When I was in college I shot league at an archery store on the east side of Des Moines. They had a ton of picturs of Fred in there and the owner who was always in there was friends with Mr. Bear- he had some good stories-
michael
what a job for a budding archer!
Michael
I remember watching him as a kid on American Sportsman. Certainly primed the pump to get this bowhunter started.
Thanks Pat, Beev.
PS. That is not a Guide on the bridge, it is one of the other hunters.
In spite of the foregoing, it is the lore and legend of Fred Bear that drew me to archery hunting and made me desire traveling to wild and lonesome places featured in the black and white photographs we all know and love. When I grab a bow (whether a recurve or compound) and head out into the woods, I feel a very distinct connection to the images captured in those photos and that connection thoroughly warms my soul. I am sorry to hear Fred Bear was a proponent of poisons to facilitate the harvest of game animals. However, that does not alter he man's greatness in my mind. He did too much good for too long.
My thoughts exactly. Fred Bear was a regular guy, just as faulty as the rest of us. The fact that he made some mistakes (and was indeed human) makes him all the more heroic, IMO.
no accounting for taste i suppose. LOL
"Heros are for comic books." A WWll fighter pilot that used to fly with the Black Sheep told me when I was a kid and asked him a few things about it. He was a crop duster at the time. Heck of a guy.
Idols will disappoint you every time if you think they are above being human. Sports figures, movie stars, bowhunters, whatever. The simple phrase "we're only human" may be one of the few true things in all our human world.
Fred Bear deserves our respect because he earned it. There may have been others even that were better at his craft but he was very good at making bowhunting popular. He connected his love and excitement for the sport with the general public like few others. I remember the shows on American Sportsman and articles in Outdoor Life and others. It's what got me into trying bowhunting too.
I'm glad they told it how it was in the book. Those were different days. Not better, not worse, but different. Things go on now they would frown upon to say the least. They did things back then that would bring screams of outrage here today. I could only imagine some of the threads they would have started...
From all accounts he was a class act in person. And he surely had some wonderful adventures. None of which were cheap I'm sure, even back then. He had some time and money and sold America it's archery. We lived way out in the country and back then the only archery equipment I ever saw in any sporting goods store was Bear Archery. He had a great marketing system I'd bet, the equipment must have been sold as packages to the stores because not a single store owner I ever met back then knew squat about archery.
Few people in any sport had the impact he had with bowhunting in America, no doubt.
A Hero or Idol? No, maybe not as he was flesh and blood, not a comic book. An Icon? An American Legend? Absolutely.
Cool book. Thanks Pat.
Bigdan signed another book? LOL! Story of my life, just when you think you're the only one...
Africanbowhunter's Link
Had him to my home twice
Tink Nathan
If I get going on Fred we will be here all night
Tink
Are those WHEELS on his bow????
And wearing camo???
LOL!
Seems he had no fear of innovation. But with that hat he always had style.
But he is wearing camo....
And Tink's necklace is fancier... =D
Bigdan, you were a Bear dealer for a long time. At what point in his life did he sell the company? Or did he ever really fully own and control it? I've read very little about his commercial/corporate life.
The answer is because smart people do not argue with success.
Is that a grizzly claw necklace? That's great! Was it made for you?
They were quite the rage back then guys wore then @ Pope & Young meetigns
Its called A Squash Blossum necklace
All of Fred Bear Bows had brush buttons BTW
Tink
Africanbowhunter's Link
bear Archery was five years late in introducing a compound since they guys that ran bear Like Kelly thought it was a fad
Bob Kelly killed Bear Archery by not allowing a photo of a dead animal in a Bear catalog for 17 years Kelly was an Anti hunter running bear Archery and never hunted...and ran & screwed bear Archery into the ground.
Bob Kelly bear President once had a sales meeting in FLA and The 2 hour meeting was the on the topic of Tink Nathan and my promotion of compound Bows when the NFAA banned them. Sherwood Schoch was there and called me afterwords me after the meeting to tell me I was a thorn in the side of bear & Easton I wrote ASK TINK column in Bowhunter magazine which I helped co found in 1971 There was an Easton Bear axis that decided almost everything in archery
they were against mechanical releases, and of course compound bows.
We today can see why some old men really lacked vision and were out of tough with the Bowhunters of their time
When Tins was for sales years ago Escalate wanted to buy it. had they bought Tink's Scent group I was promised the presidency of Bear/Jennings as a reward
Tink Nathan
Pix in my Dining room on 6914 Churchill Rd McLean VA 22101 when Fred Bear come to a Ishi Bowhunters club meeting at my house
My son Jeff little kid in foreground is now in his late 40s.
