“Where does this show end, anyway…?” --By Rick Sapp
Twenty-Five. The number of SHOT Shows this writer has attended. Each year, they have grown in size and complexity. For me, SHOT began in Dallas, as a three-day trade show in ‘84. It was said that if an individual spent a few minutes at each booth, he or she could not possibly see every new product—and, as a newbie, I wanted to see everything. The 2008 SHOT Show—a four-day show with an additional day tacked on the front allowing writers to familiarize themselves with new gear on shooting ranges around Las Vegas—forced me, at last, to realize that the world of the shooting sports (now including law enforcement) is finally and completely…overwhelming.Thus, one must have a plan. My plan was to concentrate on archery and black powder, and so I began a list: Horton—check, Eastman—check, Knight Rifles—check, GOEX—check, Flambeau—hmm, Mossy Oak—hmm, Primos—hmm, Buck Stop—hmm, Cimarron—hmm…. And so, archery…My friend Chuck Nease is developing the vertical bow program for Horton, a company recognized for crossbows www.crossbow.com. At this show, the star of the crossbow line was their new reverse-draw, 175-pound draw weight crossbow, the reCon, with adjustable stock and lifetime warranty. High-end crossbows such as the reCon carry hefty price tags these days and should have plenty of built-in profit margin. The Recon’s SRP is $1,495. Horton’s five vertical bows www.verticalbyhorton.com include some hot shooters. Only 30-inches axle-to-axle the Ascent is rated at 315 fps (IBO) which is truly smokin! Not only fast, but Horton bows—both vertical and crossbows—can be fitted with shock and vibration absorbers called Tunerz. Very quiet! At Eastman Outdoorswww.eastmanoutfitters.com, Lennie Rezmer was chewing on a convention-sized burger when I dropped by to see their three new X-Force crossbows. Eastman has developed crossbows to hit price points at $399, $599 and $799, for wallets from schoolteachers to corporate attorneys, said Jason Fuller, who is in charge of hunting equipment sales. “We want to give dealers a chance to experience margins of at least 30 percent.” Since Eastman already offered 2219 aluminum crossbow bolts, their bows now complement their accessories.In Eastman’s Carbon Express arrow line, Ontario pro shooter Dietmar Trillus recently won the FITA World Championship (compound bow) with the new Nano Pro arrow. This competition shaft has a spine selection tolerance of + .002 inch, a straightness of + .0015 inch and a weight tolerance of + 1 grain. Impressive! Steven Sims, president of Sims Vibration Laboratorywww.limbsaver.com, took a great deal of stress out of shooting a bow (or a gun, for that matter) when he invented LimbSaver technology and brought his innovative rubber gadgets to market 10 years ago. For this show-of-shows, Sims has something new—a compound bow called the Deadzone DZ-32. At just 32 inches axle-to-axle with nearly parallel short limbs and large cams, the Deadzone is available either right- or left-hand, with draw weights from 50 to 70 pounds and draw lengths from 26 to 30 inches. He was proud of his bow’s “absolutely horizontal” nock travel (nock travel influences arrow flight) and speed ratings of 320 to 330 fps (a 30-inch bow at 70 pounds with a 350 grain arrow). Barnett Outdoors’www.barnettcrossbows.com new Predator AVI has a shoot-through foot stirrup, which increases the power stroke to a superb 17 inches. Allen says this gives the 175-pound draw weight bow a power punch of 128 ft-lb of energy and a speed rating of 375 fps. I especially liked the rubber-encased laminated limbs, a feature Barnett refers to as AVi—anti-vibration isolator—because it dramatically reduces noise and vibration. Dave Robb at Ten Pointwww.tenpointcrossbows.com agreed that, after a number of years in the doldrums, crossbow technology has recently taken a giant leap forward. Their new 185-pound Phantom CLS—retailing for around $1,880 for the package (scope and mount, three arrows and broadheads, cocking device, six arrows, hard-sided travel case, monopod, maintenance kit, sling and swivels, cap and instructional DVD)—delivers a reported 343 fps and 109.7 ft-lb of impact energy. Elephant-hunting territory.Vertical bows have not entirely ceded the SHOT venue to crossbows. Still, conventional thinking is that in moving gun hunters toward archery, the crossbow—which is a shoulder-fired bow and thus, in many ways, resembles a gun—is the natural first step. At the shooting range, John Strasheim, president of BowTech Archerywww.bowtecharchery.com, now owned by Savage Sports) was proudly showing a number of vertical bows including those such as the Marquis in his Diamond line. I took an extra few minutes to study the string stop attached to the cable guard. Pioneered by Ben Pearson Archery (even earlier, by Bear/Jennings), most companies now use a version of this soft, rubberized attachment, because it reduces noise and vibration. Once the string is released and after the arrow has left the string, this stop halts and cushions the string’s forward momentum. Stops absorb left-over energy in the string and quiet overall noise from the shot by breaking the string’s harmonic into multiple higher pitched, but quieter vibrations. I shot the Innovator Pro from Whisper Creekwww.whispercreekarchery.com, a bow that looks as if it might spring out of your stand and wrestle a deer to the ground without your help. Brian Holt from Whisper Creek says the new objective—since speeds in excess of 300 fps are now common—is to dampen the vibration and noise from a shot. This is accomplished with a variety of rubberized nodules, string stops and string attachments, as well as, in Whisper Creek’s case, dual shock-absorbing limb pylons and a new suspension arrangement for the axle system that separates the axle from the bow limb. Quote this article on your site | Views: 716
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