The GOD FATHER of Modern Archery! The Story of Fred Bear
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2021
- For so many bowhunters there’s this… mythical connection within the experience of chasing wild animals in wild places. With that connection comes frequent thoughts of adventures and what it must have been like for early archery pioneers and woodsmen. That connection is derived from one soul, one man, who many consider to be The Godfather of modern archery.
Born in Waynesboro Pennsylvania on March 5th 1902 Fred Bear was the second of three children. One would think with all the famous Fred Bear hunting folktales and legends that he must have popped out of the womb with stick and string in hand. However that wasn’t the case, in fact Fred Bear did not even pick up a bow until he was nearly 30.
Early on Fred worked as a glue maker/printer for the Chrsyler Company in Detriot Michigan. As a plant manager Fred found himself out of work after a building fire left the operation in ashes sometime during the Great Depression.
Through that adversity, the Bear products Company was found. In 1933 Fred and a former coworker, Charles Piper, through together $1200 and the company was off to the races operating out of his garage. But the initial focus of the company wasn’t archery, it was silk screening.
In 1938 Fred hired Nels Grumley, a woodworker and bowyer, at that point the company started offering hand made wooden bows. In 1940 Fred sold the advertising side of Bear Products, Bear Archery was then born.
In 1947 Fred Bear moved his wife to Grayling Michigan, where they lived out of tent along a river in efforts to keep their personal expenses down to make a go of their archery business.
So where did Fred’s love of archery come from? Inspired by a meeting of Art Young in the 1920’s and Art’s film Adventures in Alaska, Fred became infatuated with sport.
His obsession for archery quickly turns his personal shooting efforts into some tangible accomplishments as he began winning archery tournaments that include Michigan’s target archery state championships in 1934, 1937, and 1939.
Beyond target archery Fred also helped create Michigan’s first bowhunting season in 1937 which prompted others states to follow suit.
In 1942 Fred’s first cinematic project would break ground as he became the very first Michigan bowhunter to ever harvest a whitetail on film.
That film project was just the beginning of Fred’s adventures. He continued his bowhunting film pursuits around the world as he displayed his woodsmen ship and archery skills on elusive big game species, which included Alaskan brown bear, caribou, moose, stone sheep, bengal tiger, African lion, a 4 ton elephant shot at 40 yards, a Cape buffalo, and even a polar bear.
Fred’s adventures were critical in growing the sport of archery hunting throughout the years leaving a long last legacy and impact on the hunting community. Not only were his filmed adventures entertaining but they were also educational by design. In all his efforts, the goal of growing the sport of bowhunting for all was always top of mind.
As you can see Fred’s personal accomplishments are astounding and we haven’t even gotten into the impact of the Bear Archery Company. As a true pioneer in the archery world, Fred Bear earned patents on tools like the Razorhead Broadhead, the modern shooting glove, fiberglass bow backings, the quiver, and so many more archery tools used around the world.
One would think Bear archery was one of the first compound bow manufacturers in the world but that wasn’t the case. Fred’s focus was on recurve and long bows. In fact, it took years for Bear Archery to find success in the compound world with their model the Whitetail Hunter.
While Bear Archery has changed hands throughout the years, they still to this day manufacture high quality bows at every price category imaginable. And doing so while carrying Fred’s cornerstone business philosophies of keeping customers first priority and passing along Fred Bears 10 Commandments.
At the age of 86 Fred Bear passed away in 1988 but his legacy and impacts on bowhunting will live on forever. While we all should appreciate his efforts, personality, and accomplishments the modern day bowhunter will likely never fathom where we would be without the life work of Fred Bear. For so many bowhunters there’s this… mythical connection within the experience of chasing wild animals in wild places. With that connection comes frequent thoughts of adventures and what it must have been like for early archery pioneers and woodsmen. That connection is derived from one soul, one man, who many consider to be The Godfather of modern archery.
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I met Fred bear my senior year in high school in Gainesville Florida 1984, I won my division with Bear compound bow, and he signed a Fred bear hat for me. Great humble man.
Thumbs up doesn't do this legend justice.
Own a Fred Bear recurve and Whitetail hunter. Both have been used to take deer and bear. Watching his films got me into the sport.
I’m a proud employee of Bear Archery and it’s amazing even today they hand craft all their products right here in Gainesville FL amazing company
I just got my adapt the other day😎
Amazing man think God for people like Fred Bear a true legend
Thankful that men like Fred Bear paved the way for archery community. A lot can be learned from a man like him. Thank you for continuing to provide great content.
I'm 76 and I grew up idolizing him. Still do! Taught the family traditional, too.
Haha. Im 26 and grew up idolizing him, and john wayne of course.
This man was my idol growing up in the sixties. To this day I hunt with a longbow and make my own arrows and I still his broadheads. His inovations were so ahead of the times. Thanks Papa Bear!!
