EASLEY—Archery buffs and hunting enthusiasts are taking advantage of some unique opportunities at a local recreation business.
Xtreme Outdoors in Easley offers a wide range of bow supplies, along with an indoor shooting range where customers can test them out.
“I’m sure somebody else will do something like this before long (in Easley),” said Owner Travis Weathers. “It’s just one of those things where when you get a time to shoot, it’s always hot or raining or dark so it just made sense. Most of your archery hunting, you practice at around 20 or 30 yards, and we’ve got almost 30 inside. It’s really unique to this area.”
Along with providing an area to shoot, Xtreme Outdoors also offers instruction.
“We do some instructional stuff on Saturdays, and lately we’ve been doing a lot for kids,” said Weathers. “We do lessons for children and adults. It just helps people with their form. We start with safety in the lessons and move to form and trying to build skill level.”
Weathers says he, along with his wife and a co-worker, are certified to teach lessons.
“We are NAA (National Archery Association) instructors,” said Weathers. “We took the classes, and got licenses. We do a lot of instructional work as a result. We also do some service work on bows and sell stuff as well.”
The lessons have proven quite effective for clients, he says.
“I’d say about 70 percent of the people we do lessons for, before they leave in an hour, they’re shooting a tight group and keeping the arrows bunched together,” said Weathers. “Nobody around here offered it, so we saw a window for it.”
Weathers says the idea behind the shooting range came from wanting to help people learn the craft before investing in it.
“It’s hard for someone to go spend $300 or $400 on a bow and they’ve never shot one,” said Weathers. “We try to make it to where someone can get their hands on it and get a feel for it before they do (spend the money).”
The try-it-before-you-buy-it mentality has proven valuable to his customers.
“We’ve had really good responses from customers,” said Weathers. “Most of the people are coming back and buying different parts to change on their bow. It does help us sell stuff because people are learning what works better and they can try it before they buy it.”
Above all else, Weathers says he wants to be straight forward with people in his shop. He says he believes that is the only way to run a successful business.
“We want to be honest with anybody,” said Weathers. “If I can’t do something or get something, I want to tell them up front. We do try to beat anybody’s prices. They’re some things on the internet that you just can’t beat, but when at all possible we try to match anybody’s price.”
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