I have some additional information about Chek Mate that throws a little more light on the situation.
Apparently what happened is that the former owner retired (probably well earned) leaving the business to be taken care of by the new owner, Marc, who has been the bowyer there for some time. Marc works with one assistant making it a 2 person operation.
Formerly the owner and his wife also worked on bows doing the finish work.
So what we have is a 4 person operation reduced, at least for now, to a 2 person operation. Things are bound to get a little behind.
What I have been assured is that if anything the newer bows are every bit as nice or nicer than the older ones. One thing that has happened with our dollar being close to par with the US dollar is that those of you buying with US dollars will be in a somewhat less advantageous position.
Compare a Chek Mate Takedown to either a Martin Hatfield at over 800 bucks and the new Bear takedown at 800 bucks and the Chek Mate is still a steal.
DDave
Thank you sir
Gonna go take a look at a Hunter III tomorrow.
DDave
hope they will be abble to get back up to the demand soon!!
Chek Mates are definately a great deal. I was out shooting a Falcon today. I hope they catch up soon and things get back to normal.
I've heard nothing but great things about Chek Mates. I looked into ordering one a few months ago but found out they were not taking any orders due to the length of current waiting period.
Didn't they also move their shop to a new location?
I called Chad and he recommended I call G&M Archery, said that they might have a few CM's in stock.
http://www.gmarchery.com/
They did, but not what I was looking for. :(
I love my Checkmate. One of the nicest bows I've ever had and priced right too. Worth the wait.
sam
Marc moved from BC mainland to Vancouver Island. He's making bows as fast as he can to catch up with the move backlog. I have a Hunter I, Hunter II and Crusader longbow and love 'em all. I couldn't ask for a better product. His handles can be a bit large but if you tell him he will build a smaller handle to your specs.
JW
My wife shoots a crusader, my daughter one of his youth long bows and I have well lets just say a few crusaders, and leave it at that. Nothing but good things to say about the bows, the company and the folks that work with Marc....
What is his contact point in Canada? I would like to look at getting on his backlog.
The original post is close, but off on a few points. CM was founded by two people--Dorthy Lidstone and Larry Cashane--over 40 years ago. Both were very accomplished archers--you can go to the Canada Sports Hall of Fame website and do a search on Dorthy--she was nothing short of amazing. Best part is, it's documented and a part of archery history.
Larry and Dorthy were never married--that is a common misconception. They were only business partners.
Marc has been with Chek-Mate for the last 25 years, and bought the business when Dorthy and Larry decided to retire. Marc was the bowyer, although he did have an helper, along with Dorthy and Larry working also--grinding lams, doing finish work, mailing and paperwork, drilling on take-downs, etc.
When Marc bought CM, he had to move the shop from BC (that was located on Dorthy's property) to Vancouver Island (to Marc's property). The move was expected to take a couple of weeks, but it turned into months, with paperwork being the nightmare--along with having to re-wire the new shop and other setbacks. It just wound up being a lot bigger task than Marc ever imagined.
He does have one "helper" now--his wife, who had to be trained. Marc had several folks lined up to work for him, but for one reason or another they all fell through (they didn't show up).
There's been some added confusion with the move--I know at least one dealer didn't get the new address/phone number (I think he has it now), and there's been some dealers dropped from the list. For instance, National Archery Supply (NAS) is NOT a Chek-Mate dealer.
Due to the backlog, Marc doesn't want to take on any new orders. He's the kind of guy that doesn't sleep well at night when he's so far behind schedule. It was an honest mistake, but regardless the wait became MUCH longer than anticipated. He wants to get it back under control before adding more orders to the list--that's why I have the notice on my site.
Hope this helps.
Chad