Chekmate

[doowop]

Did Chekmate go out of business?

[Pete W]

Definately not. Marc is building bows every day.

[Chaz]

Don't hear much about them anymore.

[Panzer]

I primarily shoot Longbows now, but I kept my Chek-mate(Hunter I) recurve. It is the Best shooting recurve I have ever shot and I have shot alot of them.

[bartcanoe]

I have a 58" TD Hunter.  It is a great shooting bow and incredibly smooth to my 31" draw.  Matter of fact, it is so smooth, I has to find someone with a bow scale to see what weight I was pulling at 31".

The bow is marked 54#@28.  On the scale it was 53#@28 and surprisingly it was only 57#@31.

[doowop]

How could a guy contact them?

[Tim Finley]

Try Greg at G&M archery they still have some in stock although he has sold out Greg still helps and knows what they have on hand.

[Bowsey Wails]

Chad aka LBR "Doing the Twist" was/is a dealer of Chekmate bows.
Tim

[DWilhelm]

Pete, he used to sell his bows through the Bow Shop in Kithener, ON.  All of a sudden he kind of disappeared.  Are you able to tell us what happened there for a while.

[bowless]

Could be wrong, but I don't think Chad sells them anymore.

[awbowman]

Originally posted by Pete W:
Definately not. Marc is building bows every day.

WHERE??????????

I once had a beavercreek longbow of his.  I regret selling that bow to this day, but it was just a little light for me.

PLEEEEEEEEEEEASE give contact!

[GrayRhino]

Isn't he still building bows for Steve Gorr?

[Whiskeyjack]

Boormans Archery in New Westminster BC Canada boormanarchery stocks and carry Chek-Mate bows,I own and shoot a couple of Beaver Creeks(long bow) and a Take down hunter 2 with 2 sets of limbs.I do not work for Boormans have only purchased from them as they have been around in business for 40 plus years.Ron the owner used to shoot around Canada/USA for years.
Jack

[LBR]

I'm just one of many who would love to hear the story.  I've lost count of the people who have contacted me--dealers and customers, from the U.S., Canada, and other countries.  None of us were able to find out anything, and obviously those who know aren't talking.  All I've gotten from anyone who still has any contact with Marc is "He's still building bows".  That's great, if you got yours and didn't loose anything in the process.  Doesn't help the rest of us though.

The last time I talked to Marc was around...3 years ago, I think.  He assured me I had 15 bows coming, to fill some custom orders.  The bows never came, and I was never able to contact him again.  He won't answer the phone or reply to e-mail.

I was a dealer for CM for several years, had been trading with Marc for several years before I became a dealer.  I guess I was doing business with them in one form or fashioned for over 15 years.  I considered Marc to be a friend, although we'd never met face to face.  I was also one of their top dealers for several years.

I trusted him to the point of sending thousands of dollars worth of veneer, glue, glass, wood, etc.  Some was woods only available through me (at the time at least), some was to help out when the original owners and founders retired and Marc took over the business.

Some of that stuff was paid for, some wasn't.  I'd sent a couple of boards that cost me over $400 just weeks before he cut off contact with me.  No explanation, no nothing.  I had to refund tens of thousands of dollars to customers who had been waiting for more than a year, and didn't even have any idea what was going on myself.

I loved the bows--I still have a few that are my personal bows, and aren't for sale.  The price was a big selling point for a long time, but in the last several years the Canadian dollar has been worth pretty much the same as the U.S. dollar--the bows were still worth it.  Not worth a dime though if there is no contact.

I thought of him as a good friend--we were planning to hunt together.  I'd sent gifts to his kids, and he to mine.  No idea what I did to deserve the treatment I got, but oh well.  The real shame is how the Chek-Mate name was dumped on after Larry and Dorthy spent so many years building it up.

I'm not interested in being a Chek-Mate dealer again, but I sure would like to hear an explanation...and maybe get some compensation for what is owed me.

[Safari Scott]

Wow that's rough, man. Sounds like something serious must have happened...
For those that are looking for chekmates though, Cascade bows are the very same design and I hear steve down there is a very nice guy.

[PowDuck]

I'm gonna side with my buddy Chad on this one. To go off the grid with no explanation and cost other people money from their own pockets is low. If Marc comes back and makes things right then good for him. Bad blood CAN be corrected. Until then he'll get no support from me.

That's not usually the treatment we see in this wonderful trad community we are a part of. Most people are true to their word and if something happens they make it right.

PS: That's a ChekMate in my avatar there <-----

[doowop]

Chad, thanks for the info. I think I don't want one as bad as I thought I did.

[Jesse Minish]

Originally posted by GrayRhino:
Isn't he still building bows for Steve Gorr?

He is not building bows for Steve any longer. Steve is still taking orders and in full swing though.

[K. Mogensen]

This has been going on for a while. I'd love to hear what happened. Sounds like some believe that he's still making bows and others say he isn't. I guess I'm just curious as to what would cause a person to fall off the face of the earth like that.

[Chaz]

I was one of those, Chad gave me a refund. I loved dealing with Chad but would never deal with checkmate again.I will order strings from Chad however,  great Guy great string maker!