IQ Bow Sights

What IQ makes for bowhunters

IQ makes bow sights for compound bows. That's the whole catalog on this site: the brand covers one type of gear, and it's the bow sight.

The maker's current IQ collection lists three products:

• IQ Micro: a 5-pin fixed-pin sight
• IQ Pro Hunter: a 3-pin sight with one adjustable "floater" pin
• IQ Rheostat sight light: a light that fits both sights

Other IQ names show up in searches and in older press coverage: the Ultra Lite, the Define range-finding sight and the Define Pro. (The FAQ mentions a Pro One only to say its lens kit was discontinued in 2017.) The maker's FAQ still answers questions about some of them, but they aren't in its current product list. I'll cover what I could verify about each one below, and say where I couldn't.

What ties the line together is Retina Lock. Both current sights and the older Ultra Lite are built around it.

IQ on Amazon

The IQ listing in the grid is the Micro 5-pin, in a left-hand version. Because that's a short list, the grid adds "Alternatives to IQ": fixed-pin hunting sights from other brands.

The grid changes as listings come and go, so I'll write about the sights, not this week's count. The alternatives are picked by type. They're bow sights from other brands, closest first by price tier and by how many specs their makers publish. Nobody paid for a spot.

How the IQ Retina Lock works

Here's what actually changes with an IQ sight. Most sights tell you where the arrow will go. Retina Lock tries to tell you whether your form is the same as last time.

American Hunter described the system in 2010, when the first IQ sight was headed to dealers. A magnifying lens sits in front of a colored optic element inside the bezel (the ring around the pin housing). When you're lined up correctly, you see a green glow centered behind a black dot. When something is off, the glow slides away from center.

Per that article, three things move it:

• Torque: twisting the bow with your grip hand
• Anchor: drawing to a slightly different spot on your face
• Body angle: tipping the bow instead of bending at the waist on a downhill shot from a stand

The maker says Retina Lock works with or without a peep sight (the small ring tied into the string). Don't cut your peep out tonight. It's a second alignment check, out at the front of the bow. Peep basics are on the peep sight page.

My one opinion on this page: fix torque in your grip before you shop for more pins. The reason is in that article. Retina Lock only shows you torque; your hand is what makes it. As a physical therapist, I'll add that a death grip on the riser is a forearm problem first and an accuracy problem second. A relaxed hand is cheaper than any sight.

Adjusting the Retina Lock

The maker's FAQ gives the tools. The Retina Lock moves up, down, left and right with a 1/16 Allen wrench. The FAQ points to photos for the exact adjustment points, so do it with the page open.

Pins move with a 3/32 Allen wrench. Loosen the set screw, keep the wrench seated in the screw head, and slide the pin up or down with the wrench and your other hand. Don't pull pins out. The maker says removing a pin voids the warranty on every IQ sight except the Define Pro, and it doesn't sell replacement pins.

IQ bow sight lineup notes

IQ Micro 5-pin bow sight

The Micro is the IQ 5-pin bow sight in the maker's current list. What the maker states:

• Pins: five .019-inch fiber optic pins, fully captured (held inside the frame)
• Build: all aluminum, 10.5 oz
• Adjustments: tool-free micro-adjust knobs for windage and elevation, with laser-etched scales
• Level: built in, plus adjustable second and third axis
• Mount: an angled mounting bar with several bow and quiver attachment points
• Light: a built-in adapter for the Rheostat sight light, sold separately
• Hand: left-hand and right-hand versions, each with its own SKU

The round pin housing is sized, per the maker, for consistent peep alignment. That's a geometry point. A round pin guard inside a round peep is easier to center than a square one, the way a cup sits easier in a round saucer.

The grid marks the Micro as having no sight light, which matches the maker: the adapter is built in, the light is a separate purchase.

IQ Pro Hunter 3-pin bow sight

The Pro Hunter is the IQ sight for people who want fewer pins and one that moves. Per the maker:

• Pins: three .019-inch pins; two fixed for shorter distances, a third "floater" pin you dial to a set yardage
• Dial: a single rapid-adjust system moves the floater across its range in a few turns of a zero-stop knob
• Build: all aluminum, 9.6 oz
• Adjustments: tool-free micro adjustment with laser-etched windage and elevation marks, second and third axis
• Light: the same built-in adapter for the Rheostat light, sold separately
• Hand: the maker's page lists a right-hand model only

Quick math on the weight: the Pro Hunter is 0.9 oz lighter than the Micro. That's about the weight of a few nocks. You'll feel it at arm's length after a long sit more than on the scale. Sights that mix fixed pins with a dial are explained on the bow sight page, and the all-slider approach is on the single pin bow sight page.

