How many folks have walked into a pro shop or box store that sales archery equipment to have work done on their bow and watched with zero confidence as someone worked on their bow that knew less than them? And then there are the times where you get home to find that the work done on your bow was done very poorly, and that doesn’t put you in a very good mood. But there is the flip side. How many people have found a great pro shop in their area where the employees are very friendly, passionate and extremely knowledgeable? Those are a great find, and it is enjoyable to go to the archery shop and hang out and get educated and know the guy is pouring his heart into your setup.
Working on bows and servicing archery equipment is a very customized field, but extremely important. A bow must be precision fit and tuned to a person for it to be at its full potential.
I have said all that to get to this: I have a vision. Scary, but give me a chance. When you get your car worked on you have the choice to take it to a CERTIFIED mechanic. The same for heating and air tecs; they go to school and get CERTIFIED. Heck, just about any type of repairmen in our normal lives are schooled, trained or licensed. And it is a nice feeling to go to the doctor and see 12 diplomas on the wall.
Here’s the point. I think the archery industry should start and offer (or demand) that if retail outlets want to service and sale archery equipment, their staff must attend this school that would be funded by manufactures, the ATA (Archery Trade Association), and those. The result is a great product for the public. With a lot of public awareness this would make it very desirable for retail shops to attain this certification.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you can walk into shops nationwide and see the credentials on the door or wall and know that the guy working on your bow is qualified and you are in good hands?
So this blog is a invitation to you… I have read so many e-mails over the years of folks complaining about not having a good pro shop in the area. I have also worked behind plenty of bows that were not set up right to start with. Please let us hear your thoughts and comments here on what you think about starting an archery certification class. And by all means, e-mail the ATA and all the archery manufactures to let them know how you feel about this. Besides, the happier people are with their archery setups, the more they shoot, the more they hunt and the more they will tell friends and teach children the joys of hunting and archery. Spreading the word helps our sport grow.
Yours in archery,
T-Bone
P. S. Don’t be shy. Let us hear from you.
Working on bows and servicing archery equipment is a very customized field, but extremely important. A bow must be precision fit and tuned to a person for it to be at its full potential.
I have said all that to get to this: I have a vision. Scary, but give me a chance. When you get your car worked on you have the choice to take it to a CERTIFIED mechanic. The same for heating and air tecs; they go to school and get CERTIFIED. Heck, just about any type of repairmen in our normal lives are schooled, trained or licensed. And it is a nice feeling to go to the doctor and see 12 diplomas on the wall.
Here’s the point. I think the archery industry should start and offer (or demand) that if retail outlets want to service and sale archery equipment, their staff must attend this school that would be funded by manufactures, the ATA (Archery Trade Association), and those. The result is a great product for the public. With a lot of public awareness this would make it very desirable for retail shops to attain this certification.
Wouldn’t it be nice to know that you can walk into shops nationwide and see the credentials on the door or wall and know that the guy working on your bow is qualified and you are in good hands?
So this blog is a invitation to you… I have read so many e-mails over the years of folks complaining about not having a good pro shop in the area. I have also worked behind plenty of bows that were not set up right to start with. Please let us hear your thoughts and comments here on what you think about starting an archery certification class. And by all means, e-mail the ATA and all the archery manufactures to let them know how you feel about this. Besides, the happier people are with their archery setups, the more they shoot, the more they hunt and the more they will tell friends and teach children the joys of hunting and archery. Spreading the word helps our sport grow.
Yours in archery,
T-Bone
P. S. Don’t be shy. Let us hear from you.
T-Bone,
I could not agree more! The Local "pro"shop here is terrible. The guy is rude and his work isn't very good. I've learned to do the stuff myself. For anything that requires a bow press I take a 40 minute drive to the shop i trust to work on my bows!
T-Bone,
I agree 100 percent! If I am going to have my bow worked on, I want the work to be done correctly so there is no problems. Some of the guys that work in archery at local pro shop dont know anything about bows and I tell you I am still learning about bows.
