compound bow preferences.

[wawhitey]

I know a lot of you guys are bow hunters more than anything so I have to ask. If you were me, about to buy your first compound bow, what would you get and why?

[planebow]

I shoot a Mathews but that is what felt good to me when I bought it. I would shoot different bows and pick the one that felt the best. Hoyt, Elite, Bowtech and Bear are a few to try if they are available where you are at. I think I would also go with a bow that is sold in your area so you have local support. All these company's build good bows so it comes down to personal choice.

[LckyTylr]

Don't forget about PSE.

I shot by first 9 deer with two different PSE's, the first 4 of which were shot with the PSE Nova that was a $200 kit bow. Next up was a PSE Carerra, fairly loud and unforgiving, but I shot it well and it was pretty fast for it's day and price point.

Last year I was ready for a new one and had my heart set on a PSE Bowmadness. I shot it and like it (in a few of the different size options). I was going to buy it when the salesman at the local pro shop (the only one worth receiving my dollars) convinced me to shoot a few bowtechs. I told him it was a waste of time. In the end, I saved $100 and went with the Bowtech Assassin because it felt so much better to shoot than any of the PSE's in my price range.

It's hard to go wrong with any of the new offerings from any manufacturer, I think the most important part is finding a bow shop that's going to listen to your needs (performance and budget) and guide you through the process, NOT try to sell you the WhippyZoomBang 5,000 for $1,500.

[twinkieman]

Go to a pro shop, that carries different brands of bows. Shoot them ALL! One bow will clearly feel better to you than all the rest, that is the brand you should buy. For some it will be Hoyt, Matthews, Pse, Elite, myself it is Bowtech. You want what feels best to YOU. All the major bow companies build a high quality bow, no matter what the brand is.

[lamrith]

Definitely try every bow you can. Also try every shop you can. Shop staff are not created equally, and you want one that you can work with and will work with you. Not just his shop regular buddies..

[WapitiTalk1]

Don't sleep on the Alpine Archery line up. I checked and there are a few dealers in your area. I've had mine for 3 years now and really like it. They are considerably less expensive as some of the bigger name brands, and, they're made in Lewiston, Idaho ...

http://alpinearchery.com/index.html

[phall]

i agree with most of the other posts that are saying to try a lot of different bow and pick what works / fits you the best. this works grest if your right handed but im a lefty so shooting them all wasnt a option for me. dont forget some of the newer bow companies as well as the long standing big names. elite, expedition, athens and my favorite obsession are a few newer bow companies. the comment recommending local support is important too. i went with obsession phoenix after many years of matthews bows. obsession draw is supper smooth, listed draw weight feels much less, let off, valley and back wall are adjustable to your preference, and tons of customization options free from factory with excellent customer service directly to owners. the only drawback ive seen is the wait once you order. the company is small and growing fast and still use some third party companies for parts so that is usually what delays the arrival of some bows...

[pointysticks]

LOTS of bow dealers will turn down the poundage at the limbs. you can visually see this as a backed up fastener at the limbs pockets.

this give ANY bow that "WOW!" factor. the bow will feel like a breeze to pull back and hold. if i were to know this, i wouldnt have bought the Mathews Z7 i owned before this. the bow felt so great to test-shoot, and when i got my set up bow and took it home..it was a totally different animal. the draw was pretty smooth, not super easy, but i can handle a beefy bow. but holding it there was a b_____! that bow and i never saw eye to eye, and it had to go.

being the smarter shopper, i shot my current ELITE with maxed out limbs, and loved it. i give up a bit of speed, but i am making up for it with a much easier bow to hunt with. being in the woods is nothing like shooting off the line at a bow range. nothing.

i like a smooth bow, that is easy to hold at full draw. this i think is the best characteristic of a hunting bow. (for me)

[ctdad]

Pointy makes a great point. I only test shoot bows that are set up for my desired draw weight and my exact draw length. otherwise I can't compare apples to apples

[Stick]

Agree with most others here. Shoot several and pick what fits you. For me it is an ELITE ENERGY 35. Best bow I have ever shot. Been a Hoyt shooter for many years (still have my old Ultratech) but this Elite! Wow

Have helped sell many Matthews through the bow shop at home but no more. After the debacle last year with the field and stream bow review and the bow pro shop in Murray, Ky I will never sell another one!

[Indian Summer]

For treestand hunting weight doesn't matter. But when I'm running the mountains for elk I like a light bow. I love my Mathews. Lightweight and shoots like a dream.

