I said that I’d start to post some information on my Drakes, so here is the first one. I’ll start with the Hunter Flights so that Frisky can begin to make up excuses for his Holy Snail. The numbers I’ll refer to are simply random numbers I assigned to the bows in my collection to make a video inventory for my family’s reference someday.

# 37 is the earliest Hunter Flight I have. S/N 4639. One parallel and one tapered lams with back-tapered tip wedges. Low wrist grip, straight accent stripes, Black and white glass. Micarta tip overlays. No markings, scales 45# @ 28.

#36 is a later bow. S/N 8487 Ink marked 65# @ 28. Looks like bubinga with curved accent stripes of rosewood(?), maple, and ?. Three parallel lams in the limbs-apppear to be the same thickness, with no wedges. Belly glass is green, back is black. Brown and white tip overlaybuildup appears to be linen micarta. Built-up pistol grip.

Now, those are some great Hunter-Flights! However, bow #36, being of extremely late serial number and lacking tip wedges must be one Fred built. Fred would have cut corners on the wedges. I still could have the last of the Drake/Mathews built Hunter-Flights!

Joe

here are the rest of my Hunter Flights: #33 is S/n 8076. Ink marked 50# @ 28”. It has medium brown glass on the back and black on the belly. Riser looks like Rosewood with curved accent stripes of rosewood and maple and the Ibeam sight windo looks like bubinga. Once again it looks like linen micarta and brown glass tip overlays. Built up pistol grip. Two parallel lams of different thicknesses , wedged tips. I don’t plan to report damage here but this bow has a spot on the side of one limb that makes me suspect it may not be shootable….crying shame because I think it might be the one I would prefer of all the other HFs. #34 is s/n 8704….shown in ink with the specs 47# # 28”, and a rectangular gold foil “Drake” label. Rosewood and birdseye maple riser with curved accent stripes of several different woods which I would only be guessing at. Black glass on the belly and dark brown on the back. Tip overlays are one layer of black material that looks like today’s phenolic. …never seen another Drake with that material. #35 is S/N 8081. Marked 55# @ 28”. White glass on the belly and robin’s egg blue glass on the back. Riser is maple and rosewood(?) with curved accent stripe and rosewood Ibeam. Built up pistol grip. Tip overlays appear to be white linen micarta and black glass.

I've been looking forward to this thread for a long time...already favourited!

Well, ok, I already posted a blank message! Sorry

Really cool bows! The main wood in the grip of #33 looks similar to the wood I have in the grip of my bow and call East Indian rosewood. However, yours is probably Brazilian.

Joe

That's all the Hunter Flights. The rest of them will take more time, but I'll try to do one or more per day.

Thanks, Tom. Looking forward to more, if you get the chance.

Tom, without a shadow of doubt, #34 is clearly the best one of these bows!!!!

The robin's egg blue glass is the same glass used in my bow! The finish on mine has yellowed, giving it a turquoise look, but where the finish has worn off, the color is the blue shown in your pic.

Joe

Tom- Bow #34 has the crappiest looking tips I ever laid eyes upon. I think Fred was in training here.

Joe

Beautiful bows, thank you for sharing. Lance.

Very nice! Many thanks....just saw a Drake sell on auction site for $261.00..... Not even close to your bows.

Very nice! Many thanks....just saw a Drake sell on auction site for $261.00..... Not even close to your bows.

holybeegeeszus ya gotta love em huh ? bd

I think that gold foil "Drake" label must have been cut out of a Drake's "Ring Ding" wrapper that Fred took in his lunch box one day, LOL!

Nice bows Tom.

Thanks for sharing Tom...keep them coming!

Frisky, this is what a REAL Holy Grail looks like!

Ok, I wasn’t going to do this one until last, but it’s really playing with my imagination, so I decided to shine it up and do it now. Marked 40# at 28”, v68” long, standard Drake sticker, S/N 8419, . Riser looks to be rosewood and bubinga, with curved accent stripes of maple and bubinga. Looks like one parallel and one tapered limb lams. Two strange looking rosewood protrusions on the back-presumably serving to add mass to the riser. White glass on both sides with handle overlays both sides, and string nock overlays of linen micarta and brown glass. There are 3-1/3 x 1-1/8” pads of matching white glass on each of the protrusions.

