Since we have the opportunity to sell many different items through our eBay returns store, certain things start to stand out that seem to sell extremely well. One item that stands out is the old BEAR recurve bows.

On a trip out of town recently, we stopped by an antique store like we usually do and saw this recurve bow in the corner. Since we were already somewhat familiar with how well bows sold when selling them for a client, we naturally gravitated towards him. It appeared to be in excellent condition and came with a quiver and 3 different sets of arrows. The asking price was $100.00 and we finally got it all for $75.00.

Based on the dating procedures listed below, we determined that this was a 1965 Fred Bear Kodiak Recurve bow in excellent condition. It was a 60″ bow with a 44# pull.

After taking the bow to our shop, we noticed that inside the large quiver was a smaller quiver. Based on a slight embossed mark on this smaller leather quiver we pulled out, we were able to date it to the late 1940s.

We decided to split this into 3 different auctions and started all three at $9.99. Auction results are listed at the end of this article.

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GOING OUT WITH YOUR FRED BEAR BOW

There are several features and changes that have been made to bear bows over the years that will help reduce the age of your bow or your potential investment.

1. The serial number: These bows often have what appears to be a handwritten inscription on one end that gives a serial number along with the length and weight of the bow. This serial number works great for dating Bear Bows from 1965 to 1969 when the first digit of the serial number is the year of manufacture.

For example, a serial number of 5L212 would be a 1965 Bow.

Prior to 1965, the serial numbers on all Bear bows were reset every month, making these bows nearly impossible to date by serial number alone. The “K” series of serial numbers (for example, KZ9672) began in 1970.

2. Patent Mark: Most of the BEAR bows we have sold have the US logo and patents printed along with the CANADA 1953 date. This date that is printed on all bows made between 1953 and 1972 is simply the date of patent for a functional recurve limb and has nothing to do with the actual model year.

3. Decals and Screen Printing: In 1948, the small Running Bear decal was the first and was later replaced by the large Standing Bear decal in mid-1953. The large Standing Bear decal also has the words “Glass Powered Bow” below the Standing Bear. Bear.

The large Standing Bear decal was used until 1955 when it was replaced by a screen print of the identification on the arches. In 1956 serigraphy appeared on all bows.

4. All Wood vs Laminate – If your bow is ALL wood (no laminations of any kind), then your bow had to be made before mass productions began in 1949.

  • If the ALL wooden bow is stamped “Bear Products” in any way, it would have been made before the early to mid 1940’s.
  • If it is stamped “Bear Archery”, it would have been made AFTER the early-mid 1940’s and BEFORE 1949.
  • Also the wooden bows with a small “Running Bear” decal can be dated to 1948.

5. The Leather Grip: ALL Bear bows had leather grips until 1959. In 1959 the Kodiak Special removed the leather grip and in 1961 the Kodiak did the same, as did the Grizzly in 1964.

6. The Coin Medallion: Starting in 1959 all Bear bows had a coin medallion of one type of metal or another. Approximate date ranges for the type of currency used are shown below.

Copper coin – 1959

Aluminum – 1960-1961

Pewter – 1962

Brass – 1963 – 1970

Nickel-Silver – 1971-1972

ALL coins were flush to the wood until 1972. In late 1972 the coin was raised above the surface of the bow and came in gold and chrome coated plastic and is still used on Bear bows today.

7. Manufacturer Location – In 1978, Bear moved all manufacturing and offices to Gainesville, Florida. If your arc shows Gainesville then it was made after 1978

8. Arch model: Check the arch model. Below is a table of annual production of the most popular Bear Bows.

Wood Handle Disassembly 1969-1972
Victor Custom Wood C-Tower 1973-1975

ABC detachable magnesium grip 1971-1978

Static Recurve Kodiak 1950-1953

Kodiak Recurve 1954-1966

Super Kodiak 1967-1976

Static Recurve Grizzly 1949-1957

Recurve Grizzly 1958-1978

48 Super Magnum 1966-1976

Kodiak Magnum 52″ ​​1961-1977

Kodiak Hunter 58″ and 60″ 1967-1977

Tamerlane 1962-1968

Tamerlane HC-30 1965-1967

Tamerlane HC-300 1968-1972

Kodiak Special 1955-1967

Temujin 1968-1970

Pie Box 1968-1972

Victor Patriot 1973-1977

Victor 1972

Polar (recurve) 1957-1970

Alaskan (semi-recurve leather grip) 1959-1961

Alaska (recurve) 1966-1970

Tigercat 1964-1978

Bear Cat 1964-1971

Black bear 1972-1978

Little Bear 1965-1978

With this information, you should be able to get very close to the date of your Bear Bow, if not pinpoint it in the year.

If you are looking to price your bow, I suggest you first log into your eBay account and do a full auction search on general keywords that match your bow i.e. Bear Grizzly Recurve and see what sold in the last 30 days.

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Our eBay Results: Within 6 hours of posting our 1965 Bear Bow on its own from $9.99, it had already hit $152.50, which was exciting but not surprising based on our research. What was surprising was that it remained at $152.50 for the next 6 days. On the last day with 8 minutes remaining, it went up to $182.50 with over 40 viewers. Usually in these types of auctions we tend to refresh and refresh and refresh the auction all the way to the end to see the bids, but we got busy writing more listings and forgot. When we remembered to go back and check the auction, it was over and finished at $282.55.

The other 2 Quivers and Arrows auctions sold for a total of $80.00. So our initial investment of $75.00 in an antique store ended up with $362.55 in sales. That was almost a $300.00 profit (less gas and eBay fees, of course).