Hi Guys-

I recently placed this bow in the classifieds and on ebay and was contacted by an individual saying it was a '95 Purpleheart Hunter. I always thought it was a '75 Rosewood Hunter. Any ideas?

Thanks, Marc

The writing looks a bit more recent than 1975. Any other pics of the riser? Maybe a bet more straight-on without glare and in sunlight...?

This pic has a purple hue to it but could be rosewood too. Hard to tell in this lighting.

Purty either way!

CR

Yeah, sorry I don't have any more pics at this time. I'm away from home and won't be bcd until mid week. The fellow that contacted me said the stabilizer insert was not present in the '75s. The photos I have seen of Hunters of that vintage ('75) DID have stabilizer inserts, but they were directly in the riser, not in the glass... I'll try an get a better photo later in the week.

75 rosewood or bubinga

Also, once martin got into the 90's bows, the Hunter riser became much more streamlined.

Marc -

This picture isn't great, but the top picture is 1975ish DH Hunter, not sure of the wood, but it's not rosewood and the bottom is a 1995 DH Hunter in purple heart. A I've a few purple heart bows the the grain is a lot tighter than the one in your picture. It's also a very dense/strong wood.

Viper out.

This riser is almost identical to the plywood laminated risers in shape and form. Bubinga? Really?

Thanks for the info Viper. I notice that your '75 doesn't have a stabilizer insert. I also notice the Purpleheart wood is quite different than what my bow looks like. I always thought it was Rosewood, as it has an obvious open grain and is a deep reddish color. The more I research the older Howatt bows, the more I come to realize that although they were producing a number of bows each day at the factory, almost no two are alike!

Marc -

The final shaping was always done with various sanders by hand. DH did use a lot of rosewood, especially on their Del Rey target bows, both for looks and weight, I think.

Funny you mention the lack of a stab insert of the '75 (more likely a '74, IIRC). The one year I hunted with that bow, I had a bow quiver on it and two "tape-on" stabs to counter the weight of the quiver. It really was bizarre looking, and was nicknamed "the obscenity", but it balanced like a target bow and shot really well. Like most DHs, it was marked 61# @ 28" and somehow wound up over 70# @ 29 ... go figure...

Viper out.

Marc- Yesterday, I saw your bow and began to message you, as I thought it was a 95' Hunter with the purpleheart riser. I didn't send the message, as I just wasn't sure. It looks like a 95' but there's something different. The riser stripe is different. The wood is a bit off. Purpleheart turns red-brown in these bows. Yours is a little lighter. Here's an old photo of my bow.

Joe

The picture posted above isn't great. I took it before the final finish sanding was done and the glare in the photo is terrible.

Any other input from Howatt fans out there? There are some of my favorite bows! I'd love to see a pic of yours if you have one!

On a side note, I bought a Howatt Century 21 Catalina off Ebay for my Dad last year. When it arrived I was disappointed in it's condition: cracked and flakey finish, a delam in one of the tips, and generally not looking good. My Dad got inspired and got to work sanding the bow for a refinish. Once stripped of all the old finish, he thought he might as well string it and see how she felt before going through the trouble of refinishing. When stringing it, one of the limbs delamed! I thought for sure it was over, and this thing was destined for the trash, but again my Dad got inspired and built a bow oven and jig and re-epoxied the bow! Then refinished it with Tru Oil. It's a beauty now, and it shoots great! The tiller is just a touch off between the 2 limbs, but doesn't seem to effect it's shooting really! Pretty cool.

In addition, he picked up a delamed 1960's Howatt Hunter Ne Plus Ultra with green glass recently and is working on repairing that one too! It's 55# and too much for him, so I'm hoping to shoot that one some day.

Pretty sure it is a late 74. This was the transition time for installing the stabilizer inserts.

Here's the stripe on my bow. Has two maple outer layers, two purple heart and an inner strip of amazaque.

