Modern bow season owes Fred Bear a considerable debt.
Bear took up archery in the 1920s, when killing a deer with a bow was still enough of a novelty to require some explaining. He began making archery equipment commercially in 1933, won the Michigan target archery championship three times during the 1930s, and became one of the early advocates for giving bowhunters seasons of their own.
Then he went about building better bows.
Bear Archery grew from a small Michigan operation into one of the defining names in American archery. Bear helped advance fiberglass-laminated bow construction, and the company’s Kodiak family of recurves became some of the best-known hunting bows of the postwar era. Later came the Bear Takedown, with removable limbs and the sort of practical engineering that mattered to hunters who actually traveled with their bows.
More important, Bear proved the things worked.
He carried recurves after whitetails, elk, moose, sheep, bears, and other big game around the world. And he brought cameras. His hunting films put close-range archery hunting in front of Americans decades before outdoor television made such things commonplace.
His influence was personal, too. A young Ted Nugent encountered Bear through family bowhunting trips to Grayling, Michigan, and eventually became his friend and hunting companion. Nugent later recalled spending time with Bear shooting recurves and sharing deer camp at Bear’s Grouse Haven property in Michigan. Even after compounds became ascendant, Nugent remembered Bear sticking with his Kodiak recurve and shooting instinctively. Nugent eventually memorialized his mentor in the song “Fred Bear.”
Bear also became one of the founding figures of the Pope & Young Club in 1961, helping give North American bowhunting its own record-keeping institution.

Yep, It's all his fault. I can't even find my grandsons or son in law during archery season. There all out after split fork, high tine or no brow.

Lefty

He had such an impact on that sport that few even know of today.

that museum in Grayling was awesome

My first real bow was a bear polar , 66 inch 38 pound ..
I killed my first dear with that bow , cedar shaft arrows with bear broad head
I was 15 years old then , I’m 75 today and still shoot that nice old recurve ..

Saw some great footage of him shooting crows in flight the other day. Fred Bear & Howard Hill were heroes to many.

Great article, Bruce! Thanks!

Moosetrot

His museum was formerly in Gainesville, FL. It was a cool place to visit. All his mounts and life story on display. There was also a walkway with glass windows down a hallway where you could look out across the factory floor where they built Bear and Golden Eagle bows with the employees working.

ive heard that fred bear was a right handed shooter, but an injury caused him to relearn shooting left handed. very impressive.

Yep, been there years ago.

Have to post Ted Nugent's Fred Bear song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tsOHX95LSKc

Quite a collection of Fred Bear footage in there.

His Bear Razorhead was one of the deadliest hunting tips at the time. He was one of great ones in the field of archery.

Bear's museum and bow factory was originally in Grayling, Michigan......just up the road from me a few minutes. He moved it south to Gainesville in 1978. Grayling wilted a bit from that. I have some friends that worked for Fred. I didn't know Fred, but saw and talked with him a couple times. I once saw him at a sport show in my area where I had a booth of my taxidermy on display and commented before going that I should take my old Kodiak Magnum along to have him sign it. I left it home, telling my Bride I'd feel silly lugging it up to him and asking. When we arrived to the show there were literally scores of guys waiting in line to have him autograph their bows. My Bride volunteered to go back home to get my bow and I, like a fool, told her no.

Thanks for the song Patrice!!

The location of Bear Archery in Gainesville....the road is aptly named Archer Road.

Have shot bear compounda for years! Sure theres bows that cost more but for the money you cant beat em.

You're welcome, gman! The sound on that version isn't great, but it has a lot of footage of Fred Bear.

I was fortunate enough to meet Fred at the state broadhead shoot in Necedah when it was held there. I was with my brother and Ray Butterfield inventor of the Butterfield Brute broadheads, later PSE called their broodhead brutes as Ray worked for PSE. They new of one another. Ray asked Fred as we shook hands Fred: what is the hardest animal you ever shot? Fred responded : The elephant, it was the only animal I had to look at to shot. They smiled and chuckled. Great memory.

Here is a little blast from the past. This bow was purchased by my late father in about 1966.