Thought you guys might like this

[handirifle]

#4646

Was reading a book I bought in a used book store, “Fred Bear, Biography of an Outdoorsman”. In the book he was describing an African safari where he was hunting an elephant. After some very interesting stalks, they came close to a bull, and it turned broadside. Fred shot it behind the shoulder (no behind the ear shot for Fred) and got 24″ of penetration.

Fred describes his arrow he shot FROM A 70 LB BOW!, it was a heavy fiberglass arrow, with an aluminum arrow down the inside, and the broadhead, was his his 4 blade “Razorhead” but he says it weighed nearly 2 ounces!!!

I have no idea what the FOC percentage was but it had to be up there, in addition, he got 24″ of penetration for a lung shot on a bull elephant and it traveled just a couple hundred yards before dropping dead.

Fred was always a fan of heavy arrows in general, but that one sounded like it was right up the EFOC alley.

[bobtieken]

#35538

2oz.=56.75 grains?

[handirifle]

#35562

bobtieken wrote: There must be a mistake! Two ounces is the equivalent of 31 grains.

Yea there is a mistake. An ounce is equal to 437 grains, you must be thinking grams. That is an arrowhead over 800 grains.

[Raymond Coffman]

#35565

handirifle beat me to it — 2 ounces is 874 grains

my guess is a typo -might be entire weight of arrow?

scout

[handirifle]

#35575

No I dont think so. The arrow was a fiberglass arrow with an aluminum arrow inside it, so I am guessing the shaft alone would be in the 800-900gr area. Many African countries have a 900gr min for bowhunting the dangerous game. Freds would have been in the 1600gr range. He was always a huge fan of heavy for draw weight arrows. For him a 700 gr arrow for a 50lb bow was normal.

Don’t forget, Fred was a long fellow, his draw length was about 31″ if I recall.

[Raymond Coffman]

#35588

I have read a couple books on Fred and his elephant hunt don’t recall what the arrow weight was,[ if given]but I thought he shot his std Bear Razorhead which is aprox 150gr with insert [still have the last variation in the package]

but don’t know for sure —

Scout

[handirifle]

#35613

Well all I can tell ya is what was said in this book, it was a specially made version of his Razorhead, that weighed nearly 2 ounces according to the author.

I will be happy to photocopy the page and post the pic of it. I cannot attest to what is written elsewhere.

[Raymond Coffman]

#35630

Handirifle –

sorry did not mean to seem argumentative { my original comment was just on the weight measurement [ got confused ] — I am sure it is whatever you said, I could not remember. sounds like a heck of an arrow – maybe Ol Fred made the first version of the king Kong/Godzilla/Fronkenstein! haha

Scout

[handirifle]

#35637

Not a problem, I was afraid my response might come off that way too. One can never know when 2 different authors write about the same hunt, and Fred’s no longer around to verify. I do know he was a huge fan of the heavy arrows, read much of his research using high speed photography on impact energy.

[Raymond Coffman]

#35662

the problem with a lot of the older books – is they do not go into much detail —

the following is from Dick Latimer’s book “Hunt with Fred Bear” some of it is quoted and some not but it is written in a confusing way — as follows

The ARROW* that downed 4 tons of Elephant was a STANDARD* four blade broadhead, but weighed almost 2 ounces, about 75 % more than usual for {Fred got extra weight and stiffness by glueing a aluminum shaft inside one of fiberglass]The arrow with a draw of 28″inches penetrated 22inches of the bull’s liver and was retrieved intact.

this is the last book I read [ and was in my head]

* arrow – BH which one?

Is this similiar to your books rendition –I am just curious now?

Scout

[Raymond Coffman]

#35679

PS –

in the same book there is a quote from a true magazine art —

“Rifleman use big artillery to bring down a 4 ton elephant, but a man named Fred Bear said he would do it with a bow and a 2ounce arrow”

haha – now I am really confused–

Scout

[handirifle]

#35801

Am a bit busy right now, but this book says it a bit clearer, will poat it tonight.

[Raymond Coffman]

#35807

handirifle –

Thanks – It would be interesting to see what Fred actually used. My older books are all put away in storage. The two I have at hand are not very descriptive { equipment details}.

Scout

[Troy Breeding]

#36584

I use to watch the American Sportsman just about everytime it came on.

On one show Fred took and Elephant. I used to really enjoy watching it when he was on.

Anyway, on this show I was suprised to see him use a compound.

I do remember the broadcaster stating it was a 70# bow and a fiberglass arrow well over 1000grs.

Troy

[Raymond Coffman]

#36633

Hi Troy –

I watched Am Sportsmen also – about the only Hunting [ sometimes] TV –haha — how times change

I imagine Fred shot everything [at one time or another]Bear Archery made.I always think of him with a Recurve usually a Super Kodiak. The reason I eventually got one [ still have it]

Scout

[handirifle]

#37375

Here is the quote from the book.

“The arrow that had downed four tons of elephant was a standard four-blade Razorhead but(emphasis added) weighed nearly two-ounces, about 75 percent more than usual. Fred had given the arrow extra weight for better penetration by inserting an aluminum arrow shaft inside a shaft of fiber glass. The arrow had gone in about 24 inches and had done its work quickly.”

This was page 223 of “Fred Bear, The Biography of an Outdoorsman”

I do not recall this book mentioning him using a compound on this or any other hunting trip. He might have, it just didn’t mention it. It does say near the end of the book, when someone asked him why he still hunted with the recurve, and not his new compounds? His reply was that because of the letoff, it threw him off with his instinctive. snap shooting, style, that he couldn’t hit anything with them.

I wonder if he would have taken a bow he was not comfortable with to Africa to hunt dangerous game with.

[Troy Breeding]

#37807

I just remember watching the show and being stunned seing him with the compound. Something keeps thumping in the back of my head the Goudy ( the narrator) made a statement about choosing the compound bow for being able to pull and hold more weight. I may be wrong, but I think he even had sights on it.

Troy

[handirifle]

#38079

You’re probably right. He usually did field testing on al his new products, so it stands to reason he would hunt with a compound, at some point.

If he did indeed feel uncomfortable with them, I bet he practiced a LOT before taking an elephant with one.

[Stephen Graf]

#63367

Those african elephant hunts were from the days before compounds.

If memory serves, he did use the bear alaskan compound to shoot a bear. It was a bit of a fiasco, and Fred make sure he wasn’t “put in the position” that he had to shoot the compound again.

Apparently, he had invited some media/sales folks on a hunt to introduce the new compound. He started the hunt by taking the bow apart to show them how easy it was to reassemble… Needless to say he was a bit frustrated, miffed, and maybe embarrassed by the incident.

I think of that hunt as the beginning of the end of the high time of Bear archery. When the founder of the company has to sell products he doesn’t like, that’s a bad sign…

But on another note – I’ve got my bear takedown tuned up and shooting great. I had a rough start with the bow. When I first got it the bottom limb busted and the top limb split my head wide open. After that healed up, and I got a new set of limbs from Rose Oak Archery, I was pulling the bow back on a buck when the tendon in my ring finger let go (searing pain/missed deer). Everything has healed up and we are going to make up and work together real well this fall I think!

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