I have NO idea how they think a laminated handle that looks like plywood can command such a HIGH price. Yea some have very nice figure but the prices for a laminated up riser vs. a REAL piece of wood like the ole 69's well that is where MY LOVE IS.

Bill, I dislike the laminated handles too. Now the bubinga Grayling Green is a beautiful bow.

I'll 2nd that Phil bd

You mean like Black Widows Bill? 8^). I think Bear is working away from the Actionwood aren't they?

At least you can pick your wood with BW, if you want something different. Why doesn't Bear open a custom shop? Seems like they would stay really busy If they did....They need to open it right here in NC. I have wood working experience, am a quick learner, and will work long hrs doing what I love. Seems win win to me, lol.....wishful thinking.

I think the quality of the new Bear bows is hit or miss. Ii have both a bubinga takedown and the Grayling green SK. They are both excellent shooters. The bubinga on the takedown is very nice, the bubinga on the SK is terrible. The surface work looks OK in the matt finish on both. If I put a coat of was on them to shine them up, flat spots and imperfections show up on the surfaces. My two examples clearly don't display the workmanship of the Grayling bows I own. For the $$$ they should be better. iMO.

Tell me what you guys think about this?

There have been a few threads about the Bear black maple having areas not taking the black die. I have seen a couple examples that looked unique, due to the marbleing effect.

If I bought a new takeown like in your picture, where it looks like a tan blotch, I would not be happy with its appearance. It is only cosmetic, but....

They've had issues like that since the beginning of the Futurewood process . Some grain is so dense it won 't take the polymer dyes even under pressure. Personally I wouldn't want a "splotchy " riser ! The wood is treated BEFORE being cut into riser pieces... so how hard is it to pick out decent looking pieces of wood to begin with?

I'm not crazy about the lighter splotches either but some folks really like them.

It's my opinion they should sell those as stock bows to places like Big Jim and get them into the hands of guys who want them. They should not ship them to folks who don't know that kind of bow is coming.

That said, I would likely enjoy that effect IF it were not intended to be a two tone riser. If it were intended to be a solid black riser and you had a blotch of maple that's as hard as my head and wouldn't take the dye...that would be kind of cool to me.

Everyone is different though and those should only be sold to people who see them first.

I have no problem with that bow. It is very reminiscent of the old Futurewood and how the dyes didn't always permeate the wood.

It's pretty easy to say what you would do since you don't have any money invested in the cost. Those who don't know anything about how Futurewood works are apparently the ones "appalled" by such a sight. Actually, there were plenty of Bear bows made of Futurewood that look like that. To me it's simply character and nothing to get your drawers in a wad. If you want art, then order a custom and see what they charge you for a fancy three piece takedown.

First people said Bear would never bring back the older bows..not enough demand. Then, when they did, they complained that they weren't fancy enough. Now it's about the character of the impregnated wood...that is decided by the wood itself. It costs money to go through that process, and if you remember, Bear actually lowered their price quite a bit on the takedown over the past ten years...going from about a thousand bucks to just over eight-hundred. And this Futurewood is keeping with the style of the old bows.

If you want a perfect bow, then call Bear and see how much they would charge you to make it. Then pay it. Some of us can see beauty in the history of that bow and in what Bear is doing to bring back an historic item utilizing the same processes as close they can. And, the demand speaks for itself. If you have a bow and don't like it, then sell it and buy something else.

Thanks George couldn't have said it better.Perfect

I kind of like the splotchy appearance. I have a Widow that is like that.

I have a new maple riser with some streaks in it and I think it looks great. I guess beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. Trapper

To me Bear has always been a working mans bow,I think fred himself wanted everyone to enjoy archery. And back in the 50's and 60's exotic woods were cheaper and easy to come by and nobody was screaming about the rain forest causing supply and demand and import restrictions,and they have found out some of the woods and wood dust from theses woods are really bad for you.. Times have changed,and I think Bear Archery is still trying to keep the cost down so everyone can afford and enjoy the traditional bows. Like the guy said above if you want a piece of art,have a custom bow built the way you like,and it won't be cheap. I don't think the Bear take/downs are over priced and they look fine to me and I don't work for Bear,I just like bear bows. But even a custom bow,if you look hard enough you can find some kind of flaw somewhere on the bow.. But you really can't expect a production bow to be a flawless piece of art ,some are close tho.. I like my Grizzly and I think it was a nice looking bow when it was new,but after a few seasons in the woods I have put some marks on her but she is a hunting bow....

