# Folks at the Cabela's archery section.



## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

I was just reading a thread on this forum where a newcomer was asking for advice about purchasing a bow and it made me reflect back to when I was in the same situation about a year and a half ago. I set out to try a few bows at some places, and on a trip up north to see the in-laws, the wife and I stopped in at Cabela's. 

I walked over to the archery section and asked if I could try out one of their bear bows that was in my price range. The person working their was a cute, young college girl, and if I'm judging a book by its cover, she probably knew about as much about bows as I did at the time. With a tone that showed a little bit of annoyance she replied, "Well, if there's a good chance that you're going to buy it." I was just a little bit taken back by her response. This was actually the first place that I went to to try out bows, and I was wondering if I breached some type of bow buying etiquette with my request. 

This was the very first bow I even tried to take for a test drive. There certainly wasn't "a good chance that I was going to buy it." Now I realize that bow shops are in the business of actually selling bows and not just letting a bunch of Elmer Fudds' come in and fling a bunch of arrows. However, letting Elmer flip some sticks is part and parcel of the whole selling bows game. I would guess that for every person that comes into a store and actually lays down money on a bow the owner has to deal with x number of tire kickers. Shoot, if I would've found a bow there that I liked I gladly would have come back and bought it later.

Since that experience at Cabela's I shot bows at Scheel's, Jake's Archery, Sportsman's Warehouse in St. George, Hurst Sporting Goods in Cedar City, and TNT archery in St. George. All of these places were very helpful and more than happy to let me try out some bows. I really wanted to give TNT archery my business but they aren't open on Saturday's which is the only day my wife and I could've gone to buy a bow with our work schedules so we ended up buying our bows from Sportsman's in St. George.

For others of you who have experience with the archery folks at Cabela's, are they always stingy about letting you shoot their bows unless you are very likely to be a paying customer, or did I just happen to be lucky enough to get a "princess" who couldn't be bothered to do her job?


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## Huge29 (Sep 17, 2007)

I had a similarly poor experience with a guy being a major Denver Bronco there who was really inconvenienced when I wanted to try one and when one of their $3 arrows was ruined from hitting a crease in the target. Yes, I was ready to drop down $500 on a Bear. I went straight to the store manager and he gave me one of the $150 gift card when purchasing $500 in merchandise cards way back before they did that regularly. They won me back with how well the manager was that day and returned and bought the same bow from a pretty good guy the next time, That was about 7 or 8 years ago...


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

You both have had better experience than me. Waited there patiently several times with my boy to look over a Bear Apprentice bow. I've yet to get them to talk to me, gave up after 15-20 min of waiting each time.

Jakes is a good place though when I'm down that way. Kindof got screwed on a deal at Humphreys, never will go back there.


-DallanC


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## mtnrunner260 (Feb 15, 2010)

I'm not sure I would ever trust on of the big box stores to be the best experience for archery. 5 or 6 years ago in the cabelas with my dad we saw some kid dry fire a bow. The equally young kid behind the counter just said I better take it back and hung it up on the display. Made me wonder about the other bows.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

mtnrunner260 said:


> I'm not sure I would ever trust on of the big box stores to be the best experience for archery. 5 or 6 years ago in the cabelas with my dad we saw some kid dry fire a bow. The equally young kid behind the counter just said I better take it back and hung it up on the display. Made me wonder about the other bows.


Hahahaha! Wow! just wow!


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## alpinebowman (Sep 24, 2007)

There is a reason I have a full shop in my basement. &#55357;&#56841;if you want to be more than the week before season archer it is almost a requirement.


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

Don't know, but I'm guessing Cabela's invites people to be entertained and have trouble separating customers from visitors...you know, just there to see the animals, see the fish, shoot a bow and arrow.

I miss UAC.


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## Old Fudd (Nov 24, 2007)

Most of the beginning archers I know have done the Cabelas thing..Lots of accessory failed
after installation. Rests, Sights< Strings> and so on.. I still say if you can get to Kaysville the guys at WildeArrow will do the right thing for you.. Schooled and have a ton of knowledge. Will explain things to you that Cabelas have no glue about. Sportsmans in Midvale same thing. Dave and the guys know their stuff. I myself would have no problem going to either place.


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## Bowhunter50 (Oct 14, 2014)

I know this is an old thread, but I recently had a weird experience with a bow shop as well. I had a new string put on my bow in April. Asked the guy at the shop if I should shoot it a lot then bring it back to get it tuned because the string would stretch out. He told me that it shouldn't stretch out and that it should be fine with the new materials they use for strings. Well over the summer I was busy with a very demanding internship and didn't have as much time to shoot as I would have liked. I went hunting and worked my butt off stalking a nice buck. I even waited for him to stand up from his bed for two and a half hours. Finally he stands up and I take a 50 yard shot and shoot right under him. The next week I shot my bow to see what the heck happened and see why I missed. So I shoot my first group and they're all low. Short story, I shot several groups and every single arrow was about 10-12 inches low. Now I'm not the best archer but I at least hit the dot that I'm aiming at with at least one arrow in each group. So I take it to a different shop and it turns out my string had stretched and needed to be tuned. I bet I could have taken down that nice 4x4 had I received better advice.


