Parker Bows Going Out of Business

[Sir-diealot]

Sorry to hear that another hunting company is going under.

Important Information From Parker Bows
Staunton, VA
Parker Bows has made the difficult decision to cease operations. We have explored what we believe to be all possible options to continue operations in one form or another but to no avail. It has truly been an honor to have been a part of your hunting seasons for over two decades. And it is hard to put into words what your loyalty and support has meant to us.


Effective as of the date of this post (December 17, 2018), all Parker and Red Hot branded products sold will be without a warranty regardless of statements on the packaging or in owner's manuals. We will make every effort to honor existing warranty claims for items received at our Staunton, Virginia headquarters on or before December 31, 2018. Before returning any item for warranty service, please call 540-337-5426 to speak with a customer service representative and obtain a Return Authorization Number. Items received after December 31, 2018 will be refused.


As we wind down our operations, please check our website, social media pages, future emails and with your local dealer for special offers and announcements.


https://www.parkerbows.com/news/important-information-from-parker/

[Bowguy]

 Too bad, I'm not a Parker guy but my understanding is crossguns are big part of the reason bow companies as of late are struggling. Hope other companies find a way to make it

[MK M GOBL]

Not to say Parker did make crossbows as well... From a sales end we never had much customer interest in Parker over the last years, but would think it would have to do a lot more than with just a crossbow. IMO

MK M GOBL

[Sir-diealot]

I have not been very familiar with their products, just hate to see anybody in the hunting line going out of business.

[Bowguy]

Not to say Parker did make crossbows as well... From a sales end we never had much customer interest in Parker over the last years, but would think it would have to do a lot more than with just a crossbow. IMO

MK M GOBL

You are prob correct. I'm sure it's not only crossbows and Parker did make em. They were never real cutting edge either. My point is though many bow manufacturers are beginning to feel the crossgun pinch. Some such as PSE have stated they made a mistake pushing for inclusion. You sow what you reap imo. They were so worried about extra sales. Here's my opinion and I might be wrong but bow guys are bow guys. Almost all have lots of bows, maybe every couple years or so upgrade.
Once fellows go to crossguns they seem content w only the one they got.
Nothing I'm saying is 100% and it's only a theory but if bow sales are so sluggish than tell me why?
Here's another one and take no offense cause I know you're "trade" but big box stores are not pro shops. Many fellows don't understand bows. I'm not referring to your store cause idk but one crossbow can be used by anyone. A bow must fit and I'd bet 75% of Archers shoot bows that don't. Many if not most  came from big box stores. How would you obtain proper back tension, solid follow through, etc if a bow is say too long? You can't. It's needs to fit so you can reach potential. Now big box stores set up bows, do they set them up for a method? If a fellow shoots fingers, release type,(thumb, index, back tension) dif neck lengths. Do they take the time to inquire about the issues? Do they actually understand em? That all matters. Do big box stores check eye dominance? Most don't., Easier to just grab any old crossgun n be done. Don't even need to practice or at most very very limited.
Here's another scary thing to consider. W all the parallel limb designs you need a parallel limb bow press to do simple things. Or spend big money on one. There's no way to adjust timing, change strings/cables, etc without em. They're now unfriendly as your car.
Bow folks support your local pro shop while you can, they're disappearing and so is the expertise many provide. Hopefully Parker is the only one but I doubt it

[Sir-diealot]

Not to say Parker did make crossbows as well... From a sales end we never had much customer interest in Parker over the last years, but would think it would have to do a lot more than with just a crossbow. IMO

MK M GOBL

You are prob correct. I'm sure it's not only crossbows and Parker did make em. They were never real cutting edge either. My point is though many bow manufacturers are beginning to feel the crossgun pinch. Some such as PSE have stated they made a mistake pushing for inclusion. You sow what you reap imo. They were so worried about extra sales. Here's my opinion and I might be wrong but bow guys are bow guys. Almost all have lots of bows, maybe every couple years or so upgrade.
Once fellows go to crossguns they seem content w only the one they got.
Nothing I'm saying is 100% and it's only a theory but if bow sales are so sluggish than tell me why?
Here's another one and take no offense cause I know you're "trade" but big box stores are not pro shops. Many fellows don't understand bows. I'm not referring to your store cause idk but one crossbow can be used by anyone. A bow must fit and I'd bet 75% of Archers shoot bows that don't. Many if not most  came from big box stores. How would you obtain proper back tension, solid follow through, etc if a bow is say too long? You can't. It's needs to fit so you can reach potential. Now big box stores set up bows, do they set them up for a method? If a fellow shoots fingers, release type,(thumb, index, back tension) dif neck lengths. Do they take the time to inquire about the issues? Do they actually understand em? That all matters. Do big box stores check eye dominance? Most don't., Easier to just grab any old crossgun n be done. Don't even need to practice or at most very very limited.
Here's another scary thing to consider. W all the parallel limb designs you need a parallel limb bow press to do simple things. Or spend big money on one. There's no way to adjust timing, change strings/cables, etc without em. They're now unfriendly as your car.
Bow folks support your local pro shop while you can, they're disappearing and so is the expertise many provide. Hopefully Parker is the only one but I doubt it

I would have to say I agree. I have even had people that shoot crossbow tell me they tried to get into bows (Mostly compound) and they could not do it so they got a crossbow. I have fired them, but just don't care for them and don't really consider it archery. Not for me anyway. That said I would defend their right to do it even though I hate it.

