Bass Pro and Sportsmans wont let you shoot before you buy. - Page 1

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[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bass Pro and Sportsmans wont let you shoot before you buy.

Posted: 5/2/2013 8:55:50 PM EDT

I went to Sportsman's here in Vegas to buy a bow. I have it narrowed down to two bows. I asked if I can shoot both bows back to back so I can decide and was told no. I was told I wasn't even allowed to handle or touch any bows. I could look, no touch. What's up with that??

So I politely say "OK" and left. I call Bass Pro and ask if I could shoot before I buy and was told no. The guy as Bass Pro told me I could bring my own bow and shoot all I want in their lane, but not with their bows.

Both of them have a shooting lane, but wont let anyone test drive a bow. I was in Sportsman's today with a grand burning a hole in my left front pocket and left empty handed.... Dang.

Posted: 5/2/2013 9:00:49 PM EDT

[#1]

My guess is if 1000 people try out that bow with a couple shots its not so new anymore..You would think the companies would give a test model. no touch? Thats a bit redic.

Posted: 5/2/2013 9:01:26 PM EDT

[#2]

Dickheads.

Posted: 5/2/2013 9:02:29 PM EDT

[#3]

Easy fix right there. Buy from mom & pop archery shop. If BPS and SW bow prices are anything like the firearm prices you will save money anyway.

Posted: 5/2/2013 9:16:43 PM EDT

[#4]

Bass Pro won't let you try out the trigger on guns, either.

Posted: 5/2/2013 9:34:35 PM EDT

[#5]

The Cabelas and Sportsmans will let u mess with the bows here at their indoor "range" Usually they also do it so they can customize the bow to u right when u buy it.

Posted: 5/3/2013 12:18:29 AM EDT

[#6]

Part of it may be that it is Vegas and they have a lot of odd people who show up there and want to just fool around with no real intention of buying. Why dont you go back and ask to talk to the manager of the store and tell him that you are a serious buyer and need to be able to compare the two products to know how the draw feels and that if you cant do it there you will have to find another dealer where you can. While it may just be their policy I cant imagine buying a high dollar bow without seeing how it feels and I have bought several Hoyt and Matthews bows. I find that I really like the Drenalin and hunt with that but Hoyt used to make a ProTec that is one of my all time favorite bows and the cam is adjustable for length of pull its a longer bow but very very smooth. LINK

Posted: 5/3/2013 3:20:22 AM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:

Part of it may be that it is Vegas and they have a lot of odd people.

Dafuk

You know nothing about Vegas. The sportsman's is very end of town, nowhere near the Strip or down town. There is a street in the middle of the valley with a lot of casino's. The rest of town (all 220 sq miles of it) is just a regular old city with regular people. Well, regular for a large city.

Posted: 5/3/2013 10:11:28 AM EDT

[#8]

I ran into that at my only local bass pro too. Only place that sells anything bow related as there are no bow specialty shops in my area. I was like WTF? so I just bought a re-curve off ebay. re-curves generally fir everyone.

Posted: 5/3/2013 10:46:22 AM EDT

[#9]

Go to a pro shop that specializes in archery, and support them with your dollars.

Their prices will be higher, but you are paying for knowledge and service.

Posted: 5/3/2013 11:16:39 AM EDT

[#10]

Quoted:

Go to a pro shop that specializes in archery, and support them with your dollars.

Their prices will be higher, but you are paying for knowledge and service.

Will do. The problem is, I can only find one bow shop on line beside the two big box stores. There is also a guy that sells out of his house. The small shop doesn't carry one of two choices but I will go in there today after work. They do carry Hoyt though.

Posted: 5/3/2013 11:52:42 AM EDT

[#11]

Easy fix right there. Buy from mom & pop archery shop.

Yep; wouldn't consider going to either of those places for a bow. ( or a gun for that matter)

Posted: 5/6/2013 12:44:39 AM EDT

[#12]

Went to a smaller Pro Shop here in Vegas. They carry Hoyt, PSE, Prime, Mathews and a few others. They have NO problem letting people test dive a bow. VERY cool people. I glad I didn't leave my money with Sportsman or Bass Pro....

Posted: 5/7/2013 1:36:35 AM EDT

[#13]

Sure, go to a pro shop Scooter. Sure, they will help you out Scooter. Sure, go look at racks and racks of $1000 bare bows Scooter. Thanks a lot guys!

