Aro-Gate™ Report by Tony Warden

About the author:

Tony Warden is a 2 Times World, one time North American and 15 Times Canadian National Archery Champion. He has been shooting archery and hunting for 55 years, the last 34 years as a Professional Archer and Bowhunter. Tony has more than 500 tournament wins and has hunted Big Game with Bow, Crossbow and Gun worldwide. He is also an avid fisherman and outdoorsman.

This report was reprinted as is and has not been altered.

The Test

The purpose of this test is 4 fold:

(1) to see if the Saunders Aro-Gate rest will hold up to the high kinetic

energy bows that are on the market

(2) to test the accuracy of the arrow while using a Aro-Gate rest

(3) to determine the ease of set-up and tuneability of the Aro-Gate rest

(4) to determine the effects of extreme weather and extreme number of shots put

Through the Aro-Gate rest

BOW I used a Gearhead T24 hunting compound bow set at 70 pounds and 29 inch draw.

ARROW I used Concept 2.0 AeroWeave 350 carbon arrows (.0005) straightness, Firenock lighted nocks

and Dagger 125 grain 2 blade broadheads. Total weight 478 grains.

CHRONOGRAPH I used a Pro Chrono Chronograph. 6 Arrow test averaged 299 fps.

KINETIC ENERGY At 6 feet – 94.87 foot pounds

At 50 yards – 64.51 foot pounds

LOCATION – 1 Skagway, Alaska – sea level outdoor – Weather varied between 22 and 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

Minor wind to 55 mph with sun, rain, and snow.

LOCATION – 2 Lower Dewey, Alaska – 1,500 feet above sea level outdoors. Same weather as above.

OTHER Carter Rx2 release, Truglo 5 pin carbon sight, Saunders VUDU X string dampener and HyperGlide cable slide, 4 arrow bow quiver (test product for another company) This set up is for Grizzly bear and Moose hunting.

Set-up

The Saunders Aro-Gate rest is a simple easy to use arrow rest. It has both vertical and

horizontal markings to assist in set up and tuning. It took approximately 15 minutes to

set up and tune the rig for good arrow flight.

Usage

For the first 1,000 shots the arrow would “snap in” to be held securely with the 3 tongues making it a full containment rest. There was no visible difference in arrow flight or accuracy between shot number 1 and 1,000.

After 1,000 shots, I had to do a very minor re-tuning as the 3 tongues loosened up very slightly. The rest still held the arrow fully and accurately, however I noticed that the “snap on” wasn’t quite as tight. The total number of shots during the testing was 10,025. Once the rest was re-tuned, there was no difference in arrow flight or accuracy throughout shots 1,000 and 10,025.

Weather/Range

The weather and altitude did not have any noticeable effect on the accuracy or arrow flight of

the Aro-Gate rest.

There was no difference in using the arrow rest at sea level or at 1,500 feet above sea level.

Conclusion

It is my expert and personal opinion that the Saunders Aro-Gate arrow rest is an excellent economical arrow rest for hunting. All of the parts fit well together and did not need extra or excessive tightening. While it does not have the micro tunable adjustments most high end hunting rests and target rests have, it is best in class for containment hunting rests that most bowhunters use.

Most bowhunters who will use this rest probably will not put more than 100 arrows a year through this rest (let alone 10,000 in 6 months), so there shouldn’t be any worry about the stability of the rest for the lifetime of the bow/hunter.