The “horns” are the mystery, of course. Fasco made a similar bow with kind of swoop-shaped triangle at the same locations. But, these are wider and just seem more massive than necessary. And the glass pads-what can that mean? Then it hit me! I’ll give my conclusion later in the thread.

Tom, around 1963-64 Drake wanted to come out with a new target model with a weighty, forward riser for stabilization. The outcome was the "Shark" model. The picture of your bow looks like a "Shark" with added horns. (Harry Drake liked to hang around us at FASCO, and we shared a lot of ideas with each other. Maybe that is where he got the idea of added "horns.")

Oh yeah, I neglected to say the bow has no wedges at all..

OK, so, what are they?

THEY’RE FEET! IT HAS A BUILT IN STAND!

Here’s my explanation. Way,way,way back in history, some archery “legends-to-be” were sitting around a campfire(or maybe a still!) BS’ing about how someday waaaay down the road, they’re accomplishments and tales would be worshipped by new generations of archers who hardly knew which end of the arrow is the front!

One of the Legends-to-Be, later to become known as Skookum,)said “Hey, let’s make something that will REALLY confuse them! How about putting FEET on a bow??? It’ll be seen as a famous artifact and some fools will bid lots of money for it! And the guy who outbid all the others is just the biggest fool of all! And, all the while, we’ll be looking down from above and having the greatest laugh of our afterlife!"

Well, I'm not sure this is how it happened, nor if any of those jokers will actually make it to where they CAN look DOWN on all of us! But, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

That's what it is. It's a display model!

Joe

Absolutely stunning bows! And we should all be extremely grateful when someone puts this kinda time and energy into researching, cataloging and sharing this kind of info. Thank you sir, very much. Adding this to favorites, along with further installments.

Thank you !!! I've been waiting for this thread. Now I'll be dreaming about a Drake until I get one.

Yeah, I'm kinda shootin' myself in the foot, that's for sure!

If you examine the last photo carefully, you'll see something interesting involving Bear Archery, lol!

Joe

Tom and Frisky have it.

Diplay model with feet.

Pretty simple idea.

Genius gents, genius.

Great looking Drakes.

Thanks for the post.

Yeah, Frisky... Maybe like a picture of P & Y trophies that neither of us are likely to encounter in real life again in our lifetimes?!

#30 is a 68”, 54#, Fire Drake(1s/N 8544) one of the very few I’ve seen that actually says Fire Drake on it. It’s also unusual because few are over 50# draw weight. Riser is walnut with curved rosewood and maple accent stripes. Limbs have two thicker parallel lams on the back side and two very thin parallel lams on the belly side of the riser. Tips are not wedged, but there is an extremely thin wedge that extends to nearly mid-limb on the belly side. Glass is white on both sides and the tip overlays are white linen micarta and black. Original finish.

Pictured with is is a Fire Drake that’s lost its collection #. In horrible condition when I paid $80 for it-the woods were simply unrecognizeable through the thick layer of crud on it. A bandit named Bowdoc turned it into one of the most beautiful that I have seen. S/N 4239; unmarked, but it’s 70-71” long and scales about 47#. Green glass on the back and black on the belly. I beam construction with straight accent stripes. Riser has rosewood, purpleheart and ?. Two tapered maple lams with wedges in the tips. Also a thin wedge on the belly side which disappears about 5” beyond the fadeout.

I'm pretty sure that one with horns on it is for flight shooting, Tom... you just stick your feet between the horns and the riser. I think you better take it to Wendover this fall... ;-)

Tom that was the one with a purple heart sight window ? good griff I forgot what a real beauty that one was plane jane but what a gem.Food for thought is did the Drake factory ever make 2 bows that look alike ?????? hey Tom I'll look and see if I still have some b-4 and after pics of that gemster bd

Tom, in your "revelation" photo about the Drake feet, I notice there is a very elegant Del Rey looking down upon it, and probably laughing.

Is this the FASCO with swoop-shaped triangle horns about which you speak? I call it the Batbow. Or, alternatively, "Two sharks kissing."

David, Yes, it is. Yours looks to be in beautiful condition! I forget the model name now, but I had one back in the 90s and listed it on the big auction site. Was contacted by the guy who worked for Fasco and said it was his idea to use those two pieces which were scraps they swept and threw away. He had been looking for one of "his" creations for a long time but hadn't found one. I made sure he got mine. Skookum probably knows his name, but I've long since forgotten.

