“Cool sells.”
So says Mark Whitt, president and CEO of Extreme Archery Products in Ashland, Kentucky.
Cool. Performance, as in functionally excellent. Priced for value. Appearance—interesting, dynamic. Which pretty much spells out the shooting characteristics of Extreme’s Raptor bowsights. Although his line includes competition sights and scopes, stabilizers and even Shrink-Fletch, Whitt is particularly excited about the hunting sights. Talk bowhunting and he gets energized.
Whitt’s sight series, the Recon for 3-D or hunting and the Raptor specifically for bowhunting, come in black, Mathews Lost Camo, or Realtree AP or APG.
Raptor series sights generally feature tool-less adjustments for windage and elevation, laser-engraved windage and elevation marks for precise alignment, 1 5/8-inch apertures, four ultra-bright pins with .019-inch fiber optics supported in the vertical plane, and an included Rheostat-controlled Purple Haze light. Parts of these sights are CNC machined while other parts are molded. Apertures have machined-in sun shades with laser-engraved logos and blaze orange glow rings for quick centering in conjunction with a peep sight. Raptor sights range in MSRP from $69 for basic black to $109 for the camo Ranger 1000.
Extreme also offers the accessories to outfit these sights. Stainless steel replacement pins are available in .010-, .019- and .029-inch diameters in red, green, or yellow. A red bubble level fits the Recon sights and an adjustable intensity purple sight light with 7/16-20 threading can be purchased to retrofit standard sights. Extreme’s lightweight Silhouette peep comes with two hole sizes—3/16-inch at 5.5 gr. and π-inch at 6.5 gr.—for acquiring the perfect field of view in 1 5/8- and 1 ≤-inch scope apertures.
The immediately identifiable element of Whitt’s 911 and 950 Raptor sights is the seriously styled fixed “skeleton” bracket with the purple Rheostat light mounted on the tail end—not on top of the aperture as is traditional with archery sight lights. Whitt says this position gives light from the sight immediate access to the full length of fiber optic strands, which are protected inside a clear plastic tube: light is focused, not lost or scattered. Plus, the sight light housing does not sit in an exposed position—vulnerable to being bumped and broken as a bow is lifted into a treestand or when walking through brush—and the fiber optic strands are fully protected.
Whitt’s Raptor 1000, also called the Ranger, is a fingertip-adjustable sight with a fixed mounting bracket. At 1 ∏ inches the housing is slightly larger than other Raptor sights. This gives it greater adaptability when used with magnifying lenses in 2x, 3x, 4x or even 6x power. The adjustment knob is located at the rear of the skeletonized sight bracket, but the sight light mounts on the side bracket of the solid aperture housing. The Ranger has a “tactical style” up-pin backed by more than two feet of light-carrying fiber optic cable.
“The Raptor series was our best-seller last year,” Whitt explains. “Extreme markets through all layers of the sales chain, but we believe that a strong presence with our dealer base drives sales through every other channel.”
The Extreme CEO has a grass roots understanding of archery. “I’ve been a bowhunter since I was 12 years old and my uncle owned a bow shop. I worked in his shop part time, owned an archery pro shop, sold it and then founded Extreme Archery.” (The pro shop, O’Brien’s Archery, is still located in the building. Offering a complete line of supplies and services, it has been a fixture in Ashland, Kentucky, for a dozen years.)
Whitt says that as the originator of shrink-fletching for arrows, his company is very strong as an OEM supplier for other companies. “Shrink-Fletch ($13 per 6-pack) installs easily and can be done quickly at a bowhunter’s work bench on carbon or aluminum arrows from 17/64 to 24/64 in diameter,” he says. “Once it is in place over a shaft, you simply immerse it in hot but not boiling water. It’s very simple. You can do it over a campfire. If vanes get shredded on an elk hunt, your customers don’t have to toss the arrow in the truck and wait to re-fletch at home. Just strip off the old Shrink-Fletch, heat some water and slip on a new one. They’re ready to go.”
Three-vane Shrink-Fletch come with a white tube. Vanes can be 2 or 4 inches in length with the cock vane yellow or orange. Certainly bowhunters strive for a completely camo appearance, but a bright “back end” of a shaft will be a tremendous asset when making a video of hunts…or in dim light when they can’t see like they did when they were 18 years old. Realtree-trademarked Shrink-Fletch with 2-inch vanes can be ordered with either white or black tubing.
“Given the overall weakness of the economy,” Whitt reflects, “Extreme Archery is doing pretty well. This year we’re concentrating on adding value to our sights and we’ve also developed a series of hunting and competition stabilizers.”
AirWeight hunting stabilizers—metal end caps connected by wrapped fiberglass rods to keep weight at the extreme ends—are 5 and 7 inches long. A.C.A.D. hunting stabilizers in 7- and 10-inch lengths use the same weighting principle but add Doinker units at the front end.
Extreme Archery sights are covered by a Limited Lifetime Warranty. It guarantees they are free of defects in materials and workmanship for life to the original purchaser. The Warranty excludes shrink wrap which is durable but naturally subjected to the extraordinary use and abuse of an arrow penetrating targets and game animals.
In business since 1999 Extreme Archery is located at 7120 U.S. Hwy. 60, Suite B, Ashland, Kentucky 41102. Call (606) 928-9447 or go to www.extremearchery.com.
