Field Tested: Trophy Ridge Digital React Trio Pro

Bow sight selection is largely a matter of personal opinion; the style that works for you may not work for me. For example, some bowhunters refuse to shoot anything other than a single-pin sight, while others (me included) can’t stand them.

So, while I recognize there is no “one-size-fits-all” approach, nearly three decades of bowhunting experience across North America have convinced me it is hard to beat the versatility of a 3-pin sight with a bottom pin that can be adjusted for longer ranges. To me, such a design is perfect for both whitetail hunters, who will rarely need aiming points beyond the typical 20-, 30- and 40-yard marks, and Western bowhunting aficionados for whom 40 yards is often the starting point for shots at game.

Recently, I had the opportunity to test a relatively new offering in this genre in the Trophy Ridge Digital React Trio Pro, a high-tech, feature-rich sight that not only offers the versatility I described but automatically calculates ballistic data for your bow/arrow combination and displays exact yardage settings on the included LCD display.

For starters, the Digital React Trio Pro includes all the basics a serious bowhunter would expect from a high-end sight, including tough, machined aluminum construction; multiple mounting options; pins backed by long, fully protected strands of fiber-optic material; toolless windage and elevation adjustments; second- and third-axis adjustability; an integrated bubble level; and an included adjustable, three-stage sight light. From there is where things really get interesting.

I installed the Digital React Trio Pro on my Bowtech Carbon One and headed out to the range to sight in. Thanks to Trophy Ridge’s patented React Technology, this is a very simply process that allows you to sight in at distances out to 100 yards or more in just a few minutes. To start, you simply use the toolless windage knob and large elevation dial to sight in the vertical, .010-inch, bottom pin at 40 yards. Once sighted in at 40, you use the sight’s menu system and LCD screen to set your 40-yard pin position.

From there, you have two options that will automatically calibrate the pin for all remaining distances beyond 40. The first is to shoot through a chronograph and input your arrow speed using the sight’s menu system. The second method — and the one I used — is to back up to 50 yards and adjust the vertical pin position until it is sighted in at 50. Then, you again use the sight’s menu system to set the 50-yard pin position.

Regardless of the calibration method you choose, React Technology automatically calculates all other pin positions beyond 40 yards, using either the arrow speed or gap distance between the 40- and 50-yard settings. That’s it! You can then step back to any range beyond 40, turn the dial until the proper yardage is displayed on the screen and shoot. If, as you shoot at further distances, you find the sight is not dead on, it is easy to make small tweaks to the calibration until everything is perfect.

Obviously, the maximum range you can achieve with the sight is limited by your bow speed and sight-mounting location but will be roughly 100 yards. After calibrating the vertical pin for all distances 40 yards and beyond, it is easy to set the two, .019-inch horizontal pins for 20 and 30 yards simply by moving them up or down using the dedicated adjustment dials atop the pin housing. Since windage was already set when calibrating the 40-yard pin, no further adjustment is needed during this step.

In addition to the amazing mathematics built into the sight, you can also set the sight to display yardage in full-yard or half-yard increments; choose among multiple backlight colors and brightness settings; display distances in yards or meters; and store up to five arrow profiles if you want to shoot the sight with multiple arrow builds on the same bow or even swap the sight between bows.

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I was amazed at how quick and easy the setup process was, and how accurate my shooting was at any distance on the range. I found myself pounding the center of the target within minutes, and as someone whose eyesight isn’t as good as it once was, I love the large digital display that makes the exact yardage setting obvious. Oh, and Trophy Ridge also includes a full set of adhesive sight tapes as “backup,” so you can match the one for your setup after sight calibration and have that at the ready in the unlikely event the sight’s internal, rechargeable battery (which will run for 48 hours straight when fully charged) runs out during a hunt.

The Digital React Trio Pro weighs 13 ounces and is available in both left- and right-handed versions. — Editor Christian Berg