It’s the guy that goes to his grave with the most powerful memories that wins. My memory bank runneth over with the greatest memories a guy could ever hope for, and as we enter March 2019, this is the time of year, every year, when my happy memory planets align, for March 5 was Fred Bear’s birthday.
Born in 1902, Fred would have turned 117 this week, and a gathering of Fred Bear loving BloodBrothers got together for the 2nd annual Fred Bear Day in Grayling, Michigan, to commemorate this wonderful human being.
Of course, Grayling, the real Gateway to Up North, was where Fred and his amazing bowyer Nels Grumly relocated their unique and soon-to-be legendary little archery shop from Detroit way back around 1940 or thereabouts, and they were off to the races.
My good fortune came about because my dad, Warren Henry Nugent, was already a bowhunter and follower of Fred’s when I was born in 1948, and like all American kids in those days, we all had Red Ryder Daisy BB guns, a homemade slingshot and a homemade bow and arrow.
I was addicted to the mystical flight of the arrow and all things wildlife from day one, and I literally spent my entire youth stalking the wildlife habitat paradise along the winding wooded banks of the Detroit Rouge River, right across Hazelton Street from my home.
By the time I was 6 or 7, our Nugent family annual treks north for the October bowhunting season included a stop at a little cinder-block shack just outside the city limits of Grayling with a hand-carved wooden sign over the door that read Bear Archery.
Within a few years I finally figured out just who this tall, lanky, friendly gentleman was, and lo and behold, my friendship with my bowhunting hero began.
I had the supreme pleasure of communicating, hanging and hunting with Fred and his gang for many years at his beloved Grouse Haven hunting camp in Rose City, Michigan, and the time we all shared with Fred around the archery range, buckpole, campfires and fireplace were priceless.
You see, Fred was not only the greatest bowhunter that ever lived, certainly the greatest conservation promoter that ever lived, a world-class visionary entrepreneur, phenomenal bowyer and champion tournament archer, but more than any of that, he was the consummate gentleman, a true American Spirit BloodBrother!
Some in our sport would lament how our industry has become too businesslike, too trophy conscious and a bit too mechanical, but I am here to tell you that in my bowhunting world, that great down-to-earth, Fred Bear Spirit BloodBrother camaraderie is not only alive and well, it remains the driving force in our beloved bowhunting lifestyle.
There are so many people that still love and remember Fred, and on March 5th at the original Bear Archery epicenter in Grayling, Michigan, the BloodBrothers of the mystical flight of the Fred Bear arrow lined up and launched a loving 21-arrow salute to our friend, mentor, hero and BloodBrother on his 117th birthday!
Timing it the best that I could, I grabbed my Bear Super Kodiak, nocked an old original Port Orford cedar Bear arrow, looked to the heavens, and launched my own shaft-O-love for the great man.
The world’s conservationists and hunting families owe a great debt of gratitude to Fred Bear. Google him and if you haven’t already watched his hunting DVDs, take the time to do so and read his books and the books about him, listen to the song “Fred Bear,” and for all practical purposes you will get to know him and better understand the enormous respect and love so many of us have for him.
As we say with a smile on our face, in the wind, he’s still alive!
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Multi-platinum guitar legend TED NUGENT announces a new full-length album THE MUSIC MADE ME DO IT, due out Friday, November 9, on Round Hill Records. The album is available now for preorder everywhere, and the title track “The Music Made Me Do It” is available to download and stream wherever music is sold.
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With more than 40 million albums sold, rock legend Ted Nugent is equally well known as the nation’s most outspoken proponent of our 1st and 2nd Amendment rights, conducting thousands of pro-gun, pro-freedom, pro-American interviews in major media worldwide. Nugent is a New York Times best-selling author whose works include Ted, White & Blue —The Nugent Manifesto; God, Guns & Rock ‘n’ Roll and Kill It & Grill It.This year, his award-winning Ted Nugent Spirit of the Wild TV show celebrates its 500th episode! For all things Nuge, visit www.tednugent.com