I spend Christmas eve at Fred Home in Grayling Mich in 1964 . we were good friends.
how many of todays hero Bowhunters who knew Bear were e ever invited to Fred's Home for Christmas eve dinner?
Tink Nathan
Good stuff there, thanks.
I think we have some similar problems you experienced in KS today-old guys running things with no vision.
Care to post some of the names of the guys in the photo. It is pretty cool to see Fred and some of the other visionaries in a normal light.
Also, you deserve to be commended for all you have done for the sport. Thanks.
I would love to see a picture of that.
Possibly, he can probably say what ever he wants because he has probably forgotten more about bowhunting than we will ever know.
That must have been one heck of a hunt and one that very few in the world ever got to do you are a lucky guy
Happy hunting, Jason
Africanbowhunter's Link
Said the pod caused him more unhappiness than anything else in his life
Tink ______________________________________________
some of the Guys in the pix in my dining room
George Margargle USMC deceased Curly hair on left Merm Hast III Tall Dude Bob Jones glasses, David Dye, Bill Fowlkes, right hands in Pocket, John Stockman Major USMC Glasses, Ben Pitterelli III kid (my Son( Jeffrey Wayne Nathan far left Morgan Norval Pro Gun Lobbyist in DC
Sorry I cant recall the other Ishi Club Members
I am 68 now
Tink Nathan
Africanbowhunter's Link
great kill
Tink
I had occasions when I talked with him; and that is a real statement; he talked with everyone like they were old friends.
I would work overtime ; get off work at 7 am and head to Grand Ledge; and by noon- I looked like someone to avoid.. but Fred was just the kind of guy that didn't care that I looked run over.
I noticed somethings in his movies; arrows in odd places; and I also noticed that whenever he crossed the river using his bow as a staff; the audience would all gasp.
I told him about it; and he wanted to be there the next time I showed that film; and he was. He sat next to me and when he leaned on the bow in the rapid water; the crowd all inhaled in what seemed like horror. He told me that he had a problem with bows breaking and he put that in the movie to show how strong his bow tips were - but he didn't know people were still reacting to it-- and he shook his head and laughed.
I was present once when someone asked about the pod; and he got a look of despair that I never saw in him before or after.
He was the ultimate trickster; and I don't think anyone suffered as much as Bob Munger. Munger and I went through photos together for his book- while our wives and my sons walked the shore of Lake Michigan in the upper penninsula. We sat in a trailer; and drank some adult beverages; and he told me that he had told Fred he was going to write a book about him - to which Fred replied: 'for Gods sake Bob- wait until I am dead!'.
See Bob had a hole in the side of his Ford Pinto; and had to explain why he had shot some 'tame' geese; and I think the only time Fred ever failed to pull a trick off on him was Freds attempt to get him to shoot a rabbit for him. Fred had told Munger that he was too tired to go get some rabbit meat; and offered Bob a bow to use and a route that never failed for rabbits. Bob knew the season wasn't open; and it took Fred some talking- and off went Munger. He almost shot the rabbit next to the trail- when he saw the string tying its foot to a tree. Lucky thing too; as Fred had a couple fish and game officers ready to 'pounce'.
I know how that arrow got into the tree when they met; and I am sure about it - although I did hear different versions through the years.
One of my favorite moments with Fred was at Grand Ledge; when my son; who shot mismatched arrows and was about 5 at the time - was shooting at a moving boar target. The target my son Mike was shooting at was hung on a long wire; and it was a 3d boar target that gained speed by the use of a long piece of surgical tubing. It was a charging boar target. There were lines where you could start to shoot at it; and where you had to stop trying to hit it. You stood on a platform over the target a bit; and when the boar target would come to a stop- past the safety line- my son Mike would loose an arrow and hit it right between the eyes.
Well; Fred saw that and came over and paid for Mike to shoot again; and he laughed about Mike not missing.
Then the great longbow shooter Ron LaClair showed up; and he missed the boar; and my son hit it; and Fred started buying more shots for Mike. The more Mike hit that boar target; the more rattled Ron got; and the more rattled Ron got; the more Fred laughed! It was pretty fun; and we were invited to sit at Freds table at dinner that night.
Yep - Fred was a heck of a guy; and a guy who held his hand out in friendship to everyone; he enjoyed talking to average 'Joes' like me; and was always smiling.
When he saw the bear takedown recurve I had bought; he asked to look at it; and I asked if he now hunted with a compound ( this was in 1982 I believe); he shook his head and he said " I am sorry I ever picked one of those *** **mn things up!". He pointed to my bow and said "that's the kind of bow I hunt with !".
