Is there any bow companies that are out of business? Why? and why they shouldn't be? What you liked about them or bow?

One of the oldest companies was Indian Archery Company. My first bow at age 9 was a lemonwood recurve from Indian Archery.

One of the oldest companies was Indian Archery Company. My first bow at age 9 was a lemonwood recurve from Indian Archery.

There have been lots of bow companies come and go. Likely more going both ways. Some great some lousy. Sovereign Archery went out of business a few years ago-they made great bows. Jack Howard left us a couple of decades ago his bows are legendary. Someone else take a turn?

Sovereign never went out of business. John made bows until he passed away.

And that was in june 2010

Drake Archery Sagittarius Browning Stream Eze Action Bow More to come...................

Doug Hill of Oklahoma made some fine bows...wish he were still making them. Also, Shawnee Traditions out of Illinois comes to mind. Indian Archery, Shakespere, York, there's a lot of 'em that aint around anymore.

Smithwick and Groves comes to immediate mind.

My favorite is my Green Mountain Classic longbow bow,beautiful bows and great shooters.His work was outstanding in my opinion,great leather work and nocks on his bows.I wish he was still making bows!

Good call on the Groves! Root Archery, Colt, Browning, Hastings Action Rod, Bighorn, True Temper. Lots of water under that bridge. Many were 1 or 2 man operations that quit or faded away as people age. More were driven under by the compound emergence.

Not going to mention any names but there are lots of recently active bowyers who are not in business now who made excellent bows but were just poor businessmen. You need to be able to be both and many who are great craftsmen lack good customer/people skills. They simply won't make it that way--too many do a good job of making and then representing their product.

Seigeworks... thank god.

York has been gone for several years too. Browning use to make a nice bow. How about Wing?

I really wish that Chapparal was still in business. The Kaibab was/is one of my favorite hybrid/longbow designs ever, and they were not outrageously priced. I sold the one I owned, and could kick myself now. There are other makers that build similar models, but at much higher prices.

My thoughts exactly newell38 ...

Mountaineer Bow company of Reed's Spring Missouri make some really classic recurves back in the 60's. A lot of them appeared to be off shoots of the Black Widows being made back then. Herters made some of the best recurves which I still hunt with and they still look new after 35 years. Sabo made some pretty good looking bows. And American Archery. Sanders Archery had some really out of sight recurves. Tice and Watts was producing good bows but went out of business due to poor business practices. Frank Echolz made some extreme looking recurves just before the compounds took over.

Shakespeare.

-Joe

Kramer, Schulz, Don Adams - They were all some of the finest bowyers and they are all retired now.

Monarch

I wish Jim Gharing was still making bows, Ive only seen a few and really liked the design, workmanship etc.

I wish Jim Gharing was still making bows, Ive only seen a few and really liked the design, workmanship etc.

SLEY bows by Pat Ley.

Jon Gharing is still making bows, just not for sale. Great bowyers, being the artists that they are, tend to change what they enjoy doing. I think Jon is building self bows now for his, and a few select friends, enjoyment. Good for him.

In addition I need to remind one and all that the news of the demise of Chek-Mate here in Canada is untrue. Marc is making and selling bows in record numbers.

DDave

The Rocky Mountain Recurves were fabulous. I had one with 2 sets of limbs thatas stolen from me in a burlary. I sure would like to have that bow back

Joe

The Rocky Mountain Recurves were fabulous. I had one with 2 sets of limbs that were stolen from me in a burlary. I sure would like to have that bow back

Joe

I'm not sure but I think Scorpion Longbow is gone.M.R. Hamilton started the company but sold it to a relative.I think that did them in.

Fred Anderson, I believe, has retired from bowmaking. His Skookum longbows were not only a work of art but excellent shooters too.

Don't forget Blackhawk. Liked the Short Hornet I use to have. Steve

DDave, Where can one reach Marc, or purchase one of his bows? I purchased a used Chek-Mate recently and fell in love with it, I really want a new one made to my specs.

American Archery and Cravotta Brothers(Blackhawk) come to mind. Both companies provided a good product for the money.

