New Bow for Next Season

[coonhunter]

I'm in the same boat Belo. I have an old Lites Out that seems like I have used forever. Every year I say I am going to buy a new bow, but come the fall, I still climb up with that old Bear on the hanger, and I keep killing deer with it. 

I can say for a fact that the new bows are noticeably smoother and seem like they shoot a little faster as well. I don't really care about them being faster, but the smoothness of the break over is a big draw for me. Maybe this will be the year I finally get a new one.

[BizCT]

The best thing about Mathews is that you only have to shoot 4-5 arrows per year and you’re good to go out to 60-80yds with the HHA single pin sight. Just lob it in on a pope & young pronghorn


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[Five Seasons]

Belo

shoot the elites at traditions.   Not a fan of the owner but they have them in stock.  Obsession has all the good things like elite (crazy smooth and solid back wall) with better speed and grip in my opinion.  Only owned one Matthews (helium) and the valley was not great.  

Or you can frustrate yourself with a single string?   It’s a fun roller coaster.   Lol

 

The recurve is on the agenda when kids get a little older.

 

I defiantly plan to shoot some elites

 

 

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[sodfather]

Definitely shoot a Mathews last. I shot every bow when I bought my Halon but the halon was the only bow I didn’t want to put down 

[WNYBuckHunter]

On 12/23/2017 at 5:14 PM, sodfather said:

For some reason bows are different than owning a bunch of guns in my opinion. I’d like to add a long ata bow to my room but the fear is I will fall in Love an want to shoot it during hunting season then leaves my current bow laying off to the side. With guns I have 1 for every animal some cases 2 

I shoot a 35" ATA bow. Love it love it love it. The only time it sucks is in a ground blind, but once you get past that, they are great for hunting.

Every year I have about a month that I feel like I want to get something newer, but then I remember how fast my bow is, and I look at the speeds of the new ones, and they arent much faster in a real hunting configuration. My 2010 Maxxis 35 is accurate, quiet, plenty fast and fits me perfect. It will probably be what I shoot until it breaks and I cant get parts, or they make some significant jump in bow technology. Its getting time for new strings and cables and my biscuit is worn out, so Im thinking I may just break the whole bow down this year, send it out to have it dipped, go through the screws and replace any that have rust on them, put some new strings and cables on and it will probably feel kinda like I have a whole new bow for about 1/8th of the price tag.

[Chef]

I have a halon and love it


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[Nomad]

On December 23, 2017 at 11:05 AM, turkeyfeathers said:

Upon reading this thread I'm now 100 % positive that I know nothing about bows 

Same here, and I've been bow hunting 30 years .

[Five Seasons]

On 12/23/2017 at 7:30 PM, sailinghudson25 said:

Belo,

how's your other items in hunting doing?  A lack of an ATV if needed.   Rifle and muzzleloader good.  No complaints in the clothing dept, or good pair of binos.  Got a decent treestand collection.    A extra treestand in the right place can produce better results than replacing a perfectly good used bow.  Maybe buying a good rototiller or a high quality weedwacker might be an improvement......

I upgraded from a 1994 hoyt to a hoyt turbohawk in 2011 or so.  My old bow shot better......

 

IF anything on new bows, I think their cam profiles in the 75%+ let-off have improved.   I like easier to hold drawn for a longer period of time more, than more velocity.......

i have generally everything i "need". There will never be an end to a list of "wants". I'm fortunate enough that my dad has the atv (probably the most expensive thing past land and truck). Truck is a year old and I have land.

so next comes the bow

[Five Seasons]

On 12/23/2017 at 10:27 PM, coonhunter said:

I'm in the same boat Belo. I have an old Lites Out that seems like I have used forever. Every year I say I am going to buy a new bow, but come the fall, I still climb up with that old Bear on the hanger, and I keep killing deer with it. 

I can say for a fact that the new bows are noticeably smoother and seem like they shoot a little faster as well. I don't really care about them being faster, but the smoothness of the break over is a big draw for me. Maybe this will be the year I finally get a new one.

i am with you 100% on speed. I only shoot 35 and under and truthfully most have been 20 and under. I've never had string jump, but I do like that a lot of the newer bows are much deader in the hand than my switchback. Looking for a better valley too.

[LET EM GROW]

I'a a Mathews fan as well. I dont typically rule out any other bows, but a very good friend of mine is a Mathews dealer. That being said, when it comes to buying a high quality top end bow.. I get the best deals from him. Have shot a few bowtechs and hoyts along the way, and i keep coming back to the solocam z7 ive owned since 2011, will never get rid of it.. I love that bow. Had the Outback and the FX before that. As long as i can still get the deal, that Triax looks pretty good. Would love to shoot it one of these days. Ive never owned a dual cam bow, so it will be a bit different Im sure, compared to the forgiving solcams.. 

IN my own personal preference I stay away from department store bows. Only for the reason that i do not know who set the bow up and if they know the correct way to do things. Plus a thousand people put their hands on these bows.. 

