Finding this gem of a film interview is a "hunter's dream", for as his voice came to life I could also hear the wind, water, and wildlife whisking along their way; the restless spirit forever roams! 🎼"In the wind, he's still alive!" 🎵 I hear "Fred Bear" -Uncle Ted. 🎸
Religious TV network showed Fred Bear hunting video's when they were not showing their preaching. I cut grass to buy a bow, I target shot and hunted. In a neighborhood loaded with drugs and drug dealers, that local TV station probably kept me out of drugs and jail.
At 65yrs; I still have and use my Ben Pearson 66" #40 lb recurve bow, bought it used in the 60's. I hunt Indian Style...`still hunt', finger tip shooter, with no sights! I can hit as good as the guys with compound bows, with sights and triggers! If memory serves...Sears sold sporting goods with Fred Bears name on them! I always loved to watch Fred make his shots!
Fred Bear was not only the inventor of modern archery. He is the reason we have archery hunting in Michigan!!!! He went to the Department of Conservation (DNR). About an archery season. D.O.C. Said if you can put an arrow through a 3/16 thick sheet of boiler plate steel. We'll think about it. After some thought,Fred thought about some hard wood to use. I believe it was red cedar? The right steel blade. The very first shot it went into the steel plate!!! Thank you Fred!!! THE MAN,THE MYTH,THE LEGEND!!!!
This was filmed 10 years before I was born. Still amazes me when I see anything on what he did. We have all this fancy tech now yet every modern day archer has roots going back to what this man accomplished
Never loose that appreciation or respect for those that came long before you. Some of best historical figures have such a fountain of knowledge that you have to see to believe. Even the worst historical figures you can learn important lessons from. Knowledge is and forever will be power. You keep that in mind and take it to the bank.
I own a Bear bow that Fred Bear gave to my uncle who was a game warden in Colorado in 1960. It was a gift for my uncle helping Fred line up a place to deer hunt. I am very proud to own it.
I grew up in a hunting family, but it was always with a firearm. I thought I was an accomplished hunter, until I first went in the woods with a bow when I was about 20 years old, and I quickly found out that I knew nothing about the natural habits of deer. Fred is right about the different skills that are needed to consistently harvest a whitetail deer. You learn to appreciate the animals, and you are observing them in their natural setting. You experience other animals that you don't normally see. The way a fox jumps on a mouse. The slow lumbering porcupine, and all the other wildlife that you see simply living their lives. Age has caught up with me, but I will always have a lifetime of stories shared with my hunting partners.
Thanks Mike for sharing this interview, I have to say I am jealous.... What amazes the most about Fred Bear is that he always seemed very down to earth and concerned about passing his passion for hunting onto future generations.
My first real wood bow which I still have and shot 55 lb 58 inch Super Kodiak killed over 30 whitetails with it since 1968. I wish I could have talked to him just once it would have been a true honor to be in the presence of a true legend of a good man like Mr. Bear! I've got a Ben Pearson Big Ben Longbow so sweet and Ted's Whackmaster also and a few others. I'll shoot till I can't draw anymore.
What a fantastic interview. Fred was a gentleman besides being a very successful bow hunter he was also a humble man. I wish I could have met him what a man!
He signed a book for me when I was a boy growing up in Michigan. I think it was in the early 1980s. I treasure that book to this day. Yes, he told me whitetail deer are the hardest game to hunt but if turkeys could smell they would be the hardest. I live in Kodiak now and I treasure my 1973 Kodiak Hunter recurve given to me by my father which I shoot in my back yard.
The legendary archer Fred Bear said it best "If some of our teenage thrill seekers really want to go out and get a thrill. Let them up into the north west and let them tangle with Grizzly Bear or Polar Bear or Brown Bear and get that effect that will cleanse the soul."
@@TwoPyramid He was just an old man who enjoyed staying young at heart. Clint Eastwood is very similar to him. He says that he never let's the old man in. Meaning that he doesn't allow himself to act like an old man. It's way more fun to take as much pleasure as you can in life.
Ted Nugent had great respect for Fred Bear, So much he wrote a Song about The Man. I wouldn’t doubt he’s been Hunting with Fred. Great Interview Mike. 👍❤️
woow! I'm gald i watched this vid. i started gun hunting in 78. my cousins had bows, they hunted with. i didn't think bows was a good enough weapon to hunt with. by 85 it got to easy for me to hunt with a gun. sep. 86 i bought a bow, a bear whitetail. i killed 2 deer with it that year. now i have killed i don't know how many deer with it. people now days think they have to have the most expensive bow to hunt with. 1 of my cousins tell some of these people they don't need them, that he has a cousin that uses a old bear whitetail and has killed all kind of deer with it. it's the hunter not the bow that takes the animal. god bless all and especially Fred
This man was my idol as a 10 year in 1978 my father who was a very good Archer bought me a bear cub recurve 20 pound pull and I think by the following fall there wasn't a squirrel to be found in my neighborhood. Thanks for this video.