How about Hollenbeck. Roger made some great bows and his workmanship was second to none..........IJ

Champion Bowstrings sells Checkmate bows.

Rothhaar Recurves.... always looking to find one. TLM

North wind archery out of New York made great bows, sadly he no longer makes them. I have three, 2 longbows and a flatbow. Love them all.

I did not notice if anyone mentioned Big Horn by G. Fred Asbell.

Arkansas Stick. TLM

Several years ago Fred Anderson worked for Fasco Archery building bows in Seattle for them for several years.

+1 on the Bighorn Bows......I have two and a spare set of limbs from the mid 90's (straight limb pockets)- all interchangable limbs and risers! I love these bows. Would like to own a 58" in the 46-48# range at 27" draw.

Cool question .... I have not heard of most of these vintage bows.

Good hunting everyone!

Griz

Down cellar is a "Gordon Plastics"/Royal Gordon Bows "Queen" model, from sometime between 1954 and 1963. (Based on their history: http://www.gordoncomposites.com/history.htm )

The bow is a very nice looking static recurve, with nice subtle and muted-color laminations. Too bad for me, though....it's a righty at 45#, and I'm a lefty who shoots lower weights.

I'd get a kick out of shooting it, if I could!

I thought this was going to be another thread on Bear bows...

I would second Rocky Mountain. One of the best bows I ever owned, but I didn't shoot it much because it was not fast. I felt I ought to be able to get a bow that was that and more, but for the most part that isn't as easy as it sounds.

How about the first of the catalog hunting / fishing

Herters

we got for years from a 9.9 motor, to gunwork to wood arrows and bows....

I 2nd or third the Blackhawk. great shooters, and still reasonably priced, if you can find them........Steven.

Sure wish I had gotten one of Harry Elburg's Jaguar Mites with the takedown sleeve when I had a chance. I do have three of the one piece Mites though, so I'm fortunate. Also have two of the orginal Rockys with another reproduction in the works and my Sonoran which Fazio crafted for me back in 01 ain't goin no place.

On a side note, ole Herb Meland crafts a fantastic bow and if you ever thought about ordering one, better not wait too long.

Ben Pearson, Pounds, Pierce,

Rocky Miller made great bows, including the Savage Deathmaster.

About the BlackHawk/Cravotta Brothers bows: one of the nice things about living 15 miles from where they were made in McKeesport, Pennsylvania....they are STILL everywhere 'round here!!

How about Tice and Watts.

Jess Stuart is making the Rocky Mnt. Recurve, have one on order, sold my Morris Rocky Mnt. this last spring due to drop in #, the buyer killed his first big game w/ it a black bear.

Lone Tree...R.I.P.

One of the best long bows out there.

Do you remember Shadowhawk bows from Alaska?

I haven't seen any ads in years. He made a take-down longbow and recurve with fancy woods. He had a good reputation and had garnered some attention. One of our members reviewed one of his bows.

Texas longbows and recurves. TLM

You folks have mentioned many of the better makers..now gone.

Include White Custom,Herters(Bob Barrie) John Schultz,Ted Kramer,Louie Armbruster(ZEBRA) ..the list is long from the last century..

Thankfully, some of the old makers are still alive..and many of their fine bows are still giving great service to archers! Jim

Blue Ridge Archery - Tom made some great bows.

and for those who remember these dandy solid fiberglas take down "rough riders": Stream-Eze..:)Jim

SCORCHER longbows by Billy Rice.

Perry bows by John Perry. Redhead bows made in Pittsburgh during the '50s.

Jeff Massie made some fine bows. Not sure why he quit.

Those who are looking for Blackhawk Bows (Cravotta Brothers) need to watch Ebay. They are on there quite a lot. There are several over there now. There are literally hundreds of thousands of good old recurves out there being used, and twice that many sitting in closests and basements. Thankfully they will still be in service for a long time as long as people care enough to seek them out.