Makes me feel a little better, I didn't get hooked on the bow till I was 31.
I have a Bear super grizzly recurve bow it's a 50lbs bow got it on my 13th birthday from a good uncle , and now seeing this video makes me very happy and proud to have it , thank you Fred thank you.
They don't make em like him that often these days
Still the best traditional riser grip , the most comfortable bow to hold in your hand , and I have collected many traditional brands , but I still love them all. Fred Bear, Howard Hill, Art Young all are my favorite archer's.
Very grateful for his life work and efforts in paving the road for modern bow hunters like us!!
Much respect to a true legend 🏹
My grandpa knew him as a child and my great grandfather (bob smock sr) was one of his top employees in grayling
Godfather for sure...His old TV clips got me hooked! From shooting rabbits in the neighborhood as a kid with a bear recurve to my first compound deer kill.. it had Fred Bears Name on it..Always remembered 2 of his 10 hunting commandments to this day (best camo is sit down and be quite and nothing is more expensive than regret) .. Great overview of the true Godfather...
Nothing is more expensive than regret. Very power words applicable all through life!!! Hope all is well Jim!!!!!!
My first big game animal with a bow was an old bear bow that I bought used. I spent countless hours practicing until I was good enough to hunt with it.
When I upgraded to a new bow I passed that old bear bow on to a friend and he got his first archery elk with it, upgraded and passed it on. His son then got his first elk with it.
I always wondered how many firsts that bow had before I bought it.
@@just_me2797 that is so cool that so many folks got that kind of use out of that classic bow...simply put, them were the days and man do I long for those simple times in this crazy f'd up world...
@@jimreed3904 Agreed. I believe that now more than ever people need to be out in the wild experiencing nature. People need to be learning and brushing up on their skills.
It has been a few years for me after a horse riding accident that caused a head injury, but I am ready to get back out there.
Even the little things like learning the beneficial and medicinal foliage in ones area can be very important.
I have been the epitome of a proper outdoorsman my entire life here in Montana and it was extremely depressing to fight with a disability that kept me from it.
@@just_me2797 I love Montana. Good elk, mulie, and Whitetail hunting
In the wind he’s still alive!!!
Like ol hank
A true legend..
Fred bear is a true legend
I have an old set of handyman books and it had storries of Fred. I'm in the younger generation and never got to know him that well but I've read those stories countless times. Thats where i learned the first rules for hunting that still apply.
@@sea-dawg 18
@@sea-dawg cool. My great grandfather gave me the books. Always cool when family passed down stuff like that
True American pioneer🏹 they’re supposed to have statue of him put up in Grayling sometime in the near future. In the wind, he’s still alive!!
I'm sure not long after they get the statue up, some idiots will come along and tear it down, Then they'll claim he was a racist.
@@hawkeye1376 that or peta will be there protesting it.
Some PETA gang would take it down!
Kyle Rittenhouse will be weilding a bear bow nearby
The legend!!! It doesn't get any better!!! R.I.P. Fred !
Such an impact in the archery world- truly a pioneer
Back in the seventies I had that first compound bow called the whitetail Hunter
I wish someone would take up production of the Fred Bear Razorheads again. Not only have they proven themselves in field over decades, they also look cool. And they are easy to sharpen in the field.
The fact he was a "left handed" shooter by nature or choice just made him that much cooler.
Awesome! And I can say the bear customer service and staff are great! They have carried on the name in a big way!
The staff are great. But i whent by the factory in 09. On vacation and just could cry. The mueseum was gone. Just sad sad. I was their back in 90. After he passed. And it was like a hunters paradise bows of his whole life on display it was nice. Out side shooting range. Plus little wildlife walk way.
@@iceblueeyes9455 yea I guess bass pro bought all the animals and distributed them to all of there stores. That is kinda messed up should have kept them all together. Atleast keep them all together in one store. They could have got a lot of business if they would have did that to. People would have traveled just to see that one store
@@garrettstraffon608 yes definitely. Escalade has ended up with indian archery. Bear archery. Jennings Darton archery. And i think other day martin archery. Whent under new owner ship.i don't hate escalade its just they discontinue. Items that don't show a profit every quarter.
20 years ago I stopped at the Bear Archery Museum in Gainsville Fl on the way home from Disneyworld. Was an amazing place, could have spent a week there just admiring Mr. Fred's many, many mounts. Was amazed at the different game he hunted with a bow.
Seriously, that guy is a national treasure.
RIP to the greatest
Fred is my hero
A true legend
Got to love Fred bear God bless
Fred was a Southpaw , can't beat that ! Roasted sheep ribs was one of his favorites .
My first real bow was a Bear Black bear 45# recurve that I still have! I acquired it in 1973!
Passion. Follow it.
We as archers owe this man everything!
