Hey there...

Yesterday, while I bored, and the Masters golf tournament wasn't on TV yet, I decided to go check out a new archery store that I kept hearing about (advertised on the radio) that had recently opened up a few months ago.

http://www.huntnshak.com

This place has a really cool 3D 20 yard range inside and all sorts of tuning equipment that was mind boggling.

I brought my Reflex Highlander with me, just for the heck of it. You never know... they might have something neat I might want to get or maybe have them eyeball my bow for free...

I start talking to the guy about this and that and got my bow out of my case. The guy looked at it and didn't quite sneer at it (they don't sell Hoyt/Reflex), but was like, "Oh... yeah, okay, Reflex are pretty good bows. They're a stepped down Hoyt. Same company..." He saw the Vital Bow Gear Camelback pendulum and asked how I liked it. I said that it was nice, very bright, rugged, but can shake and shimmy - which is common with pendulums. I showed him my Beman ICS Hunter 340 arrows, to which he pointed over to the wall, which he said, "We got 'em... Along with Easton, Carbon Express, etc...."

I showed him the printout (print screen image) that I keep in my bow case from OnTarget2 of my bow and the specs that it displayed. They use Archers Advantage and both archey programs do the same thing. So, then he asked me if I wanted to step into the range and "verify" my bow. Totally free... They weren't busy and had time to spend, so I was more than happy to play around on their range.

First things first...
Left handed Reflex Highlander with a 29" draw.
Beman ICS Hunter 340's, 100 gr tip @ 29 1/4" cut length.
Draw weight, 67-68 lbs approx.
Speed rough estimated by the tech: 260-something, maybe almost 270.

So, he gets out a chronograph and brings me right up close - 10' away - from their huge backstop, and puts the chronograph right up close to me, so it's like I'm shooting at point blank range through the chronograph machine. {you can tell, I've never used one before}... [:-] But man, that was really wild!! I ended up shooting 264 fps. Very cool.... [8D]

Then the tech asks me about my NAP Quiktune 1000 rest and if I paper tuned it. I told him that I bought it and installed it, but had it checked and squared/trued by {insert name of hunting/fishing sporting goods store} - but it was never really paper tuned, as they are not a real true dedicated bow shop. They guy looks at me like I have three heads, and asks to see my bow, so I hand it over to him. He brings it over to his table/bench and puts a bow square on it, and all sorts of other things. Everything was aligned true and accurate. The centershot was dead on, the arrow was resting on the prongs perfectly straight and true also. So.... we went over to the side of the range where he had this roll of paper on a frame, and helped me with my stance and my alignment and I shot at the paper from probably 5-6 feet away. Long story short, I had a slight "low tear", which was okay, at least we knew my center shot and bow spine was correct (no left/right tear). So the guy looks at my bow, like he knows what it could be. We nock another arrow, and he started fiddling with the prongs on my NAP Quiktune 1000. I hold my bow perfectly straight up, and he steps away to look at it. The arrow is still perfectly balanced on the prong rest in relation to the bow string. So, he goes, "I know... have you ever adjusted the tension of the prongs?". "Nope... not really...", I say a little sheepishly... [:-] So, the guy grabs an allen wrench and teaches me a little thing or two. He looses the tension screw and the prongs flop down onto the riser shelf. Then he slowly tightens the tension screw until the prongs raise back up level. He said that with a prong rest, you need the prongs to be set just enough so they just hold the arrow up level. So, we take my bow back to the paper tune frame and I shoot again. This time I got a slight "high tear". So he tightens the tension of the prongs just a hair more and finally, finally, I shoot a "bullet hole".

So, I learned a whole lot, even way more than I ever needed to know from this guy. Wow, what a bow shop!!! I was so amazed, I flipped the guy a few bucks and he didn't want to accept them. But I told him to take it for his time he spent with me.

In a nutshell: I am perfectly, accurately, setup @ 67#'s, 29" draw, and 29 1/4" Beman ICS Hunter 340's with 100 grain tips. 264 fps is perfectly fine out of a Reflex Highlander. The 29 1/4" is the proper length and is the bare minimum allowed on the prong rest and bow shelf. A 29" arrow would be way too close for comfort to draw back, especially with a broadhead. To obtain more speed, I could go to blazers or feathers. My FOC is approx 10.89%, which is okay, but could be a bit more.

What a heck of anarchery store.... Incredible place!!!!

Butch A.

I wish I had a shop like that near me![&o]

Looks like "your" shop is well supplied and has some good people working there. Help keep them in business, patronize often. If your wife complains, you can always point out that you are supporting small business in America and contributing to the local economy.

If that works let me know. Maybe your wife can PM my wife

LOL.... I hear ya, Grizzly.... My wife doesn't get involved with archery or bowhunting, so I canpretty much do what I want, or get what I need (within reason)...

Butch A.

LOL butch - does she recognize new sights and arrow rests yet? finally mine started shooting w/ me a bit.

sounds like an awsome store

LOL!!! My wife can't even draw my bow back... So, she just lets me do whatever I want to do with my bow.

Butch A.

Nice post, Butch.... Probably some info in there that a lot of people didn't know either. I'd suggest forwarding this link to the shop and showing them how much you appreciated their service and how positively the tech's time impacted you, so they'll realize how important it is to continue with that type of service.

Tell you what a good pro shop is good to find.....trusting someone is 90% of the battle, sounds like you found a winner.......good deal..thanks for sharing. And as what Greg said I would ditto his comments as to forwarding this to the shop that you were impressed by.....just good relations.........

He does sound knowledgable,he didn't crank the rest up or down to get a good tear,he tuned the bow/rest properly and the tear was automatic.


I would still suggest some group tuning to see how things check out in the real world but I imagine you are real close.