The GOLDEN EAGLE recurve

Golden Eagle- the First Modern Bow

by Larry Vienneau

( thanks to Larry Root, Jack Shanks, Bob Hargreaves, and George Stout)

Green Shakespeare Proline Golden Eagle

Although he created outstanding hunting and field bows, Ernie Root’s real love was the target bow. Ernie Root was an inventor, and a tinker, and he loved to push the envelope of bow design. Ernie believed that the bow needed to fit perfectly in an archer’s hand. He constantly modified his target bow design to achieve perfect balance and perfect aesthetics. In the 1960’s he experimented with varying profiles and wood distribution to get the most out of the least material. As a result, the bows developed amazingly beautiful profiles while allowing an archer to shoot a well-balanced stable bow. Ernie Root's bows had a beautifully sculpted look as he experimented with new materials. In later Pendulus Supreme models, he integrated aluminum and wood laminations for the first time. This allowed for greater strength and thinner grips. Ernie’s interest in the metal riser would eventually give rise to the all-aluminum riser Golden Eagle, one of the finest target bows ever made. 

In 1965-66 Ernie Root began collaborating with another fine bowyer and inventor, Phil Grable. Root had worked with aluminum laminations but Grable was experimenting with solid metal risers.  Mr. Grable had been working with aluminum, magnesium, and steel. He needed Ernie Root's knowledge of fiberglass, fiber resin, and wood lamination technology.  He also needed Ernie’s manufacturing knowledge. Each needed the expertise of the other and Archery Research was set up to handle the development, manufacturing, and marketing of the Golden Eagle. 
 The limb design of the Root Pendulus Supreme was an important influence on the Golden Eagle.

Blue paint Golden Eagle

During the Late 1960s, the Golden Eagle was the dominant tournament bow. Bob Bitner shot the first perfect score in a tournament, shooting in 1967 at the Las Vegas Shoot using the Golden Eagle. He shot that perfect score on the first day while two other members of The Root Archery Team, Les "Jugger" Gervais and Bob Brewer, both using a Golden Eagle, shot a perfect score during the last days of the same tournament.  The first, second, and third perfect scores ever made were shot by members of the Root Archery Team during the same competition, using the Golden Eagle. Later Archery Hall of Fame Inductee Ann Butz would become the first woman to win the Grand Slam with the Golden Eagle ( US Open, National Indoor Championship, and PAA Championship)  “Ann Butz said about the Golden Eagle “ Without a doubt, the finest bow I have ever shot” 

Does this sound like a commercial?  Well consider this, before the introduction of the Golden Eagle; no one had ever shot a perfect score in a major tournament. Today most good archers can shoot a perfect score with fine high-tech equipment, with the winner determined by the number of XS scored. But picture a time when the perfect score was the unobtainable Holy Grail, and then suddenly in one competition, the unobtainable was achieved not once or twice but three times with the Golden Eagle!! It is a hallmark in modern bow-making and it changed the landscape of modern target archery forever.   Phil Grable’s’ solid metal riser would also be used by the compound because of its strength and stability. The bow was incredibly accurate because of the high manufacturing standards. Archery Research called it "the bow with the King Midas touch", the Golden Eagle featured eleven engineering firsts, such as a precision die-cast aluminum handle, mounting limbs precision machined to a tolerance of .001-inch on all holes, ground bolts, and milled surfaces, a wood buffer zone epoxied to an aluminum mounting wedge, concealed in Rosewood and a small grip, which was nearly torque-free.

 

Shakespeare Proline Golden Eagle Hunter, thanks to George Stout

For all of its advancements, the bow had a couple problems. The wood and fiberglass limbs developed stress lines, and the bow was $75 more expensive in the left-hand model than the right hand. Larry Root explained the price difference to me "  I know Golden Eagle (really Archery Research) got criticized for the hefty price differential for our left-handed models, but the problem was with our casting vendor(s).  We could get large-batch pricing on the right-handed castings but paid a much larger price (to us) for the far fewer left-handed castings.  I wasn’t part of the negotiations with the casters (I just made the runs to pick up the rough castings), but it seems to me that, once the caster had the mold of whatever type (milled form, lost wax, etc.), the cost should have leveled off.  It may be that the amortization of the mold cost spread over the number of left-handed castings was such that the premium was justified by the caster.  All I know is that the criticism of Archery Research bothered Dad because they were just passing on their cost, not making a killing on the left-handed market.  $75 was a big hit per customer back in the late 1960s…" The advantages far outweigh the problems and the Golden Eagle was the premiere target bow until other manufacturers caught up. After the sale of Root Archery and the closure of Shakespeare, Ernie Root and Phil Grable went their separate ways. Mr. Grable continued to refine his riser design and eventually resolved the limb stress lines with his faster Darton Executive which was based on the Golden Eagle profile. During its production, the Golden Eagle bow was been marketed by Root, Archery Research, Golden Eagle, and finally Proline.  It was designed by Phil Grable and Ernie Root, and later Dave Schemenauer and Owen Jeffery added their design contributions.

