Here is a beautiful,vintage,hardly used solid osage Bear Archery by Grumley marked bush bow with original case. Bow was made in the mid 1940’s and in my opinion is one of the least common variations of Grumley made Bear bows I have seen. Most of the solid osage Grumley bows such as this with rawhide backing were branded Bear Products by Grumley and made in the late 1930’s - early 1940’s. After Bear Products became Bear Archery around 1941,Nels quit using the Bear Products branding tool and started writing Bear Archery by Grumley on his bows. But most of the Grumley made bows I have seen with his hand written mark were laminated versions,mostly of osage,yew and hickory construction with fortisan or fiber backing. Bows such as this that are solid osage and written Bear Archery by Grumley are not as common as the trI-lam versions either hand written Bear Archery by Grumley or rubber stamped Bear Archery Co by Grumley. In almost 25 years of collecting Bear bows this is only the third Grumley I have ever owned with these features and I have owned quite a few Grumley made bows. I’ve even owned more two-piece take-down Grumley bows than this type.

As if that weren’t enough,what else makes this bow so very unique is the fact that it once belonged to Charlie Kroll’s brother Bob. He was the original owner. For those that may not know,Charlie was Fred Bear’s son-in-law. I got this bow directly from Charlie’s nephew and Bob’s son. He said the bow was stored in a closet inside the original bow case for as long as he can remember.It looks like it too. The bow is in close to mint condition and looks like it was hardly shot. The finish is still very light in color as opposed to the darker,maroon color that most of these older osage bows turn to after being exposed to light for so many years.The leather grip is gorgeous and shows little wear. I believe most of the wear is on the edge of the shelf from being slid in and out of the bow case. The original shelf material is hardly worn,and the Bear Archery by Grumley is crisp and clear. Bow is in the original case and comes with a letter from Bob’s son stating it was indeed his father’s bow. The only flaw I can see that needs to be pointed out is that it appears part of one of the brush nocks had separated and was re-glued. It is an old repair and doesn’t look as bad as the close-up pictures would make it appear. No wood is missing it just appears the wood separated between the yew rings and the sap wood.This has never distracted from the beauty of this rare piece of archery history in my mind. After all,the bow is over 70 years old and should not be shot anyhow as it is far too valuable as a collectible.I’m sure the small amount of glue residue could be cleaned up if desired but I chose to leave it as is in original as found condition. I do not feel that it detracts from the bow at all and actually adds a little bit of character. If you are a collector and appreciate the fine craftsmanship of one of the greatest bowyers that ever lived,then don’t pass up this opportunity to own this rare piece of archery history with a direct connection to Fred Bear himself. You won’t find a much nicer example,especially with the original case.