee. Just wonderin if I am alone.

[whitebuffalo]

NO, I have a 68 Kodiak mag. and love it to pieces.

[Weekend Warrior]

Got a 70s grizzly great shooting bow..
Love mine also!!

[vermonster13]

I have a 58 Kodiak Special that still shoots fine.

[fflintlock]

I have a 1966 Grizzly, that I would'nt let go of for nutt'n ! Sweet shoot'n bow, that's fer sure !

[Gizzard]

57,63,64,65,68. These bows shoot with the best of today's bows.

[penetrator]

i have 2 older green riser bear grizzlys.shoot great.it's the new stuff i would avoid.fred wouldn't even start a fire on a cold alaskan little delta night with the new stuff.also,don't get caught up in what some of our hereos shoot or how they shot.shoot what you like,and what works for you.fred was awesome,but no way i cold hold my release hand the way he did.fred asbell is one of my modern heros but i can't shoot his style either.shoot your style and type of bows that work for you and you never know,one day you may be somebodies hero.

[txcookie]

Penetrator good advice!!!!!

I havent even shot a Byron Bow But I shoot like he does Its comes natural to me and after reading his book I thought to myself thats exactly how I try and shoot.
Guess I am just partial to Bear bows but if their new stuff is as bad as everyone says it is then I will probably just stay clear for now. SO is 1996 new stuff?

[penetrator]

not sure about there stuff from the 90's.i'm far from a bear expert,but i've owned some mid 70's down to early 60's stuff from bear,allgood.i've seen some of there stuff from the last couple years,peeeeeee-yeeeeeeeew!

[txcookie]

well I have shot a few arrows from it in the last 10 years guess if it was gonna break it would have by now.    Are there any bear bow experts out there?

[Mick Maloi]

G'Day All,
Although I'm new to the site I have been trad shoot'n for many years...started with a Whagok & upgraded to a variety of bows including a few Bear bows.  Over the years I have gone to Widows and love 'em, however having missed not having one of the Bear 'family' I recently ordered a new 65# Kodiak Magnum via the net with one of your retail outlets here in the USA, it arrived today.

Sad to say, what a disappointment...I hate to say it but if this bow is an example of their craftmanship then it appears to me quality control is something that is alien to the current Bear company..
The back of the bow has two faults in the glass ie a crack about 1/4" long,starting at the shelf going down and the top limb has a pronounced dip of about 3" in the glass at the centre of the curve.  
This along with the shelf material appearing to have been thrown on rather than placed, the finish is to say in the least very ordinary & scant.

Obviously I have contacted the retailer,who at this point shall remain nameless, & advised him that due to the faults I will not string the bow for fear of damaging it, and that I wish to have it replaced, and as it stands not with a Bear product

I am not in the habit of bad mouthing any bow never mind having to speak of Bear in this manner and  it really peeves me to see the name Bear being associated with this type of slip shod product

Sorry if I have ranted but I am sorely disappointed and felt it necessary to advise potential buyers of NEW Bear bows, if you must,  have a very close look before you buy, wish I'd had that chance, & then IMO go elsewhere
Good Hunt'n...Mick

[SlowBowinMO]

I've heard a lot of stories like Mick's recently, which is unfortunate.

I have both a Grayling recurve and an 04 Patriot Longbow, they are both very good bows, and the Patriot is one of my favorites.  Not sure exactly when they went down hill, but there are at least some fairly recent Bears around that are good bows.

[throwit]

I got a new super mag 48 that I like a lot. Before that had a montana that I liked to. I think bear makes good bows.

[Frank V]

I have a 69 Supermag, I really like it the style screams yesterday. It's a sound bow & I like the Bears. I shot a Montana a few years ago & was impresed with it it was a good shooter for no more than it cost. Frank  

[Robert Honaker]

I bought a new Cheyenne in Oct.,there were places in the laminates that had gaps where there was no glue.It just didn't look like whoever made it cared much about what he was doing.The upper limb broke at the fade-outs where one of the gaps was.I traded it in for a new Super Kodiak,this bow is made very well and shoots hard and quiet.For some reason they're not consistant.I would buy another,but only if it was in my hand so I could inspect it.

[fxe]

Well my first and only bow is a Super Kodiak made in Fla.So far I can't complain.It shoots better than I can.  :D

[Trooper]

Has anyone out there tried the new Fred Bear Supreme takedown or any of the new Fred Bear Supreme series bows.  They sure are pretty and expensive.

[TRADITIONAL ONLY]

ive got a Kodiak Mag from at least the 70's. she shoot GREAT!!! love it, though she'll never take the place of my Viper Deluxe... got it from a friend for only 70 bucks! hes an idiot.... thank God that he is though...

[fredbear92]

I shoot a 1969 Grizzly........and MAN do it shoot smooth! I've shot a few newer bear recurves and I must say.....the finish on them, is like course sand paper. And they are loud when their shot. If Fred was still with us, their bows would be on top of the market like they used to be. But personaly I like their longbows. But is you want a god bear recurve....get one from the 80's or older!

[Mick Maloi]

G'Day All,
Earlier in this topic (26/3/07) I bagged the quality control re my Bear Kodiak Magnum that I purchased in March of this year...that still stands

However, I decided to keep it as was simply because to pay for shipping both ways would have cost half of the bows initial price
Since then I have given it a solid workout ie  hundreds of shots at practice targets, taken Red deer,boar,fox,goats

In all fairness to "Bear" I must say it performs flawlessly and is a very quiet and hard hitting bow, if one can forget the "cosmetics" at this point it is a very serviceable bow...so IMHO on the performance rating      
PS according to two sets of bow scales the bow is exactly the 65#@28" that was ordered