Fred bear is also a phenomenal song from Ted Nugent. He wrote the song in homage to Fred.
Well done video!
That’s cool!
I remember Fred Bear. He was friends with my grandmother and was a tough son of a bitch. We lived out on the river at Burton Landing and Fred would come by and show us how to pull a bow. The Great Generation.
This is a great video creation of an Archery Trailmaker. !!
Great video please do more on Mr Bear thanks.
Nice video. Thanks from Texas.
He is an icon!! All ive ever used is bear bows.i started out in 1989 with a bear whitetail 2.brass pin sights no peep no loop no fancy gadgets.killed my first deer with a bow with it.moved up to a bear instinct then a bear aproach! Also own a bear kronical crossbow.have taken countless animals & toore up countless targets with the bows.fred bear is my idol.he is a true archer.ill never shoot anything but a bear bow! They are made for hunting.thank you fred bear for all the adventures & memories! "Walk with me down these trails again".
Fred Bear...the best there ever was.
Or will be
The best of the best
Fred Bear 🐐
Great video... Who disliked this?
Whomever disliked, I hope both sides of their pillow are warm at night🔥
Fred Bear had a great influence on my life.... I am now nearly 70
My hero ❤️
My dad owned a Bear Grizzly I'm a left handed shooter and it was right handed so used it anyway but I was never uncomfortable.
Back in the late sixties when I was about 10, I saw Fred Bear and I think Ben Pearson shooting Canada geese with bow and arrow.
My interest started in archery when I was in 7th grade, they had a list of intramural activities and I wasn't and still am not into sports like baseball football soccer that kind of stuff never interested me , I was always into shooting though, shooting anything was fun to me , always had diffrent bb, pellet guns and sling shots, well back yo the intramural list I was reading it and the last thing on the list was archery and a little footnote on the side of it said depending on interest meaning if there wasn't enough people they weren't going to do it so I talked a couple of my buddies into signing up for it also in hopes that we would have enough people luckily we did, so from the first time I pulled the back that super cheap I think it was like 15 lb pull on that recurve I was hooked, that Christmas all I wanted I didn't care if I didn't get anything else was a bear compound bow a set of arrows a release and a quiver, luckily I got it my first compound was a bear silver bear Compound it had a blue Riser and silver limbs, this was 43 years ago I ended up giving that bow to a girlfriend at the time's brother-in-law which we were good friends at the time for his daughter, all it needed was to be restrung I doubt he even ever did anything with it and I am still regretful that I gave it to him I should have kept it, it probably ended up in a garage somewhere sitting in the corner and ended up getting thrown away I bet, a little story about that bow, I had asked the intramural teacher for archery if I could bring in my own bow to shoot and he said yes so this was the '80s I brought it in on the school bus along with my arrows all setup in the quiver, today if you did that they would end up calling the police lol,
So I couldn't wait for the end of the day when intramurals started I grabbed all my stuff and went out to the back side of the school, the targets they were using were kind of like the Olympic Style about 4 ft wide and they stood on a tripod with all the different colors and then the 10 Ring in the center of course, to say I had been practicing with that bow is an understatement I had probably been shooting it about 2 hours a day for about 2 months since I had gotten it at Christmas and I got very good at it, the Bows the school supplied like I said we're only like 15 lb pull so we were only shooting from about 25 ft, I get up to the line nock an arrow pull back line up my sights and Let It Go the arrow proceeds to hit dead center in the 10 Ring go through the target and keeps going for like another 40 50 yards where it hit a tree on the other side of the street behind the school lol, the Wimpy School bows could barely put the arrow into the target never mind go through it LOL needless to say after that the teacher asked me not to bring my bow to class anymore, lolol
I was kind of bummed but everybody thought it was really cool including me, so that started my lifelong fascination with archery, I've got a decent collection now of recurves and a couple compounds Dartin , Samick,Martin,Great Plains ,Samick,Bowtech,Hoyt,Pse,Hottest,, of course Bear,
The 🐐
I have two old boxes of his wood arrows w/ bear broads heads still unopened and a dozen old bear bows I got at tag sale from the 1970 s that’s how I got started , and don’t forget Barry Gene Howard Rodger Myles only a few of the Best , I shoot a And old 55 lbs grizzly , good shooting
I became infatuated with archery when I watched fread on the American sportsman. Mule deer hunt on Indian reservation in Az.
Work in Michigan and Ted Nuggets dad was friends with Fred Bear.
Just found some real old hard back books about him today. Plan on reading them he's a legend in my world noone better then him except Burien Ferguson I'd would've paid to see them too have a shoot off👍👍👍
A very interesting observation about Fred's shooting is that he learned to time DRAW with QUICK releases. You seldom if ever saw Fred pull the bow back, anchor for seconds, then release. Fred had the MOTION of both DRAW and QUICK release. Sure it took a lot of practice on his part, but he had it down pat.