Posted: 5/29/2013 12:26:57 PM EDT

[#14]

Maybe its just that you are in the lower 48 or that I am in Alaska but I shot 4 different bows at the SW near me. I probably could have shot every bow they had if I wanted. Hell 2 weeks ago they let my 5 year old test drive a Diamond Atomic.

Posted: 6/23/2013 3:51:26 AM EDT

[#15]

Quoted:

Quoted:

Part of it may be that it is Vegas and they have a lot of odd people.

Dafuk

You know nothing about Vegas. The sportsman's is very end of town, nowhere near the Strip or down town. There is a street in the middle of the valley with a lot of casino's. The rest of town (all 220 sq miles of it) is just a regular old city with regular people. Well, regular for a large city.

There is nothing "regular" about this city. It's chock full and over populated with stupid fucks, a lot of them are at gun and archery shops...

What pro shop did you end up going too? Looking to pick up a Mathews Creed and get a Bear Legion re-strung.

Posted: 6/23/2013 5:42:47 PM EDT

[#16]

Quoted:

What pro shop did you end up going too? Looking to pick up a Mathews Creed and get a Bear Legion re-strung.

Pacific Archery. Go in there and talk to Gabe. Don't go anywhere else. SUPER nice guys. I bought a G5 Shift. Last time I was in there, they had a few Creeds hanging on the wall.

Posted: 6/29/2013 12:34:54 AM EDT

[#17]

That really stinks! Here in Denver, I went to Bass Pro and when I told the salesman I had been looking at a PSE Stinger 3G online and wanted to know what he knew about it, he told me I would know all I wanted to by shooting it, and said that I probably should shoot one from Bear as well. He asked it I had some time and he set both bows up for me and then we took them to the shooting lane and let me shoot both of them as much as I wanted. Awesome customer service and needless to say I bought a bow from them.

Posted: 7/25/2013 10:48:09 PM EDT

[#18]

Meh. My first bow I bought online, had it fitted to me over the phone and it worked out great for me.

Posted: 8/30/2013 10:56:03 AM EDT

[#19]

The Sportsmans warehouse here did, but I have never considered buying a bow from Cabelas.

Posted: 9/3/2013 11:01:43 AM EDT

[#20]

Support local archery shops if you can find them.
Luckily we have a shop (M&M Archery) in northern KY that even has a nice indoor 3D range to shoot at.
I think they are going to set up an elevated position to shoot from so you can sight in that hunting bow.

Their prices are a little higher than most online places but for the service & super nice range, Im willing to pay extra.

Posted: 9/13/2013 10:22:44 PM EDT

[#21]

We bought my wife a bow in May from Bass Pro in Denver. We worked with the same guy on several trips and he not only let my wife shoot multiple bows, but let her try different weights and hands to dial in what she was comfortable. He didn't bat an eye on the first trip when we told him we weren't ready to buy, he said that was fine and still set up several bows.

Not every Bass Pro may be the same, but we would certainly buy from them again.

Posted: 9/18/2013 8:06:35 PM EDT

[#22]

The local ma and pa archery shops also tend to have access to the flagship bows. PSE doesn't sell their Pro-Series bows through the big-box stores (you'll only find the PSE single cam bows in the big box stores) and Bowtech sells the Diamond line through the big-box stores. And you're not going to find Hoyt or Matthews in a big box store (at least around here).

Posted: 9/29/2013 6:49:56 PM EDT

[#23]

Must be in your area only.

I bought the exact bow I test fired at Bass Pro. Still have it.

Posted: 10/4/2013 5:05:00 PM EDT

[#24]

Must be location. When I bought my diamond from bass pro last year I shot about 6 diff bows. They worked with me quite a bit, I was actually amazed how great they did.

Posted: 10/12/2013 5:01:21 PM EDT

[#25]

Must be a vegas thing.

Anyway, I picked up a Hoyt Charger a few weeks ago so I could shoot with my dad. I have to say, for a budget bow, its a pretty damn nice shooter. I got him a full set-up with Bloodline arrows and a hard case.

Posted: 10/25/2013 9:39:59 AM EDT

[#26]

Another vote for your location, or they thought you were a Looky-loo with no intention of buying. Last spring my wife bought a new bow at the Atlanta BassPro. The salesman set up 3-4 bows for her, took her into the range let her shoot each, made some adjustments, and let her shoot again. Then she bought the one she liked best.

