Can't craft polar bear armour anymore? Also, Shield blocks Bow aim even when not equipped

Hello, the shield sounds great and looks great. I have been looking forward to it ever since I heard about it, but once my character puts it on his arm, I can't see anything when I try to aim with a bow. Even when I take it out of my character inventory and put it into storage, it still shows the shield animation like I've got it on my arm. Polar Bears have gotten pretty close several times because of it. Speaking of Polar Bears, is the Polar Bear armour set gone? It's one of my favorite armour sets, but I haven't been able to craft it for a few weeks. Cheers!