Bowhunting for gun dealers: three million customers are looking to buy bowhunting gear. Any takers?

Shooting Industry, Oct, 2002 by Carolee Boyles

The fall hunting season is the peak selling time for many gun shops. Dealers spend months ordering the right inventory: rifles, shotguns, ammunition and accessories.

But, what about bowhunting equipment? You don't have bowhunting customers, you say? Think again. Studies, surveys and industry experts continue to reveal that as many as a quarter of your firearm hunting customers are likely bowhunters. They are buying archery products somewhere. It might as well be your shop.

And, if you did offer bowhunting gear, your fall hunting season would have likely started in September.

"There are about three million bowhunters in the United States," said Joe White, executive vice president of sales and marketing for the North American Archery Group. "You have customers coming in who are going to buy archery equipment. The question is, are they going to buy it from you, or are they going to buy it from someone else?"

One retailer who understands the value of carrying bowhunting equipment is Bill Jackson in Pinellas Park, Fla. Jackson's hunting department takes up about 6,000 square feet of his 48,000-square-feet store. Of that, only a small part is dedicated to bows and archery gear. However, the benefits of setting aside a small amount of space to archery are important.

"The number one thing about having archery equipment is increased sales," said Paul Mahorney, Jackson's archery specialist. Having product in the store for bowhunting season increases early season sales to gun hunters, Mahorney said.

"Plus, one big trend we're seeing is that gun hunters are starting to switch over to archery," Mahomey said. "We see a crossover of 25 to 30 percent, and it's increasing."

Bowhunting also attracts many young shooters.

"Over the past five years, we've started seeing a lot more young people, hunters starting off earlier, and a lot more women. We're seeing young girls, college age, getting involved in archery," Mahorney said.

No Lack Of Bows

Bows

What bows should you stock, especially if you're just beginning to develop an archery inventory? Primarily, focus on price points that address the "good, better, best" categories. A number of manufacturers make bows with different lines that fit these categories, both recurves and compounds.

Golden Eagle's new Splitfire 32 XTR features the new adjustable damping system and is covered in Moss Oak Break-Up camo. The bow measures 32 inches axle-to-axle, and has Golden Eagle's 15-degree angled natural aluminum riser and modular gold dot cam.

McPherson's new 38 Special compound hunting bow measures 38.5 inches axle-to-axle with an IBO speed of 310 feet per second. It has a 7.25-inch brace height and the lower part of the riser features the VIB-X noise and vibration-reduction system.

Browning Archery's new Exlipse SLX is built on a machined aluminum reflex riser that incorporates a self-grip with laminated wood insert panels. It measures 36 inches axle-to-axle and has a let-off adjustable module of 65 or 75 percent.

Consider stocking bow sets. These include the bow and the basic accessories hunters need, such as a sight, quiver and arrow rest.

"The starting point for a bow set is around the $249 range," White said. "Probably the majority are between $249 and $349 a set."

Manufacturers offer individual bows and different levels of accessory kits. Dealers can then offer a bow set that meets a customer's needs. Again, it's good, better, best.

"The nice thing about selling a set is that you're providing your customers with the basics. It's fewer decisions for them to make," White said.

Don't ignore stocking crossbows.

"Be sure to check if your state allows hunters to use crossbows. However, the crossbow market goes beyond hunters," White said. "Many crossbows are sold to people who just want to target shoot."

Bowsights

Bowhunters demand a lot from their bowsights, which feature sophisticated nechanisms with ultra-micro adjustments.

TruGlo offers one of the most extensive inventories of modem bowsights. The new Tru-Site 5000 Series Full Micro-Adjust bowsight features a sleek, all-machined metal design with ultra-fine micro adjustments and fiber-optic sight pins.

The North American Archery Group has several bowsights. The Hunter 3-Pin Fiber Optic sight is ultra light, and has individual vertical pin adjustments and gang adjustments for both vertical and horizontal movements.

The Sure Thing bow sight from SpotHogg Archery Products is machined from 6061 aircraft aluminum and features knurled adjustment knobs, five fiber optic, micro-adjustable pins and heavy-duty clamping screws.

BOWHUNTING MARKET


ACI Plus                            300
API Outdoors                        301
Bear Archery                        302
Beman USA                           303
Bodoodle Inc.                       304
Bohning Co. Ltd.                    305
Bracklynn Archery                   306
Browning                            307
Buck Stop Lure                      308
Buckmasters                         309
Buckshot Tree Stands                310
Chuck Adams Bowhunting              311
Darton/ProLine Archery              312
DoskoSport                          313
Easton Technical Products           314
Easton Tru-Flite                    315
Fambeau                             316
Fred Bear Equipment Co.             317
Game Tracker                        318
Golden Eagle Archery                319
Golden Key-Futura                   320
High Country Archery                321
Highlands Sports                    322
Horton Mfg.                         323
Hoyt U.S.A.                         324
Hunter's Specialties                325
J. Stewart Wild Calls               326
Kinsey's Archery Products           327
Kolpin Mfg.                         328
Mathews Inc.                        329
McKenzie Targets                    330
McPherson Archery                   331
MTM Molded Products                 332
Muzzy Products Corp.                333
Neet Products                       334
New Archery Products                335
North American Archery Group        336
O.H. Mullen Sales                   337
Outland Sports                      338
Paha Que' Wilderness                339
Pete Rickard Inc.                   340
Precision Shooting Equipment (PSE)  341
Primos                              342
Pro Release Inc.                    343
Reflex                              344
Robinson Laboratories               345
Satellite Archery                   346
Saunders Archery Co.                347
Scent Shield                        348
Straight Shot Archery Products      349
TailorMaid Archery                  350
Trebark                             351
TRU Ball                            353
Tru-Fire                            354
Wasp Archery Products, Inc.         355
Xi Compound Bows & Acc.             356