Interviews from the AMO Show, 1999:

Pat Lefemine
The Bowsite

I introduced myself to Pat Lefemine of The Bowsite. Pat had been on the internet for years and when the world wide web gained widespread acceptance he saw anti hunting sites spring up all over the web. Their networking on the internet was very effective in getting their message out to their community about their activities and plans. Concerned about this, Pat created a web site to inform the hunting world what those that oppose hunting were up to. 

He began putting the word out about their activities. In a short while
Pat moved the site to it's own domain bowsite.com. In 1996 he began adding hunting information, interactive forums and commercial accounts. And, with long hours and hard work, he has seen his web site become a popular site for bowhunters. 

Pat is both an accomplished, dedicated bowhunter and a high tech
professional. His background is in Switched Networking and he is a
network designer who does network management and support.

I asked him what he wanted to accomplish on his web site and he
responded that he sees The Bowsite as a hub for politically orientated hunting organizations, a place to boost the various State bowhunting organizations, and he wants to make more people aware of different aspects of hunting, for example: many hunters think of hunting only as being about deer hunting, it is also hunting for bear, sheep, lion, etc.. He added, "Hunting is not a right, it is a privilege."

Pat has his eye on the future of internet technology. He believes that
wireless will be very big once the price comes in line. For example,
Sprint is currently putting up a satellite for the internet. Other
communication companies will follow suit and the price for high speed and remote access will soon be affordable. The technology is there to page someone right in their deer stand or on their sheep hunt in Alaska and talk to them. The only problem is that, right now, the price is too high. But costs will come down. Pat feels that that is only two years away.

I asked him about the future of the Internet. He said that business will
have to refocus and include the net in their plans, consumers love the
quick and easy access to company product and service information that they find on the net, and the online community expects it. As more people come online this will be the rule. He sees the near future of the Internet including video and new technology that, today, is too slow for modem transmission through the phone lines. The ISP's will upgrade, the Net's routers will upgrade, there will be ISP mergers and their technology upgrades will grow the Internet. The bowsite is at www.bowsite.com.

I saw some very realistic animal targets and stopped in the STI Targets booth. STI is short for Spence Targets Incorporated and Tom Spence runs the company. Tom is an 11 year veteran of the target business. The targets that attracted my attention were Photo Image Targets of deer, antelope, bear, wild turkeys and elk. Spence wanted and affordable deer target that provided realistic practice for the bowhunter to use in his back yard. These are realistic. Photographs of the animals are printed on weather resistant with UV resistant ink (it won't sun fade or discolor) and laminated to foam that will stop all arrow types, carbon or aluminum. When you put one of these targets in your yard you will think it's the real thing.

Spence also has a complete line of foam targets to include ones that are rated by arrow speeds and type of arrow. The target business has come a long way from the bale of hay!

The  2 year old broadhead company Innerloc Broadheads manufacturer a truly unique broadhead that is put together differently and is sturdier and stronger. It won't come apart. The patented Center Locking System locks the blades, shank and tip together rock solid. The broadheads are available in different cuts: 2, 3, 4 and 5 blade models. A wide variety of broadhead weights accommodates both the light weight and heavy weight train of thoughts. 

Last year Innerloc was a sponsor of the American Archer program on cable and network TV and feel this program  contributed greatly to consumer awareness and acceptance of the broadhead line. Innerloc dealers requested a 100 grain 3-blade broadhead last year and it was added this year. The dealers report the product is well accepted, easy to sell, and especially like that people can't tear it up. 

The Net plays a part in their business. They have received orders by email from Malisia, Spain, Norway, South Africa, New Zeland and other foreign countries. The Innerloc web site is at www.innerloc.com.

Norrth Star Treestands is a brand new treestand company headed by Bill Goodwin, a veteran of the treestand business. Bill's focus is making a treestand line that has a classic design, no gimmicks, and  rock solid engineering. The stands color is unique, it's a powder coat, rough texture Gray. The seat design has rounded edges, that means no sharp edges to irritate or put your legs to sleep.

