For Archers of a Certain Age, the Fred Bear Name Is Extraordi

Age is No Handicap for this Famous Bow Manufacturer or archers of a certain age, the Fred Bear name is extraordi- Fnarily emphatic, embodying everything we hope and want to be not only as bowhunters but as human beings. Even to the newer set of bowhunters who have little understanding of where bowhunting came from, Fred Bear remains an enduring icon. ose fresh faces are astonished to learn that, yes, bowhunters once shot wood arrows and bows sans ber-optic sights and fall-away rests, that we all once released bowstrings with our God-given ngers. Archery is lled with hallowed names, with Ben Pearson, Howard Hill, Glenn St. Charles, Maurice ompson, Will Compton, Ishi, Arthur Young and Saxton Pope among them but it’s Fred Bear who has proven most durable, Outside the entrance to the Bear Archery Pro Shop stands a statue most endearing, to legions of bowhunt- of Fred Bear’s long-standing ers around the globe. world’s record brown bear; tribute Interestingly (Fred Bear’s monu- to the incredible feat, and mascot mental accomplishments well aside), of the company as a whole. there’s no way around the fact that much of Bear’s enduring popularity hinges directly on a blitzkrieg of wild- shooting skills for audiences of thou- again recently, I am stricken anew by ly-successful self promotion as Fred sands of enthralled onlookers. Reading how often Bear relates concern not Bear the brand. Early on, Bear was “Fred Bear’s Field Notes” (Doubleday so much for bowhunting success in a regular on the annual sports-show & Co. Inc., 1976) a chronicle of bow- and of itself but for capturing enough circuit, where he demonstrated his hunting adventures in many lands, quality footage to create marketable 1902 - Fredrick Bernard Bear was born on March 5 in Waynesboro, Pennsylvania. 1915 - At 13 years old, Fred Bear went on his rst deer hunt with his father, Harry Bear. 1916 - Fred Bear shot his rst deer with a rearm. 1919 - Fred Bear served on active duty with the Carlisle National Guard Cavalry in the Cherry Valley coal eld. 1923 - A few days after his 21st birthday, Fred Bear left home on the train for Detroit, Michigan, where he began work as a pattern maker for the Packard Motor Car Company. He attended night school at the Detroit Institute of Technology. 1926 - Fred became the Plant Manager of the Jansen Manufacturing Company, making spare tire covers for the auto industry. 1927 - Fred Bear saw Art Young’s lm “Alaskan Adventures” at the Adams Theatre in Detroit. He later met bowhunter Art Young at a Rotary luncheon and the two became friends. They built archery equipment in Fred’s basement and began shooting together. 1929 - Fred Bear went bowhunting for the rst time in a cedar swamp near St. Helen’s, Michigan. 130 Mar13AT130-141 by Tim.indd 130 2/2/13 6:06 PM By Patrick Meitin Age is No Handicap for this Famous Bow Manufacturer and relaxation into stress and tedious toil. It’s all business, plain and simple. Bear’s first bowhunting films included a 1942 production by Jack Van Coevering, sports editor of the Detroit Free Press; 1946’s “Moose Diary,” based on a Canadian moose hunt conducted the year before and 1951 and 1952 depictions of Bear’s rst western bowhunts for mule deer, pronghorn and elk. ese productions set the stage in making Bear Archery lms standard promotional material. e complete Fred Bear DVD collec- tion was assembled and introduced in 2010, allowing enthusiasts to enjoy many of these early productions, as well as many other interesting Fred Bear moving-picture tidbits. e Big Picture Despite his relentless spin doctor- ing in direct relation to the company Fred Bear’s rst whitetail deer, taken in 1935, was a big event. Few believed bowhunt- he piloted so skillfully, Bear managed ing was a viable method of harvest in those days, so pioneers like Bear (lower right) never to lose sight of the big picture, of were forced to nd success with primitive equipment and sway an unbelieving public. advancing the greater good, the idea of archery and bowhunting as something “movies.” ese sentiments and wor- modern video equipment (as opposed larger than himself. Fred Bear some- ries are woven intermittently into the to the temperamental lm cameras of how managed to remain stalwartly free very fabric of that seminal bowhunt- Bear’s time) is far from romantic labor. of today’s egocentric posturing, though ing book. I can attest from rst-hand Filming takes away from the overall if anyone had a right to engage in a bit experience: lming hunts with even hunting experience and transforms fun of “the braggies” (as Ernest Hemingway 1933 - Fred Bear and Charles Piper founded the Bear Products Company. Their primary products were silkscreened advertising materials. O in a corner of the small building, Fred made archery equipment and it soon became a full time business. 