LOUISVILLE — The latest archery equipment was showcased in Louisville Jan. 5-7 at the annual Archery Trade Association (ATA) Show. Open to archery manufacturers, retailers and the outdoors media, this year’s show was one of the largest ever, with about 620 exhibitors.
After four hours spent walking through the show, here’s some products that caught my eye:
* The Ignite may be Hoyt’s most versatile bow, ideal for the beginner or growing youth archer. This is because the draw length can be adjusted from 19 to 30 inches, and the draw weight range from 15 pounds to 70 pounds.
It’s a great bow for a teenager, or someone just getting into archery, who is learning shooting form. A growing youngster will be able to shoot this bow into adulthood by increasing the draw length.
As familiarity with shooting increases and arm strength grows, the poundage can be increased. The wide draw weight range also comes in handy for the two-season archer. Just crank down the poundage for summer bow fishing.
The Ignite weighs just 3.6 pounds, has parallel split limbs, is 28 inches axle-to-axle and is available in several colors and camouflage patterns. Its generous eight-inch brace height ensures plenty of arm clearance and shooting forgiveness.
It’s value-priced too, at $399. For more details visit: http://hoyt.com/compounds/ignite.
* For nearly 20 years Steve Simms has taken a “no compromise” attitude towards archery accessories. His Limbsaver brand stabilizers are an industry leader in dampening bow noise, hand shock, bow jump and vibration.
New this year is the LS Hunter Pro, a fully customizable stabilizer made from carbon fiber tubing, machined aluminum and Limbsaver’s proprietary Navcom material.
The LS Hunter Pro comes in several lengths and colors (black and the most popular camouflage patterns), and includes two, two-ounce weights, to customize the forward balance of your bow by adding weight to the end of the stabilizer.
The 9-1/2-inch model weighs 6.2 ounces, and sells for about $70. For more details visit: http://www.limbsaver.com/product/ls-hunter-pro-bow-stabilizer/.
* Quality Archery Designs, of Madison Heights, Va., has been producing drop-away arrow rests since 1992. Their Ultrarest HXD, which sells for about $140, is an industry leader.
Simply nock an arrow onto your bow’s string, flip up the u-shaped rest (with arrow capture bar) and the arrow is held in place, fully contained. It can’t fall off the arrow rest, even if the bow is turned upside down.
When the drawn bowstring is released, the arrow rest pivots forward and drops away from the path of the arrow.
Spring tension keeps the arrow rest from popping back up and hitting the arrow as it leaves the bow’s riser. The arrow rest is fully adjustable for both windage and elevation, and doesn’t fall away if the bow is let down from full draw.
New for 2016 is the Ultrarest MXT, which can be micro-tuned to a 2,000th of an inch.
“The arrow capture bar follows the body of the rest when it is adjusted left or right,” said Mike Carter. “This ensures that the capture bar is always centered up with the arrow holder.”
For more information visit their website at: www.qadinc.com.
* New this year from Muzzy, an industry leader in fixed-blade broadheads since 1984, is the Trocar Switch, the company’s first adjustable-cutting-diameter broadhead.
The 100-grain Trocar Switch features three razor-sharp 0.035-inch-thick blades that can be quickly and easily positioned in one of three settings for a 1-inch, 1 1/8-inch or 1 1/4-inch cutting diameter. The three configurations provide hunters with the option to customize the broadhead to the game being hunted or to achieve the best accuracy at varying target distances and arrow speeds.
For more outdoors news and information, see Art Lander’s Outdoors on KyForward.
The blades are set at a 2-degree right offset in the stainless steel Trocar ferrule, and each one is affixed by a steel shoulder screw with a steel blade-position collar keeping the blades locked into position. To change the cutting diameter of the Trocar Switch, simply loosen the broadhead on the arrow a few turns, slide down the blade collar, position each blade on the notch for the desired cut, and twist the broadhead tight to the arrow.
The Trocar Switch sells for about $40 for a three-pack. For more details visit www.muzzy.com.
* If you have ever shot at a deer in low light and wondered where your arrow hit, Eric Price has the solution — lighted arrow nocks.
“We started in 2002,” said Price, co-owner and co-inventor of Lumenok. “We’ve made a lot of improvements over the years.”
There’s no switch, no moving parts. The nock illuminates when the arrow is shot which makes arrow flight highly visible.
The Lumenok uses the arrow shaft to connect the battery and the light. Installed with a slight gap between the base of the nock and the end of the arrow shaft, when the string is released the force drives the nock slightly forward completing the circuit and lighting the light.
“Simplicity is the strength of the product,” said Price. “There’s a battery (replaceable), wire and LED light on an open circuit.”
A three-pack sells for about $32.
For more information, including an arrow chart for Lumenok sizing, visit: http://www.lumenok.com.
Art Lander Jr. is outdoors editor for NKyTribune and KyForward. He is a native Kentuckian, a graduate of Western Kentucky University and a life-long hunter, angler, gardener and nature enthusiast. He has worked as a newspaper columnist, magazine journalist and author and is a former staff writer for Kentucky Afield Magazine, editor of the annual Kentucky Hunting & Trapping Guide and Kentucky Spring Hunting Guide, and co-writer of the Kentucky Afield Outdoors newspaper column.