I've been wanting to upgrade my Hoyt Deviator, now 11 years old. The problem is that I haven't been keeping up with the latest trends and there is no one locally I can talk to for advice.

I hunt mostly from the ground, sometimes use a treestand, usually hunt pigs and deer, planning an African trip in the next few years (I initally baught the Deviator for an African trip but never took it).

What I'm looking for is a (compound) bow in the 70lb - 28" range that is short and light, high letoff, easy shooting. Blistering speed is not really the #1 priority, easy shooting with reasonable speeds would be nice.

At the moment I shooting XX75 2317 and XX78 2317's which I find to be a bit heavy and slow especially for roe deer. They were supposed to be for Africa.

I have seen a Mission X5 in a local shop, which seems very nice to me, quite expensive here but I think they are good value for money in the States if I couldn get one sent out.

What are some bows that I should take a look at?

Thanks.

EXPRESS

I am a new bow shooter/hunter [I have not shot an animal with my new bow yet].

I went to a bow shop and shot several different bows.

I liked best and bought a Mathews DXT, baised on the following.

I liked the way it was easy to draw back, it has a definate "wall" if I have the correct term, and is very easy to hold back at full draw.
It shoots very smooth and quiet with no hand shock.

It is VERY short, small, and light weight, even with the Mathews 5 arrow quiver.

It is very accurate and shoots broadheads [Mangus 100gr Buzz Cut Stingers, and 100gr Slick Tricks] even better than the field points out to 40 yards, the farthest I have shot so far.

I shot Hoyts, PSE, and Bow Tech, and the DXT.

I had no brand loyality, I just liked EVERYTHING about the Mathews DXT better.

The more I shoot it the more I like it.

Look into the Martin bow line. They are very affordable compared to almost any other bow manufactuers for the same qaulity bow. I personally like the bengal or cheetah. they have a very nice draw, they are quiet,not as light as some others,short, and pretty fast. Also they come in 55-70 pound draw weight and 25-30in. draw length.

I live and hunt and in africa and i highly recomend the mathews drenaline. It shoots relatively fast ( 320 fps ) and mine is about 70lbs and 28inch draw. they are extremely smooth shooting and low recoil.its quiet and light. I also shhot from trees, ground and walk and stalk. I would not trade it for anything. a good friend also has one, he swears by it.

You wont regret it

I'm going to cast another vote for the Mathews line. More specifically, the Mathews DXT. I've had one now for less than a month after upgrading from an 11 year old bow myself (HCA - High Country Archery "Max Force"). This is also my first time shooting carbon arrows.

So far, I couldn't be happier. As stated above, I had the opportunity to shoot all the major brands and liked many of the others such as the Hoyt and Bowtech flagship bows. However, none of them had the feel and "handiness" of the DXT. I just kept going back to it. Light, compact, fast, smooth, solid construction, well defined back wall, and an overall good reputation with others who own and shoot them.

Along with a QAD drop-away rest, I put a HHA DS-XL5519 sight on it which requires it to be shot at 20 and then 60 yards for calibration. At 20 yds, like any bow, I expected the groups to be tight, which they were. I was shooting 6 arrows at a time trying to minimize ruining the fletching on big clusters of arrows. Well, I should have been shooting at individual dots because I robinhooded on my 23rd shot out of the bow. I thought, "Damn! $22 worth of Gold Tip Pro Hunter arrows ruined in one shot... but I love this bow!"

Backing off to 60 yards, I expected the groups to open up. However, they stayed much tighter than I thought was possible with a bow at such ranges. It was a dead calm day. Two consecutive groups were shot and spanned four finger's width each. I don't consider myself much of an archer, but I was definitely pleased with that!

After dialing it in, I decided it was time to try out some G5 Small Game Head (S.G.H.) tips on some tree critters. The shots were 17 to 23 yards and all arrows passed through making some gnarly wounds, but stopped above the grass making them easy to find (much like the traditional spring loaded judo points).



Anyway, it's probably more detail than you are asking for, but that has been my experience with the DXT.

My suggestion is to try them all and see what fits you best.

Good luck!

