Fred Bear was out there promoting bowhunting. Since he wasn't a feakin' IDIOT, of course he used his own products. His primary goal was to popularize bowhunting. His secondary goal was to make a little coin by selling his products to those new bowhunters. He richly deserved a little income from his efforts because he and a few others like him are the primary movers and shakers that got the states to open up bowseasons in the 50's and 60's. If it weren't for them there wouldn't be any bow seasons today.
Absoluetly, I agree. The 16 or 18 patents he holds, they were vital to bowhunting becoming what it is today from what I read, and he never recieved royalties off any of them !
So we agree Fred was quite the intelligent man, he was quite the inventor, businessman, a writer and producer etcetc. He was also quite the bowhunter, he was accomplished as a field archer and as a bowyer. He killed a lot of animals with rifles. Later, he killed many with bows. He hunted for the Hunt, he didn't glorify the kill, he loved the wilderness that he hunted and the animals in it.
We credit him with all that .......... and then ponder that he took unethical shots, shots he didn't think he could make, and write it off as simply a different day and time ?