Bear Refine EKO Review
from $750
Pros
- Long 33-inch frame and 6 3/8-inch brace settle the pin for a steady, forgiving hold on the longer shot
- Selectable 75 to 90 percent let-off set with a wrench, no bow press - dial your own holding weight at full draw
- Dead-in-hand, quiet shot measured around 90 dB from the enhanced VRS dampers and KillerWave limb pads
- Smooth draw that rolls into a rock-solid wall when you run the limb stop instead of the cable stop
- GRIZgrip nudges the hand into a repeatable, low-torque position, and the slim VersaGrip still ships in the box
Cons
- At the top 90 percent setting the hold can feel almost too light to control - dialing to 80 or 85 percent on the EKO module restores holding weight and a crisper break, no press needed
- Quiet but not the quietest bow Bear built - some owners notice a touch more sound than their other rigs, and a heavier 480 to 500 grain hunting arrow settles it further
Video
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Editors' review
Bear's 2022 flagship did not chase the top of the speed chart. Where most flagships that year shrank the frame and pushed fps, the Refine EKO stretched to a 33-inch axle-to-axle (the distance between the two cam axles) and a tall 6 3/8-inch brace height, then held the price under a thousand dollars while rivals asked eleven to thirteen hundred. The idea is forgiveness: a long, steady aim platform for the hunter who would rather park the pin than squeeze out a few more feet per second. Around that frame Bear wrapped its full flagship feature set - the EKO cam's four selectable let-off positions, an enhanced Vibration Reduction System, new KillerWave limb dampeners, the AlignLok riser level, and the new GRIZgrip. It is the long, forgiving counterpart to the compact 31-inch Redemption EKO that shared its price and cam the same year, and it carried over unchanged into 2023 before the Execute 30 and 32 took the flagship slot. For the archer whose draw runs long or whose shots run far, this is where Bear concentrated its aim-first engineering.
Finish
At launch in 2022 the Refine EKO came in eight finishes, the widest palette Bear offered on a flagship that year: full Fred Bear Camo, Realtree Edge, Veil Whitetail, Mossy Oak Bottomland, a solid Olive, a muted Iron gray, and the two-tone Throwback Black and Throwback Tan that pair an old-school solid riser with classic Fred Bear limbs. The two Throwback options are the standouts, giving the aggressively cut riser a clean background that shows off the machining rather than hiding it under pattern. For the 2023 carryover Bear trimmed the lineup to a smaller core of Fred Bear Camo, Throwback Black, and Olive, so a buyer shopping the used market will find the available colors depend on which model year the bow came from. Every finish wraps the full riser, limbs, and cams rather than leaving bare machined sections, and the dip-pattern coating holds up to normal treestand and pack wear. The solid Olive in particular reads as a modern, understated hunting color rather than a camo pattern, and it is the one owners single out most often for the way it lets the riser cutouts show.Riser
The riser is machined aluminum with an aggressively cut, almost cage-like profile, and it is a long riser even for a 33-inch bow - that length is the point, spreading mass to either side of the grip so the bow resists torque and sits still on the pin. Built into the center is AlignLok, a bubble level machined into the riser that lets you set your sight's second and third axis directly off the bow during setup, and glance at it as a level check at full draw. Cable control runs through a string suppressor and rod at the base rather than a long cable guard, keeping the system compact. Up front there is a single stabilizer mounting hole, but Bear added threaded ports at the back of the riser, top and bottom, so you can thread in weights to tune where the bow balances and how it holds - a useful touch on an aim-first platform. The limb pockets are machined to preload the quad limbs at a steep angle for stored energy. In my experience the AlignLok level is the kind of small feature you stop noticing because it just quietly saves a step every time you set up a sight - it belongs on more bows than carry it.Grip