I agree with George.The knowlegeable buyer-bidder can often find some truly great vintage bows on E Bay that go quite reasonably. So many collectors seek just a few big name maker's bows and overlook many fine bows from lesser known or smaller boywers.Jim

American Archery. Bighorn. Jim Dourghty Classic. Browning. York. And many more than I can remember. Didn't Doug Kittredge make a bow too ?

Dan Quillian - Archery Traditions

Have read nothing but good over the years about the bows and the man. I'll have a Canebrake to make my own memories with in a couple of days.

Didn't see Dave Guthrie, Appalachian Archery. A few guys around here are still shooting Dave's bows.

I know Doug K had bows made for him by Martin and a few others. Not sure if he made them himself, if so it was early on before the " Bowhut". TLM

I don't think Ben Pearson is out of business unless it is fairly recent. I do know that they moved their base of operations from Alabama to Arkansas or vise versa and I believe that they now make wheelies and perhaps crossbows.

I dont rember seeing Carrols Archery or Plas steel mentioned above. I would guess that there would be 100s of custom bowyers ,that are not around anymore.... AzBear

Curtis Byrd and those Texas Commanche short recurves he made..:) Great bows! Jim

Kiko Tovar made a very short recurve copy of the Bear. His was 44" I think. Kiko has passed on to the happy hunting grounds.

John Tangredi made very good HH style bows.

Kiko Tovar made a very short recurve copy of the Bear. His was 44" I think. Kiko has passed on to the happy hunting grounds.

John Tangredi made very good HH style bows.

Was Guthrie the bowyer who made the rogue river recurve?. TLM

I remember Dave made several models......Savage River was one. Rogue River sounds familiar but can't say for sure. I may still have one of his brochures around here somewhere. I'll take a look tomorrow. Mike

Another vote for Green Mountain longbows....great guy , great bows!

Mike You are right it was Savage River. The pictures of them looked great. TLM

Appalchian archery (Dave Gunthery) grat flat/long bows and recurves I own 2 savage river recurves 52@27 58 /55@28 62 and a Cedar Ridge long/flat bow 54@28 64 All are Great shooters

Dave Wheeler made some excellent Howard Hill style bows in Massachusetts. The first real longbow that I owned was a 54#, 68" Dave Wheeler bow made of maple lams and black glass and I learned to shoot it so well that I decided to sell it and buy a bow of heavier weight, then heavier and then heavier still.

Now I'm back down below 54# and my shoulder sure wishes that I had stayed with that one bow.

"A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. A fool insists on learning from his own mistakes."

Either gone or gone over to the dark side and dead to us.

Drake Gordon Plastics Browning Ben Pearson Shakespeare Indian York Wing Black Hawk Darton Groves Stemmler (I think - are they still around?) Skookum Dan Quillion Norm Richards Dickie Roberts Staghorn Sanders Adirondack Fasco Robin Hood United States Archery

and many others

Out of business through death of the man with the dream or else they couldn't wait for us.

Big East, Bow River Archery, Colt, Pearson, Rocky Miller, Dave Guthrie, Doug Hill, Herters, Staghorn...

Grimes Archery back in the 50's. Made longbows and take down recurves with aluminum risers. ( I have 3 )

Edings Archery, McGregor IA Ram Bows, Montevideo MN

PAR-x out of Jackson Michigan. I still have one I bought in 1965. Aluminum limbs.

Appalchian archery (Dave Gunthery) made a heck of a nice and beutiful one piece recurve Seneca model ; about the best looking biw I have ever owned; and was a good shooter also; ; just got too heavy for me and sold it

Have a few Jack Howards; in a class of their own

I realize this is a dated thread, but here goes...

My name is Lawrence (Larry) C. Root and I am the only surviving member of the Root Archery family. my father Ernie Root, an accomplished tournament archer in his day, worked for American Archery for a while after getting out of the Army following WWII. In the early 1950s he and my mother started Root Archery in our basement in suburban Chicago. I was just a wee kid, but remember watching them make the bows in our basement. They moved up to a couple of larger shop facilities before deciding to move the business to Big Rapids, MI in 1955. We made bows under our own name as well as doing a significant amount of private branding. We made bows for Browning, Colt, Penny's, the U.S. Gov't and Shakespeare. It eventually got to the point that Shakespeare was our largest account so a deal was struck to sell out business to them in 1969. I was Vice President of the company at that time. They left the operation in Big Rapids until 1971 when they moved it to their plant in Columbia, SC, in my opinion a fatal decision for the business.

