Just got this today. It's a Ben Pearson Hunter II. The original Hunter bow was 58", model 709 I think. I have one but the numbers gone. The hunter II model is 52" to my knowledge. However this is 58" and is a Hunter II. Judging by the logo and the U.S.A. on the riser, I would guess it is mid 70's? I took a chance buying this as there were terrible pictures. Upon opening it, I see it has only one maple lam. Also strange is the handle and limb profile makes it look more like a hybrid longbow than a recurve I guess. The man that sold it never unstrung it, and didnt know how, so it was shipped strung. It may have been strung for years and years. Would that affect the limbs after enough time? Other than what I asked already, I'm looking for any feedback at all. Thanks, Miceal.

Never seen one but that bow screams George Birnie redesign!

I have several mid 70's pearson's, and I know he designed a lot of them. Wish I knew exactly which ones he did design for Ben Pearson. If this was his design or after. Hopefully someone on here will know. If anyone has some pearson catalogs from the 70's I'd love to see what they say.

I had a Pearson Hunter but it didn't look a thing like that one. Never saw one of those before.

It the day it was referred to as a Semi-recurve. Many different company's made semi-recurves,. Bob

The riser is Marblewood. A hardwood that doesn't weigh very much. I had one of these recurves, they're excellent shooters.

You might want to ask Aspirinbuster. I think he used to hunt with him.

It was the '73 catalog announcing the new designs from George Birnie, Pearson's "Master Bowyer", and this appears to indeed be a Birnie design.

Not all Pearson's were ever in a catalog, and this may be one. By '76 the focus was on compounds and '77 was the last catalog year for recurves.

Given the time lag of typesetting and printed catalogs before the computer, the assumption is the shift to compound production was underway in '75 in order to be in the '76 catalog. So....

Odds are your bow was built between '73 and '75.

R.

Has the bow lost some power having been strung for decades? Some think it happens. But you need a time machine to find out by going back 40 years to find what a bow measured when new to compare to now. If it happens, it isn't much.

Excellent riser design. That makes much more sense.

Yes, saw them when they first came out in the early 70's when they were introduced. I thought it an odd design but never shot one. Some folks really like them and I have seen a few here on the Leatherwall over the years.

As I looked closer at your bow, it dawned on me I've never seen a single lam recurve before, let alone one made by BP. I had moved to the east coast in the mid 70's and was out of touch with archery at that point. Interesting bow.

As I looked closer at your bow, it dawned on me I've never seen a single lam recurve before, let alone one made by BP. I had moved to the east coast in the mid 70's and was out of touch with archery at that point. Interesting bow.

I believe all or most of the Groves recurves employed single core lams. Never saw it in Pearson, but I imagine like others, they used what they had on hand. If a single lam provided the desired weight, throw it in there;-)

I have one identical to it.

Yes Mstyles, I like the Marblewood they used during this era. It's in a lot of my bows now. Not sure if its dyed in some of them. I also agree that a single lam bow is new for me. I know it doesn't have to be there but nonetheless it's odd.

Thank you Yorktown5, I wish I could buy some of the catalogs or at least get copies. I've seen some info from them online at: http://pearsonbow.stormloader.com/pearson.html it looks like someone was going to do a good job building that page from a lot of old Pearson catalogs. However no pictures load for me and it's was obviously never completed. Still some good info however. Bfulldraw, I'd love to see a picture or two of your's if you get the chance. Thanks for posting.

Runner, that does look similar. In fact based on the limited pictures I had to go on when buying it, I thought the same thing.

It says 45/50 @ 28" and although I haven't scaled it yet, I'd be shocked if it was much over 40# just based on feel. I really like it, and would love to put some work into it and make a really nice shooter. My concern is it seems to have some real issues. I haven't had much time with it, but the string doesn't line up with the riser well. It almost looks like the limbs "lean" to one side, however I find no twist. I can't make heads or tails of it yet. Also the top limb is wider in a 3 inch section, however the tiller looks even so I'd be afraid to try and nock the "bulge" down with a sander.

Heres some pictures comparing profiles. Names, starting from the top to the bottom: 1. 1972 Hunter II #7375 52" 2. Late 60's Hunter #709 58" 3. 73-76 Renegade #7260 60" 4. 74-76 Rogue #7058 58" 5. 1976 Silencer T/D #7158 58" 6. 73-76? Hunter II #7085 58"

To my knowledge, all of these except the top two, the 52" hunter II, and the #709 Hunter 58", are George Birnie Designed. I can see that there are clearly visible tapering lamination in the Birnie era bows, that I don't see in any other Pearson bow. I realize there are other differences but that's one I can clearly see. I heard somewhere that his design was called reflex deflex recurve or something like that.

The "new" Bear Grizzlies are single lam. Have been for a few years.

Yep..Groves recurves do have single laminations.

I had one also ,found it on craigs list for $20 . I'm a lefty ,it was a righty. My hunting partner came over to look at it and after shooting it ,needed to have it. It was quite fast and very quiet

One like it showed up on ebay recently. In the second picture I can see some of the same oddities I see in mine. Like the top limb getting wider on one side. Even looks like it leans, or just looks that way. Haven't had a chance to shoot it yet, too many new bows, not enough time. Getting a chrony soon as the shipper on ebay decides to get with it. Plan on actually seeing what's what with these late model, and George Birnie Pearson's.

FYI, Some of us downloaded the BP catalogue before the website was revised under the new ownership.

Here is a LH "Centurion" that has been re-named as a "Centurian" in the script of either Border Bows/Archery as used during Robin Robesons tenure as manager then owner.

I've still to find out what, why, when .... could George have sent it back to his former colleagues in Scotland once BP dropped his design product line? More pictures here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/? set=a.762242067195938.1073741887.100002304553118&type=1&l=fbea68db8 6

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