Joe

Frisky - What a difference between your Purpleheart and Viper's! Does Viper keep his and a dark closet? LOL Seems like the Purpleheart doesn't show much grain compared to Rosewood.

I am pretty sure the Hunter sticker, much like the one on my 1992 HH, means it is a 1995 bow...I doubt very much Howatt used stickers back in 1975...purpleheart, the way I understand it, can look quite a lot of different ways especially after it has aged a bit...bottom line is still the same, it is a very nice example of a great bow

DDave

Here's one more photo of the purpleheart Hunter, the bottom bow in the photo. Shows the actual color of my bow better.

Joe

The middle bow in the above photo is bubinga.

Sometimes we get so caught up in materials and configuration when dating a DH bow that we all miss the obvious...you bow has an AMO length marked on it and I am pretty sure that did not start until sometime after 1975...I know my 1976 Super Kodiak has no such marking, simply listing the length as 60"...and Frisky there would be a lot of people who would be very content to only own those three bows in the picture...very nice

DDave

Thank you Dave. My bows are much maligned around here, but they are good ones.

ProAlpine- the writing on your bow also differs from that on my 95'. Mine has really fine lines. Fancy, like what you see on the Dream Catcher.

Joe

Marc -

Actually, no. My bow is about the same color as Joe's. The picture is lousy due to lighting, and I can't get to my photo editing s/w to correct for the poor lighting. Even the '74 is much lighter than the pic and has much more "grain" than it appears.

Viper out.

Ok guys, tell me about this Howatt, marked EMV 1270-62". It has a decal that says Howatt and Yakima Wash. "Monterey" It is a great shooter, and yes, some numbskull cut notches into the riser:^( I guess that's what they are, they were definitely not made by accident.

They look to be aiming notches.

Hi Marc:

I am the person who contacted you on ebay...and the thread I'm posting the link to is the reason why. It's called " HELP to Identify Year of BOW". Someone was trying to determine if the bow was a '75 or a '95.

http://leatherwall.bowsite.com/TF/lw/thread2.cfm? threadid=260560&category=88#3635596

If you review that thread it turns out that the Hunters from 75 and 95 are very similar and, to confuse matters even more, the '95 design changed in the middle of the production year!! The early bows have one stripe and others have two and the riser shape is totally different in each one.

In that thread I thought a '95 was a '75 and it was because of the insert.

I checked my '73 Hi-Speed and my '92 Hunter and both stickers are identical...lettering differs by bowyer...

I want to apologize for creating any confusion but when I saw your bow on ebay I checked that old thread, looked at all the pics of both bows and sent you a message.

The fact that even Frisky's hands were hovering over his keyboard shows these two years are confusing!

Peter

Forgot to point out that my comment on labels and lettering was to point out that they won't help much...DH used that drawn bow label for a really long time.

AMO started being used in 1969 if Browning labelling is any guide...

Pdiddly is correct on riser stripes. My bow #140 has a single stripe. They added a second, thinner stripe somewhere in the upper 300s if my memory is correct. I used to write down bow numbers and whether it had a single or double stripe but lost the note. All the 96's have the double stripe and all 400s and 500s have them as far as I've seen.

Joe

This 96' Howatt brochure shows the Hunter's double riser stripe.

Joe

it is a 1975 bubinga hunter. made the year before the sale to martins.

Thanks Larry. That answers it for him! A clear photo would have shown the bubinga better. How about Kwik's Monterey? I know the Hunter pretty much replaced that bow, but isn't the Hunter the Monterey riser with Hunter limbs?

Joe

the were minute differences in the two bows. we created a whole new set of lams for the hunter and the take-offs were slightly different. in other words, we made a better bow with a new name.

Thanks Larry!

Thanks Larry! And you used "Hunter" stickers on them back in '75?

Seems like the site windows on the '95s also had a radius to them like the old Diablos that I've seen...

yes, and the dh logo above it.

Now we know...thanks Larry and sorry for the confusion...I put the other thread to the top as Marc wanted to see it...

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here