I'm starting posting on a few traditional archery sites, trying to get the story of my father and Root Archery out there before I pass (I'm 65 now). I'll continue to do so, but have to crack i=open some long-closed boxes of Root Archery history at home.

Good post larry! Thanks for the history lesson and look forward to reading more about the family business!

Larry this is exactly the kind of information many of us look for...there is a lot of legendary and mythical information out there with regard to traditional archery companies...nice to hear things from someone who was actually there and involved...thank you for taking the time to enlighten us

DDave

Ernie Root got the limb design of his Necedah from Harry Drake. Bob Savage told me so. I might mention the Bob Savage Deathmaster. Another great bow of the past!

Oh, Bob wants to talk to me this week, so I might get some more info. for you folks.

Joe

I have 5 Herters bows, in their day were inexpensive and darn good good shooters for their era.

I'm with you on the Herters ..really like there T/D system I also like that Mustard color of there limbs .... German tan I believe ??? AzBear

Bow Hunters Warehouse Archery Company. Wilderness Archery Company Dover N.J. Robin Hood Archery Company N.J. Browning Archery Company. Don

I believe Jerry Hill is out of business.

Adcock

Not saying they should still be in business but , Turkey Creek, Jimmy Taylor Bows are gone. I think Mosshorn and LostCreek are also gone.

Bighorn, Kentckian, Rassmussin, Wilderness, and Elburg.

To avoid any confusion about Lost Creek Bows, I think there are/were 2 named Lost Creek One is still in business and one is not.

If I'm not mistaken, Indian Archery morphed into Escalade Sports a holding company and Escalade owns Bear. There is/was a lot of "incest" twixt the better remembered brands as Larry Root's comments reveal.

Despite common acceptance, in my research I can't find a direct relation between Harry Drake and Browning once Gordon sold their bowmaking business to them.

Doug Kitterige bows were all Howatts as far as I can determine.

Have some not-quite-ready-to-repeat new info on Cravotta coming from a grandson.

The original Ben Pearson closed shop around 1990. Name is resurrected.

Bob & Rob Lee re-acquired the rights to the name Wing awhile back, don't know if they are currently using it tho.

Rick

I probably missed it but didn't see wing. Presentation II one of the coolest looking bows of all times.

Recently traded for a Turkey Creek double carbon LB. Excellent bow. Anybody know why Doug went out of business?

Doug Knight Recurve, one of the best made bows in my opinion.

Doug Knight Recurve, one of the best made bows in my opinion.

Ramco out of Rangley Co. late 70's. Anybody have more info on Fasco?? I just did a sight unseen trade for a 66" model and have no idea what I'm getting. I get the bow next Satuday.

Long River Longbows are probably the best looking and best shooting D style longbows out there.

Appalachian Archery, Dave Guthrie, made as fine a longbow as you will ever shoot. I won a lot of cheap plastic deer trophies with one of his longbows.

Dave Guthrie, Appalachian Archery>>>--> savage river take downs recurves , a 50s still one piece recurve, cedar ridge flat bow, mountain loral flat bow and other great bows (I would get in line if he ever stared making bows once more!)

Allegheny Mtn Bow Company is done.

I didn't see Dick Green mentioned..........some of the sweetist bows to shoot ever..........narrow limbs as pretty as a new puppy..........great bows

Wildfork Archery too bad Van Noman was a good man.

Harry Drake built bows for Browning. I'm looking at a Browning ad, right now, that shows him doing so, lol!

Joe

The ad on Drake mainly discusses compound designs, not recurves. I'll have to look deeper for more info.

Joe

Forgot to mention the ad is from the 1976 issue of Bow & Arrow magazine.

Joe

That is, October of 76'.

Doug Knight did make a real nice recurve.

