Wade Grinager

Archery Country

Rogers, Minnesota

We offer the JOAD program, which is really popular. One of the coaches from Elite Central Archers works here and offers lessons in our shop. Of course, JOAD participants shoot bows designed for target shooting. But only about 10 percent of our league shooters buy target bows and accessories and enter our Open Class. The other 90 percent use their hunting bows. A small handful of that 90 percent upgrade to a 23-diameter arrow for leagues.

At any given time, especially from September through February, we keep three to four target bows in stock. We offer PSE, Hoyt and Mathews. The JOAD shooters buy price-point bows, but our hardcore league shooters who are really into it buy high-end equipment. 

A lot of those customers can’t handle a rest with a blade launcher, so they use the Hamskea Epsilon. Some of them get the conversion kit. Many shoot the AXCEL Landslyde sight so that they can swap out housings for target shooting and bowhunting, or they go all out and buy the AXCEL Achieve PRO. With an UltraView UV Slider, a lot of customers buy the single-pin cartridge and put a target lens in. With the Mathews Bridge-Lock sight mount, some guys have one UV Slider, and they can easily remove it from their hunting bow and put it into their target bow with a target cartridge.

Luke Agre

Full Draw Outdoors

Stacy, Minnesota

We have about 300 league shooters. Roughly 30 of them shoot target-specific equipment. I run an indoor spot league, and most shooters in that league use target equipment. I also run an indoor 3-D league and a TechnoHunt league. Some of the 3-D shooters have target bows, but nobody in the TechnoHunt league shoots anything but bowhunting equipment. 

In our shop, we keep only three to five target bows in stock. We’re not a very target-driven shop. We generally have a Hoyt, a Bowtech, and a couple of Mathews target bows. We’re a strong Mathews shop, so we always keep a Title in stock. Other than one instance in which a young lady bought a Diamond Medalist simply because it fit her budget and draw-length and draw-weight range, we haven’t sold any mid-range target bows. Our target customers buy only top-of-the-line target bows.

A lot of accessory selection is based on me because I’m the only target-bow shooter who works at the shop. When I set someone up with a target bow, I’m going to match them with the products I trust the most. I’ve set up so many bows that mimic exactly what my personal target bow looks like. I have a lot of faith that this equipment will give the customer a flawless experience. 

If a customer asks which rest I recommend, I always suggest a Hamskea. For sights, I primarily suggest AXCEL’s Achieve. We keep some of them stocked. I generally recommend Shrewd bars. I keep those on hand, and I also usually have one or two sets of Bee Stinger bars. I have faith in both, but I personally use Shrewd.

The guys who shoot their bowhunting equipment in the leagues are what I’d call “hunting purists.” They look at target shooters as “cheaters.” They say that constantly, which is funny because our leagues don’t pay out. The winners get trophies or plaques. Most of our league shooters aren’t very competitive — they just want to shoot with their friends and family and have a good time. But, the ones who are competitive, which is about 10 percent of the bowhunting-bow shooters, feel that the target-bow shooters that they’re shooting against are cheaters. It actually makes me laugh when I think about it.

Scott Tandy

Riverside Archery

Riverside, California

About 70-80 percent of our league shooters switch from their hunting setup to a target-specific bow. Even with that number, we don’t stock a lot of target bows. Basically, we stock one example bow of each target model that our customers will likely buy. 

For 2024, we had a Mathews Title, Hoyt Stratos, and Bowtech Reckoning Gen2 stocked. The reason we stock so light is there are too many different color, draw-length, and draw-weight variations. The example bows give them something to test and look at, but then we can make a special order with exactly what they want. We have a little bit of mid-range target equipment, but most league shooters who are buying target equipment purchase high-end equipment.   

For target bows, the Hamskea Trinity Target is hands down our best-selling arrow rest. The most popular sight is the AXCEL Achieve with the Carbon Bar and AVX Scope. Most shooters go with magnification, but a handful don’t. Stabilizers are across the board; some people use Shrewd, some go with Easton, others buy RamRods.  

Even league shooters who use their bowhunting equipment typically buy dedicated target arrows. Most shooters bump up to at least a 23 if not a full-on 27. We sell more Victory arrows than anything else. Some of that is because it is a California company, but we also order in bulk quantities and can offer competitive pricing while maintaining solid profit margins.