I would suggest you take a look at Concept Archery. They have 99% and 80% let off bows.
It is the smoothest shooting bow on the market.
I personally shoot Bowtech, great bows, but I will soon make the switch to Concept.

Unless something has changed, if you shoot a bow with more than 65% letoff, and you want to enter a trophy into the P&Y record book, it's not going to happen, if that is important to you. I personally don't care about entering heads into the record books anymore.

I shot Hoyt bows for 12 years, worked part-time in an archery shop in Tucson during the summers b/w college semesters, have experience with a lot of bow companies. I've been shooting Mathews for about 9 years now.

Despite that a few of my friends bought Bowtechs, I still shoot my slower, more accurate, more forgiving, smoother Mathews Ultra and kill more game and bigger game and for fun, I continue to rub it in their faces.

I'd own a Bowtech, another Mathews, the new fastest PSE and Hoyt any day. They all make excellent bows, but this really boils down to what YOU like and how it fits YOU.

I have no need to upgrade my bow unless I just want one that will shoot a little faster. I've toyed with shopping for a new bow this year and even last year, but never got around to it.

I suppose I'll go right back to Mathews first.

If you want some excellent advice, look at HUNTERS FRIEND DOT COM and ask them all the questions you want. They have the very best deals on archery equipment I've seen.

Thanks Doc, I had already stumbled acorss the hunters friend website and thoguht I would give them a call sometime.

I've started shooting my old Deviator again, and to tell the truth, I can't find any reason to upgrade it other than because I want to try a cool, fast, tiny lightweight new bow.

The Deviator still shoots very well for me, the speed is perfectly adequate and it just feel so right after all these years with it. At the moment It's set at 62# until I get my strength up again, I have had 3 (right) shoulder reconstructions in my time off archery but I don't think it will be more than a few weeks before I get back up to speed. I have used the bow infrequently in between.

However, I will go ahead and get the new bow, a Mathews DXT, sometime in December I rekon. I'll also try it with carbons, simply because I've been bending and buggering a batch of 3 dozen alloys I got way back when and I'm now down to 16 arrows. Eight 2317's and eight XX78 2319's. Heavy though accurate and awesome penetration.

In the mean time I'll play around with this old Hoyt some more, I doubt I'll ever get rid of it, I'd like to experiment with some of the silencing mods I've seen around, just for fun.

What might be a good choice of carbon arrows for the DXT 70lb with a 28.5" draw? I'm hunting mostly hogs and deer here, but Africa is on the cards in the next year or two.

Cheers.

I shoot the Gold Tip Hunter XT 5575. I'm not too pickly or brand loyal on carbons, but these have worked so well for so long, that I'm still using the original 18 I bought.

In fact, my go-to arrow out of the quiver has killed over 22 deer. It's been refletched about 10 times and has had about 7 broadheads on it.

Out of the original 18 arrows, only 8 have ever even been shot at targets or game. At the rate I'm going, I'll never need to buy more arrows. If I was to purchase more arrows now, it would be these:

CARBON EXPRESS ARAMID. THE STRONGEST "CARBONS" ON THE MARKET.

you owe it to tourself to check out APA innovations line of bows. The Black Mamba X-1 has the worlds fastest IBO rating at 355 fps. They are spooky quiet, blistering fast, and silky smooth.
APA Black Mamba

I bought a Martin Bengal. It is inexpensive ($350), quiet, and a great shooter. I shoot 30 In.@ 60 lbs. with CArbon Xpress 55/60 arrows, and 100 gr. muzzys. Speed is around 275-280FPS.

I am very happy with this set-up.

There are too many good bows out there too list. I'd go to the local shop that reps several different brands and shoot some of them. Whichever feels the best to you is the one you should go with. You're the one shooting it, not us.

That said, I have a Mathews and a pre big box Parker and love them both.

I've owned several Mathews and Bowtechs. Now I'm sold on Elite Archery -- lightning fast, exceptional build quality. My next bow will be an Elite GT-500.

Just two notes: 1) Speed is very important while hunting African Game (especially, with spot and stalk). 2) You can go above 65% letoff and still enter into P&Y, they will just put a "*" next to the entry.