Posted: 1/3/2014 5:27:29 PM EDT

[#27]

most bows need to be fitted to the shooter. Your draw length will be very different from mine. Also, dry firing a bow can destroy it. While you may know this, there's a million idiots out there that might do it anyway.

Posted: 3/31/2014 9:30:28 PM EDT

[#28]

Quote History

Quoted:

Sure, go to a pro shop Scooter. Sure, they will help you out Scooter. Sure, go look at racks and racks of $1000 bare bows Scooter. Thanks a lot guys!

View Quote

I went to a pawn shop. Bought a used bow in good shape for $100. Took it to the local pro shop, they checked it over for free and congratulated me on my deal. I bought a dozen arrows from them and some other kit. When I've gotten a little better, and have some spare coin to upgrade, they will get my business.

Posted: 3/31/2014 10:03:41 PM EDT

[#29]

Quote History

Quoted:
Bass Pro won't let you try out the trigger on guns, either.

View Quote

Cabela's used to be this way too. At least the one in KC when they first opened. Guess they got tired of people leaving and going elsewhere, cause they let you try the triggers now...

Posted: 8/19/2014 12:43:09 AM EDT

[#30]

Both the BP and Cabela's by me (NW Indiana) allow you to try out any bow or X-bow you wish for that matter. I would have to think it's a store by store policy, sooooo, as others have suggested it's your money to spend so simply spend it else where. Even if it meant traveling 50 miles one way to find a reputable pro shop to give my money to I would do so. Just another option to consider.

Posted: 8/19/2014 12:44:11 AM EDT

[#31]

Both the BP and Cabela's by me (NW Indiana) allow you to try out any bow or X-bow you wish for that matter. I would have to think it's a store by store policy, sooooo, as others have suggested it's your money to spend so simply spend it else where. Even if it meant traveling 50 miles one way to find a reputable pro shop to give my money to I would do so. Just another option to consider.

Posted: 8/25/2014 4:49:45 PM EDT

[#32]

as an employee of bass pro, our policy is to let you shoot any bow you want any time, even if your not buying it

that employee is wrong and needs to be refreshed on policy

Posted: 11/12/2015 9:05:55 PM EDT

[#33]

There's a new Bass Pro Shop that opened the other week near me in San Jose. First time I stepped foot into one today, and checked out the archery department.

I walked away disappointed. It was nothing other than high prices and unapproachable staff. I wonder how many of the staff there knew about the county archery park in nearby Santa Teresa?

There's a much, much better archery shop in downtown Morgan Hill. Why anyone would go for full retail pricing from a national, big box chain, over a local store with knowledgeable staff and personal attention is beyond me.

Posted: 12/28/2015 3:30:58 PM EDT

[#34]

Quote History

Quoted:
My guess is if 1000 people try out that bow with a couple shots its not so new anymore..You would think the companies would give a test model. no touch? Thats a bit redic.

View Quote

Yes, but that's the cost of doing business

If dealers have cars (much more expensive and more liability involved) they let you test drive, archery shops should let you try something before you buy it

I went to Cabelas to try a couple of bows and bought the one I liked best

Posted: 12/30/2015 4:58:45 PM EDT

[#35]

Quote History

Quoted:
as an employee of bass pro, our policy is to let you shoot any bow you want any time, even if your not buying it

that employee is wrong and needs to be refreshed on policy

View Quote

I personally shot 2 bows at Bass Pro before I bought one for the wife. Went back a couple days later and shot a few before picking one for myself. They would have let me shoot all of them if I wanted.

One warning. The bows are test fired by newbies and then go back on the shelf. The employees at my location are honest enough that if something happens such as a dry-fire, they don't put it back on the shelf. There were a half dozen new bows on the back wall of the archery range tagged "Dry fire. Needs inspection." I am not sure what this "inspection" entails, though.

Posted: 8/19/2017 10:12:41 PM EDT

[#36]

My dad was a professional archer and ran an archery shop when I was a kid. He witnessed on several occasions guys dry firing bows. If you've never seen it, it instantly ruins the bow. So I can't say that policy doesn't make sense.

Like the one guy said earlier, maybe they should setup test bows.

Posted: 8/20/2017 12:10:57 PM EDT

[#37]

If a shop is concerned get a credit card number first and let the buyer know if they break it they bought it

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - Bass Pro and Sportsmans wont let you shoot before you buy.

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