The Hang On line has straps that are independent and they attach and ratchet from either the left or right side of the stand. The Foam Seat is firm enough but soft enough so the hunter's seat doesn't get numb. They are very light weight but will hold a lot of weight, for example the Mega Star weight 12 pounds and is 400 pounds. The line includes Hang On Stands: 2 aluminum and 1 steel, 3 climbers: all aluminum--and use cable instead of a metal back bar, and they fit trees 6 to 22 inches in diameter. There is also a Step Stick climbing pole that attaches with a ratchet and 2 Ladder stands. 

I first met Bob Kirschner at the Forksville Bowhunting Shoot in Pennsivania in 1979. Bob is a seasoned, avid bowhunter and is an expert on deer scents and lures. I spotted him in his booth and stopped by to see what he is up to these days. His company is Bob Kirschner’s Deer Lures  & Video Productions. He has been in the video business since 1986. He has 5 tapes of whitetail bowhunting for sale. His newest video is Bowhunting Beards & Bucks. It features 4 whitetail hunts using lures and scents and 6 Spring Gobbler hunts. this video teaches  people how to bowhunt and harvest Spring gobblers. It has new bowhunting tactics for Gobblers and for Whitetail bucks. For example, Bob's Scent Steamer trick with a soda can makes it happen. 

Bob Kirschner's enterprise also includes 31 lure and scent products and 2 bowhunting books.

I've known Jim Jordan for years. He is currently the Vice President of Sales and Marketing for PSE, the largest bow company in the world, and I wanted to talk to him about the bow business and get his take on the current state of archery and bowhunting. He said that the AMO Show attendance was down due to severe weather but the dealers that did come out came to do business and the average order was larger that previous years.

I asked him about the bow business. He feels that the bow business has passed through a period of strong growth but is currently in a non growth period. Archery has declined while Bowhunting has grown. To illustrate his point he asked me, "If you wanted to play golf or tennis while you are in Columbus, how hard a time would you have to find a place to do it? The answer is that is would be easy, the yellow pages would serve up a list of possibilities. But if you want to shoot outdoor or indoor archery it wouldn't be so easy to find a place. The information is not as readily available." He added that while it is difficult to find a place to do archery, bowhunting is a different matter, people can easily find a place to do it. And that is why it is growing.

I asked him about bows. He replied that the Split Limbs are going away, one cams are for high end speed and competitive shooter. But today, entry level  bows are the number one selling bows. (I see that as good, it means new folks are getting into bowhunting.) Bows like the PSE Nova and Vector 4 are top seller bows for newbees. He showed me the new  Gorilla Bow, a new 100 pound bow that shoots a 500 grain arrow at 308 fps with 104 foot pounds of kinetic energy.

PSE has new, well thought out  Accessory Packages for bows at the lowest prices ever. The packages include the bowquiver, sight, rest, etc. and attach to all makes of bows. 

Jim was enthusiastic about PSE's new S.T.A.R.S. Team Bowhunting Challenge '99. This is a nation wide tournament where bowhunting teams of 2 people can win some serious bucks by entering their deer in the contest. S.T.A.R.S.  also includes special categories for adults teamed with youth and men teamed with women bowhunters. S.T.A.R.S.  is backed by several companies and involves $100,000 in guaranteed prize moneys. S.T.A.R.S.  runs from Jan 1-Dec31 and the teams enter their combined scores (they use SCI scoring) for their whitetail or mule deer buck and does count as 100 points. The US is divided into 5 regions and the top 20 places are paid. We will have more details on this shortly.

Jim also clued me in on the S.T.A.R.S. Team Tournament Challenge '99. In 1998 S.T.A.R.S.? paid out $128,000 to its participants! But get this, the top ranked professional shooters have to shoot with lower ranked shooters to compete in some of the events. That makes us regular blokes a hot commodity, we could also pick up some bucks that we couldn't stand a chance for in a normal tournament, and just maybe get a shooting tip or two from a top dog. 
www.pse-archery.com

COMING: Chuck Denault, Lou Pomaville and more. . .