So, my dad bought the former factory of the Nirk Archery Company a decade ago. It's a 14000 sq. ft. facility in Northern Idaho constructed in 1962.
Nirk Archery made custom bows, arrows, and accessories for about three decades. My dad owned a sporting goods store in the region and sold many of their products. He became good friends with the owner, Larry Nirk, and bought the old factory from Larry's widow in about 2005.
The office area was converted to an apartment and my dad lives there alone. The rest of the building has a multitude of small rooms and storage areas.
One of the rooms has the last of the Nirk Archery recurve bows made there. I asked my dad if I could have one for my son for Christmas and one for me.
He agreed, so my son got a very nice 60 lb. hunting recurve and I picked out this very special bow that was custom made for Larry Nirk. It's a Bighorn model and has a 66lb draw weight. I cleaned it up and strung it and it about killed me, LOL. It's definitely a man's bow.
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I will be getting some arrows for it and setting up some targets in my yard. I am able to draw it back, surprisingly, and may actually consider going for an elk with it in the future.
Another bow I have that is unique is this one I picked up at an estate auction in Iowa about 12 years ago.
It is a Fred Bear bow from the 50's and appears to be a beginner's target bow likely intended for either school archery use or summer camp archery use. It shows a bit of wear and an unusual sliding scale rest/sight. It also came with 7 arrows also labeled with the Fred Bear Instant Archery moniker.
I have tried to find some information on it and have found nothing. No idea what it is worth or how rare it is. But, it is cool.
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