Here's an ad from the December of 74' issue of Bowhunter mag. It states Drake designed the Browning Folding Hunter recurve. I'll look for more ads.

Joe

Frederick Longbows. Absolute works of art and they performed as good as they looked. Jack

bob lee and mike palmer were in together called PARTNERS.

Southern Draw, Ancient Spirits, and Palouse. All awesome bows if ya get the chance.

Thanks for the Drake stuff Frisky and the PMs. One of the unclear yet parts of my research is when/if Browning moved recurve production to Utah. Browning doesn't provide much info, saying "most" bows were produced in Utah. Don Gorden is even quoted as saying they moved in '63, but we know this is incorrect since the early '67 article I have shows the San Diego Gordon-Browning facility in operation, and another fellow checked property tax roles and Browning was still owner of the building into the 1980's

Others note that in '71-72 Brownings first appeared with laminated risers vs. solid wood, speculating this was when the move occurred.

About all we DO know is the last of the recurves were dated 1975, so your 1974 ad with a Cobra and Explorer is close to the end.

Rick

Glen Nelson Northstar longbows.

harry was on sort of a permanent retainer for browning. i believe he still was when he died july 28th, 1997.

Dave Paxton of Talon Longbows.IMO made one of the best longbows out there.D-shaped with a slight r/d,and smooth as silk.He also made a recurve for a while.I may have one of the last longbows Dave ever made.I think my sons was the last one he made.Bearbowman has that bow now i think.Not quite sure.They were great bows.

Dale In Pa-You are jokng about why Doug (Turkey Creek)went out of business arn't you?

How about people who made arrows or broad-heads? Don't they desrve metion too? Just saying///// LD

Don't want to hijack this thread, but that Browning folding Hunter is a neat idea.

I don't think anyone mentioned Eddings I think they were from Iowa.

Gentlemen- Hi- I recently bought a "Centaur Mustang" recurve from someone in Montana. This bow is 60's-70's vintage, Predating Jim Neaves, another out of business bowyer, but the bow is a fine shooter, Not trying to hijack the thread, but would like information, if anybody knows about these bows, Best Wishes, and My Thanks in advance, Bill

Shakespeare went out of the bow business to concentrate on making fishing their primary money maker. Owen Jeffery bought their forms and equipment to start up Jeffery Archery after that. They even made some of the first glass pole vaulting poles.

I had a few of guthrie flatbows....wish i could find me another one!

I'll add ..STEMMLER ARCHERY of Connecticut,quite popular here in the 60's early 70's.

Watermann V Core bows. 50s to the 70s. Very fast custom bows.

I'd like to get one removed,lol. Indian Archery never went outa business. They always made a lot of other sporting goods as well as archery. They just change their name to Escalade Sports. They've been in business since the 1920's and still are.

Actually they own Bear Archery as well as quite a few of other companys.

One that stopped making bows was plainsman recurves. Fred Hass and Herb Meland made them at first then later just Fred Hass. The best shooting recurves I owned but they no longer are made.

anyone remember a mr. chessman? i have one of his metal risers and several pairs of r/d longbow limbs and several pair of static tip recurve limbs. he was a nat'l. target champion and traveled with the two anns when they were doing shows and demonstrating target archery. he had a very innovative hydro formed aluminum riser with wood plates attached. did this back in the fifties.

I like York bows from Mo. I have two a tracker model 58" 60# LH and a 62" 35# cadet.York also made Dyna bows.I think their swan song was their computer designed Cam compound with a CNC alloy riser.Advertised as the fastest compound on the market at the time.They were up there with the big boys for a while.York went out of business after that.Pitty cause I love my Tracker model its been my friend now for 37 years and never failed me yet.Only I fail it some times withdrawal poor shooting form.Can't blame the bow.

I like York bows from Mo. I have two a tracker model 58" 60# LH and a 62" 35# cadet.York also made Dyna bows.I think their swan song was their computer designed Cam compound with a CNC alloy riser.Advertised as the fastest compound on the market at the time.They were up there with the big boys for a while.York went out of business after that.Pitty cause I love my Tracker model its been my friend now for 37 years and never failed me yet.Only I fail it some times with poor shooting form.Can't blame the bow.

