I'm not defending Fred Bear(he doesn't need it) and I don't look at any of the old timers as heros(with the possible exception of Chet Stevenson who was a pure hunter) but Fred Bear was indeed an innovator. He was one of the pioneers in alternative arrow materials- played around with a "poison pod" which was rejected, thank God- was early on involved with compound bows- was one of the first to make machines to produce laminations and bow limbs on a production basis- made some of the first hunting videos(the first and one of the best was Art Young's Alaska adventure)ect. I'm not saying any or all of these things are Good. Only that Fred had no small amount of drive and genius.