With critters running, Fred then had to calculate in his mind DISTANCE, SPEED of the arrow, LEAD ahead of the critter, and critical INSTANT release.
ANYONE can learn what Fred was a master at doing. All is required is a stick bow, trusted arrows to match the bow, and a TON of practice. Of course the same can be learned by compound bows, though that is a different technique than what Fred grew to master.
Fred may be the first and the last at the technique of mastering long bow releases. Watch all of his videos at how he did it, and you will shoot better than Fred. MAYBE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In the wind he is still alive!
fred and byron were the man
I have an old Fred Bear Bow, looks like it may be 1/2 recurve and 1/2 long bow. (not sure) It has a 1953 Patent.
Ted Nugent has a song named 'Fred Bear' which was about him, a classic.
Ted sent me here... 🎸
I'm thinking about next year's season, long before this one ends. Learning from each year's mistakes, and planning how not to repeat them. Also tree stands are overrated and an unnecessary expenditure.
He and his wife moved into a TENT on the bank of a river in order to keep expenses low and put all their money into the business..
Oh my oh my, more like the godfather of the sexy outdoor type we have come to love....
There is no doubt the vest camo pattern is sit down and be quite.
I have the bear logo tattooed on my arm always will hunt with a bear my camo has changed and strategies but my bow will always be a bear
What did Fred Bear shoot?
Man he was a beast and noone shoots the way he did he did it like the Indians
Huge influencer for the archery
Community. How about Howard
Hill.
Semper In Venari
WHAT ABOUT CHARLES MINNICH??? 🏹
I inherited 4 like new Fred Bear recurve bow's recently. dated 1963 I believe . They worth anything?
Worth more than youd think to a serious collector. But id keep them.
The date that you see on the decal on the bow is probably 1953. That is a patent date, and not the date that the bows were made.
Was it convenience or coincidence that the Chrysler manufacturing plant burned during the depression? Well for archery hunters around the world I'ld say it was a blessing, if not for that and being out of work maybe Fred bear never starts his archery company.
If you compare this story to the new hawkeye tv show. It really makes reality more amazing than any poorly made fantasy.
Like there are women who would marry you and live in a tent?
Not on netflix there aren't.
Wait where’s spring Bonnie
godfather is one word. you're welcome.
After 53 years I still use Bear bows and Bear Razorheads. I’ve always looked up to the man and the legend. We’ll never see the likes again.
Ted nugent jre brought me here lol
Ben Pearson was the true pioneer, Fred was more the Edison of archery...wonder if ever paid Tom Jennings widow?
Took some gonads to say that, but you're right. As great a man as Fred Bear was, Pearson was out in front, promoting the sport of archery and making equipment available to the common man. Having owned and shot both maker's bows, in my humble opinion, Ben Pearson produced a better quality bow. Shakespeare Archery was another line that produced, again, in my humble opinion, a better product than Bear. All that being said, Bear is still producing traditional equipment and Pearson and Shakespeare are not.
What about Howard hill ?
Cleanse the soul
Fnaf
Don’t capitalize the G in God in the title because you are talking about a person not the one and only God.
He capitalized all of "god father". Emphasizing the fraise. I would agree with you otherwise but this was used differently.
@@HickLif3 I would think you would lowercase the phrase not uppercase.
@@sdfishingduke5658 just imagine him raising his voice or yelling it to emphasize “god father” like some one do “the BEST of all time”
@@HickLif3 ok
@politicallyinsensitive ??
Didn't hear anything about only killing what you plan to eat. Sport hunters are not people to look up to
So I'm guessing Native Americans recurve bow just didn't exist for a millenia before this Dude was Born huh?
Or Natives didn't Hunt Bow and Arrow before 1930's? Natives were masters in the woods. Masters at Tracking! It's known also Natives were the deadliest with a bow and arrow. It's written in history!
Yea I get it. He made archery into a business. But Archery wasn't Born with him. So he couldn't be the God Father.
Modern archery, The Godfather of modern archery
He’s the god father of modern archery hunting, and not to mention natives didn’t use recurves
Your right, we should never admire the accomplishments of anyone who progresses things forward. I'm going to sell my AR and get a flintlock rifle because after all Armalite didn't come up with the first rifle. If you really want to know who first created the bow it is believed to be the Africans.
Damn you Fred Bear, how dare you.
As the joke of a President we have right now would say "come on man"
Native Americans would trade their wife and or kids to get their hands on guns. Oh and I guess white people never shot bows and arrows until they came to North America
Well. Number one, the natives weren't masters of the woods. They were masters of drinking fire water and stealing white man's possessions. Which is why they were treated so harshly. Everyone forgets that many natives would attack and kill Americans for no other reason then to eliminate them, then took what they wanted.