To me the biggest use I see for them is for the disabled to keep or get them in the woods. That said there are aperatis to help hold back a compound string until release though not all may be able to hold up the bow where they may be able to with a crossbow using a tripod.

Something that I read years ago and kinda makes me laugh, there was some king many years ago that was asked why he had so many crossbowman in his army to which he replied something like "Archers take years of training, they have to be equipped right, have to be fed right, they have to have their equipment fitted to them and their arrows have to be fitted to their bows, but any idiot can fire a crossbow."

Funny thing is I must be an exceptional idiot, because I can't hit anything with a crossbow.

[Bowguy]

I also do not consider it archery at least not in the truest sense. It is legal now though in lots of places so I'd not be against anyone either. I would however be the first one to say to move them to muzzleloader where they belong.
The disability thing is a tough one for me. I fully agree someone disabled needs to be given more. But the definition of disabled is debatable. Many people claim they can't do it. Horse poop, it's the same crybabies that feel they need medical marijuana cause they're too soft to take a little pain. People need to man up.  I have issues, it doesn't stop me from plugging along and at least trying.  Everyone is dif for sure but this country has gotten soft. Hope it changes enough where my daughters aren't tougher than most of my friends sons.

[MK M GOBL]

Not to say Parker did make crossbows as well... From a sales end we never had much customer interest in Parker over the last years, but would think it would have to do a lot more than with just a crossbow. IMO

MK M GOBL

You are prob correct. I'm sure it's not only crossbows and Parker did make em. They were never real cutting edge either. My point is though many bow manufacturers are beginning to feel the crossgun pinch. Some such as PSE have stated they made a mistake pushing for inclusion. You sow what you reap imo. They were so worried about extra sales. Here's my opinion and I might be wrong but bow guys are bow guys. Almost all have lots of bows, maybe every couple years or so upgrade.
Once fellows go to crossguns they seem content w only the one they got.
Nothing I'm saying is 100% and it's only a theory but if bow sales are so sluggish than tell me why?
Here's another one and take no offense cause I know you're "trade" but big box stores are not pro shops. Many fellows don't understand bows. I'm not referring to your store cause idk but one crossbow can be used by anyone. A bow must fit and I'd bet 75% of Archers shoot bows that don't. Many if not most  came from big box stores. How would you obtain proper back tension, solid follow through, etc if a bow is say too long? You can't. It's needs to fit so you can reach potential. Now big box stores set up bows, do they set them up for a method? If a fellow shoots fingers, release type,(thumb, index, back tension) dif neck lengths. Do they take the time to inquire about the issues? Do they actually understand em? That all matters. Do big box stores check eye dominance? Most don't., Easier to just grab any old crossgun n be done. Don't even need to practice or at most very very limited.
Here's another scary thing to consider. W all the parallel limb designs you need a parallel limb bow press to do simple things. Or spend big money on one. There's no way to adjust timing, change strings/cables, etc without em. They're now unfriendly as your car.
Bow folks support your local pro shop while you can, they're disappearing and so is the expertise many provide. Hopefully Parker is the only one but I doubt it

I would have to agree with most of the big box stores are in the same game as a pro shop. I was lucky to work a pro shop before I changed jobs, we also have a very experienced target shooter on board at the store. Can't say we have that kind of experience throughout the store...

I have run into same thing myself, I already know what I'm looking for before I'm in the door. Been at the game way too long

My only thing with crossbow use would be if it gives someone a chance to hunt that otherwise couldn't...not because they are not willing to spend the time with a bow to be proficient. Should not be just an easy way out.

MK M GOBL

[Bowguy]

Agreed. The other thing I'd mention regarding pro shops is even all of them aren't equal. Imagine a fellow wanting to shoot fingers or a stykbow. Lots of fellows would fluff knowing anything. How bout back tension releases? Not an awful lot shoot them unless they're target Archers and they don't know.
Myself as an instructor in archery and hunter ed I make sure that even if I don't primarily shoot something I still have shot it enough to understand (as in methods). Can't help someone if you don't understand what they want to learn.
I know it's a Parker thread but as you said it's a combined issue. I still truly believe the crossbow is a big part of it though

[Sir-diealot]

I also do not consider it archery at least not in the truest sense. It is legal now though in lots of places so I'd not be against anyone either. I would however be the first one to say to move them to muzzleloader where they belong.
The disability thing is a tough one for me. I fully agree someone disabled needs to be given more. But the definition of disabled is debatable. Many people claim they can't do it. Horse poop, it's the same crybabies that feel they need medical marijuana cause they're too soft to take a little pain. People need to man up.  I have issues, it doesn't stop me from plugging along and at least trying.  Everyone is dif for sure but this country has gotten soft. Hope it changes enough where my daughters aren't tougher than most of my friends sons.