IQ Define range-finding sight

"IQ rangefinder bow sight" and "IQ Define" are some of the most searched IQ names, so here's what I could verify. Grand View Outdoors covered the Define at the 2018 ATA Show and described it as a sight and a laser rangefinder in one:

• Pins: five .019-inch pins with four brightness settings
• Range: accurate out to 99 yards, per that report
• Ranging: a "Trigger Activated Yardage Scan" with a blue display in a small window on the housing
• Trigger: a button on the back of the grip, pressed with your palm
• Adjustments: second and third axis, tool-free knobs, dual quiver mounting holes

The maker's FAQ also names a Define Pro and says only the Define Range Finding has replaceable bubble levels. Neither Define is in the maker's current product list. If you're shopping for one, you're shopping for an older sight, so ask the seller what's included. For ranging gear that's sold now, see the hunting rangefinder page.

Uncle Walt's view is that a rangefinder on the sight is "two gadgets that can fail at once." The math checks out. He's also never charged anything in his life except a truck battery.

IQ Ultra Lite

The Ultra Lite is older. Grand View Outdoors covered its launch in September 2014:

• Build: fiber polymer instead of aluminum, the lightest IQ sight at the time
• Pins: .019-inch fiber optic pins, in 3-pin and 5-pin versions
• Features: Retina Lock, windage and elevation adjustment, a built-in level, a sight light sold separately

It isn't in the maker's current product list, and no maker page here gives a weight, so I'll leave the number out.

The IQ Rheostat sight light

The light is the third product in the maker's IQ collection. Both current sights have a built-in adapter for it, and both pages sell it separately. Rheostat means the brightness is adjustable. Before you add one, read the next section, because a sight light is the part of a bow sight most likely to run into a hunting rule.

How to choose within the IQ lineup

Count pins for the distances you actually shoot

Pick the pin count by your longest practiced shot, not the longest shot you'd like to brag about. Five fixed pins cover more distances without touching anything. Three pins with a floater cover fewer distances but leave a less crowded housing. The bow sight page walks through pin count against yardage.

Pin size: IQ sticks to .019

Every IQ sight I could verify uses .019-inch pins. goHUNT's article on the pin-size debate explains the trade-off. Larger pins carry more light. A .010 pin "almost completely disappears in low light," in that author's words, especially for weaker eyes. Smaller pins cover less of the target at long range.

The .019 is the middle of that range. On paper, it's the compromise. In practice, it's the size most hunting sights land on, and the grid shows other brands' sights in both .019 and .010 if you want to compare.

Sight lights and your state's rules

goHUNT's same article notes that battery-powered sight lights are prohibited in most Western states. Rules on lights and electronics on bows vary by state and change, so check your state wildlife agency before you hunt with a lit sight or a range-finding one.

Hand and weight

Match the sight's hand to the bow's hand, not your writing hand. A left-hand sight on a right-hand bow puts the housing on the wrong side of the riser. Then look at weight. The two current IQ sights run 9.6 and 10.5 oz per the maker. A sight sits at the front of the bow, so weight there changes how the bow hangs when you hold it out.

Level it before you trust it

The Micro and the Pro Hunter both have second and third axis adjustment. Archery 360 explains what those are. The second axis is the bubble level, set like leveling a shelf. The third axis swings the housing like a door on hinges, for uphill and downhill shots.

Its test for the third axis: after leveling, shoot at a steep downhill angle. For a right-handed archer, if arrows group right, swing the sight toward you; if they group left, swing it away. If you hunt from a stand, this is the adjustment that earns its keep.

IQ warranty and money-back guarantee

The maker's warranty page has two parts.

The limited warranty: the sight is guaranteed against defects in materials and workmanship, excluding normal wear, misuse or improper maintenance. It covers the original owner only. A defective sight is exchanged or replaced with the same product, or one of similar style, function or cost if that's unavailable. It's void if the sight has been taken apart, modified or abused.

The money-back guarantee: one year from purchase, with the original sales receipt. The refund covers the sight's retail cost, and all parts have to come back.

For either one, the process is the same. Submit a claim to get a return authorization number, include a photo (the maker rejects claims without one), and don't ship anything without that number. Keep the receipt with the bow case. Future you will look there first.

Who makes IQ bow sights

IQ sights are sold on the FeraDyne Outdoors site, which has an IQ Bowsights section with the products, an FAQ and the warranty terms. Grand View Outdoors reported in 2018 that the Define was shown at the FeraDyne Outdoors booth at the ATA Show. American Hunter's 2010 article covered the first IQ sight and its patented Retina Lock system.

I couldn't verify a founding year, a founder or where IQ sights are made, so I've left those out.

How to read the alternatives

The alternatives in the grid are fixed-pin sights, sometimes joined by a single-pin or a dual-pin model. Read them by the same specs that separate the IQ sights:

• Pin count: from one to five
• Pin size: .010 or .019
• Light: built in, an adapter, or none
• Mount: dovetail, Picatinny or a fixed bracket
• Hand: left, right or ambidextrous

If what you liked about IQ was the alignment ring, look for a sight whose maker describes a similar alignment aid, and don't assume a round housing means one.

Pin count, pin size, hand. Settle those three, then level the thing, and then go shoot it until the glow sits still.