Just for fun I strung up my old 50's ERA Ben Pearson all glass ,Strato Flight Hunting Bow. Im guessing 55-60 lbs, all glass and a shooter. It took me a dozen or more shots to gel with it but when I did, it was as consistent as any bow I own, even my Customs. Its old and not the fastest, but talk about stable and quiet! Would/ will I hunt with it? HECK YEAH!! Ill take this all day long out of any bow at 18 yards sittin on a bucket. Dont discount those old glass bows you got hangin around......you might be surprised how well they perform.

Pearson made some really good shooting all glass bows. I grew up with a two piece all glass bow, killed lots of frogs, fish, and a few rabbits.

James

Paul you nailed,i have an old green #45 Bear and a #50 Ben Pearson.I shoot both of them quite a bit,all glass and would hunt with either.

They usually ask a bit too much for these on Ebay, esp. in the higher (and rarer) draw weights. I check from time to time, not quite ready to pull the trigger but these threads get me interested.

Nice shooting. I may dig mine out for some arrow flinging tomorrow. Thanks for sharing. Lance.

Now, we'll get some bogus Paul Bunyan posted.

Joe

But a REAL Paul Bunyan would be the Holy Grail. Some of them are a nice turquoise color too.

Isn't a Paul Bunyan what HOWARD started hunting with???

I've been thinking about putting an X string on the 45# Shakespeare Parabow we have.

Bogus Paul Bunyan? I never heard about this. It can be done? Here is mine

Re-wrapt handle

And this can do @12yards - inside since is raining

I aquired a tan, 55# Paul Bunyan bow with what looked like chunky brush nocks. It shot fairly well, but did have what I would call a “kick”when you shot it. I got it early on when I got back into trad archery. I didn’t understand how important proper brace height was, so I sold it, dangit!

Guys -

A lot of us old timers started with bows similar to those shown above. Happily most of us grew up and now admit that by comparison with laminated offerings they were and are basically crap.

Please, nostalgia aside, let's be real.

Viper out.

Between a selfbow made using a board and a fiberglass bow I take fiberglass bow even if just because is unbreakable. Compares to laminated? No way. But I would not want to sit in front of an arrow shot by one of this so called crap when they have a BH on them. I like to shoot crap like this from time to time to understand the limits of it and mine. Who’s shooting crap with this crap has other problems than the crap in his hand. No disrespect Viper, but without this crap a lot of people wouldn’t start archery.

Draven -

Fight for your limitations and they're yours, I guess that's what "trad" means today.

And BTW - the price of a solid fiberglass bow in the 1960's is probably pretty close to an entry level laminated bow is today, based on inflation.

Yes, they were and are crap, and yes, I still own one or two and may shoot them occasionally, but I'm honest about what they are.

Viper out.

You got the wrong person here Viper. I don’t have ANY problem to shoot the best bow based on best technology and I am as “trad” as you are. If “trad” defines something bad please share the definition you thought about. I thought it is a word someone decided to use for anything not compound or crossbow.

Why is it such a big deal. People need to experience archery...all forms of it, even those old fiberglass, if for nothing else than to learn what they are like. It's not life or death, and it certainly doesn't hurt anyone. I've found some of them to be downright fun to shoot, and in case we forget, fun is pretty important to many of us in archery. For heaven's sake, it isn't like mine sweeping. Experience archery.

I carry this in the truck for just in case!!

Well, one thing about it, they won't delaminate like some of the other crap out there. And George nailed it, it's suppose to be fun.

Oh, and I still have my old Shakespeare model 51 fiberglass bow. :)

Parabow. Great profile, ambidextrous, 45#. Have a 60" EL X string all ready to try... But don't want to screw around with too many other bows right now :)

X2 George! I enjoy experiencing all facets of our great sport, glass, laminates, self bows, longbows, recurves, old and new. I own and use a 1953 Allis Chalmers WD for work around my place,and just because it not, new, digital,and computer controlled dont mean its not enjoyable to use. As far as limitations, I think the true limitation is not enjoying and having fun with all this great sport has to offer.

Draven -

People, including you and me, can do whatever they like, and I'll be the first to applaud their choices, but I think it's important to be honest about what they/we are doing and not assign qualities where none exist.

And for the record, I wasn't "trad" nearly 50 years ago and still not.

Mr. Stout -

You said "People need to experience archery...all forms of it"

So I should go out and buy a compound or a Yumi? Not likely. I may understand how both work, but don't have the time or interest to have it take time from my real interests.

Viper out.

Viper

I think there is some misunderstanding here. I never said the fibreglass bows are supercalifragilisticexpialidocious bows. They are what they are. IMO these bows are not abominations and they have their role even today. We agree to disagree. And fwiw I am just an archer - no prefixes in front for me.