Anyone knows about Heritage Archery? He made some nice longbows and recurves. Very fast and veri agressive look recurves! I want one of his longbows to my wife.But is out of business...I think. He appear in the Dan Bertalan book "Traditional Bowyers of America".

Heritage archery with the predator recurves and Bridger Moutain longbows was owned by Rocky Miller of Bozeman Montana. Rocky started having problem with his lungs I believe. It ended up it was from the wood and glass dust from bowmaking all those years. As far as I know he stopped making bows after that.

Piersen and sons out of Conn., Bruno bows out of Brooklyn NY, and Bob Morse don't know where from but a good bow.

Staghorn Archery Company from Merrill,Wis Bill Pyle owner made about 10,600 bows. They were a very fast and good hunting bow. He also made a lot of target bows. Many of his bow were sold over seas and Africa got a lot of heavy weight bows. I shot staghorn bows from 1958 to 1994 when I started to make my own bows. Straight Arrow

How about the SST by Archery 2000, had one great bow it was stolen.

The Big Horn Archery Company was mentioned. Was this the company from Bozeman, Montana? If so could someone tell me more about it. The founder etc. Year it closed? Thanks, Clay

Wow, didn't realize this was an old Thread until I got to dire wolf's post. May he rest in Peace.

My York Thunderbolt was a very good shooting bow. Shot a lot of sheep with it. Too bad they went out of business.

Foxbo beat me to it on the Elburg's luckily I do have one of the Mite takedowns. 48" 60# wish they were still made. Bowyer's today will not make them this short. ??

Rose Oak creations. Surprised they’re not listed on here yet. Though I haven’t shot one myself, they’re beautiful to look at!

Dave Guthrie's 50's style recurve was called the Elk Mountain Recurve. He named his bows from places he had hunted.

Anyone know anything about the Big Horn Archery Co. of Bozeman, Montana? If so reply! LOL Clay

Sentman. Gary's still with us in spirit but I don't think he wants to build more bows. I have one :-)

Nate Steele @ Bama Bows.Made a great Hill style longbow. Great guy who needed a more steady income with health care for his family.

First laminated bow a Stuckey recurve, made in New Haven, Indiana, in 1966. It was a squirrel killen machine...wish I still had it or could replace it.

Journeyman bows, Huntsman bow from AU

The Magna Flight Maximum bow company owned by two men out of Chicago. Great bows and a few were being shot in the NFAA Nationals, which would have been around 1970, so they had a short time span of any fame. Later, PSE manufactured bow with a similar name called a Magna-Flite, but it was not the same bow.

Gorly bows out of Tulsa in the early sixties (1962 or before). They had a local following at a Tulsa archery club as the fellow who made them was a member, but were not thought to be very good bows in two OKC clubs I belonged to then. However in those days, in reality, if they were less expensive then other recurve bows, and they got someone out shooting, then they would be good bows. Most folks would be lucky to have just one decent recurve bow then.

Zebra longbows, started by Louis Armbruster then taken over by Doug Duncan

Journeyman Archery, Jared made some fine bows.

Horne Archery, Mark made some nice bows.

Sure wish I'd have picked up a Blue Ridge Archery Snowy Mountain II when I came across one starting out in the 90's.

Abbott Longbows, RIP Steve.

Jim Brackenbury Bows Trinity Longbow 21 Century Longbow Whippenstick bows..I think BigFoot bows might be defunct as well

Bobby Lofton Longbows. Probably the reason I shoot longbows today.

Scott

I read this entire thread, and never saw Randy Dehnel & “Saxon Archery”. His 1959 Kodiak clone, “Kadiak” was a very fine bow.

Also,Bow river archery,Rick Lepp from Calgary Alberta.Great bows indeed.

Legend Longbows/ Jim Johnson. Good bows, sorry he's gone out of business.