Bears aren't custom bow n never were. People wanted bear to get back to making the old style bows. Well they did it n now you complain? You want custom order a Custom from someplace but Bear did just what people wanted and now you wanna ruin it. No ones forcing anyone to buy one. And if they change it to what you want then it won't be an old style Bear anymore.

Actually, re-opening the Bear Custom shop might be a good idea. I'll take a Zebra and Rosewood takedown please. Lol.

Be great if it happened.

I like the risers that have a little character. I wish a couple of mine had some.

If Bear ever did open the custom shop and offered exotic woods, I am sure it would come at a price increase for the more expensive woods and then guys would complain about the high price.

Bear seems to have a handle on what works, as they cant keep up with production as it is. I never understood people making a post just to complain about a bow they have no intention of buying in the first place.

My first bow was a 1957 Bear Polar which I shot a lot and still have. I never really cared much for Bear bows as compared to some others. Then I shot a Bear TD at Baltimore on a whim this year and really liked the way it shot. I managed to get a charcoal "A" riser with the red stripes about a montn ago. I guess I got lucky since there is no blotching in the riser. I changed out the strike plate to white/black calf hair and put a nice natural barred feather rest on it. I now have #1 limbs and #3's both at 47# for the riser. I have it tuned in with some 2016's and 145 grains up front. I'm really liking this bow...a lot. It draws smooth and shoots as good or better than any TD I've owned and I don't need tools to change out the limbs. I have no problem with the black limbs and riser. The red accents set it off nicely.

Moral of the story for me, try it, you just might like it.

I just got a Bear take down. On one side of the riser it looks normal. On the other side it has a pattern of what looks like a wood worker's nightmare. When I opened the box I could not believe it at first. A drunk monkey could pick a better chunk of futurewood. Of course I could not resist the temptation of shooting it while I had it.

OH... how it shoots.

I had not realized how much my other bows were lacking. This thing literally stacks arrows on top of each other.

But then there is how it looks on one side. Kinda like having a new girl friend that has a face that would stop a clock but a body that is loaded for bear. She won't win any beauty contest in my book but man she's a shooter.

I will get used to the ugly face

Yes even in 1969 it happend this B-1129 The Birthmarks a caused by hardspots in wood That would not take Impregnation some like them and think they make them one of a kind no 2 are alike ~HBK~

here again all bows like the one above need to be disposed of in the correct manor so . first thing send me your name and phone no . i will then send you a R A NO so you can send them to me ASAP . thank you for your understanding in this matter .

If you're happy with the blotchy pattern, fine. Personally I'd send it back. Some may think it adds character or makes it more "one of a kind", but to me it looks like a flaw and my eye's go instantly to it. I prefer to admire the entire bow, not scratch my head over a small area. Might sound picky. But I think perhaps in Freds day that bow would be headed for the factory camo finish dept.

yea i would not argue that point the one hillbilly king has might have just slipped through the cracks .fred was very fussy . i bought a blem 1982 or 83 green stripe take down blem i did not see a thing wrong with it but it was a blem i looked at it a dozen times i found nothing .i sold it because it was way to heavy 65 lb

No two alike ... love these old and new bows ... still the best attachment system out there .. period.

It is funny how people like to pick on Black Widow Bows. Right George?:) Yes some are made with the so called Plywood. But you can have one made out of just about any wood you want. My Widow doesn't have any of the future wood, or Plywood, whatever you want to call it. But if a person buys one of the standard so called plywood bows it will still shoot better then most other bows. I too, like the Bear Takedown. And will probably buy a new one. Either the Black riser with the red stripe, or the new new two tone riser. Yes I also like plywood! Vince, the bow above is beautiful in my opinion. If I had one that came out like that I would be very happy with it.

In my experience nearly every green strip riser I can recall seeing that was made before they switched to Birch Actionwood (about serial number 6000) has lighter splotches somewhere on the bow.

Those lighter splotches are from natural mineral deposits in the wood where the coloring does not take. Lots of these lighter areas do not show up in the wood until contouring/shaping the handle. It happens because the wood being used is a solid piece-not a bunch of laminations glued together like actionwood.

Epoxy impregnated under pressure wood is stronger and heavier than the wood in its natural state. Futurewood and Wingwood are just a couple that were in use back in the late 1960's and these light areas are in many of those handles-of course the lighter colored ones seem to have less variation than the darker ones have.

Personally, when I get one of the Grayling Green handles am going to ask for lots of "splotches" because I like it because nature did it. The same old same actionwood handles don't do anything for me-when you see one you've seen them all. But then I do use the bow for how it shoots-never have bought a bow for how it looks.

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