I have not seen any that do.......yet. I have seen a few that will not let you shoot the bows unless you are serious about buying one. I will not be shocked in the near future if you have to pay to test shoot one, or put a deposit down before you do.

Bows are expensive, and getting worse every year. And from what I understand shops do not make a lot off from bow sales, the mark up is not real high from what I gather. Let's look at this situation, and I have seen it happen many times; A guy walks into a shop and want's so shoot some bows. He has heard of a particular bow or two that strikes his fancy. The salesman helps him out. He shoots two or three bows, maybe more. The salesman/owner sets each bow to fit the guy they way they should. Changing cams/modules, adjusting the draw weight and what not.

The guy spends an hour playing then says "Thanks for your time buddy." (maybe) and then walks out of the store without even buying a freakin' soda or anything. Then he goes and gets the same bow from Ebay or some other mail order outlet now that he knows what he wants and what size to get. The shop owner had to pay to stock those bows, then let you put wear on them and spend his time helping you out getting the bows to fit and probably giving you form tips along the way. He provided you with a service and you went somewhere else and got a bow from ebay, arrows from some other online place and everything else from cabela's or lancasters or something. Which is well within your rights as a consumer. However, like I said, he provided you with a service, why shouldn't you have to pay for it? I am glad they don't charge, but I don't think I would be outraged if they did.

If you go to a gun store and want to shoot a handgun they will rent one to you and range time. In my area it costs 20 bucks plus ammo or more. Yet a 800 dollar bow and an hours worth of time should be free? I think we have it lucky and if we don't quit abusing it we might lose that option.

And then the kicker is this same guy will show up a month later with one of the models he shot in that store and a box full of stuff and expect you to set it up or fix what he or the online place messed up. And then get upset when he thinks you overcharged him for the work. Go figure.

If I owned a small shop and that happened to me enough you can bet your butt I would be charging you to test fire bows. However if you purchased one from me I would give you the money back or cut you a deal on your purchase.

My local shop ( I have one right down the road now) does charge to use the chronograph though. I think it is a buck an arrow or something like that. But if you got your bow there or buy enough stuff from them they usually cut you some slack. I don't think that is too bad though, a couple of bucks to see how fast your bow is probably isn't going to break anyone. And I have shot a fair number of his bows, and not purchased one from him. However I buy all my arrows there and other small stuff. I did buy a gun there too now that I think of it.

I would be curious to see how some small shop owners feel about this subject.

I haven't seen a car dealership that charges to test drive, however I have been refused a test drive until I told them what I was interested in and they ran a credit check to see if I could afford it. Show up at a lexus dealership in a beat up geo metro and work clothes. Then ask to drive a $40,000 sports car and see what happens. I am going to take a guess and say they will not smile and throw you a set of car keys. Sure they make a lot of money off from cars, but they are not stupid either.

I'm sorry for the rant, but this one hits a nerve with me. I tend to "go off" a bit everytime it comes up.

Paul