Of course there a plenty of archery companies that are out of business. People die. People retire. They don't always have a successor plan or someone that wants to purchase the business. Some older companies went out of business because they were too late in jumping on the compound bow bandwagon in the mid-1970's and/or their product line was not selling well for all sorts of reasons.

Saunders

Archery Craft..Toronto. My first recurve green glass was from them ..1966..i think. Sandy

Monarch,(Moravec, Schurg) Aspen,(Schurg, Landstrom) Abbott,(Steve Abbott) Earth Archery, (Nick Dydecker), and Arco Bows(Neil Razzone)

Unless I missed it, how about Shaftcaster. I used to see adds in Traditional Bowhunter Mags. for their bows.

Lewis Hollow Archery Great bow I would never part with it.

Southern Draw, Ancient Spirits, and Palouse. All awesome bows if ya get the chance.

Dale Dye quit a couple years ago.

Foley bows

I can not believe that the outstanding Paul Shafer recurve has not been listed.

Steve Abbott died unexpected, was a big loss to archery, he was a character and a very good bowyer, miss him and his bows.

Some of the brands being mentioned are gone because the bowyer died. Foley and Lofton are two that come to mind.

Whippenstick and Black Creek Bows are two where the bowyers are still alive, EXTREMELY talented, but left because the venture was no longer viable due to family situation or financials.

I will second rose oak. one of the best out there.

Rose Oak for sure.

I read this whole thread also and am surprised no one mentioned whippenstick or vintage works.

Guess I didn't read far enough ! Lol! I sure wish Brandon , Ken and Scott were still building.

Pretty sure Mahaska is out of business since the last year or so. Websites down and Kent moved to New Mexico I think. Shame I ended up with a flatbow from him after a hunt fell through. It has become my favorite replacing any others. I was going to try and order another but can’t find him.o

Bighorn longbows by Ron Maulding. A true artist who made fine shooting asl style longbows. I got his tamarack longbow in 81. He teaches kids how to build bows now bu hasnt built any for sale in ages.

Did any body mention Stotler archery, got all excited about getting a takedown longbow after buying a used Stotler recurve and sent numerous inquiries to them 3-4 yrs ago but never heard back so I assumed gone for good.

Jim Emerson made the fine Hokeleska bows. Jim was the first boyer to reproduce the vintage 57 Kodiak which he called the Kadiak. Jim passed away several years ago.

Scott at Vintage Works is now closed, health reasons.

Harry Elburg made fantastic bows. I still have a 52 inch 60# Elburg Mite takedown. Although I wish it had a locator grip it is still the smoothest pulling bow under 58” I have ever shot. And a great guy to talk bows with.

L. C. Whiffen Archery in Milwaukee. Roy Case in Racine. Babe Baranaka in Janesville. Warrior Archery from Milwaukee. All these from Wisconsin, all gone now.

Assenhiemer

Assenhiemer

I think Ric Anderson is officially retired now with no one to carry on his bows. He replaced the limbs on my son's Thermal several years ago. He wasn't easy to get a hold of and when I did he told me he was at a point where he wanted to spend more time enjoying life than making bows and was tired of always working against a backlog.

Benchmark Longbows from Alabama. Incredible bows made from only US hardwoods.

Quinn Archery and Wilderness Pinnacle. I had a Pinnacle once and let it go after having neck surgery and it was painful to pull. Sure hate that. I got better eventually.

Zipper-Bob Thompson, beautiful and great shooters! Works of Art!

21st Century

It's a shame so many great bowyers have closed shop - I guess many just get tired of doing it and just move on, or retire without anyone to take over the business. But just goes to show, if there's a bow you really like, you better not wait too long. I looked at Rose Oaks for YEARS, figuring, some day when I have some disposable cash... and now it's too late. If I could go back in time, I'd have to talk to Jack Howard and get a few from him...

Big River - don't believe John is making bows anymore. Thunderstick - Jim retired.

Is RER or Tall Tines still building?

Sentman - as mentioned above.

Duke Savora, Archery 2000 SST, Big River (local) Cascade, Thunder Mountain.....

