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Author Topic: Back in the Saddle!  (Read 6796 times)
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JDB Knives
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« on: February 23, 2009, 06:47:11 PM »

Welp...I'm back in the traditional bow game.  Man, am I out of shape!

Haven't shot trad bows in years and a friend out on the east coast gave me the itch.  I'm kind of an old guy so it's only right that I ended up with an old bow for my reentry into trads.  Thanks to another friend, Jeff!  He found a 1970 Bear Super Kodiak for me. 

It's 64" AMO and 50#s at 28".  Besides being old, I have long arms.  So I'm over drawing it to 32".  That's why I had to have such a long bow.  I haven't even gotten any arrows for it yet, but I will this week and then the fun can commence.  Got a lot of tuning to do.  On the bow and my muscles.  ;~)

At any rate, here's a pic.  Let's see what you're shooting.  And if anyone has got one of these...HELP!

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JD,

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« Reply #1 on: February 24, 2009, 05:41:38 AM »

Well, I wrote Bear looking for info on setting up the bow.  They responded and said they didn't know what the brace height of the bow should be, but they did send me a very cool pic of the page from the original 1970 catalog that listed this bow. 

Cool!

It list the specs, a description of feature and history...along with the strung height/shooting clearance.  It just so happens I'd set the brace height at 8 1/4" and the strung height was 61" at that height.  Guess what, that's what it was suppose to be. 

Anyway, here is the pic they sent me if your interested.  If you copy the image to your desktop and zoom in using a pic viewer you can read it.  Just a tip.

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JD,

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« Reply #2 on: February 25, 2009, 10:36:13 AM »

Nice looking bow.

Doesn't it feel good to lose the wheels?
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JDB Knives
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« Reply #3 on: February 25, 2009, 07:54:56 PM »

LOL,

It's good, it's fun...but it don't feel good!

Ain't held that much poundage in so long it makes places I didn't know existed hurt.  From my palm on one hand to the fingertips on the other and everything in between!  Grrr!!!  And I haven't even started to practice shooting it setting down yet!?  Ouch...

But, it's great fun for sure.  Now IF I can just hit with the dang thing.

JD,
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« Reply #4 on: February 26, 2009, 03:08:24 PM »

Does that bow happen to have a compass on it? (on the other side)

I've seen some SK's online that have them.
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JDB Knives
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« Reply #5 on: February 26, 2009, 08:02:31 PM »

Compass?

Never heard of such a thing.  Only thing on the other side of this one is the round bear coin and the 2 brass inserts for a quiver mount.

I know from the catalog page Bear sent me that the only optional equipment they offered was Bears 3" hunting sight and the Fred Bear stabilizer and quick-connect.  And it 1970 you could order it painted in Fred Bear camouflage for the first time. 

I wonder if someone replaced lost coins with those little compasses?  They are about the same size.  They certainly didn't come with it if you believe the catalogs.  Maybe it was some kind of accessory that Bear offered for after market instillation or something, but I'm pretty sure it didn't come from the factory like that.

It's not like there were that many versions of it to be kept up with either.  The Super Kodiak was only made for 3 years, 1967 thru 1970.  So I don't get that one? 

JD,
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« Reply #6 on: February 27, 2009, 03:58:21 AM »

The 64" SK was only made 67-70.  I think they've been making the 60" version since.  At least they still make it.   

I don't know the whole story behind the compass.  It's actually on the rest side.



This is taken from a 1999 commemorative.

That 64" you have might be pretty rare.  Especially since they also made them in a 60" during those years.
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« Reply #7 on: February 28, 2009, 05:51:04 PM »

Ok,

It didn't even dawn on me that they may still be making the 60" version.  Dough! 

Yeah, that looks like it's on the same side as the coin only the bottom of the riser and the coin is on the top of mine.

I gotta say man, that's the reason Bear fell into disfavor for several years with us older guys.  Back in the seventies a lot of folks thought they kind of went off the rails a little bit and away from the "Fred Bear Way".  Deserved or not it hurt the reputation!

They fell behind in compound technology a little.  I think they started chasing the curve and ended up going with gadgets an gimmicks instead of just doing the proven while they did R&D on 'innovations'.  It even bled over into their traditional bow. 

Gotta say, that kind of strikes me as an 'innovation' that should have gone away and stayed away.  I do have to say, it's prettier than mine is.  They've gotten a lot better at staining/finishing the wood. 

On the other hand, the riser on that one and I suspect all of the new ones is a single piece of wood.  It's just separated by tape and finished differently to give it the look of Fred Bears original design. 

Mine is actually 7 different pieces of 5 different kinds of wood laminated together to form the riser.  Plus the Bear Glass.

Here's a close up of mine.  You can see the different grain directions.  Just guessing, but being a hardwood lumber inspector it's an educated guess...it looks like the two big sections are Osage and Elm.  The thin pieces that make the strip in the middle look like maple and walnut.  And bamboo on the outside under the glass, which I suspect is what they call future wood in the description.  You can also see the factory brass quiver inserts and round bear coin.

« Last Edit: February 28, 2009, 05:57:31 PM by JDB Knives » Logged

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« Reply #8 on: March 11, 2009, 04:05:12 AM »

Haven't handled or shot one in YEARS (not since Boy Scouts, I believe) - but this looks like one sweet looking bow!  Hummm...I think I feel a story idea coming on...
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Ty Schwamberger
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« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2009, 05:18:24 AM »

Glad we found you a bow for those long arms of yours bro. now if you could only shoot as good as me you may be accoplishing something .  Grin LOL
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« Reply #10 on: April 18, 2009, 07:30:54 AM »

We!!!

You got a mouse in your pocket.  If you hadn't found a 64" and got it for me to try, I never would have.  I didn't want a bow this long.  I wanted a 56-58" and was going to have one custom built for my draw to get it. 

To tell the truth I'm really starting to like this bow a lot.  Even if it is a little too heavy a draw weight for me right now.  There are some advantages to it that I would have never considered if it weren't for you. 

Much thanks bro!  You da man.

Now if we can just get Ty back into shooting again....maybe his next novel will include a killer that uses a bow!  ;~)
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« Reply #11 on: July 08, 2009, 03:01:44 PM »

Just wanted to post an updated pic of me and the SK in the back yard after going to the Tenn. Classic.

http://i366.photobucket.com/albums/oo110/chiger2/Avatar-1.jpg
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« Reply #12 on: August 27, 2009, 01:16:02 PM »

No, hes not.  I just didnt feel like making a new thread since this is all part of my getting back in the saddle.  Though it feels more like 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

People are scary.
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