Compound Bow Reviews

The Bottom Line:The Mathews Prima is a genuine flagship-grade hunting bow scaled for short-draw archers, not a starter bow with a women's badge - the same Crosscentric cam, bridged riser, and 3D Damping as Mathews' top hunters, in a 30-inch, 3.93-pound frame that drops to a 21.5-inch draw. At a $1,099 launch MSRP it... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Escape is a great bow for those wanting a high performance rig at a reasonable price. An MSRP tag of $899 is a good pricepoint for a flagship model from a well-known company with the performance the Escape has. The Escape has some highly desired specifications many hunters demand including... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Carbon Defiant Turbo is a speed bow with great performance. However, it is important to keep in mind performance will come at a price. The draw cycle and the back wall have a different feel than the regular DFX cam system, and although it is very smooth, it will be more aggressive as well. There... read full review

The Bottom Line:Mathews has a formula that works well for them and their customer base. The 2018 Triax is another take on a compact hunting bow, where engineers were focused on making the Triax as invisible as passible. The tagline "Stealth is Lethal" truly rings through with the latest from Mathews for 2018. On paper,... read full review

The Bottom Line:From their bow producing beginnings in 2008 to present, Limbsaver has not only retained its credibility of production vibration reducing materials to benefit the sporting goods industry but produced some great, sometimes overlooked compounds- including this year's Proton LS3 32. It contains some unique... read full review

The Bottom Line:Bowtech Archery has implemented another solid compound into the lineup not only for this year, but for future years where it will likely be kept in production until the next revolutionary technology becomes available on bows in this price range. Although there are a few items on the list that could be... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Wrath SHO was one of the flagship bows for Strothers for the 2013 season. It was a redesign of the Wrath, with a slightly shorter riser/ATA and new cams. The bow came to the archery community with a 30 3/16" ATA, 7 3/8" brace height, a variety of draw weight ranges, and 335 fps IBO rating. Most shooters... read full review

The Bottom Line:Parker Bows continues to put out a solid lineup of bows for archers of all shapes and sizes, and the Lightning produced for this year in no exception. With a 30lb draw weight range, 10" of draw length adjustment without any need for a press, and a smooth dual cam setup, individuals looking to get into... read full review

The Bottom Line:The G5 Prime One STX is one of Prime's competition class bows that is a redesign of the original Prime One. It comes in two ATAs, 36" and 39," and has a wide range of adjustability in draw length and draw weight. The shoot-through riser design is a very strong platform that helps eliminate torque and... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2017 Ultimatum by Athens Archery provides a solid example of how a company can produce a specific bow to fill a long looked-over gap in the market, and a high quality one at that. Although the nature of the smaller platform creates less forgiveness at the get-go, and it is fairly expensive when compared... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Halon 5 is another offering from Mathews that is sure to do well in the hunting world. The demand of many shooters wanting the shortest, fastest bow possible is something that has not changed the last few years, and Mathews has produced something those shooters are begging for. It is important... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Reign 7 is a great shooting hunting bow. Shooters a bit scared of having a brace height under 7-inches will appreciate this 7-inch model of the faster 6-inch version. The cam technology is phenomenal, and will be beneficial for those wanting to tinker and mess with their bow to have the absolute... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Diamond (Redhead) Toxik XT is a very good rig for the hunter. With a 32" ATA, 7" brace height, 26" - 30.5" draw length, and 320 fps, this bow is definitely built to meet any hunting challenge, but can easily be found on the 3D course too. With a price of $499, it is affordable for most archers and... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Avail is a great bow choice with the serious female shooter in mind. Ladies have a decent selection of bows, but the selection gets smaller when considering bows designed specifically for ladies, and ones with top of the line technologies. The Avail offers everything the flagship Mathews bows offer,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mission Ballistic 2.0 is a redesign from an older platform; the Mission Ballistic. With a shorter riser/ATA, and a longer brace height, this rig provides the same outstanding features of the Ballistic in a shorter package. At 28.5" ATA, and with a 7 5/8" brace height, this bow still pumps out an... read full review