The pride in his craftsmanship is demonstrated in that each and every bow which Nels made is either stamped or signed with his name, along with the words “Bear Products by Grumley” or “Bear Archery by Grumley”.īeginning in 1938, Grumley bows bore the stamped mark of the maker, sometime in the early 1940’s, the stamp was broken and all bows after that date bore the written mark of their famous maker. Nels was a fantastic craftsman, and his skills show in each and every one of his bows. The Pre-Grayling Era Bows of Bear Archeryįred’s first bowyer back in 1938 when the fledgling Bear Products Company first began commercially producing bows was a remarkable man by the name of Nels Grumley. And as a result, many of us grew up with Bear bows in our hands for a good part of our lives.

Most all of us who grew up in the days before compounds saw Bear ads and promotions everywhere we turned. Seriously, Bear bows were the best marketed bows in the world for over 50 years. Why then, if there are so many Bear bows out there, are they so valuable? Wouldn’t it make sense that other bow companies who madey fewer bows would be rarer, and thus command more value? Without a doubt this can be attributed to the influence of the man himself, Fred Bear and his immense popularity In fact, in one year alone (1975), Bear Archery made over 360,000 bows.

Without a doubt, Bear Archery Company has produced more traditional bows than all the other traditional bow companies combined.

Fred bear bow serial number lookup