[wawhitey]

Agree with most others here. Shoot several and pick what fits you. For me it is an ELITE ENERGY 35. Best bow I have ever shot. Been a Hoyt shooter for many years (still have my old Ultratech) but this Elite! Wow

Have helped sell many Matthews through the bow shop at home but no more. After the debacle last year with the field and stream bow review and the bow pro shop in Murray, Ky I will never sell another one!

can you expand on your problem with matthews? youre just kind of vaguely referring to a big problem with them, id like to hear more, cause seems like everybody else likes them

[pointysticks]

i like Mathews as a company. just didnt like their new bow offerings. i wanted to go longer axle to axle..not shorter.

so i also bought an Elite Energy 35. i thought 35 ATA was gonna be long and ackward..but dayum!..the thinking is longer bows shoot more stable..with me this is true.

my last bow was the Z7 from MAthews. the factory strung the bow up incorrectly and i couldnt get it to tune..and it tore up cables. i luckily took a pic before and i managed to send it to some tech guy at Mathews. a few days later, the VP of operations called me. i was blown away. they were really embarrased to let a bow slip out like that. they sent me a some t-shirts and new strings. when he asked, "so what can Mathews do to keep you happy?"..i answered, "well, how about letting me and my Mathews bow hunt the company deer property?"...he actually laughed out loud..and said, "how about a bunch of Swag?".

whatever..the company rocks..my particular bow sucked. confidence is huge in archery..and my bow got off on such a wrong footing..it was doomed.

take a long hard look at ELITE. way better warranty. smaller bow company. some great bows!!

altho the new Chill R looks nice.

[quarbles]

i'd go for a used elite, whichever one you can find that fills your needs, off archerytalk classifieds... they are cheaper and carry a transferable lifetime warranty. i have a gt500 from 2010 thats a pretty sweet bow.really good customer service. that way you can spend more on 'premium' accessories such as a quality rest, sight, release, new string, rangefinder, quiver, whatevers.....

[Ern]

Does anyone know what a new Elite 35 sells for. You guys got me thinking, and I can't find prices on their web site.

[pointysticks]

$800.

i think i got mine for 749 or so..i erased that part of my memory, so i dont accidentally tell my wife.

the bow is ridiculous.

[SD220]

I believe I paid $840ish for my Elite E35 in March. The bow is great and I plan to shoot it for a long time. Only downside I've experienced with Elite is the three months it took to get my bow.

[Stick]

Agree with most others here. Shoot several and pick what fits you. For me it is an ELITE ENERGY 35. Best bow I have ever shot. Been a Hoyt shooter for many years (still have my old Ultratech) but this Elite! Wow

Have helped sell many Matthews through the bow shop at home but no more. After the debacle last year with the field and stream bow review and the bow pro shop in Murray, Ky I will never sell another one!

can you expand on your problem with matthews? youre just kind of vaguely referring to a big problem with them, id like to hear more, cause seems like everybody else likes them

Here it is in the shop owners own words

My archery shop, Hinton Archery, was recently asked to participate in objective bow comparison testing involving the flagship bows for several different manufacturers. The results of those tests were featured on page 77 of the September 2013 issue of Field & Stream magazine in an article entitled “Flagship Bow Shootout”.
I was one of four shooters on the panel asked to shoot and evaluate each bow. In addition, Hinton Archery performed all of the tuning and setup work for the bows being tested, and we hosted some of the speed ranking tests on our indoor range.
At the time I agreed to participate, Hinton Archery was an authorized dealer for Bowtech and Mathews bows, which are certainly 2 premier names in the field of archery, along with several others. My primary objective was to provide honest reviews based on objective information. I was determined to give accurate appraisals based on performance, and not simply because Hinton Archery carried a particular brand.
Each bow we tested was ranked according to the aggregate scores of the four individual testers. The scores were all fairly close, which is a testament to the number of good bows available in today’s archery market. More importantly, none of the 4 testers knew how the bow rankings would fare and/or which bow would “win”.
After the testing was completed and results formulated, it turned out that the Bowtech Experience took top honors in the review. The Mathew’s Creed, however, came in seventh, and Mathews’ Monster Chill also finished near the bottom of the list, behind Elite, Hoyt, Strother and a few other brands.
Yesterday, within days of the September Field and Stream issue hitting the newsstands, I received this letter from Patrick Burke, Director of Sales for Mathews, and Jon Dumars, Director of Sales for Mission:
“Dear Danny,
We regret to inform you that Mathews, Inc. and Mission Archery will no longer be able to supply your company with product. We have determined that other avenues of distribution are more consistent with the sales and marketing objectives of Mathews.”
It certainly appears that Matthews/Mission terminated my dealership because I participated in an independent test. So, going forward, Hinton Archery will no longer sell Mathews or Mission products.
Although we’ve enjoyed a good relationship with Mathews in the past, we will not be intimidated by them or any other manufacturer. We’re a small-town shop, and our first priority is to our customers. We won’t sacrifice our principles or attempt to “throw” the results of an independent gear review because of brand loyalty or a company’s marketing objectives. There is too much self-serving, agenda-driven promotion in this business already. We believe that the sportsmen deserve to hear the results of honest, independent tests like the one we performed. They just deserve better. Our staff personally shoots and evaluates every bow we sell, and the recommendations we provide to our customers are truthful.
Buying a bow is a personal decision, and if you shoot a Mathews, we will continue to service it. But future warranty work will have to be done by an authorized Mathews dealer. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I assume our customers will understand.

