From boots to ballcaps and broadheads, bowhunting requires lots of clothing and equipment. But where should you buy your bowhunting gear?
Bowhunters who skip the nearby brick-and-mortar store and shop online are making a big mistake. Archery shops are the bowhunting industry’s backbone. Local shops are also economic engines for your community, and they employ experts who can ensure you’re ready for hunting season.
Let’s review seven reasons to buy bowhunting gear in person instead of online.
Retail stores provide service that’s impossible to get online. Once you walk into the shop, you’ll be greeted by skilled professionals who are there to help, whether they own the place or are paid staff. They have firsthand experience with equipment the shop stocks, and they’ve heard customer feedback about what works best. They’ll answer your questions and offer advice. If you shop online, you’ll be stuck reading endless reviews from strangers, and searching endlessly for credible answers.
Archery shops allow you to customize your equipment instead of guessing sizes/weights on a computer screen. Photo Credit: ATA
Bowhunting requires specific gear that must fit you just right. Your hunt’s success depends on it. Your bow must be tuned, your release aid adjusted and your arrows cut to your draw length. Skilled bow technicians at archery shops make those jobs look easy. They can also troubleshoot archery problems with you. If your peep sight isn’t aligning correctly, a bow technician can watch you shoot and make adjustments. You’ll walk out feeling confident and ready to hunt. If you buy equipment online, you have no way to know if gear fits you correctly.
Part of the purchasing process is deciding what works best for you. All archers have their own preferences. By shopping in a store, you get a better feel for the products on your wish list. When purchasing a bow or release aid, it’s especially important to test-shoot these products to see what suits your style. Archery shops make these products available to test. In contrast, if you order such products online, you have no idea how they feel in your hand or perform when shot. If you don’t like the product after it arrives on your doorstep, you’ll have to go through the hassle of returning it.
The employees can give you first hand knowledge of where to hunt or the local archery teams/clubs. Photo Credit: ATA
Archery shops employ experts who are eager to share their knowledge. Whether you want information about hunting areas or tips for improving your shooting form, you’ll walk away with more than what you bought when visiting an archery shop. Pro staff provide unique insights into hunting hotspots, and the many broadheads, camouflage and other supplies that help you hunt the area’s quarry. Online buying might provide more options for these supplies, but that’s not necessarily a good thing. Archery shops use their staff’s local expertise to handpick the best hunting equipment for the area.
Archery shops are great places to meet other bowhunters. You’ll often find bowhunters swapping stories on the shooting range. As hangout hubs, archery shops offer bowhunters opportunities to get advice from each other and potentially find new hunting partners. You can’t find this kind of camaraderie and experience online.
Shopping in retail stores gives children exposure to archery teams/clubs. Photo Credit: ATA
Archery shops provide more than just products for purchase. Most shops offer leagues, lessons and camps. These opportunities help grow bowhunting by introducing it to newcomers, and they’re vital to the industry’s future. By shopping and buying locally, you ensure the shop succeeds and sticks around to grow a new generation of bowhunters.
Local stores are important economic drivers in all communities. Brick-and-mortar stores filter money into the community two ways. By buying products in person, you help pay the store’s employees’ salaries. They then turn around and spend that money in your community on housing, taxes and other local investments. Money spent locally is vital to every community’s health.
To gear up for your next hunt and support hometown archery and bowhunting, find local archery shops in your area.