I have to disagree on the medical marijuana in part anyway, there are those out there abusing the system and saying they need it just so they can get stoned, but for those that need it it is a great help. I will tell you this right now, if I had known how much weed helps those with cancer and all the ways that it does I would have gone and bought my mother a bag and a bong in a heartbeat. I am not one that thinks it cures cancer, but it does have beneficial effects to those that have been through chemo and radiation as well as those that have not started it yet. But again I do agree there are those that abuse it. I can say myself that it helps with pain but I am to paranoid to keep it in my home so I don't do it. And no I do not go someplace else to do it and then drive home, I learned that lesson the hard way back in 88 and am still paying for it every day.

[Bowguy]

You're actually not disagreeing w me. I believe you're misunderstanding. If someone is sick and something is needed they should get it. If someone wants to get high be a man and say that. Making an excuse is ridiculous. That's what I'm aluding to

[Sir-diealot]

You're actually not disagreeing w me. I believe you're misunderstanding. If someone is sick and something is needed they should get it. If someone wants to get high be a man and say that. Making an excuse is ridiculous. That's what I'm aluding to

Oh okay, thanks for the clarification, I was indeed misunderstanding you.

[Cut N Run]

Well, I am a Parker Hurricane crossbow owner and one who was forced to shoot a crossbow because of an injury.  Bowguy, your disrespect for crossbows is appalling.  You need to try to shoot an arrow off a crossbow through the woods sometime before you go calling them crossguns.  I can't hold the string back anymore, yet shooting a crossbow is still flinging an arrow off a string that is subject to deflection as it flies in an arc towards the target.  The crossbow arrow is lighter, so even though it comes off the string faster, it loses kinetic energy, slows down faster, and is no match for a bullet. 

I started shooting a bow at age 9 and hunted with one since I was 11 years old (I'm 58 now). I worked in a sports shop setting up bows, fletching arrows, an giving archery instruction for over a decade, so I have more than a little idea of how archery tackle works.  There's no telling how many deer I've killed with my bow, it's been truckloads.  I even hunted with a hand made long bow with arrows I'd built tipped with stone points I knapped just to prove to myself that I could bowhunt the oldest of old school. 

These days, I shoot a crossbow by necessity, not by choice.  I was T-boned by a drunk driver who ran a red light at 70 MPH, which dang near killed me.  I suffered a traumatic brain injury, which put me in a coma, blew up my left shoulder, broke my pelvis in two places, and broke most of the ribs on my left side.  I've had multiple shoulder surgeries to get my left arm back to about 55-60% of what it once was. The TBI left me with permanent split double vision a full 12 years after the wreck and I'm lucky to be on this side of the dirt. I still own the 45 pound recurve my Grandfather gave me when I was a kid, that I can't draw, but I just can't/won't let it go.

While a crossbow can be purchased one day, set up, and hunted with the next, the arrow still performs the same as an arrow shot off a hand drawn compound or recurve.  I agree that shooting a crossbow doesn't take nearly as much practice or time to learn to shoot as drawing a releasing an arrow yourself, the arrow's flight dynamics ARE THE SAME.

I remember when the Pope & Young club wouldn't accept records from game animals killed with compound bows, because they argued it was an unfair advantage used in the hunt.  Same with mechanical releases and overdraw bows.    Yeah, a hand released bow string and crossbow being fired are not close to the same, yet both are a long way from comparing a arrow's flight to a rifled bullet, from centerfire or muzzleloader.

Hunting with a crossbow allows me to get out in the woods, pursue game, and is one of the greatest passions in my life.  I still have to play the wind, use terrain to my advantage, exercise woodsmanship, and stealth to hunt successfully.  Think about it, if that buck is standing inside the edge of a thicket, where either one of us could absolutely smoke him with a rifle or muzzleloader, neither you, nor I have a prayer of making an accurate shot with an arrow shot off of any nature of string driven bow through those woods & it would be reckless if we tried.  It is still bowhunting.

A buddy of mine shoots an in-line scoped muzzleloader which will accurately kill deer at 250 yards+.  Another friend uses a flintlock, which has a maximum accurate range of maybe 85 yards.  They're both shooting black powder driven projectiles and both are legal to hunt with.  One guy definitely has an advantage over the other based on the technology of his firearm, but neither one is hunting the wrong way, because they're both hunting with their choice of rifle used within the rules & laws established by the State Wildlife Commission.  The patched round ball doesn't kill a deer any deader than a saboted .45 pistol bullet or vice-versa.  They're both exercising their freedom to tag game for meat for their families.

I'm sad to see Parker go out of business.  They had a lifetime warranty on their bows, which were all made in Virginia, USA. Their techs helped my shooting and were available to answer questions or give tips by phone or email to help improve the accuracy of the bow I was forced to hunt with.  They had a booth at the Dixie Deer Classic in Raleigh for years where one could handle and shoot their bows.  I'm going to miss that too.  I hope all their employees land on their feet.  I'll keep hunting with my Parker as long as I can and enjoying it.

Jim