An evening with the founder of Sonoran Bowhunting Products, Inc.
OK, not an evening - more like an hour. Rick Forrest, inventor and President of Sonoran Bowhunting Products Inc., was kind enough to take some time out of his schedule to chat with me about his company and his products. This is the first of a series of interviews with notable Arizonans, and Arizona Companies.
After thanking Rick for his time, and telling him a little about my blog and the Skinny Moose network, I asked him how he got started. “I started out making a sight. In those days, PSE was having a big influence on archery in the Tucson area. We were doing some crazy things with bows, modifying them and customizing them. Some of these bows were reaching speeds up to 320 fps, that are considered fast by today’s standards. This was in 1985. The problem was, sights weren’t made to set at 10-yard increments (to accommodate the faster speeds)- I started tinkering around and building sights that would better allow us to shoot those speeds accurately.”
Rick went on to describe how once he tried mechanicals and saw the benefits, he never went back. A few years later, he designed his own mechanical heads. These heads open more efficiently, using less energy than many of his competitors’ heads. Rick is a firm believer in the benefits of mechanical heads. “Even if I wasn’t building them, I’d be shooting mechanicals”, Rick told me. “I won’t shoot fixed heads again”.
Rick sub-contracts out the components of his sights and broadheads to various machine shops. He then assembles and packages them himself, along with help from his family. His background as a Mechanical Engineer with an aerospace company certainly helps as well, keeping his products competitive in the market. His edge? “My sights and broadheads are simple, reliable and durable.” I asked Rick how the industry has changed since he started. He went on to offer that “Competition has driven up quality. Bowhunting has also evolved - it used to be that the western bowhunters were more focused on speed. Now eastern hunters are yearning for speed, and western hunters are looking more and more at improvements on accuracy”.
This has been a long-time “side-passion” for Rick. Years of sacrifice have earned him a solid place in what some may call a niche market. His products are well-known in Arizona. They are also used by other archers of course - Rick has dedicated users all over the country. Admittedly, it is hard for a company the size of Rick’s to compete with the mega-marketing power of some of the heavy-hitters. That may be all about to change….
Rick told me that he has just signed an agreement with Hank Parker and Ivan Hawthorne, of C’mere Deer fame. He’s excited by the prospects of being associated with Hank and Ivan - his days of doing this “on the side” may be drawing to a close. Rick may soon be figuring out how to ramp up production. “Depending on growth”, Rick pointed out, ” we may look at expanding our product line.”
Above all, though - Rick is a dedicated hunter. The conversation inevitably turned to hunting. Rick isn’t the bragging type, but it is obvious that he has stacked up a pile of game over the years. He’s particularly fond of black bear hunting - spot and stalk. He was pretty proud of his wife and kids’ hunting prowess, and I was drooling on my notepad as he described their various successes. His kids have killed more stuff than I have. Seriously. I joked that “he needed to adopt me”, as I lamented my typically sub-standard hunting performance. Rick loves to take youngsters out, and frequently takes out kids from the neighborhood, friends’ kids, kids from Church, etc. To do all that, raise a family, and to build quality bowhunting products - I can’t think of a candidate more worthy of being the very first Desert Rat “interviewee”.
It was truly a pleasure meeting Rick. He even offered to take me out and teach me how to kill javelina. I warned him that he wouldn’t be the first, to try and show me the ropes! I plan to stay in touch with Rick - not only because I want to follow his progress as this newest venture unfolds, but because he seems like a genuinely good guy - I hope there are some hunting trips together in our future.
I don’t bow hunt, but it sounds like this guy has some good products. Terrific interview, and great job giving some publicity to a smaller hunting products company.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:44 pm
Awesome interview. I will look forward to yoru future interviews. Thanks for raising the bar for quality of blogging!
August 16th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Although I am not an archer and I no longer hunt, I enjoyed your well written interview demonstrating Mr. Forrest’s impressive, unique ingenuity developing a “niche market” hunting implement. I also get the impression Mr. Forrest and members of his family are important examples of ethical hunters who help foster a respect towards hunting from those who choose not to hunt. The best of good luck and fortune with Forrest’s future product line development.
Mr. MacFarlane, with quality interviews such as this article, coupled with your wordsmithing/writing skills, your ascent towards #1 cannot be far off; job well done.
August 18th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
“Bowhunting has also evolved - it used to be that the western bowhunters were more focused on speed. Now eastern hunters are yearning for speed, and western hunters are looking more and more at improvements on accuracy”.
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I agree, too much emphasis has been placed on speed (and hand shock) in lieu of arrow accuracy.
Although I’ll never give up on my fixed-blade 100 gr. Slick Trick Mangnums, this was indeed a well written interview.
Desert Rat, I’m definitely looking forward to similar others. Two-thumbs up!
August 18th, 2007 at 10:17 pm
[...] The first interview was with Rick Forrest, the Founder of Sonoran Bowhunting Products, Inc. [...]
August 21st, 2007 at 7:53 am