I always searched for the Fasco target model with the engraving, because I represented a company named Fasco for 28 years(different business). Found several of them but not one of the engraved ones until a couple of years ago.

So, the finest of the FASCOs was made from scrap wood? HAHA! To think Skookum and Crookedstix said my Grail was a scrap wood bow!

Joe

I knew Joe would see that and jump right in... ;)

Very nice collection Tom...enjoying the show...that one bowdoc fixed up is a looker!

Tom

My first thought is that those pieces of fiberglass on the back cover holes where lead plugs were installed for added weight. That's what I would have done with those horns

This thread is just PAINFUL to me!!!!!

I was prepared to bid on the recent Hunter Flight on the bay 2 days ago that Bowdoc and Crookedstick told me about. However (due to technical difficulties with the 'puter) I did not get my last minute bid in time. I (would have) bid well over the $ it went for too. Grrrr... :-/

Alas..., I continue to WANT. I do now have the opportunity to PRACTICE WANTING WHAT I HAVE vs the suffering of wanting what I DON'T have. But, MAN was that painful watching that Hunter Flight slip through my fingers!

Also, I get to practice being happy for Tom and you guys that do possess The Holy Grail(s) and thanks for showin' yours off here Tom! As painful as it may be for me, I DO APPRECIATE your efforts of photoing and sharing the pics and your info with us!

CR

Tom, if you were to pick any Drake model to do a reproduction, which would it be and why?

One of the best threads in a while. Instructive and beautiful bows. Thank you!!

Don't give up on me, guys. I'll get some more done in the next few days.

Beach: I don't shoot short bows very well, so it wouldn't be a Hunter Flight. Since most of my interest centers around hunting, I'm not thrilled with anything over 66". Most Fire Drakes are 66" or longer. They typically are sweet shooters, but are too long for everything but stand-up, recreational archery. None of those have been all that fast, nor have the two 64" ones I've owned. For some reason the best performing Fire Drakes I've located have been 66" long.

But, Ed Holcomb makes gorgeous replicas in 62" length. That's the one I chose when I asked him to make the bow I'd never been able to find. Later, I picked up another one by him and they are a dream to shoot. Ed is a very fine bowyer. He doesn't put wedges in them, but most of the 62" Drakes I've found are not wedged. I've long felt that 62" is my preferred length for recurves and longbows both, so this conclusion is more about me than about Fire Drakes. However, I'm pretty sure that a 62" original Fire Drake with wedges and about 50# could be the best performing one around.

I'll include the Holcomb/Drakes later in the thread.

Awesome bows Tom!! Thanks for sharing with us.

Tom, here is a 62#; 62" Hunter Flight that was made by a real Drake bowyer in 1992.

Mr. Clean- tell us your specs and I'll watch for you.

Skookum- I hate to say this, but the bow you continue to tout as a Hunter-Flight is not a Hunter-Flight! You could call it a Long Hunter but a Hunter-Flight must be 54" to qualify.

Joe

Aw, Fred, I'm too old to pull that bow. Bring it down about 10 pounds and I'd be happy to accept your offer.

Well, ok, I've reconsidered and I'll take it! That was what you meant, right?

LOL.

Well with all this drake talk I thought I would show off mine too ........ it is a sweet shooter but I know nothing about it cept its cool .......Lonnie

Joe - Thanks for your compassion for my suffering! LOL! 35-45# right OR left handed Hunter Flight. I really like the multi- lam pistol grip types but I also have a deep appreciation for the simpler older HFs.

Lonnie -Love that use of laminations in the thumb section of the grip!

I know 'Fuzzy' Holcombe and he sure DOES make a PURTY bow! He lives in the western part of my state of Massachusetts. The Stockbridge Rod and Gun Club shoot was excellent and I used to see him there every year but they haven't had it in years. Really miss that shoot! I used to lovingly run my fingers over Fuzzy's bows and shoot them there. Can't remember but think he uses Fuller-Plast for his amazing bow finish work.

CR

Great stuff guys. Thanks for sharing

That bow that Skookum Fred offered to Tom--it's a beauty, I don't care if it's called a Hunter Flite, a Long Hunter, or what.

Tom, you're lucky to have such a great friend!

Couple of my Firedrake. 66" 28@28" Serial 6627. She was road hard and put up wet but still shoots good. Randy

" However, I'm pretty sure that a 62" original Fire Drake with wedges and about 50# could be the best performing one around."

