The History of Bear Archery

Bear Archery is a company that manufactures bows and other archery products. The company was founded by Fred Bear during the Great Depression. Fred Bear's passion was archery throughout his entire life. He won Michigan's target archery championship in 1934, 1937 and 1939. Today, Bear Archery sells bows with molded compression limbs made with continuous uncut fibers and is one of the leading archery product companies.

  1. Early Years

    • Bear came from Waynesboro, Penn., and was born on March 5, 1902. When he was 21, he left his family's farm and traveled to Detroit to look for opportunities in the city's growing auto industry. While in Detroit, he saw a documentary on Art Young's bow hunting experiences, which inspired him to start crafting his own bows and bow strings. In 1933, Bear joined a partnership that produced advertising materials for Detroit's car industry. When he had free time, Bear produced archery equipment for a group of friends that appreciated his work. After six years of this, Bear's archery business demanded so much time and attracted so many people that it became a full-time business.

    1942

    • Detroit Free Press editor Jack Van Coevering traveled to Michigan with Bear to produce a series of films featuring Bear hunting with his bow in the wild. Theses documentaries, combined with being featured in various outdoor magazines, helped spark an interest in Bear Archery products and the sport of archery itself. Bear was known for his signature felt Borsalino hat and weathered face.

    1947-1967

    • Bear took his company and moved to Grayling, Mich., in 1947. During the next 20 years, he traveled the globe on various bow hunting and film making adventures. During one of his hunting adventures, Bear defeated an African elephant with TV personality Arthur Godfrey by his side. Arthur then told the story of this feat on international radio. This international radio broadcast, along with a feature article in "Life" magazine, sparked even more of an interest in Bear Archery.

    1967-1988

    • Bear died in 1988 but continued his bow hunting and archery product production until he died. He's considered an archery legend and a person who made major contributions to the sport.

    1988-Present

    • Bear Archery continued as a company after Bear died. The company currently produces some of the finest bows in archery and are regarded for the high quality of their products.