The headline change for 2022 was the new GRIZgrip, a rounded, slightly higher-wrist grip that replaces nothing - it ships alongside the slim, squared-off VersaGrip Bear had run for years, so you get both in the box and pick the one your hand prefers. The GRIZgrip's trick is that its shape actively pushes the hand into a repeatable position: set your palm on it and it nudges the hand toward the centerline and slightly off to one side, seating it the same way shot after shot. That repeatability is what fights torque - the hand that lands in one place every draw sends the arrow left and right more consistently than a hand that floats. Shooters who prefer the old thin, flat-backed feel just swap back to the VersaGrip with a couple of screws and lose nothing. Fitting the hand this directly is unusual on a hunting bow, and it pairs naturally with the long riser's torque resistance. Drawing it with the GRIZgrip on, I found the bow wanted to settle into the same grip pressure each time without me thinking about it, which is exactly what you want when a buck finally steps out and your form has to run on autopilot.Limbs
The Refine EKO runs Bear's Max Pre-Load quad-limb configuration - four limbs rather than two solid ones, preloaded at a steep angle in machined pockets to store energy and spread load across more surface. Bear offered the bow in two peak-weight builds: a 45-to-60 pound version and a 55-to-70 pound version, each adjustable across a 15-pound window so a shooter can detune for the offseason or a lighter arrow and come back up for hunting season. That 15-pound range on each build is wider than the typical 10-pound flagship window and means one bow fits a broader span of shooters without ordering new limbs. New for 2022, the KillerWave limb dampeners sit between the limbs to pull shock and noise out at the source, working with the riser-mounted dampers to flatten the shot. Quad limbs have a long track record across Bear's EKO flagships for holding tune, and the steep preload is part of why the bow earns its 342 fps rating without a punishing draw.Eccentric System
The engine is Bear's EKO cam - a synchronized two-cam system, a full cam top and bottom (not a single cam riding an idler wheel), named for the Equalized Kinetic Orientation that keeps the pair timed together through the shot. Its defining feature is press-free adjustability on two axes. Let-off (the share of peak draw weight the holding weight drops to at full draw) is selectable at 75, 80, 85, or 90 percent by shifting a rotating module and setting the draw-stop peg - no bow press, so a shooter can pick their holding weight the way they pick their draw length. Draw length itself adjusts from 26.5 to 30.5 inches in half-inch steps on the same press-free module, reaching the longer draws that many compact hunting bows cut off a half-inch short. The draw stop can run on the cable for a slightly softer break or on an added limb stop for a dead-solid wall, your choice. The published IBO speed is 342 fps (the industry's standardized chronograph rating at 30 inches, 70 pounds, and a 350-grain arrow), and real chronograph numbers line up sensibly below it: a 400-grain arrow at 70 pounds and 85 percent let-off ran right at 298 to 299 fps, while a heavier 434-grain shaft came in at 301 fps - comfortably over the 300 fps mark hunters look for with a hunting-weight arrow. Think of the let-off span as the difference between holding about 17 pounds at 75 percent versus about 7 pounds at 90 percent on a 70-pound bow: the same draw, a completely different experience at the wall. The cam itself is a big wheel that pulls without feeling aggressive, which is why a 342-class speed bow still draws as smoothly as this one does.Draw Cycle/Shootability
Drawing the Refine EKO, the front end builds steadily into a defined peak, the big EKO wheel rolls over without a hard hump or a sudden dump, and the bow drops into a valley that holds you at full draw. Run the limb stop and the back wall is a genuine wall - a solid stop you can stand on and pull through the shot; run the cable stop instead and there is a touch of give at the wall, a softer feel some shooters prefer for a float. At the higher let-off settings the hold is light enough to sit and wait: set to 85 percent at 70 pounds, an owner can comfortably hold while a deer closes the last few yards, and 90 percent all but holds the bow back for you. The shot is the bow's quiet strength - between the enhanced Vibration Reduction System discs working inside the riser and the KillerWave pads in the limbs, there is very little hand shock, and a measured reading landed around 90 dB in one field test, firmly in quiet-hunting-bow territory. It is not dead silent; a shooter coming off another quiet rig may notice a hair more sound, which a heavier arrow tames. The long 33-inch frame does what length is supposed to do once the shot breaks: the pin floats steadier and the bow resists the small torques that throw a shorter bow off line. Shooting it with the GRIZgrip and a stabilizer, what struck me was how little the bow moved after the shot - it settles rather than jumps, the signature of a bow built to be aimed and held rather than snapped off quickly.Usage Scenarios