I want no part of a company that instead of asking what can we do to be better will throw a fit because their bows didn't get the marks they wanted! Just my opinion!

By the way Elite was the #2 bow in this test!

[ctdad]

Thanks for sharing. I'm a bit of a Hoyt fanboy so my opinion is biased but that is how I've always perceived Matthews.

[scrubs]

Like others have said, the best thing to do is shoot as many different bows to see what YOU like, also if possible, go to several different shops. The reason I say this is, not all shops are created equal, and not all shop have your best interest at heart. I think all too often folks purchase gear based on "bragging" ability, for some equipment that may be ok, a bow is not one of those pieces of equipment IMHO.

[Kevrod3]

I shoot a Mathews but I'm probably going to take the Elite challenge. I've shot an older one my buddy had and it was smooth as silk, and has a very narrow grip which IMO makes hand torque minimal. Again like a woman in a shoe grab every bow you can and shoot it with the set up you are going to hunt with. Draw Weight (DW) and Draw Length (DL)

[itsnlkthing]

I would have to agree with shooting the bows and also visiting different shops. I was amazed at the different attitudes I encountered when I was shopping. Some were very helpful and others were just flat arrogant. In the end, I found I liked several different bows but settled on a Bowtech based on the time the guy spent with me and the deal he was willing to make on a 2013 close out. Some brands I couldn't even try because I'm a south paw and dealers didn't have much for me to try. I ended up with an Insanity CPX and have been happy so far.

[Elkonthebrain]

Here it is in the shop owners own words

My archery shop, Hinton Archery, was recently asked to participate in objective bow comparison testing involving the flagship bows for several different manufacturers. The results of those tests were featured on page 77 of the September 2013 issue of Field & Stream magazine in an article entitled “Flagship Bow Shootout”.
I was one of four shooters on the panel asked to shoot and evaluate each bow. In addition, Hinton Archery performed all of the tuning and setup work for the bows being tested, and we hosted some of the speed ranking tests on our indoor range.
At the time I agreed to participate, Hinton Archery was an authorized dealer for Bowtech and Mathews bows, which are certainly 2 premier names in the field of archery, along with several others. My primary objective was to provide honest reviews based on objective information. I was determined to give accurate appraisals based on performance, and not simply because Hinton Archery carried a particular brand.
Each bow we tested was ranked according to the aggregate scores of the four individual testers. The scores were all fairly close, which is a testament to the number of good bows available in tosay aday’s archery market. More importantly, none of the 4 testers knew how the bow rankings would fare and/or which bow would “win”.
After the testing was completed and results formulated, it turned out that the Bowtech Experience took top honors in the review. The Mathew’s Creed, however, came in seventh, and Mathews’ Monster Chill also finished near the bottom of the list, behind Elite, Hoyt, Strother and a few other brands.
Yesterday, within days of the September Field and Stream issue hitting the newsstands, I received this letter from Patrick Burke, Director of Sales for Mathews, and Jon Dumars, Director of Sales for Mission:
“Dear Danny,
We regret to inform you that Mathews, Inc. and Mission Archery will no longer be able to supply your company with product. We have determined that other avenues of distribution are more consistent with the sales and marketing objectives of Mathews.”
It certainly appears that Matthews/Mission terminated my dealership because I participated in an independent test. So, going forward, Hinton Archery will no longer sell Mathews or Mission products.
Although we’ve enjoyed a good relationship with Mathews in the past, we will not be intimidated by them or any other manufacturer. We’re a small-town shop, and our first priority is to our customers. We won’t sacrifice our principles or attempt to “throw” the results of an independent gear review because of brand loyalty or a company’s marketing objectives. There is too much self-serving, agenda-driven promotion in this business already. We believe that the sportsmen deserve to hear the results of honest, independent tests like the one we performed. They just deserve better. Our staff personally shoots and evaluates every bow we sell, and the recommendations we provide to our customers are truthful.
Buying a bow is a personal decision, and if you shoot a Mathews, we will continue to service it. But future warranty work will have to be done by an authorized Mathews dealer. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I assume our customers will understand.

I want no part of a company that instead of asking what can we do to be better will throw a fit because their bows didn't get the marks they wanted! Just my opinion!

By the way Elite was the #2 bow in this test![/quote]

I have the same view as everyone else. Shoot them all and go with the one that feels the best. I will say, my future purchases will be swayed because of Mathews actions towards this review. In my opinion they should take the constructive criticism and improve their product. Just my 2 cents.