So Tom... here's a 62" Drake...tip and riser wedges...51# at 29" of draw... and when I flight tested it, it was casting within a couple of yards of my 60# Drake and 60# Saber, using the same arrows but with a 9# handicap!

Now, correct me if I'm wrong: in accordance with the recently-revealed Leatherwall Code of Conduct, I should honor your seniority and send this one to you; and Frisky, being younger than me, should pay the shipping cost. You in turn must send something to Fred (or Larry, who was complaining about the shortage of tribute he's been receiving). This is complicated stuff!

I'll have to pass on the shipping costs, as we don't have a post office that can handle the transaction.

Joe

Kerry, WELL, HERE IT GOES! THE YOUNGER GENERATION ABANDONING ALL RESPONSIBILIY THAT THEIR PARENTS TRIED SO HARD TO INSTILL IN THEM. HE COULD SEND YOU $30 CASH IN A SMALL ENVELOPE FOR $.49. DON'T YOU SUPPOSE THE MINNESOTA POST OFFICE CAN DEAL WITH THAT TASK?

For my part, I'll happily send something to Fred AND Larry. However, my tributes may get lost among all the others they will soon be receiving from all the other honor-bound forum contributors who will be anxious to live up to the spirit of the Leatherwall Code of Conduct. Heck, you and I ought to be seeing some of that stuff soon too, don't you think?

Now, since Frisky is having trouble coming up with the $ for a stamp, it's a good thing he's got some material assets to pay-it-forward. Although they're not really worth all that much, a Savage Deathmaster and a Drake Hunter Flight would probably do for a first offering.

Yep, I'm thinking both of Frisky's bows might just cover the $30 postage.

I'll give up my Drake and Deathmaster (the Double Ds) when they are pried from my cold, dead and bloody fingers!

Joe

Jeez, Frisky. Get your mind outta the gutter, will ya? First you had to point out that old Bear ad, now it's double D's!

Let's keep this a family forum--some of us are still pretty impressionable, after all.

Yeah, the man must live over an iron mine. His moral compass is whirling like a top!

Cold,dead, and BLOODY fingers? I'm bringin' surgical gloves!

Fire Drake # 117. Unmarked, but 50#, 66”, S/N # 6628. This is clearly the fastest Fire Drake I’ve ever shot, # for #. My guess is the riser is all bubinga with maple trim around the straight accent stripes. Both tips and handle back are wedged. Two tapered maple lams in each limb. Green glass on the back, dark brown on the belly; tip overlays of linen micarta and a black material that doesn’t look like fiberglass. This bow doesn’t look like it’s all that special, but I let one like it go a couple of years ago, and the guy follows this forum. I hope he sees this, just because. The glass on both sides has deteriiorated in a million “feathers”, which breaks my heart. This bow needs the attention of a guy used to know who is a world class bow doctor! The other bow pictured does not have a collection # yet. Unmarked, but it’s 67#, 66”, S/N 3489. Green glass on the back, orange(1954 Grizzly) glass on the belly. Three tapered lams in each limb. No wedges. Riser is a bubinga and maple buildup with straight accent stripes…maple sight window. Good original condition except for the finish checks on the belly and back both. In case it’s news to anyone reading this, all the early Drake bows seemed to have poor finish materials. Black Widow, Wing, and Bear put a good finish on their bows in the same era…..why the Drakes were so inadequate in the same period, I don’t know. The significance of this bow is the draw weight. A friend has a 70# Drake(unmarked, but confirmed). Other than that, this is the heaviest long Drake I’ve ever heard of. I know of less than 10 Fire Drakes over 49#.

6294 are the only markings ..... any help ?

Tom- Those are real beauties! Interesting to me that you note the use of so much bubinga.

Recycled- That's a beautiful Drake, but does it have the decal? It has a Ben Pearson look to it in the grip area.

Joe

it has the decal too

Tom it seems strange that my bow with the 6627 serial# is so muck different than the 6628# bow of yours. The glass on belly of mine is brown or dark orange and the back glass is white ivory color. Mine is only 28 lbs. but could have been heavier before limb repair. Woods look similar though. Randy

Recycled- That's one fancy=gripped Drake!

