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Looking for a new bow ...

A

Augustus McCrea

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So i used a nice little Martin Exile 53 lbs 26.5 draw , carbon raider platinum 400's 100g NAP mechanical. Its a nice small 30.5 axle to axle 3.4 lbs bow .. easy to get around with. But buy no means a speed demon. Im looking to upgrade this year all around and i had a few in mind but was wondering if you guys have picked any of these bows up and have any consumer advice.im looking to get another bow that is the same size or smaller, same weight or lighter, and is faster. I dont really this its necessary to increase my speed to much, maybe to 60 ? At first i was looking into a bear carnage, its fast , but its BIG , for a smaller guy like me .... went to reedys the other day picked up a mathews monster chill ... pretty awesome bow , also fast , small and light, also really liked the mattews heliu-m, for same reasons. Didnt have a chance to talk to anyone in there through. They were busier than a one armed paper hanger!
Was also thinking bout stepping up to some gold tip ultra light pro 400's with a fixed broad head i dont know much about the different in arrows besides the weight and length and what not , not really what makes one better than the other. iv got a few weeks to sit on this but heading out to A plus archery in spencer tomorrow , never been there.
 
I bought a Heli-m from Reedys last year and I love it. If you have the money to spend, you will not be disappointed. Did you go to the new shop? If so how was it?
 
sharky said:
I bought a Heli-m from Reedys last year and I love it. If you have the money to spend, you will not be disappointed. Did you go to the new shop? If so how was it?
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It was great , i have never been there before , but it was really busy and crowed, so i just browsed
 
Sir_Gawain said:
Get a Bowtech, you'll be happy
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HTRN said:
This
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Yup


I shoot an assassin and love it, tried the Helium and man i hated it any let up on fulldraw and the thing wants to take your shoulder off (but it is stupid light). With the assassin once you hit fulldraw you can just stay there.

I can also say that the only bow i found more uncomfortable to shoot was the PSE omen.

Had I not gotten the Bowtech, I would have gone with the Hoyt CRX or one of the Maxxis.
 
If your looking for speed, pulling 53 lbs, @ 26.5" you'll never get speed from those numbers

A bow with dual cams will be faster, but not the smoothest draw cycle. Lighter arrows will give you more speed, but you'll hear more from your bow.

Speed is overrated, it's all about shot placement.
 
boxerjake77 said:
If your looking for speed, pulling 53 lbs, @ 26.5" you'll never get speed from those numbers

A bow with dual cams will be faster, but not the smoothest draw cycle. Lighter arrows will give you more speed, but you'll hear more from your bow.

Speed is overrated, it's all about shot placement.
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Thanks boxer jake , i know im not going to get 300 IBO out of my bows , just not possible , but i do want to try and gain a little speed. If i find i cant make anything really happen , then i might just stick to what i have. but i dont think it will come to that. What are the big differences between a single cam and a dual cam ? Is speed SO over rated that this is a pointless quest ?
 
I would rather, and do, sacrifice speed for more KE.
My bow is 65/28.5 with a 425 grain arrow, at about 270ish.

Heavier arrow quiets my bow a lot. I could pick up more speed with a far lighter arrow, but what I want is more KE not more speed.

Don't get caught up in the speed bow craze. At 60 pounds, you can drop any animal that walks the woods
 
I bought my first bow on ebay for 300 bucks and love it. I know its on the cheaper used side of things but i find it to be perfect for me. I would try and shoot as many different bows as u can to find one that you like the most. Mathews SQ2 70# 30". Good luck finding next years deer dropper.
 
I agree with the shot placement comment. I will, however, say that I like as much speed as possible (So long as the other priorities are met first). The less time between the sound my shot makes and the time the arrow makes it to the deer, is better. However, being able to smoothly, quietly, and comfortably draw and make a well-placed shot is what I would look to first.

Stepping up the poundage at a shorter draw length might not give you that great of a speed gain for the amount of difficulty it will be to pull back. I was able to gain some fps by taking all of the gizmos off of the string including the peep sight and the peep sight tube and all of the silencers. If you buy a good quiet bow, you won't need to hang all of those silly things on the string. The string is fastest naked.

Also, when choosing a bow, you want to be at the bows max range for poundage. Your bow will shoot best and quietest at its max poundage. If you shoot 60 pounds, you'd be better off with a bow that shoots 50-60 vs. a bow that shoots 60-70.

I'm shooting a bowtech at 70 pounds with no gadgets on the string and its quiet as can be and its up over 300 fps. My draw length is 31 inches, though. So 70 pounds doesn't feel heavy at all. At the distances I hunt, 300 fps isn't necessary. And, if I didn't have a long draw length, I'd be shooting a lot less of a draw weight. But, I'd buy a bow that had a lower max weight.
 
