1963 Kodiak

[finkm1]

I was over a friends last night and he told me he bought a 68 Kodiak. He shoots compounds. The guy he bought the bow from said it was a 68 because of the gold coin. The bow was a weird dog leg shape and the first number in the serial # was a 2. I know you cannot date bows before 1964 or 1965 by the serial#. Looking on my Bear archery catalog CD they made that shape of riser in 1963. My question is, there is a star stamped over the serial number. What does that mean? Also, am I correct on the year of the bow?

[Bjorn]

From the description I'd say you are correct about the year. There is more than 1 story about star stamps. My version is that the star represented a bow sold at a discount and the salesman carried the punch in his car.

[finkm1]

Would the bow be valuable since the shape was only made that year? He paid $200.00 for it.

[Larry m]

Depending on the condition, it could go for a little more then that. Price is always subjective and what ever someone is willing to pay. The 63 dogleg Kodiak is a nice shooting bow!!

[PAPALAPIN]

If in decent shape, $200 is a bargain.  I paid $500 for one but it was unshot in mint condition.

The 60" '63 dogleg is a safe solid shooter.  It gets a bad re from it's little brother, the '63 Kodiak Magnum dogleg at 52".  There were three types of these.  The Type I was a crack up bow.  Not safe to shoot.  The Type II was a bit better but still  not a safe shooter.  The Type III solved the problem and many are still around a shooters.

Tell your friend to feel safe shooting the crap out of his bow.  Just to make sure, tell him to check the stats on the side of the bow to make sure it is a 60".

[finkm1]

Thanks guys. The bow is hanging in his "Man Cave" and probably will never be shot. How could a person tell if it is a Type I, II or III.

[reddogge]

Only the Kodiak Magnums came in type I,II,III. Kodiaks were all the same and perfectly safe to shoot.

[PAPALAPIN]

Reddogge is right.

If it is a 60" Kodiak, tell him to drag it off the wall and shoot the dickens out of it.  Great shooting bow.

[Mojostick]

I have three 1963 Kodiaks and they are fantastic shooters. They shoot as well as any of the 1960's 60" Kodiaks.

[Blackhawk]

The "star" means it was Fred's personal bow that he used to kill the tiger in India.        

...sorry...      

I guess Bjorn's explanation is a bit more plausible.  

But he really did kill a tiger with that model bow about 50 years ago. (Fred, not Bjorn.)

[oldbohntr]

I think the '63 was every bit as good as the '64, and that's saying a lot.  And, the riser wood is far more beautiful than any of the other '60s Kodiaks.

[oldbohntr]

This was Fred's own picture of him with that tiger.  It came from his wall.   The dogleg Kodiak shown was in the Bear Museum until about 2000 when they began to sell off a few items.  This bow showed up on **** with a starting bid of $5000.  I saw it the first day of the auction and was trying to figure out how to raise the cash to make a bid.  The auction was pulled the next day.  I never heard of the bow again.  Does anyone know if it made it back to the museum?

[Larry m]

To have the original bow and above pic would certainly be a fine addition to any collectors museum wall.
I paid less then $300 for mine from a fellow tradganger. (good guy, thanks again) It required a bit of clean up but came out very nice.