Lots of good bows on the market and every single one of them shoots plenty fast enough to kill a deer.

I look for accuracy and shootability under less than perfect conditions much more than speed.(high brace height and a more deflex design)

In that I'm impressed with the new 'Bear Lights Out'. Only 330 bucks and it's a deer killin machine.

btw, I shoot a Parker FeathermagII, another bow made with a more deflex design.

quote:

Originally posted by Arrow Slinger:
I've owned several Mathews and Bowtechs. Now I'm sold on Elite Archery -- lightning fast, exceptional build quality. My next bow will be an Elite GT-500.

Just two notes: 1) Speed is very important while hunting African Game (especially, with spot and stalk). 2) You can go above 65% letoff and still enter into P&Y, they will just put a "*" next to the entry.

Interesting, I've been looking at the Elite Bows and I am seriously impressed. These bows are Kevin Strother's brainchild formerly of Bowtech. I shoot a Bowtech Extreme Solo now that I believe was one of his designs. I like his work.

PSEs X-Force is no freaking joke an absolutely awesome bow. Diamonds Black Ice is worth a look as well.

The Matthews Bows are good no argument from me but they really aren't the only game in town as much as advertizing would like you to believe.

Consider this--it ain't sponsorship that gets tournament champions to shoot a particular bow, or arrow, or rest, or whatever. Winners shoot whatever is the best--been there done that. I was absolutley the first guy ever to shoot AAC arrows in 3-d competition, my sponsor (Bear/Jennings at the time) wouldn't pay for them at the time, but I bought them because they gave me a demonstrable advantage in tournaments. In less than a couple months, every serious competitor I had was shooting them.
Having said that, look at what the winners are shooting, there are shooters of most brands, but what are the consistent, majority of winners shooting? I don't track it any more, but I think Matthews still rules the roost.

In the end though, I agree with what some others have said, there are so many good bows now it is hard to pick a standout. Shoot one you like the feel of, any of them should be able to be set up to fit you. Pick the one where you like the grip, looks, weight, and for an empirical question that I feel is important, one that is QUIET.

Good luck to you!

Another vote for Martin Archery!

quote:

Originally posted by elmo729:
Look into the Martin bow line. They are very affordable compared to almost any other bow manufactuers for the same qaulity bow. I personally like the bengal or cheetah. they have a very nice draw, they are quiet,not as light as some others,short, and pretty fast. Also they come in 55-70 pound draw weight and 25-30in. draw length.

I bought a Bengal. It is set at 60 lbs with 28 in. arrows and 100 gr, muzzys. Shoots in the 280's. In my opinion it is the best bow for your dollar anywhere. Shoots great, easy to tune and damn near indestructible!

Ive had my mathews drenalin for 2 years. I highly recomend it. Its like comparing a airgun to a .308 you wont regret getting 1. I live and hunt africa. its perfect. good luck

Been hunting with a Forge F2 and loved it, but just recently got a 2007 Elite Synergy. It is a short bow with a 7" brace height. It is extremely fast and consistent. The draw curve is totally different from my Forge F2. It will take some getting used to, but I believe it is going to quickly become my favorite bow. You need to try drawing several different bows and see what feels good to you.

you should go to a local archery pro shop they will help you get somthing that fits your pull and $ maybe a high end used bow i shoot a mathewes denilen very acc.

quote:

Originally posted by Arrow Slinger:
I've owned several Mathews and Bowtechs. Now I'm sold on Elite Archery -- lightning fast, exceptional build quality. My next bow will be an Elite GT-500.

Just two notes: 1) Speed is very important while hunting African Game (especially, with spot and stalk). 2) You can go above 65% letoff and still enter into P&Y, they will just put a "*" next to the entry.

Elite bows are a force to be reackon with. Own a Elite Synergy, speed and good KE. This is the bow I'm using for my buff hunt next year.

I've been shooting a Mathews Drenalin for a few months now, and I have never shot anything that even compares.

I absolutely love it. I am not talking bad of other brands, but I have nothing bad to say about my Mathews.

Buy another Hoyt.....the best bow made!!!! Hoyt just came out with an economyline too. Hoyt Hawk I think there called