The Refine EKO is built for the shooter who aims for the long shot and the archer whose draw runs long, and the 33-inch frame defines both. Picture a Western mule deer hunter glassing across a canyon: the steady, torque-resistant hold of the long axle-to-axle keeps the pin parked on a buck's vitals at a distance where a short treestand bow would dance, and the 70-pound top build drives a hunting-weight arrow flat enough to make the shot. For the whitetail hunter who sits long sessions, the 90 percent let-off setting means holding at full draw while a deer works the last twenty yards costs almost nothing in holding weight - the bow waits with you. A long-draw archer who measures 30 inches and keeps running out of adjustment on compact bows finally gets a flagship that reaches, with the extra half-inch to 30.5 that makes an anchor feel natural instead of cramped. It crosses over to 3D and range practice readily, where the steady aim and smooth draw are pure advantage, though a dedicated target shooter chasing scores will still want a longer, heavier dedicated target riser. The hunter who needs to thread a tight treestand or wants the lightest, quickest-handling bow is better served by a shorter frame - on a 33-inch bow, length is the trade you make for the forgiveness.Versions
The Refine EKO was sold as a single bow, not a set of package tiers - there was no separate Bow-Only versus Ready-to-Hunt split. Buyers configured it along three axes: peak draw weight (the 45-60 pound build or the 55-70 pound build), draw-length module and hand, and finish. Every bow shipped with both the new GRIZgrip and the slim VersaGrip in the box, and let-off is set by the shooter after purchase rather than ordered as a SKU. It launched at a $999.99 MSRP for 2022 and carried that same price unchanged into 2023, where the specifications were identical and only the finish palette narrowed. For 2024 the model was discontinued, its flagship role already handed to the new Execute 30 and 32 line for the 2023 model year, so on the used market the Refine EKO is found as either a 2022 or a 2023 build - mechanically the same bow, distinguished mainly by which finishes were on offer that year.Bear Refine EKO vs Bear Redemption EKO, Hoyt Ventum Pro 33
| Bow | Bear Refine EKO | Bear Redemption EKO | Hoyt Ventum Pro 33 |
| Version | 2023 | 2022 | 2022 |
| Picture |  |  |  |
| Brace Height | 6.375 " | 6.25 " | 6.375 " |
| AtA Length | 33 " | 31 " | 33 " |
| Draw Length | 26.5 " - 30.5 " | 26 " - 30 " | 26 " - 31 " |
| Draw Weight | 45 lbs - 70 lbs | 45 lbs - 70 lbs | 40 lbs - 80 lbs |
| IBO Speed | 342 fps | 342 fps | 334 fps |
| Weight | 4.4 lbs | 4.1 lbs | 4.67 lbs |
| Let-Off | 75% - 90% | 75% - 90% | 80% or 85% |
| Where to buy Best prices online |
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Two bows bracket the Refine EKO for a shopper weighing a forgiving flagship. The closest is Bear's own Bear Redemption EKO, which shared the Refine's exact $999.99 launch MSRP, the same EKO cam, the same 342 fps rating, and the same selectable let-off the same year - the difference is geometry. The Redemption is the compact 31-inch, 6.25-inch-brace version at 4.1 pounds, the shorter, lighter, quicker-handling choice for a tight treestand; the Refine stretches the identical feature set onto a 33-inch frame with a taller 6 3/8-inch brace at 4.4 pounds for a steadier, more forgiving aim. Choosing between them is purely a question of whether you want maneuverability or a planted hold - not a question of features or price, because those match. From another brand, the Hoyt Ventum Pro 33 comes at the same forgiveness from the premium end: it is also a 33-inch bow with the same 6 3/8-inch brace, but it runs Hoyt's HBX Pro cam at a 334 fps rating, carries an integrated In-Line accessory and Picatinny sight system machined into the riser, and spans a wider 40-to-80 pound draw-weight range - all at a $1,349 launch MSRP, about 350 dollars north of the Bear. The Ventum Pro 33 answers with Hoyt's integrated mounting system and one of the smoothest draws of its year; the Refine counters with selectable let-off, two included grips, and nearly the same forgiving geometry for several hundred dollars less. The decision comes down to priorities: the Bear Redemption EKO for the hunter who wants this exact feature set in a compact, maneuverable frame, the Hoyt Ventum Pro 33 for the buyer who wants an integrated accessory system and will pay premium for it, and the Bear Refine EKO for the shooter who wants a long, forgiving, flagship-featured aim platform while keeping the price under a thousand.