I think they were mostly bad shooters because of design if you made one in a good reflex-deflex you might have a good shooting bow . I have about 10 all glass bows including the first bow that my dad gave me, I shot a deer with it and I still have it. Its a Shakespear, I believe a comet, I found another exactly like it on ebay , now my grandson and I can rome around shooting old bows like I did as a kid . Its great fun !!

I agree, Draven. Viper, don't be a snob. If it does what the individual wants, then it isn't "crap", it just isn't your choice.

And they shoot just fine. Makes for a good bunny rig!

Fiberglass bows have a place in my personal history. My first real bow was a BP Jet. Excellent first bow for a 10 yr old kid. I sold A lot of greeting cards from an offer on the back of boys life to get my first Archery Set. Did it have limitations? Yep, at 25# it wasn’t very powerful, but it planted the archery seed, and that’s not crap. I still have a 35# Jet out in the garage for some kid to try if they showed interest. I still wish I hadn’t sold that 55# Paul Bunyan.

I had one of those old Pearson fiberglass bows when I was a kid,mine drew 40 lbs. if I remember right. Man does that bring back memories,of roaming wooded hills and fields with that bow in hand.Several other guys I grew up with had similar bows and while I don't remember any of us killing anything more than a few frogs , we sure had fun.I was about 10 or 11 back in the mid 1960's,this was my introduction to archery.

Way back in the 50s my folks bought me a Paul Bunyon bow and some hardware store wood arrows. I thought it was the finest bow on the planet. Up to that point I shot a branch off a tree with a string on it and some kind of weed stalk arrows. I had shot lemmon wood bows at boy scout camp but my bow was a much better shooter.

That old bow planted a seed in me that carried me to this day. Without it I may never have gravitated to a Bear Kodiak hunter in the 70s, a bighorn in the early 90s or selfbows in the mid 90s.

I found my old bow in the closet of my mother's home about 15 years ago, took it home made a string for it and shot it a bit. Compared to the selfbows I make now it a dog of a shooter but I will never get rid of it.

Tim Finley, I don't think a bow is bad shooter. It's the person who shoots with it that is not shooting good with a particular bow. I don't believe in "a bow shoots better than me". You just found a bow that is comfortable for your way of shooting - from the way you hold it to the angle of string on your fingers. And you don't know it yet.

As an experienced bow maker with over 150 bows under my belt, I can tell when a bow is a bad shooter, some are.

The emphasys is on “some”, not generalization. I never got a bad shooter to date, what are the flaws that define a bad shooter? I am just interested to hear the opinion of an expert. Thank you.

D -

I think you know this. A bow is a simple spring, unless it physically changes during a shot or shooting session, there's little that can go wrong. In fact, any bow meeting that criteria should stack arrows all day long at any (functional) distance, when shot from a shooting machine. (Self bows are an exception, because they are holy and don't need to obey the laws of Physics...)

When a human enters the picture, then things change - and there are, without a doubt, good and bad shooters - and yes, some if it can be subjective.

It's the usual suspects: smoothness of draw (stack point vs. draw length), hand shock, string angle (bow length), grip contour, balance, durability and yes Virginia - speed. There are other factors (tracking, torsional stability, etc), but those are the most obvious to people.

Viper out.

Viper

You are right, I know all of these. It's not necessary the tool, but the comparing parameters between tools that will make a tool bad or good. BTW I think Virginia is an important factor too, I just don't think the upper limit counts that much but the minimum to get the job done. Never heard someone saying something about what's the minimum speed limit he will feel confident to shoot at 18 yards.

D -

True, but the minimums in this arena is pretty low, and just like "Never heard someone saying something about what's the minimum speed limit he will feel confident to shoot at 18 yards", I've yet to hear too many people walk into a Pro shop or bowyer's garage and ask for the slowest bow he has either.

Each feature will have a spectrum from good to bad, and compromises will always be made for specific reasons.

Sure, a solid fiberglass bow, or self bow for that matter, will be adequate for most jobs the average guy on this forum will need, but that doesn't mean they aren't on the bad or "crap" end of the spectrum - for any metric.

I can only think of a few reasons why someone would walk into a Pro Shop today and ask for a solid FG bow. I'm sure you know those reasons too, but I can enumerate if you like.

Viper out.

Viper

We are on same page. Have a good afternoon.

I stepped up from my 30# Ben Pearson lemonwood longbow to a 45# translucent solid glass recurve around 1958. It was a beauty to look at but it was the worst shooting bow I've ever shot. It would rattle your teeth and just about give you tendonitis each shot. This bow was crap and fortunately disapeared from my possession many decades ago. The Pearson unfortunately did too.

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