1967-75 Variations in the Golden Eagle:

The Golden Eagle target bow was designed by Phil Grable and Ernie Root. It was the most accurate and advanced bow of its day. The Golden Eagle target bow permitted a shooter to change limbs to address different shooting events. Lightweight for 20 yards or heavier weight for outdoor events like 60-70 and 80-yard targets demanding higher-pound limbs.

The Golden Eagle Hunter was a target or hunting bow. It had five riser choices and six three-inch wide limb choices. These allowed for unique limb and riser combinations and a range of total bow length from 58” to 70” in draw weights of 40 Lbs to 65 Lbs. It also had a multi-pin sighting system. The Hunter was designed by Ernie Root and Dave Schemenauer.

Golden Eagle Special was a special adaptation of the Golden Eagle bow. The sixty-four-inch bow is designed specifically for the short draw and woman archer, who needed a shorter length bow and lighter in mass weight. Available in 64”,  the Special weighs from twenty to thirty pounds.

The Golden Eagle Mark XI was different than its predecessors. It was designed by Owen Jeffery and the limbs were based on the QT take-down system (no tools needed). Limbs came in varied lengths and weights. The riser was Aluminum – magnesium. Right hand only, left special order.

six riser choices Solid aluminum riser.  “Standard”, “Flat”, and “Broomstick” configurations in Gold, Blue, or Black. (later maroon, and green) The aluminum precision die-cast handle has a deflex riser section and comes with an adjustable arrow rest, bow sight and stabilizer insert with a full set of wrenches.

·         “Mark 1”  M376 Standard

·         “Mark 2” M377 Men's Flat

·         “Mark 3” M379 Ladies Standard

·         “Mark “4 M379-F Ladies Flat

·         “Mark 5” M376-BS Broomstick

·          M391- Hunter Handle

Limbs: six limb options all interchangeable. The Target bow’s length was 70”, 68”, 66”, and 64” and 25 lbs – 40lbs. There were also choices in sight and stabilizer configurations. Limbs on the bow are standard and replaceable, allowing the shooter both indoor and outdoor weight limbs. The limbs were laminated East Indian Rosewood Wood, epoxy resin, with maple and white fiberglass limbs.

The Golden Eagle is the first true modern bow. It was a merger of technology, new materials, creative designers, and talented archers. It was also a watershed in modern archery that showed that pure perfection was possible. 

I have been patiently waiting for a left-handed Golden Eagle, I had been outbid on a few auctions and was feeling pessimistic about ever owning one. I received an email from Jack Shank, an avid collector whose bows are featured below. He alerted me of a GE on Craig's List in California. I contacted the seller and he was willing to ship it to me, he was also a great guy. The bow has an area that looks like someone ground down the metal for a sight. The finish needs some work but that is not a problem. Thank you, Jack!!!! 

© Copyright, Larry Vienneau Jr. All rights reserved.  

my left-hand Golden Eagle X306 66" 36 lbs

Jack Shank's (bowjack) Maroon Shakespeare Proline Golden Eagle

Jack Shank's (bowjack) Archery Research Golden Eagle

Jack Shank's (bowjack) Root Golden Eagle

JackShank's (bowjack)  Root Archery Research Golden Eagle

Bob Hargreaves's Golden Eagle - The limbs were made in Big Rapids MI but the handle came from Columbia SC

Bob was an employee of Root and Shakespeare Archery, he checked the Golden Eagles before they left the factory.

Jack Shank's (bowjack) Root Archery Research Golden Eagle ready to play

The photos in this ad were all staged for marketing and advertising purposes. They weren't even taken at the plant. For the last year that the plant was in Big Rapids the person who assembled and checked each Golden Eagle before it left the factory was me. The only person in any of the photos who was actually involved is Dave Schemenauer, who taught me how to do it. He's on the right in the upper right photo and in the center of the bottom right photo. - comment thanks to Bob Hargreaves