By Joe Ferronato
The technology integrated into the Garmin Xero series of bow sights has some people raising the question: Is it cheating?
Simple answer: No; maybe; probably; yes.
Okay, maybe it’s not a simple black and white issue. As we—you know, the engineers and other smart people—develop technology for hunting, there is a desire to create equipment that enhances the chance of success while delivering clean, effective kills on game.
With the Garmin Xero sights, you get a full aiming solution to deliver a lethal shot with the click of a button. Once set up and dialed in for your bow, you can activate the laser rangefinder equipped in the sight to give you an accurate, angle-compensated yardage out to 100 yards on game. This allows the archer to range while at full draw and takes away any guess work—while keeping you from having to lower your draw and re-range—when the animal moves.
After getting a range, the sight spits out an aiming point on the display for that designated range. The Xero calculates the aiming point from either your sight-in process, or with input ballistics on the A1i Pro. Think of it like this: the Garmin Xero takes your complex handheld rangefinder and attaches it to the side of your single-pin slider sight and dials it for you.
What the Garmin Xero doesn’t do: It doesn’t make you a better shooter; it doesn’t increase your range; it doesn’t guarantee a kill; and it doesn’t even guarantee you’re a good enough hunter to ever push that button to get an aiming solution.
That’s a very elementary view of how the sight works, but this isn’t a detailed review. I’m more concerned about the reason why it gets hate, rather than the love this impressive piece of technology deserves.
To start it off, our trusted society of prestigious archery hunters, The Pope and Young Club, considers bows and arrows equipped with electronics to be unfair chase—besides the obvious such as lighted nocks and recording equipment. Do with that information what you will.
Beyond just considering it cheating, there are a few states that do not allow the sight to be used during archery seasons. A not-so-quick search through Google offered up that Washington, Colorado, Oregon, Utah, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and my home state of Idaho do not allow the use of electronics on bows. If you choose to get a Garmin sight, read in detail your state’s game regulations to ensure you don’t have an unfortunate run-in with your local warden.
I can see many of these states rewriting regulations in coming years to allow the sight—as it took a while to legalize the use of mechanical broadheads and lighted nocks—but others may hold out as long as they can.
I’m a gearhead and love putting the latest gear to good use. However, as we develop new gear that enhances hunting ability and increases success rates, I expect many states to cut back on tag allocations and seasons to appropriately manage the resource. It’s a double-edged sword: Increased success leads to fewer opportunities in the future—at least out West where our iconic species aren’t as prolific as the mighty whitetail. So maybe that’s why I can’t use this new sight in my state, or maybe it’s just due to ignorance. Regardless, I still get to chase elk every year with pretty badass equipment.
In conclusion, yes, the Garmin sight can be considered cheating, but all modern gear is. Unless you’re a diehard traditional bowhunter who grabbed an Osage branch, fashioned a bow from it, took the deer sinew from last year’s atlatl kill to make a string, built some poplar arrows, finished them with scavenged feathers, and you don’t own a rangefinder or binoculars, your modern hunting equipment is cheating just the same.