1934 - Fred Bear won the Michigan State Target Championship. 1935 - Fred Bear shot his rst deer with a bow and arrow. 1937 - Fred Bear patents were granted for the modern shooting glove. 1937, 1939 - Fred Bear won the Michigan Field Archery Championship. 1942 - The rst Fred Bear bowhunting lm was produced with Jack Van Coevering. 1943 - Fred Bear began work on his rst takedown bow. 1945 - Fred Bear’s rst bow and arrow big game other than deer, a Canadian Moose, was taken. 131 Mar13AT130-141 by Tim.indd 131 2/2/13 6:07 PM The three-piece Fred Bear Custom Takedown was Fred Bear’s own design and one of his favorite hunting bows and proudest accomplishments. The 1970 design remains much the same today, allowing Despite being heavily involved in the evolution of the modern nearly instant assembly without tools, limbs plugging into a groove- compound bow, Fred Bear couldn’t quite shake his traditional and stud- t riser base and locked in place by hinged latches that roots, sticking to the recurve bows and wood arrows he had secure the limb solidly. become so accustomed to through his lifetime of bowhunting, put it), it would have been Fred Bear. (Kodiak II) in 1954, Bear Razorhead Kodiak and Super Magnum (1967 ½), is is only part of the overall broadheads with replaceable bleeder the 1970 Takedown and the 1973 Super allure of Fred Bear the man. ere is blades in 1956, snap-on bow quiv- Grizzly, just for some examples. A Bear’s humble personality, borne of ers in 1963, high-compression wood product of American archery’s infancy, rural Pennsylvania beginnings. Even handle material in 1965, the tool-free- Bear knew the times when bowhunt- his later-years moniker “Papa Bear” assembled Takedown recurves in 1969, ers were forced to hand-hew their own hints at a folksy, gentle demeanor; screw-in Converta Point arrows in 1968 equipment in order to participate in someone who puts people at ease, an and magnesium alloy bow handles in the sport, or pay dearly for hand-craft- old friend, a man you could sit down 1971. With friend Glenn St. Charles, ed bows made by a very few skilled to a relaxed chat with. From a manu- Fred Bear also helped pioneer the bowyers across the country. He envi- facturing standpoint, the innovations Pope & Young Club and was one of sioned reliable and most of all a ord- Fred Bear introduced to archery equip- the club’s rst directors. In fact, Pope & able archery equipment produced for ment would change the sport forever: Young’s rst Awards Program was held the masses. at dream began to take for instance, patenting the rst shoot- in Grayling, Michigan, as a direct result shape by the early 1950s, was made ing glove in 1937, berglass bow back- of Bear’s involvement. whole by the early 1960s and continued ing and the rst bow quivers in 1946, e company Fred Bear (and part- through the 1970s, a timeframe when written bow registration and warranty ner Charles Piper) founded in 1933 Bear Archery came to all but dominate in 1949, more reliable unidirectional eventually spawned some of the most the traditional bow market. berglass laminates and pneumatic popular bows the sport has ever wit- bow presses to speed production in nessed: the Grizzly (introduced 1949), 1951, the rst working recurve bows the Kodiak Magnum (1961), the Super 1946 - Fred Bear’s rst black bear was taken. 1946 - Fred Bear patented the use of berglass as bow backing. 1946 - Fred Bear secured his rst bow quiver patents. 1946 - “Moose Diary,” Fred Bear’s second bowhunting lm, was produced. 1947 - The Bear Archery plant opened in Grayling, Michigan. 1949 - Bear Archery bows carried a written registration and warranty for the rst time. 1949 - The Bear Grizzly bow was introduced. 1951 - Fred Bear developed special presses for bow bonding. 1951 - Unidirectional glass was developed and patented; for use as bow backing and facing. 132 Mar13AT130-141 by Tim.indd 132 2/2/13 6:08 PM strategic Cherry Valley coal eld. A few days after his 21st birthday in 1923, Bear took a train to Detroit, Michigan, where he quickly took a job as a pattern maker for the Packard Motor Car Company while also attending night school at the Detroit Institute of Technology, studying engineering. By 1926, Bear became the plant supervisor of the Jansen Manufacturing Company, a company that created spare tire covers for the auto industry. All of this early manufacturing experience would shape latter approaches to the bow company he was destined to found.

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