Field Tested: IQ Pro Hunter

It’s human nature to want the best of both worlds — for bowhunters, compounds that are faster yet smoother to draw, optics with greater magnification but less weight, broadheads that cut huge swaths and still fly exactly like fieldpoints, etc. In short, more features and better quality, all at lower and lower prices.

The Pro Hunter from IQ Bowsights caters to two such camps by giving Eastern treestand bowhunters a simple yet versatile sight while also offering Western spot-and-stalkers precision and adjustability. The sight centers around three bombproof .019-inch-diameter fiber-optic pins — two fixed and a floater that’s adjustable via a knob on the bottom of the sight housing. The pins are colored green/red/green to ensure bowhunters don’t pick the wrong one in the heat of the moment.

Two yardage tapes are located on the sight, one on the outside of the housing and one on the inside. Personally, I use the inner tape for one arrow/broadhead combination and the outside for another rather than duplicating the data — a hunting setup on the inside so I can quickly adjust my floater pin without much bow movement, and a target setup on the outside for when I have plenty of time to turn the bow. I also make marks for where the fixed pins should be in order to verify things haven’t moved while in transit.

It’s fairly common to find lightweight bowsights with second-axis adjustment nowadays, but the Pro Hunter incorporates second and third for maximum accuracy when shooting at the long distances afforded by the floater pin — like I said, the Pro Hunter is sure to please Western as well as Eastern bowhunters. Regardless of their shot distances, both groups will benefit from IQ’s patented Retina Lock Alignment Technology, the black dot above the sight housing that is haloed (when the sight is positioned correctly) by a green ring to prevent the shooter from introducing any hand torque into his or her form.

Bowhunters who shoot with their quivers attached will appreciate the Pro Hunter’s multiple mounting holes. Other features include tool-less micro-adjustability, a bubble level, a built-in light adapter and laser-etched windage and elevation marks.

Being made out of 6061 aluminum, it isn’t surprising that the Pro Hunter is lightweight. When you consider all of the features packed into it, though, the sight’s 4-ounce weight is even more impressive.

I used the Pro Hunter on an exotics hunt in Texas this May, and I couldn’t have been happier with its performance. A couple blackbucks came toward my ground blind from hundreds of yards away on the first evening, eventually moving past at about 53 yards. My floater pin was more than up to the task, but I never had a viable shot opportunity. However, I did shoot a great axis buck with strips of velvet still clinging to his antlers at 26 yards a few days later — gap shooting with the fixed pins was no problem.

So, there you have it; with the IQ Pro Hunter, it is possible to have the best of both worlds. And a lot more.