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## bass2muskie (Nov 5, 2013)

How much did you shoot it after the string was changed? I would have resighted in after getting a string changed and always shoot at a target before I leave hunting in case something has changed. Sorry to hear you missed such a nice buck though.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

I got my daughter a bow from Cabelas for Christmas the year before last. She loved it. The day after Christmas, we took it in to the archery shop and they set it up for her - putting in the peep, adjusted the poundage and draw length, and helped with the sights and gave her a 15 minute shooting lesson. Very good to deal with on the bow we had already purchased.

About a month later, she dropped the bow and broke the sight and rest. So we ended up at Sportsmans in Midvale. They installed the new rest and sight, and gave her a 45 minute shooting lesson. I was impressed with the guys at both places. The guy at Sportsmans went way above and beyond with the service. Granted, the store was pretty slow. If there had been other customers, I'm sure we wouldn't have had the same kind of service, which would have been fine. I'm not an archer at all, so the shooting instruction was great. And she's become quite the little archer.









And as a Papa, I couldn't be more proud of her chosen target.


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## Skally (Apr 20, 2012)

Bowhunter50 said:


> I know this is an old thread, but I recently had a weird experience with a bow shop as well. I had a new string put on my bow in April. Asked the guy at the shop if I should shoot it a lot then bring it back to get it tuned because the string would stretch out. He told me that it shouldn't stretch out and that it should be fine with the new materials they use for strings. Well over the summer I was busy with a very demanding internship and didn't have as much time to shoot as I would have liked. I went hunting and worked my butt off stalking a nice buck. I even waited for him to stand up from his bed for two and a half hours. Finally he stands up and I take a 50 yard shot and shoot right under him. The next week I shot my bow to see what the heck happened and see why I missed. So I shoot my first group and they're all low. Short story, I shot several groups and every single arrow was about 10-12 inches low. Now I'm not the best archer but I at least hit the dot that I'm aiming at with at least one arrow in each group. So I take it to a different shop and it turns out my string had stretched and needed to be tuned. I bet I could have taken down that nice 4x4 had I received better advice.


No one to blame but yourself.


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## bow_dude (Aug 20, 2009)

Agree with Skally's remark. Obviously you did not sight it in with broad heads, which always impact different than field points until you do the fine tuning. Standard for me is a minimum of 75 shots and then I re-check things again after 200 shots. the string needs to "settle in."

Garyfish... your daughters draw is too long. Looks like she could be well over 1 inch too long and maybe as much as 2. Notice from the picture that her posture is out of whack as well which is another indication of too long of a draw. If she is still growing, perhaps she will grow into it. The peep is a little low as well. Get her setup correctly and she will see a huge difference in her consistency as well as accuracy.


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## Bowhunter50 (Oct 14, 2014)

Actually I did have it sighted in with broadheads. I mentioned that I shot it afterwards and it shot low. That was with field points. So it shot low with both field points and broadheads. I don't see how you thought that I "obviously hadn't shot it with broadheads" just from what I said? Also my broadheads haven't always had a different point of impact than my field points. 

And sally I know it was partly my fault but I don't think it was all my bad. I had planned on shooting it then having them retune it for me, but the guy at the bow shop told me I didn't need to. I still shot several times over the summer, but wasn't able to shoot multiple times a week like I would have liked with my internship and a newborn. (I wasn't just working normal hours a week at my internship btw) It was still irresponsible on my part to not shoot the day before, but I can't help but feel that part of it was due to bad advice.


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

Bowhunter50 said:


> Actually I did have it sighted in with broadheads. I mentioned that I shot it afterwards and it shot low. That was with field points. So it shot low with both field points and broadheads. I don't see how you thought that I "obviously hadn't shot it with broadheads" just from what I said? Also my broadheads haven't always had a different point of impact than my field points.
> 
> And sally I know it was partly my fault but I don't think it was all my bad. I had planned on shooting it then having them retune it for me, but the guy at the bow shop told me I didn't need to. I still shot several times over the summer, but wasn't able to shoot multiple times a week like I would have liked with my internship and a newborn. (I wasn't just working normal hours a week at my internship btw) It was still irresponsible on my part to not shoot the day before, but I can't help but feel that part of it was due to bad advice.


Bowhunter? Really? So how long was it between your last practice session or sight in to the time that you were in the field? Also.......sounds odd that somebody would wait until the next week to see what went wrong. Skally is correct. It is on you. Hunting with a bow or any other weapon for that matter REQUIRES that the hunter KNOW his or her weapon and how it is going to perform. No excuses Bowhunter. Sorry.