Blue Ridge Archery; wish I had gotten a Snowy Mtn recurve when I first handled one in the early 90's, at Silver Arrow Archery in NH.

Don Brown sold bows with his name on them, don't know if he built them or someone else for him. Bought a bunch of arrows from Don.

Zipper is still in business

Ric Anderson and Marriah bows

Windstorm Archery-Tom Cable was the bowyer. Very popular in the 90's.

I would like to know if RER is still a going concern... their website seems to link to a Chinese repair shop.... last updates on their facebook and website are years ago....

Susquehanna Longbows from Hummelstown Pennsylvania. They use to advertise in Traditional Bowhunter Magazine back in the 1990s.

Selway 'Lil Shooter longbows. Believe they began life as Montana Boworks, then either teamed up with or sold to Gordy Mickens at Selway. I bought mine (marked Montana BoWorks) from Gordy at ETAR in '93, I beleive. My favorite bow.

TallTines is still in business. Changed ownership last year and now is located in Wichita,KS. Michael Arnette is a new bowyer(owner)

selway bows, now jim Nevase. and Jims personal formes were used for selway longbows when he worked for Gordy.

I always wished the pronghorn ferret was still a option. I know there in business still but that model always drew me ion but I didn’t have any money back then to buy one. :(

Predator bows here in Michigan closed shop here just recently, I believe rer is out also.

Fazio.

My good friend, Roger Hollenbeck, was a fine bowyer. He's now pursuing other interests.

Recurve: Blackhawk, Indian Longbow: Blackhawk

Ancient Spirits. J.D. Emerson out of Ohio.

J.D. from Ancient Spirits father was Jim Emerson. Once president of PBS. He used to make beautiful 50 style recurves. Hokqu--- something bows.

Gerry Fiegl northwind bows.New York

Tom Parsons at Kimsha Archery still has a website, but he passed away about a year or so ago. Don't know what is going on now. Lives a few miles up the road from me. I always knew he was there and regret never dropping in and meeting him. A good friend of mine told me he was first rate.

Ok so how about the guys that are still around after many years . Jd berry for one only starting his 40th year in Business. ??

Ok so how about the guys that are still around after many years . Jd berry for one only starting his 40th year in Business. ??

Thanks, Big Dog for the update on Selway Bows.

Shakespeare

Has Ron Foley passed away?

ttt

stemmler

Yamaha (Archery Division)

Rose Oak Creations

Predator

Jeffery Archery

Those are three somewhat recent bow companies that no longer make bows. Some older ones that I have - Tri-State Archery and West Bow. Out of all the bows I own, the only one still make bows is Bear Archery. Lol

Parker... Didnt see them mentioned.

Got to put in a word for Jim Bow. ( There was another Jimbow out west too) Charlie Williford out of Toledo, OH. Made straight limbed longbows and flatbows. Definitely the reason I have tennis elbow in my bow arm! lol They filled a gap in the early days of custom bows. I know I bought a half dozen.They performed well and could be had for a decent price. Still have one on the rack.

Chessmans bow was a great bow I was with Chess when he first came out with it we were in Chicago at the trade show, that was a long ago.

Proline archery (The golden eagle) and Bud Hitt bows. Models: Ace, Huntsman, Scholar, etc... Both great bows.

The maker of hit bows.

Stotler longbows were bought out as I remember. The name escapes me who did, but they made bows for a few years under the Stotler brand. Same guy had an arrow shaft making business as I remember. They sold out and someone in Northern Idaho has “those” takedown forms and some one piece forms is what I heard. Nothing has been done with them since as far as I know.

Saw Wilderness mentioned. Had one of those in 60# @ 64 inches. I have a pretty good wing span and it was a bit too short. As mentioned, those were some awesome shooting longbows.

Rick Anderson of Mariah. Lost touch with him years ago. Went hunting with him in Africa in 99. Met him in 98 at the Seattle PBS. Hit it right off. He’d made a Thermal for me which I still shoot to this day. Great guy but I think he got burned out. Hope he is alright and if anyone knows of his whereabouts, tell him I said hi.

Some really good bowyers that will be missed.