Field Tested: CBE Trek Pro

Serious bowhunters demand serious bow accessories. When it comes to a sight, that means rugged dependability and a host of features such as multiple mounting options, second- and third-axis adjustability and the aiming versatility to take advantage of quick, close-range shot opportunities while also maintaining maximum precision on longer shots that are sometimes required in the field.

Custom Bow Equipment’s Trek Pro — a brand new offering for 2022 — checks all those boxes and more, giving archers an all-important boost in confidence in the moment of truth. In fact, after putting a Trek Pro on my hunting bow, I feel confident saying it is among the very best bowhunting sights available today.

So, what makes the Trek Pro so special? Well, for starters, it handles the basics of sight design like the “pro” in its name. Available in 1-, 3- or 5-pin configurations, each with 12 inches of .010- or .019-inch fiber optics depending on your preference, the movable Trek Pro features a pin housing, yardage adjustment dial/mechanism and bow-mounting bracket machined from sturdy 6061-T6 aluminum. Meanwhile, the lightweight yet durable carbon-fiber mounting bar that connects the sight to the mounting bracket offers your choice of four mounting positions (closer or further from the riser) that engage with an audible click for precise placement every time. The 3-pin Trek Pro I tested weighed exactly 11 ounces on my scale.

Other highlights of the Trek Pro include: left- and right-handed shooter compatibility; first-, second- and third-axis adjustability; a sliding cover atop the pin housing that allows you to adjust pin brightness based on ambient light conditions; interchangeable green, yellow, red and white peep-alignment rings; quiver-attachment holes in the mounting bracket; an included battery-powered, rheostat sight light; and the ability to add a 41mm sight lens.

While all those features are great, I want to devote the bulk of my review to the Trek Pro’s easy sight-in system and how the sight is designed to get the most distance possible from your bow. Sighting in the Trek Pro begins by using the yardage dial to move the mechanism as high as possible to the “hard stop” position. Starting with the sight housing as high as it will go ensures the longest maximum range possible as you dial down from there. It also ensures that, in the heat of the action while bowhunting, you can always be sure your pins are reset to the “zero” position simply by dialing the pins up until they stop. That way, you can shoot confidently at your known pin distances without wasting precious moments looking at the sight or making additional adjustments.

Once you have the pin housing all the way up, the next step is to place your top pin where you want it in the housing for a 20-yard shot, making sure to leave adequate room below it for calibrating longer yardages if using a multi-pin configuration.

Next, you use the two gang adjustments on the sight to achieve proper pin elevation for a 20-yard shot without ever moving the yardage dial. Once your elevation is set, you can then set the windage using the sight’s gang windage adjustment bar.

From there, you can then switch to the sight’s elevation and windage micro-adjust knobs to set your desired yardages for any additional pins. Again, this is done without moving the yardage dial, as you want the pin housing to remain in its uppermost position until calibration is complete.

Once you have all your pins sighted in, you can determine the proper yardage scale by using your top pin to sight-in at 30 yards and 60 yards using only the yardage dial to lower the pin housing. Mark each location (30 and 60) on the sight scale and then use the included Sight Scale Gauge to measure the gap and find the corresponding sight scale for your setup. The Trek Pro comes with 14 laser-engraved, aluminum scales that can be screwed to the sight, providing spot-on aiming points from 20 yards all the way to a minimum of 100 yards and a maximum of 130 yards, depending on the speed of your bow.

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The final step in the process is to set your yardage indicator(s). Move the yardage dial back to its highest, 20-yard position and move the indicator so that it points to 20 yards on the sight scale. If you have a multi-pin setup, you can then set the second indicator to point to the yardage for another pin. For example, on my 3-pin setup, my second indicator points to 40 yards for my bottom pin. This allows me to use either my top pin or bottom pin as the “floater” on shots beyond 40 yards, and also ensures I always have a second yardage mark dialed-in at longer distances.

Personally, I feel that setting up the Trek Pro this way gives me the best of both worlds as a bowhunter, as I can confidently handle all shots 40 yards and under using my three fixed pins and handle any longer shots — whether that be a follow-up on a whitetail or a first shot during Western forays for elk, mule deer and pronghorns — using the yardage dial and the benefit of a spot-on aiming point.

As an added bonus, a sight set up in this manner also works great on the 3-D course, making it the perfect companion not only during your hunts but during the months leading up to opening day. — Editor Christian Berg