New Berlin, Wisconsin – It is difficult to place a value on it, but when Mike Avery, host of Outdoor Magazine TV, found an interview he conducted with bowhunting legend, Fred Bear, from 25 years ago, he knew it would be TV gold. In 1985, a young, dark-haired Avery sat down with Bear at the famous Grouse Haven Hunting Camp near Rose City, Michigan to get the legend’s thoughts on bowhunting versus gun hunting and how Bear Archery started. The episode airs this week exclusively on Sportsman Channel Wednesday at 8:30AM, Thursday evening at 7PM, Friday at 1AM, Saturday morning at 7:30 and Sunday night at 9PM.
“Of the thousands of interviews I’ve done over the years, this conversation with Fred Bear probably had a bigger influence on me than any other,” says Avery. “To get the opportunity to talk with a living legend at that point in my career was truly a blessing.” The excerpt also shows Bear shooting his famous recurve and a few seconds from one of his early bowhunting films.
Excerpts from the conversation first aired on a Michigan television station 25 years ago, but the entire interview has never been seen publicly before. “I thought the tape had been lost,” says Avery. “I just happened to find it in a box I was getting ready to throw in the trash.”
The Outdoor Magazine episode that features the Fred Bear interview also includes a segment with show host Mike Avery hunting Michigan turkeys with a crossbow. “It’s a nice comparison of sorts”, says Avery. “We start out the program hunting with the latest high tech Darton crossbow and close it out by talking with the man who started the modern day archery movement.”
Mike Avery is an award-winning television producer and radio show host. Avery’s radio show can be heard on Michigan stations Saturday and Sunday mornings. For station listings, behind-the-scenes information on Avery’s TV show and his blog, visit http://outdoormagazine.tv
About Sportsman Channel: Launched in 2003, Sportsman Channel is the only television and digital media company fully devoted to the more than 82 million sportsmen in the United States, delivering entertaining and educational programming focused exclusively on hunting, shooting and fishing activities. Sportsman Channel is now available in HD, check with your local cable or satellite provider. Acquired by InterMedia Outdoors Holdings in 2006, Sportsman Channel reaches more than 25 million U.S. television households and is a part of the nation’s largest multimedia company targeted exclusively to serving the information and entertainment needs of outdoors enthusiasts. Visit www.thesportsmanchannel.com, follow on Twitter, @SPORTSMANchnl (www.twitter.com/SPORTSMANchnl), become a Fan on Facebook, www.facebook.com/sportsmanchannel and download Sportsman App at www.itunes.com/appstore
