what kind of bow

[browningvarmintwssm]

i was wondering what kind of bow you guys shoot or recommend?

i didn't want to spend over $700

i was looking at a Fred Bear Lights Out package. it's 30in A2A and only weighs 3.7lbs. for $565

can you recommend anything lighter or better?

thank you!

 

[Supermag]

First go to a good pro shop (not Cabelas or Scheels or etc) and shoot a couple of different brands and models. Have them fit you for draw length and tell them your intended use (targets, hunting, 3D), they will help point you to a good bow. PSE, Bowtech, Diamond, Reflex, and some others all offer good bows in various price ranges and sizes. Once you get setup with all your equipment, spend alot of time shooting it.

 

[grit]

Supermag is right on. It's about feal. Shoot some at the pro shop and pick the one that feals best. I'd ask around about a good shop and a good salesman. You need to be able to trust them to set you up right. Good luck!

 

[subway5752]

I love my Mathews will never change companies. That being said if you only want new, Mathews will be out of your price range. Take a look at the new Martin it is under 500 with many of the much more expensive bow features. Make sure you shoot any bow you are interested in. They all feel a little diffferent and comfort leads to consistancy.

 

[rtv900]

I shoot a Mathews. One for hunting/3D and another for spot shooting. I would look around for a used one. Some people love to the latest and greatest Mathews every year. Any good pro shop should have some used ones around. Either ones that they own or ones they are selling for customes. That is a great way to get a wonderful bow in your price range.

 

[WSmitty01]

Please don't forget that not all bows have wheels on them!!! I own and shoot crossbow, recurve and traditional. Once learned, instinctive shooting with a GOOD recurve or longbow, will most of the time outpleasure any type of shooting there is, I shoot all my bows every week-end but when I get out the old Pearson or Bear recurve, the smile lights up my face. There isn't an animal that hasn't been killed with a stickbow, and that includes elephants and brown bears. An awful lot of archers are going back traditionsl because of the simplicity of it. A really good recurve can be had for $400 or even cheaper on E-Bay. My bow weighs less than 2 pound with quiver full of arrows. I don't worry about sights, releases, arrow rests or any other stuff that can break, carry an extra string and glove and you have everything you need! I'm going all traditional as soon as my shoulders heal up from surgery and never looking back. In 40 years of bow hunting and tournament shooting I've gone full circle and getting back to the basics of why I started this sport almost 50 years ago!

 

[cinch]

Bows are upgraded as fast as computers. Alot of guys have to get the latest thing out so a lot of pro shops will have next to new used bows on hand. If you are new in to archery, a good used bow will be a great start.

 

[trebark]

I'll chime in and agree with much of what has been said here. I'll just say it in a slightly different way maybe. Having an idea of what you want to spend, go and try to shoot every bow you can that's within your price range. Then shoot what's 10% below your price range and 10% above your price range. Figure out what you're comfortable with, and balance dollars, comfort, performance and tunability.

IMHO the biggest issue is.....tunability. There are a lot of people out there and they want to shoot the fastest bow they can get their hands on these bows are generally very sensitive (less forgiving of user errors) and difficult to tune and keep tuned. I have an old PSE Carroll Intruder. It's 15 years old and still shoots fine and pushes aluminum arrows (yes, I still shoot aluminum arrows!) at 240fps. The great thing about the bow is that I can tune it so that arrows fly exactly true (vanes follow tip right through the same hole with no fish tailing or porposing). With an arrow that flies true, it's easy to site-in your bow. Said another way, it doesn't matter how fast you get to the target (or deer) it matters that you get to the exact spot at which you were aiming. I've killed many deer with my bow and everyone has been a one shot kill.

From my experience, you can get one heck of a bow and all the accessories with $700 and have money left over.

 

[norsepeak]

once you decide on the bow you want look at ebay. I shot hoyt for 12 years and had a lot of success and enjoyment with my hoyt. Then I shot a buddies Mathews and loved it. I searched around on ebay for a couple of weeks and found a smokin' deal on a one year old bow and bought it saving around 300. The bow turned out to be in excellent shape and shoots perfect. I then spent the $300 I saved on other huntin' stuff that I "needed" so it worked out all the way around! ha ha.

 

[cva54]

buy the best

thats what I did go to a pro shop find used I got a mathews ultra max for 250.00 and upgraded every thing els after arrows,release,rest,sight $700.00 the best thing I ever did go MATHEWS I will stress buy top of the line if U live up here in mlps mn go to schaffer archery

 

[cva54]

there is only 1 MATHEWS DXT

 

[leatherman92]

I shoot a archery research 32 and I don't like it. my next bow will be a hoyt katera.

 

[cva54]

please go to a mathews dealer and shoot a some of them new and older models I was short on cash when I got my so I got a used ultra max or it would of been a DXT mine shoots at 260 yes I looked at hoyt they wer heavy and a weard shock in the riser to me

 

[vintec]

Over the last 8-10 years I have owned a High Country, Jennings, Hoyt, Mathews, and now a PSE. So I have no brand that I stick to. I had Mathews SwitchBack, and I loved that bow. It shot well and was very quite. Then I shot a buddies PSE X-Force. Now I own a PSE X-force. It is ridiculous. My SwitchBack shot the same 380gr arrows @ 283 fps, My X-force shots them 331 fps. I cant hear a difference in the sound of the shot. They are on the upper end of the price scale, but 1 pin out to 40yrds will cover alot of missed shots due to yardage.