Joe

The next two bows are the most beautiful Drakes I have. Both once fit the description of Ugly Ducklings but ol’ Bowdoc outdid himself on them. I’ll do them one at a time. S/N 1815 is not marked but scales 66” long and 46#. To me, Design Elegance is defined as simplicity, efficiency, and understated beauty. This bow is exactly that. No extra weight, bulk, accents, or fanfare. It has a single piece of rosewood in the riser, such a rich deep brown that it won’t show through in a photo. But it does in the daylight and it is just a thing of beauty. White glass on the back and ’59 Kodiak glass on the belly. Limb lams: Two tapers, sandwiched between two very thin parallels. With the back tapered tip wedges the stackup in the tips is 5 lams deep. One wedge on the back of the riser. Tip overlays are of greenish black micarta and so dark they look black like the rosewood grip. Once again, they show up in strong light but not in pictures. I’ve never seen tip overlays shaped like this on any other Drake. I tried several times but the pictures keep come out underwhelming. Suffice it to say, this bow will never leave me!

Wow.

The next bow is 64”, 45#, S/N7546. The same very dark rosewood and bubinga in this riser with curved accent stripes of maple and the same wood. White back and black belly. Black and white tip overlay buildup. Limb lams are one thick and one thin tapered maple. Both handle and tips are wedged. This is one beautiful bow!

Randy,

Well, I'm the guy who doesn't place a lot of stock in serial numbers. Wilson Bros Widows, my other favorite old bows were simply sequentially numbered, and I figured that might be the case with Drakes. I didn't have much interest in establishing a year on Fire Drakes, altho I understand why some might want to. I pretty much went after all of them and decided to sort them out later! Not that there were that many of them that showed up, but I soon learned that no two are alike. Makes it hard to find one to part with!

It was easy getting these the first 20 years or so. You guys didn't know anything about them....no one did. But, as one guy I didn't turn up all that many of them. Now there are more showing up because there are more guys looking....and bidding(daggone it!). I actually did better without much competition!

Oh my, such beautiful bows are these Drakes one would think there would be more of them to be had? Were these expensive bows back in the day? Or, did they just make very many?

That last bow one sure can see where Fedora and Savage got their handle shape from.

Kelly- I too notice similarities in the Drake riser and that of the Deathmaster, but Bob pretty much denies any influence. Heck, he was talking to Harry all of the time!

Joe

Tom, I agree with your taste. That last bow belongs in the Museum of Modern Art.

its hard to find two Drakes that look alike real hard Mike has about 6 boxes of paper work he purchased off ebay around 2006-2007 ish that belong to Drake Archery it has some very interesting info about Drake bows in it bd

Joe, there is no shame in copying something good. If he was talking with Harry all the time that answers it for me.

Now I've always wondered who made it first, Savage Death master or Fedora 560 Hunter? The similarities are incredible.

Joe, there is no shame in copying something good. If he was talking with Harry all the time that answers it for me.

Now I've always wondered who made it first, Savage Death master or Fedora 560 Hunter? The similarities are incredible.

Kelly

No, I don't think they were particularly expensive. Somewhere around $100 or less. There are so few ads for them that I can't remember where I've put the ads I have. I think Doug Kittredge handled them for a while at least. I've seen them in his catalogs, and I think Feline Archery sold them too. It's hard to fathom today how they could have sold very many without significant advertising, but the bows show up in every corner of the country!

Fred can probably best estimate how many bows they made. Based on the number that show up, I can believe it wasn't all that many. But, then, they did it for a lot of years. Obviously, most were recreational bows, because of the length and lighter draw weights. Well suited for field archery and fun, not hunting. I suppose if these guys decode the serial number puzzle, it might give some indication about quantity.

Thanks for sharing your collection with us Tom. They are some real beauties!

Kelly- Bob has never mentioned Fedora to me. I have heard the 560 is a fast bow. Bob told me he based his bow on the original Necedah but used limbs he and Jack Whitney designed to boost performance.

Joe

Joe, the original Necedah looks nothing like a Death master, but oh well who am I to say.

The original Necedah was 55" and a good shooter. Bob spoke with Ernie Root and got the go ahead to produce a similar design, at 55", but with his limbs. Ernie told Bob he got the Necedah limb design from Harry Drake. Bob claims he and Jack Whitney worked out their limb design. Bob said Harry sent him radical limbs (later he said Harry sent the plans for radical limbs) and Paul Schafer wrote them down and probably used them in the Silvertip.

Joe

I think there's a digit before the 773 on this last one, but it's mostly worn off... by my reckoning it should be a 6 maybe?

We need a closeup of the serial number.

Joe

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