Man you have been blessed. I love watching fred talk and tell stories. You definitely have something here, not many can say they have met Fred. Let alone have it to look back on. Thanks for sharing this pearl.
I have the last picture ever signed by Fred Bear. It was made out to me and was acquired by a friend who owned the oldest Bear dealership in Pa. He went up there to hunt with Fred and got it for me. It is my most prized possession. I remember going to an elementary school and watching the video of Fred shooting his Brown bear and was hooked on archery and have been to this day. He was the true father of Modern day archery.
I have shot archery since i was 5 yrs old im 52 now, I have met Fred Bear more than 20 times in my life, In the 70's and 80s My parents shot professional archery My mother was a National Champion twice and won dozens of shoots, she shot for Jennings bows, My father shot for Bear and won dozens of awards as well . I have several photos of Fed Bear shaking my dad's hand and my Mom's He was a great guy always had time to listen to kids questions and give quick lessons , He used to present awards at some of the larger Shooting events. He was a Great guy he promoted Archery with integrity, Honesty and zeal.
I agree, during my encounters with Mr. Bear, it was always Mr. Bear. What an outstanding person and a man, a true gentleman. an honor to have know him and a treasure to have my own interview experience with Mr. Bear. Rick Mansberger
I am an avid tradition bow hunter, I just found a 1956 bear bow in an antique shop and I will be in the sticks this season using this work of art, love some. Fred Bear bows
The fact that I haven’t seen a comment yet about Fred Bear having been a snap shooter amazes me. Snap shooting has been a taboo thing in some of the archery circles I’ve been in, yet one of archery’s greatest legends was indeed a snap shooter. There needs to be more material out there on how to snap shoot efficiently and effectively.
I met Fred Bear back in about late 77or early 78. Didn’t realize who I was talking to at first, it was at a taxidermy shop in Texas, he was having something mounted. Then the shop owner walked in and told me who he was. I was just getting into bow hunting and had just purchased a 60 lb bear compound bow. What a pleasure it was to meet this very humble and unassuming man.
Great Interveiw and I am proud to say that according to Fred that I am still friends with the greatest bowhunter in the world, Ed Bilderback. I have been to Alaska twice to visit with him and he set me up on a bowhunt on Hawkins Island. We tried to get him to go with us but he said he was gonna stay home, then when we got back he said he wished he would have gone along......Happy Hunting
Thank you so much! I'm smiling right along with you. When I was young my cousin and I took our bows to the woods and dreamed of someday meeting Fred Bear, "The Greatest of all time."
Awesome Video I just did a wiki on My Bear basically just to find out when he passed away ....Well 2 things surprised me ...1 He didn't start bow hunting till he was 29 ...........2 He was born in Waynesboro Pa which has been my home since 1988 ...
Very cool man. I watched Ted Nugent talking about Fred the other day and I thought I'd look him up again. I used to watch his films back in the 80's as a young man when I started bow hunting and worked at a Bass Pro store that was bought by a local and called "Bass Masters" which had an archery shop and I setup bows, made arrows, etc.. and hunted and loved it.. Fred Bear was the reason I got into the sport.. Thanks for the old film. Very, very cool.. Again. Thanks From the woods of South Central Indiana. Tim
I have a ton of respect for Mr. Bear, but he is not the father of modern archery or "pioneer" as you say. He spoke of 1933. I have 12 bows behind me right now made between 1923 and 1933. I have many from the 1800s. To me, being a pioneer of archery is like being a pioneer of rock throwing. It is in our nature. My favorite bow hasn't changed much in 700 years. This year marks my 40th archery season. I do not attribute it to Fred Bear, or Ishi, or the Thompson brothers. I attribute it to my nature. Happy hunting everyone.