[Five Seasons]

something i also realized in my research is that my switchback has a 65% letoff. I'm a strong enough guy and have no issues with that. Will be interesting to test the newer 75% letoffs. 

[dbHunterNY]

a guy I know that's an older gentleman has a Mathews compound of some kind.  it appears old and insufficient at first glance.  over time though he's upgraded things like strings obviously but the bow is still in use.  he's surpassed the milestone of taking 50 deer with it.  I thought that was kind of cool.  my hunting bow is a '11 PSE Evo.  draw isn't bad at all and it shoots nice.  IBO speed is 345 fps so it's plenty fast.  I wonder if it'll be my 50+ deer bow.  I've always spread the deer take across multiple bows I've acquired since getting that one, just to mix things up a bit.  I've slowed down with getting different bows and gotten rid of some in recent years though.  I still have a few i actually hunt with. The PSE though to date that I've kept has 2 bucks and at least 1 doe I've taken with it.  just a really cool idea developing history of 50+ deer with something that was once considered just another piece of equipment.

[dbHunterNY]

21 minutes ago, Belo said:

something i also realized in my research is that my switchback has a 65% letoff. I'm a strong enough guy and have no issues with that. Will be interesting to test the newer 75% letoffs. 

now many are 80+%

[Jeremy K]

55 minutes ago, Belo said:

i am with you 100% on speed. I only shoot 35 and under and truthfully most have been 20 and under. I've never had string jump, but I do like that a lot of the newer bows are much deader in the hand than my switchback. Looking for a better valley too.

You absolutely need to see if you can get your hands on a left over synergy . 

[TreeGuy]

I can't speak from a ton of experience in other brands, but I've owned a few Mathews and 2 elites. Elite is an awesome bow all around. For the money it's tough to beat especially warranty. Shoot a bunch and see what fits you best. The new option 7 is pretty slick

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[Buckstopshere]

I really like my Bowtech Carbon Icon. I shoot now at 60# where it feels good and I can shoot 50 arrows a day for practice.  It has replaceable cams that give a choice between a hard draw and power, or a smooth release. I killed my buck this year with the smooth cam. It was not as pricey as some…but I shot it a lot this summer at the target and really enjoyed it's accuracy…tuning it.  And a lot of fun experimenting with some of my older arrows…heads, and how they would fly. Never shot so much in the summer…dialed in at 25 yards. And killed my buck at 12 yards. typical. 

[Doc]

My old Mathews MQ-32 is only 9 years old and still killing deer, so I probably have a lot of other things that are more worthy of spending my cash on. Hopefully it will be the bow that I am clutching in my cold dead hands up on the hill on my last hunt ..... lol.

[sodfather]

@Belocheck out archery talk classified adds I just picked up a 2016 Prime Rival in mint condition for $400. Will be here on Monday , lots of deals on that site. These guys get sick of there $1000 bows in 2 years.. 

Edited January 20, 2018 by sodfather

[Five Seasons]

[mention=2761]Belo[/mention]check out archery talk classified adds I just picked up a 2016 Prime Rival in mint condition for $400. Will be here on Monday , lots of deals on that site. These guys get sick of there $1000 bows in 2 years.. 

Yeah I’ve heard a lot of good things about prime bows. I think the triad will come down in spring. Ultimately I’m going to enjoy shooting all of them before I spend my tax return haha.


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[grampy]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

My old Mathews MQ-32 is only 9 years old and still killing deer, so I probably have a lot of other things that are more worthy of spending my cash on. Hopefully it will be the bow that I am clutching in my cold dead hands up on the hill on my last hunt ..... lol.

I hear ya Doc. My MQ-32 was purchased in 2000. Set to about 53 pounds now, It still kills deer. Got another one with it last year. A complete pass through at 8 yards. As long as my shoulders allow, I will keep using it. This year it gets a new string and cable. I have thought many times of getting something new or newer. Then, I just shoot the old Mathews, that just feels like an extension of my arms and say, maybe next year.

[Doc]

22 hours ago, grampy said:

I hear ya Doc. My MQ-32 was purchased in 2000. Set to about 53 pounds now, It still kills deer. Got another one with it last year. A complete pass through at 8 yards. As long as my shoulders allow, I will keep using it. This year it gets a new string and cable. I have thought many times of getting something new or newer. Then, I just shoot the old Mathews, that just feels like an extension of my arms and say, maybe next year.

You know, if I had kept records over the years, I probably would find that my first compound, the old 6 wheel Bear Whitetail with the crow-bar epoxy limbs is probably the most prolific bow in terms of deer harvests of any of the fancy, expensive bows on my wonderful wall of super-bows. I did the thing where I had to have the latest and the greatest every time I turned around. I have a pretty impressive collection that represents a pile of money. Well when I finally bought my last super-bow, I declared that short of the thing exploding in my face, the MQ-32 would be the last bow I would buy. So far I have stayed true to my word.