Augustus McCrea said:
Thanks boxer jake , i know im not going to get 300 IBO out of my bows , just not possible , but i do want to try and gain a little speed. If i find i cant make anything really happen , then i might just stick to what i have. but i dont think it will come to that. What are the big differences between a single cam and a dual cam ? Is speed SO over rated that this is a pointless quest ?
Click to expand...

Single cam wil have a smoother draw but generally be slower somewhat and not as solid of a wall

Bowtechs 2 cam is tougher to draw but a bit faster and solid wall. I switched a few years ago to the bowtech after getting used to it i like it. I liketge center pivot bows. Easy to set up yourself with no press needed.

I bought all my bowtechs as year old leftovers NIB on archerytalk. You pay like half price. They arent available all the time so if u see one youve got to snap it up.

Speed is way overrated. Heavy arrows arent. They work. I shoot 60 pounds 255 fps and passthru just about everything.

Ditch the light arrows and ditch the mechanicals. Ive tried them and they produce no more blood on a good hit than do sharp fixed blades. On an angling hit ive seen bad things happen with them or your left questioning if they deflected or opened etc.
 
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Mark from MA said:
Single cam wil have a smoother draw but generally be slower somewhat and not as solid of a wall

Bowtechs 2 cam is tougher to draw but a bit faster and solid wall. I switched a few years ago to the bowtech after getting used to it i like it. I liketge center pivot bows. Easy to set up yourself with no press needed.

I bought all my bowtechs as year old leftovers NIB on archerytalk. You pay like half price. They arent available all the time so if u see one youve got to snap it up.

Speed is way overrated. Heavy arrows arent. They work. I shoot 60 pounds 255 fps and passthru just about everything.

Ditch the light arrows and ditch the mechanical. Ive tried them and they produce no more blood on a good hit than do sharp fixed blades. On an angling hit ive seen bad things happen with them or your left questioning if they deflected or opened etc.
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Great info Mark per usual ! I was under the impression that shooting 53 lbs 26.5 draw i was to use ONLY 400 weight arrows with the proper 100 gr blades , is this not so ? is there a heavier arrow you recommend ? and possibly a fixed broad head .. and why ?
 
I use CE Maxima Hunter 350's. I think CE Piledrivers are the heaviest arrow they sell.

I use Magnus Buzzcuts for fixed heads. They fly great, razor sharp, and lifetime guarantee.
 
Boxerjake77 is right on both post. I shoot a similar set-up but even lighter. You'll find that if you max out the limbs on a 60 lbs bow (and yes they LIKE to be cranked all the way down) you will get about 62-63 lbs. PLENTY of poundage in a modern compound. You need to get out and shoot different bows and see what, "Feels" good. One bow that comes to mind that IMO was a sleeper for 2012 was the Hoyt Rampage XT. If you can get an 2011 or 2012 w/the roller guards you really can't go wrong. (assuming you like the feel) [wink] Here's one example: Hoyt Rampage XT 28 5" RH 60 70 Bow w Accessories Realtree Camo Used 2012 | eBay
 
Fixed heads i use strikers by g5. Bass pro used to make them as blackouts but i think they have changed. But they are ten dollars cheaper if u can find them

They are shaving sharp out of the package unlike some of the other shxt on the market.
 
I just bought a Hoyt CRX after owning a Hoyt Lazertec I bought in 2006 from Reddy's. I went to Reedy's about 2 months ago full intending on buying a Matthews. I had about $700-$1000 to spend on a bare bow. I shot all the Matthews bows and honestly, was disappointed. I found them to be loud, top heavy and just not worth all the hype and the price they want for them. Just my opinion. I shot the Hoyt Rampage and it was night and day difference, quiet, smooth draw, light weight. Unfortunately I didnt buy at Reedy's that day, the place was a mob scene, got bounced around to 3 different sales people and they didnt have the right poundage and draw length for me. I didn't really like how they kept trying to push the Matthews like it was the only option. I wanted to try a PSE but they completely trash talked them, not sure if they sold them there? I kept getting bumped for other customers and a birthday party that was going on there??? Maybe I wasnt clear enough when I said I was buying a new bow today and wanted to upgrade to something high end? Anyways, went to Jerry's in Milford and he had exactly what I wanted in the right poundage and draw length, done deal! I almost bought the Hoyt Spyder but for an additional $300, the differences were minimal. I have never shot tighter groups in my life than with this Hoyt CRX.
 
Usmc1345 said:
Buy a Hoyt and you will never consider buying another bow.
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+ 1

I've got a Hoyt Super Hawk thats only a few years old and it still shoots super fast, is fairly quiet, and I've killed about 10 deer with it. When I dropped it out of a tree stand and it un-strung itself when it hit the ground - we strung it back up and it still shot perfectly. My string is all chewed up from use too, but it shoots perfectly, no issues. I got this bow for one reason, and that was to kill deer and one thing is for sure, I've never had to worry about the bow when it came to functioning correctly. Heck, even tho its a few years old, when my buddies see how fast it shoots, they still say, 'Damn, i gotta get a new bow...' [smile]
 

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