God Bless & Good Huntin'
Kristle Oberlander-GA
Travis,
An excellent idea! Example of pro-shop knuckleheadedness: A few years ago, when I was starting out in archery, I had some Axis arrows refletched at a local shop. At a 3D shoot, one of the vains flew off my arrow upon release, resulting in a nose-dive trajectory and a broken arrow. Went back to the shop, and requested a replacement arrow, as I felt they had done shoddy work. The manager of the shop balked, telling me that fletchings aren't all that important, and that sometimes Olympic archers would strip a vain off an arrow to deal with windy conditions, so losing one on my shot wouldn't have affected my arrow. He didn't feel like he was at fault. He was playing me for a fool - I thought he was nuts, and persisted with my desire for a new arrow. He finally did give me one. But I have never been back to that shop. In the meantime I have learned to do my own work on my bow, including replacing string & cables, installing accessories, tuning, etc. So with that bitter taste still in my mouth from that pro-shop experience, I think having a certification process for bow techs would be a great idea. I would certainly feel better about the prospect of letting someone work on my bow if I knew they knew their stuff.
I could not agree more with you. Luckily I live close to the Cabela's in Kansas City and know most of the guys in their tech room pretty good. But when it comes down to it I feel more comfortable doing most of my bow maintenance myself. My dream in life is to be able to open my own archery shop one day and without a doubt if there was one of these schools I would attend it. Not only to advance my own knowledge on bow tech but also so when that day does come and a customer walks in my shop and sees that degree they'll know that they can count on quality work.
Thanks T-Bone for letting me rant and good huntin' to you and all the Realtree crew this season!!
Greg-KS
P.S. Nocked-N-Loaded was awesome. Great hunts and the tip section was pretty cool too.
Quality Archery Professional Service:
This is why myself and all of my friends depend on you Travis & staff for the best service and quality. Anyone who is ever even close to Lagrange, GA needs to let Travis do all of your archery work. Or call and ship items.
Keep up the good work & blogs.
-Dilbeck
I also agree with you 100 % Travis. I had purchased new strings from a dealer and let him install them. Around 50 to 60 shots later the string was fraying, and the plastic string guide holder on my bow was neary cut in half by the string. So i bring my bow to my wifes cousin who lives 3 hours away and know way more about archery and archery equip. than I do. We find that the dealer made the stings cross on the wrong side of the cable guide,thus putting a strain on all the before mentioned componets. Not mention I had to order another set of strings. From then on no one works on my bow but him. I will even ship if I have to. Thanks for the great ideas and keep up the good work.
Travis, Louisiana
I agree with you 100%.I think you will better quality service.I support it.
Travis I also agree with u and the rest. Nothing sucks more then bringing your bow to a supposed pro shop and just wondering what you are gonna get. I too am trying to learn as much as I can so I can do all my own work. I am going to try to start buying equipment and practicing on my own stuff and my dream too would to open up and archery shop of my own because I am an addict and love to admit it. If the school happens i want to be the first to sign up. Great topic!!
T- BONE, I AGREE, WE ARE LUCKY THE PRO SHOP'S OWNER HERE IS CERIFIED, HE HAS TAKEN SCHOOLING AND HE KNOWS WHAT HE IS DOING,I DO ALOT OF MY OWN WORK,BUT THERE IS ALOT I DON'T KNOW AND I WOULD BE INTERESTED IN TAKING THE SCHOOLING, BECAUSE I WOULD REALLY LIKE TO GET INTO THE FIELD SOMEWHERE. GOOD HUNTING TIM.
Could not agree more. My dream is to open an archery shop. I hesitate because everything I have learned has been from a friend in the archery business and books. I haven't run into any problems with my friends who have me set up there equiptment, but I hesitate to move on because I am not "certified". Is there a school out there for someone who is not in the business yet? I would love to be certified for the piece of mind for customers and anything I might run into that I have not crossed yet. I want a good reputation because word of mouth can make or break an archery shop.
I completely agree! My cousin went to have some work done on one of his Hoyt bows and the "kid" that worked on it did more damage than the bow had before it came in. This isn't cheap equipment and if you're going to work on it you should have to know what your're doing or pay for the damage done!