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## Bowhunter50 (Oct 14, 2014)

I honestly didn't think that this would be the response to my post. Obviously I learned from my mistake and won't do it again. I wasn't trying to attack a bow shop or anyone online. I didn't mention the name of the bow shop involved. I already acknowledged that I should have shot it the night before I hunted. Obviously something happened between the time I shot it last and the time I went after the deer. I shot it about a week before I hunted. Maybe the string got too hot and stretched. I don't know. I really didn't think anything would happen between the time I shot it last and the time I shot at an animal. Also I don't see why it's ODD that it was a week between the time I found out what went wrong. I honestly thought that I just got nervous and missed, but to my surprise I was shooting a lot lower than before. Also I have to work and didn't have a chance to shoot till the following Saturday. I've taken several animals with my bow and this is the first time this has happened to me. I won't let it happen again. All I'm saying is that I would have been watching for the string to stretch had they not told me it wouldn't. Obviously it's still on me to make sure it shoots dead on the night before. I generally didn't get done with my internship until it was already dark and didn't have time to shoot the night before. 

I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I assure you that wasn't my intention. I wasn't trying to attack anyone.


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## Mr Muleskinner (Feb 14, 2012)

Bowhunter50 said:


> I honestly didn't think that this would be the response to my post. Obviously I learned from my mistake and won't do it again. I wasn't trying to attack a bow shop or anyone online. I didn't mention the name of the bow shop involved. I already acknowledged that I should have shot it the night before I hunted. Obviously something happened between the time I shot it last and the time I went after the deer. I shot it about a week before I hunted. Maybe the string got too hot and stretched. I don't know. I really didn't think anything would happen between the time I shot it last and the time I shot at an animal. Also I don't see why it's ODD that it was a week between the time I found out what went wrong. I honestly thought that I just got nervous and missed, but to my surprise I was shooting a lot lower than before. Also I have to work and didn't have a chance to shoot till the following Saturday. I've taken several animals with my bow and this is the first time this has happened to me. I won't let it happen again. All I'm saying is that I would have been watching for the string to stretch had they not told me it wouldn't. Obviously it's still on me to make sure it shoots dead on the night before. I generally didn't get done with my internship until it was already dark and didn't have time to shoot the night before.
> 
> I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I assure you that wasn't my intention. I wasn't trying to attack anyone.


As usual I came on strong as well. I didn't mean to offend either. I am anal about how I am shooting before I head out. Same reason I couldn't wait until the next week to see what was up.

Get yourself a field block to take on your hunts. They are priceless in my book. We shoot at them whenever time allows during the hunt. Before I got one I would shoot into a tree if needed.


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## Bowhunter50 (Oct 14, 2014)

Muleskinner,

Thanks for the advice. I'll be sure to get one of those block targets. It really felt like crap to miss that buck. I'm definitely going to do everything I can to make sure this mistake doesn't happen again. 

Best Regards


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## bow_dude (Aug 20, 2009)

I don't think anyone was offended. It was how you worded your story that led me to believe you hadn't sighted it in with broad heads. You said, "Well over the summer I was busy with a very demanding internship and didn't have as much time to shoot as I would have liked". I read into that statement and what followed that you didn't check it out prior to the hunt. Sorry for jumping to conclusions. I always take a target with me and shoot a few arrows prior to leaving camp as well as sight in at hunting altitude. Bows will shoot different at 9,000 ft elevation than they do at 4,000, especially a speed bow shooting arrows in excess of 300 fps. Mine will differ as much as 2 inches at 20 yards. So, based on my habits, if your habits were the same as mine, you would have found it the first few hours at camp.


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## Bowhunter50 (Oct 14, 2014)

Bow dude,

It sounds like I need to develop the same type of habit. This was actually a last minute hunt. I drove to the spot and got there at dark. Slept in the back of the truck, then hiked in the dark in the morning. I actually didn't even have time to scout over the summer and just went off of where I had spotted deer the year before. Normally I would love to shoot and glass all summer but unfortunately that wasn't the case this summer. There's nothing I like more than being out in the woods. That's why I'm considering a career change after how this summer went haha.


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## torowy (Jun 19, 2008)

You don't need to shoot it the night before per say, but you should be dialed in close to the start of your hunt. A string shouldn't stretch in a week just sitting in a case.

But more is always better. If you have time to shoot the night before, that is the best scenario. Little things like temp and pressure can change the way your bow preforms and arrows fly. Not as much with today's bows but still.


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

FWIW My experience with Cabelas was great! They were really patient with my daughter and I as we tried several different bows and asked tons of questions. The guy we were dealing with was super knowledgeable and extremely helpful. Now, as for my experience with Wilde Arrow....Lets just say Ill stick with either Sportsmans or Cabela's.


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## colorcountrygunner (Oct 6, 2009)

What exactly was your experience with Wilde arrow if you don't mind me askin, Booyaa?


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## Bo0YaA (Sep 29, 2008)

pm sent


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## Finnegan (Sep 7, 2007)

The take-away is that the less dependent a bowhunter is on a pro-shop or box store technician, the better.

I was a trad guy for decades before I took up compound archery and noticed that one of the (many) differences was a lot less focus on DIY. Seems to me that DIY not only adds a lot of fun and personal satisfaction to archery but also makes for a more proficient archer.


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