Many people idolize folks like Fred Bear but don't consider the real history of the man, how he got into the archery business and why he became a celebrity simply to promote that business and it's success. It started out as a simple means of marketing his product that he didn't really have any qualifications at all to develop the way he had . Without much thanks or media mention given to knowledgeable people and the wisdom they shared with him. It's become quite a folk tale. But Fred Bear didn't even pick up a bow until he was 27 years old after he had met the founder of wing archery and shot one of his bows and learned about the success of the wing archery company. Fred Bear become more of a celebrity than a Bowman. And he didn't make many bows at all before the design and manufacturing of Bear bows was outsourced. And he capitalized on his marketing savvy and his celebrity world wide. This video has a lot of language in it that clearly shows how naive consumers are. I've shot the best Bear bows out there and I've shot the best Wing bows out there past and present. They're both very nice instruments however nothing compares to a handmade tool built by the person who designed it. A wing archery bow is no less than fantastic really symbol of American craftsmanship. The wing name was sold when times got tough shit happens. But the man still makes bows with his son right here on American soil, for the American Hunter.
What's missing in modern times is the humility of guys like Fred Bear...I With too many " hunters " after the shot behavior is any thing but humble ; in fact it can be downright disgusting....we can't allow these inexperienced thrill addicts degrade hunting ethics...
Howard Hill lived near my home in Alabama in the 1960s when I was just a boy that loved Archery . Sadly I never got to meet him even though he visited my parents friend often .😮
I met Fred Bear in 1979. Had an autographed book until my friend" borrowed it years ago. Modeled a bear bow for sales as well. His book was incredible! Also got to see all his trophys before there was a museum. He lived on bivens arm here in gainesville fla before he died.
You know that I have a arrow pouch from Bear Archery the only thing I could afford but I don't think many people are interested in bow hunting like IAM now but welcome to the future.
My family didn't hunt or fish. I was 36 before I picked up a bow. I love going out with the prospect of even seeing a deer. I haven't got one yet but I'm going to plan the perfect hunting trip soon.
God bless fred.hes gone.im in my way out.you new kids dont know what you missed in life.the old ways are gone.you dident even get too see the old farms in operation.good luck world.goodbye.be good kids and fly the us flag for me.
He is truly the master archery great and my friend he inspired so many into archery and my 1st bow in1975 was a bear take down bow ! He is a great person !
Regardless if you hunt deer with a bow, a handgun or a rifle Fred Bear single handedly changed deer hunting forever. I can remember when he left us back in 1988 (can't possibly be over 30 years already) and everything....and I mean EVERYTHING... Fred taught us still holds true today even with all of the unimaginable advancements in hunting technology since he passed a way 30 years ago. He was way ahead of his time. Take Fred's 10 Commandments of Hunting and memorize it.
Thank you for this production, I am a career military dude and a Hard Rocker, I can see why Mr. Nugent Loved this Great American Man. "Mr. Bear" is the reason I served, his Spirit is Free, like Mine. Please tell Mr. Nugent thanks for the great Rock & Roll that will never die...Native American & U.S. Marine
I cant believe how Humble Mr.Bear is , Wow this guy in my opinion is a Real Man , you are very very lucky to interview this Legend , i would put it up there with interviewing Paul McCartney , Mick Jagger , John Lennon , Jim Brown , Dale Earnhardt ...you get what i mean haha
I had the privilege of meeting Fred Bear at a mini film show he did around this time period. It was at a Archery/Shoe store called Boots and Bows at the Fort Gatlin shopping plaza in Orlando, FL. Fred showed a variety of his films including the grizzly bear hunt shown in your video and he told stories about each hunt. At the end of the event he had autographed photos and even signed my ProLine bow which I still have. I remember watching American Sportsman on TV and was always thrilled when Fred was on the show. He was a great inspiration to me and got me involved in archery at an early age ( 11 years o;d if memory serves). I still actively shoot a bow now at 65. I shoot in 3D competition and shoot a primitive stick bow shoot at our gun range. I have also been an bow hunter for many years. All thanks to the shows I saw of Fred Bear! Thanks for showing this interview! You made my day. I think I’ll go shoot my bow for a while now!
Fred was a Michigan guy for most of his life, but I'm proud to say he was born and raised here in south-central PA - also where he killed his first deer. Thank you, Mike Avery, for all of this.
This would be a great video if the dude shut up. Let the Fred Bear footage speak for itself. But we have to hear some nobody interject and reminisce every few minutes. . Unfortunate really.
Hey Michael, I appreciate what you’re saying. I included every word Fred said to me in that interview. Unfortunately I don’t have any more. I had to set the scene and include the questions so the conversation would make sense.
Most boys will be taught with a rifle, how to track and keep yourself fed but when you become a man and learn the Mystical Flight of the Arrow everything takes a very emotional turn. Thank you Fred Bear
I've owned four Bear recurve Bows since the mid 60s. When he went to the compound bow my wife bought me one for Christmas in the 70s. Fred and Howard Hill were the Icons of Archery in my opinion!
