IQ Bowsite Review
Recently I was watching a bow hunting show on TV and saw a commercial for IQ Bowsite . Their catchphrase is "center the dot for a perfect shot".
Having a few less than perfect shots last season, I was intrigued and did some web sleuthing about this bow site. There were some significant claims in their commercial, so decided to give it a try.
The main difference between IQ's bowsite and most of the others on the market is their "Retina Lock" Alignment Technology, Essentially this is a visual check that provides instant feedback to identify the slightest torque or change in anchor point. Put the pin on the target, check your site level, make sure the black dot is in the center of the green retina lock, and squeeze off the shot.
The premise sounded logical, but I was curious if it was marketing hype or if it really did help improve my shooting.
I chose the 5 pin model, placed my order online at IQ's website, and in a few days my package arrived. Along with my site I also received a JackKnife Smartphone mount to try out.
[caption id="attachment_417" align="alignnone" width="500"]
IQ Bowsite and JackKnife ready for installation[/caption]
I am an experienced hunter, but fairly new bowhunter, with only 5 bow seasons under my belt. Here are the specs for the bow I used for this review:
I removed my current well known site, and installed the IQ Bowsite on my Mathews Helim bow. Simple enough. Not knowing how badly off the site might be out of the box, I waited for a weekend at my hunting lease to sight in. I made sure I had a large safe backstop. I used a large 3'x3'piece of cardboard with a coffee filter stapled in the middle as my target. My backstop was a round hay bale. Not pretty, but effective.
[caption id="attachment_418" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Installation of IQ Bowsite complete - Now to Sight In![/caption]
I paced off 10 yards and loosed the first arrow. I was right of the coffee filter a good 8 ". Following the instructions, I used the very nice tool-free feature to adjust windage and elevation. Two arrows later I was hitting the center of my coffee filter. I moved to 20 yards, and made some small adjustments to center my shots. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to get arrows consistently hitting the bullseye. This was a big advantage over my old bowsite, which required Allen wrenches to make windage and elevation adjustments. The other advantage the IQ has is the ability to make micro adjustments with the tool free system, something my old site lacked.
Next I had to dial in the Retina Lock, which took a bit more time to adjust than the 20 yard pin had. The Retina Lock requires an Allen wrench (supplied) to make these adjustments, and it took probably half a dozen shots to get it where I wanted it. But once locked in, I immediately started getting tighter groups than I ever had with my previous site.
The premise is that the Retina Lock helps eliminate slight torquing of the bow. Being off 1/4" at 20 yards equates to being off 10" at 40 yards whether that is from slightly torquing the bow of having your anchor point slightly high or low, which often can be caused by heavy clothing or the excitement of the moment.
Once I used the IQ site for a half dozen arrows, checking the Retina Lock became very easy to employ without looking directly at it. A peripheral check becomes the final act before squeezing off the shot.
Setting the other 4 pins for longer yardages was accomplished by loosening an Allen screw and sliding the pin up or down to accommodate the additional distance from the target.
Additional shooting in my backyard range at 20 yards shows a consistently tighter grouping - though I did find I needed to make some additional micro adjustments to really start driving tacks. But once those were locked in, I was shooting better than ever.
[caption id="attachment_424" align="alignnone" width="500"]
6 arrow group, 20 yards[/caption]
This weekend marks the opening of spring turkey season in my part of Texas, which means I get to put a lot more arrows through my bow during down time between hunts. I am really looking forward to fine tuning this site and reporting back on the results. So far, I am very impressed at shorter yardages. This weekend I will spend more time at longer distance shooting which should really put the Retina Lock to the test.
Full disclosure - I received the IQ bowsite at a discount by joining their pro staff in return for reviewing the site on my blog.
Having a few less than perfect shots last season, I was intrigued and did some web sleuthing about this bow site. There were some significant claims in their commercial, so decided to give it a try.
The main difference between IQ's bowsite and most of the others on the market is their "Retina Lock" Alignment Technology, Essentially this is a visual check that provides instant feedback to identify the slightest torque or change in anchor point. Put the pin on the target, check your site level, make sure the black dot is in the center of the green retina lock, and squeeze off the shot.
The premise sounded logical, but I was curious if it was marketing hype or if it really did help improve my shooting.
I chose the 5 pin model, placed my order online at IQ's website, and in a few days my package arrived. Along with my site I also received a JackKnife Smartphone mount to try out.
[caption id="attachment_417" align="alignnone" width="500"]
IQ Bowsite and JackKnife ready for installation[/caption]I am an experienced hunter, but fairly new bowhunter, with only 5 bow seasons under my belt. Here are the specs for the bow I used for this review:
- Mathews Helim with a 65lb draw weight, stock strings
- Mathews 6 inch stabilizer
- Mathews Focus grip
- QAD Ultrarest HDX drop away arrow rest
- Tru-Fire Max Edge buckle foldback release
- Carbon Express Maxima 250 arrows with NAP Quickfletch Quickspin fletching
- I shot without a quiver attached
I removed my current well known site, and installed the IQ Bowsite on my Mathews Helim bow. Simple enough. Not knowing how badly off the site might be out of the box, I waited for a weekend at my hunting lease to sight in. I made sure I had a large safe backstop. I used a large 3'x3'piece of cardboard with a coffee filter stapled in the middle as my target. My backstop was a round hay bale. Not pretty, but effective.
[caption id="attachment_418" align="alignnone" width="500"]
Installation of IQ Bowsite complete - Now to Sight In![/caption]I paced off 10 yards and loosed the first arrow. I was right of the coffee filter a good 8 ". Following the instructions, I used the very nice tool-free feature to adjust windage and elevation. Two arrows later I was hitting the center of my coffee filter. I moved to 20 yards, and made some small adjustments to center my shots. I was amazed at how quickly I was able to get arrows consistently hitting the bullseye. This was a big advantage over my old bowsite, which required Allen wrenches to make windage and elevation adjustments. The other advantage the IQ has is the ability to make micro adjustments with the tool free system, something my old site lacked.
Next I had to dial in the Retina Lock, which took a bit more time to adjust than the 20 yard pin had. The Retina Lock requires an Allen wrench (supplied) to make these adjustments, and it took probably half a dozen shots to get it where I wanted it. But once locked in, I immediately started getting tighter groups than I ever had with my previous site.
The premise is that the Retina Lock helps eliminate slight torquing of the bow. Being off 1/4" at 20 yards equates to being off 10" at 40 yards whether that is from slightly torquing the bow of having your anchor point slightly high or low, which often can be caused by heavy clothing or the excitement of the moment.
Once I used the IQ site for a half dozen arrows, checking the Retina Lock became very easy to employ without looking directly at it. A peripheral check becomes the final act before squeezing off the shot.
Setting the other 4 pins for longer yardages was accomplished by loosening an Allen screw and sliding the pin up or down to accommodate the additional distance from the target.
Additional shooting in my backyard range at 20 yards shows a consistently tighter grouping - though I did find I needed to make some additional micro adjustments to really start driving tacks. But once those were locked in, I was shooting better than ever.
[caption id="attachment_424" align="alignnone" width="500"]
6 arrow group, 20 yards[/caption]This weekend marks the opening of spring turkey season in my part of Texas, which means I get to put a lot more arrows through my bow during down time between hunts. I am really looking forward to fine tuning this site and reporting back on the results. So far, I am very impressed at shorter yardages. This weekend I will spend more time at longer distance shooting which should really put the Retina Lock to the test.
Full disclosure - I received the IQ bowsite at a discount by joining their pro staff in return for reviewing the site on my blog.
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