I miss the guy. I was really never more than a face in the crowd to him; but even now-when I am trying to figure out where a blood trail went - I will hold my bow up and say "help me out here Fred!" - and know what? It seems to work.
He was a kind man; a never ending source of humor; and the only thing that gave him a real advantage in the woods were those big ears.
Anything negative about him is well in the shadows of his decency and love of bowhunting- and should remain there: out of sight.
The unforgettable; the greatest of bowhunters- Fred Bear !
[IMG]http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l87/adeeden/FredBearBS.jpg[/IMG]
Some might have considered that a misspent youth. I personally wouldn't change a thing when it is regarding that element of my life. Fred Bear was "The Man" back in that era, and as far as I am concerned, he will always be a warm and fond memory for me. It is a fact that he did so much to advance Archery and Bowhunting. As we have all grown up and grown older, it should not be so shocking to discover, that he was after all, a Human Being. He too had feet of clay, just as the rest of us do. Remember David in the Bible? of David & Goliath fame in the story? The good books says he was a man after God's own heart. Yet he too, fell short of being perfect. I have never been into hero worship, but will say that Fred Bear always has, and always will, be considered to have been a very positive example to me personally. I do not have the problem with him having considered the pods. Nor with his trespassing the time he did with Bob Munger. It wasn't something he continued to do. I thank the Lord that he gave us all Fred Bear. The world has been a much better place due to the tracks and other sign left by the "Greatest Bear of all" Fred Bear. I've seen all the other "so called" pros, and TV wannabe celebrities. They "Pale in Comparison". This of course is my opinion. I don't expect everyone to agree and that's OK too. You all have a great day and Merry Christmas !
The ideas we have today for better or worse just hadn't been invented yet. So it isn't realistic to judge someone because of methods like in the case of drugged arrow shafts which were soon dropped.
Fred Bear like a lot of the folks we now admire promoted their sport. Both for the betterment of it and for profit. If he was dropped into our world today many would condemn him for his supposed greed and self promotion. But that wouldn't be fair to him or us. He like a lot of his generation gave us what we have today and they should be respected for it. Remember them as they were in the context of their time.
The ideas we have today for better or worse just hadn't been invented yet. So it isn't realistic to judge someone because of methods like in the case of drugged arrow shafts which were soon dropped.
Fred Bear like a lot of the folks we now admire promoted their sport. Both for the betterment of it and for profit. If he was dropped into our world today many would condemn him for his supposed greed and self promotion. But that wouldn't be fair to him or us. He like a lot of his generation gave us what we have today and they should be respected for it. Remember them as they were in the context of their time.
i don't have the Tiger pix resized
I have 25,000 bowhunting pix and not all are on Computer yet
I played a Trick on Fred Once
he showed me a pix of something Norther American and I said look Fred there a couple of 30-30 shell in the pix
he grabbed the pix away from me and got his reading glasses before he knew that I HAD HIM
there were no 30/30 shells at all!
I miss Fred
Tink
Bowhunter: well said! That does not come easy to a guy from Ohio; from a man who has deep roots in Ann Arbor...
:)
To sum him up with the discussion of one element of his existence: is rather a cheap shot.
Tip of the hat to you Mr Bear in this - 2009!
I know this thread is old but I thought I would respond to the inaccurate pod information in the article. First, I will say I don't have a problem with Fred advocating for them. I think he just wanted to ensure that the sport would not someday be restricted because of publics perseption of the lack of animals being humanely killed. Whether or not he believed that was the case I would deffintly question. I think he had in mind the people that would argue against a bow being used for hunting at all. Or hunting in general. That makes sense to me when you think about what he said about the sport being someday restricted by the environmentalists.
Amazing how accurate he was on that one long before there was an earth day!
What I did want to say is that Fred was wrong when he said that succinylcholine is not dangerous to people. Perhaps he was told that by someone and having no medical background himself he believed it, but, I am an RN and succinylcholine is used to paralyze patients in the hospital so they can have a breathing tube inserted to go on a ventilator (breathing machine). It works by paralyzing a person and stops their breathing leaving them conscious but unable to move or breath; It is not a tranquilizer at all. If given to a human without them being put on a ventilator to breathe, they would defiantly die. That is also why you would never see them legally used for hunting. The government would never allow hunters to purchase this powerful drug over the counter like that.
I suspect Fred did not know that about the drug used in the pods, but whatever you think about his use of them I think in his mind it was more humane for the animal and he hoped they would preserve the legal right to hunt with a bow. I hunt with a bow today because of Fred, and I will always maintain he was a great man and if not for him we would not have the sport we have today.
Tom
