Hoyt Eclipse Review
from $94.99
Pros
- A true premier bow, not a detuned youth model - machined TEC aluminum riser, zero-tolerance machined limb pockets, and the same Limb Shox damping Hoyt puts on its flagships
- Genuinely light at 3.7 pounds, so it stays easy to hold steady at full draw through a long treestand or ground-blind sit
- The Eclipse Cam draws smooth and rolls over to a solid back wall - the speed never turns it into a stiff, snappy pull
- Narrowed Xact grip wraps cleanly in smaller hands and the bow balances and shoots accurately right out of a basic setup
- Quiet, low-vibration shot from the Shock Pods, Limb Shox, and StealthShot string stop working together
Cons
- Tops out at a 28-inch draw and 60-pound peak by design - a longer-draw or heavy-kinetic-energy hunter falls outside its window and should look to a full-size Hoyt like the Ventum
- Some owners have noted Hoyt routed the cables over a slide rather than a roller guard - it works fine in practice, but flagship shooters used to a roller may want to handle one first
Video
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Editors' review
Most "women's bows" are a full-size hunting bow shrunk down and quietly cheapened - a cast riser here, a plastic limb pocket there, a budget cam bolted on. The Hoyt Eclipse is the opposite, and that is the whole story. Built specifically for the short-draw and smaller-framed hunter, it carries the same machined TEC aluminum riser, the same zero-tolerance machined limb pockets, and the same Limb Shox and Shock Pod damping found on Hoyt's premier hunters - then drops to a mere 3.7 pounds, making it one of the lightest premier bows Hoyt has built. The engine is a purpose-designed Eclipse Cam, not a shrunken flagship cam, tuned at each draw length for efficiency and a smooth pull. At 60 pounds and 28 inches it is rated 314 fps, which is genuinely fast for a bow built around short draws and lighter weights. This is the bow for the woman or smaller-framed hunter who wants a real premier rig she can hold all afternoon and trust on game - not a starter bow she will outgrow. Carried over unchanged from its 2021 debut through 2024, it stayed in Hoyt's lineup as the short-draw hunter's premier option for four seasons.
Finish
Hoyt offered the Eclipse across its full 2021 hunting palette, leaning toward clean solids for buyers who do not want camo while still covering the patterns a Western or timber hunter favors. Black Out is the most timeless pick for a shooter who plans to add her own accessories and wants the riser to disappear behind them, and Storm - a blue-grey solid - gives a sharper, non-camo look that owners single out as standing out against black hardware. The camo side runs the familiar systems: Realtree Edge, Gore Optifade Subalpine and Elevated II, Kuiu Verde 2.0, Under Armour Forest, First Lite Cerca, and Mossy Oak Bottomland, alongside the Wilderness and Buckskin solids. That breadth means the smaller-framed hunter is not boxed into a token color or two the way she often is on dedicated women's models. Coverage on Hoyt's risers and limbs is the same finish work the brand applies across its premier line, so the Eclipse arrives looking like the high-end bow it is rather than a discounted offshoot.Riser
The Eclipse is built on a Hoyt TEC riser - machined aluminum, not a casting, made thinner and lighter to carry easy in the hand and shave overall mass without giving up the rigidity that keeps the bow accurate. This is the single decision that separates the Eclipse from most small-frame bows: where the category usually substitutes a cast riser or a stamped pocket, Hoyt machined the riser and built it around a zero-tolerance pocket design, so the platform tunes tight and holds tune like a flagship. The geometry is scaled down for shorter-statured shooters, yet the bow stays well balanced - set up with nothing more than a basic rest and a level nock, it settles and shoots straight rather than darting around the target. Up top, the Eclipse Cam runs a standard yoke tuned by cable twist - the same yoke-tuning approach Hoyt uses across its hunting line - which keeps the top cam easy to fine-tune. The riser also carries Hoyt's In-Line accessory approach: a Picatinny rail (the same mounting standard used on AR-platform firearms) for the sight, a QAD UltraRest Integrate MX dovetail that docks the rest tight and torsion-free to the riser, and an integrated SL Sidebar mount for a stabilizer - all of it pulling accessory mass in-line for cleaner balance.Grip
The Eclipse uses Hoyt's Xact grip, narrowed front to back specifically so a smaller hand can wrap completely around the riser and settle into a confident, repeatable hold. That narrowing matters more than it sounds: a grip sized for an average-to-large hand forces a smaller-handed shooter to torque the bow just to hang on, and torque on a light 3.7-pound rig shows up downrange. Settling a smaller hand into that slimmed profile, I find it seats in the same low-torque position shot after shot, and owners describe the contour as setting the fingers naturally so the hand does not wander between shots. It is a direct-to-riser grip with no left-right windage adjustment, which for a hunting bow is the cleaner, more consistent choice - fewer moving parts, one repeatable hand position. The result is a bow that a shorter-statured hunter can actually grip the way the engineers intended, instead of adapting around hardware built for someone larger.Limbs
The Eclipse runs Hoyt's split limbs seated in zero-tolerance machined limb pockets - a tight, high-tolerance interface, not the molded pocket that usually shows up on small-frame bows. That tight pocket-to-limb fit is a big part of why the Eclipse tunes predictably and stays in tune across seasons, and it is the clearest single sign that Hoyt did not cut corners to hit a women's-bow price. Draw weight is offered in four peak brackets - 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, and 50-60 pounds - so a brand-new shooter or a youth can start at 20 pounds and grow into heavier weight, while a hunter sits comfortably at 45 or 50 pounds with energy to spare for whitetail and similar game. The 60-pound ceiling is a deliberate boundary rather than a limitation: this platform is built around lighter draw weights, and a hunter who needs to drive maximum kinetic energy at long range is simply outside its intended audience. Each peak bracket is a module choice the buyer makes up front, and the limb-and-pocket system carries Hoyt's limited lifetime warranty to the original owner.Eccentric System
The heart of the Eclipse is its namesake Eclipse Cam - also called the EC Cam - and Hoyt designed it specifically for this bow rather than shrinking down a larger flagship cam to fit. It comes in two sizes: the EC #1 covers 23.5 to 25.5 inches of draw, the EC #2 covers 26 to 28 inches, and within each the draw length is set by a bolt-on, draw-length-specific module matched to its draw-stop position - not a rotating module, but a swap that keeps each length tuned for its own efficiency and speed. That per-length optimization is why the bow earns a 314 fps rating at 60 pounds and 28 inches (the ATA rating, taken at the bow's real ceiling rather than the 70-pound, 30-inch setup IBO uses) - Hoyt rates the Eclipse roughly 10 to 15 fps faster than a comparably equipped bow, quick for a short-draw platform. Real chronograph numbers at a representative short-draw setup tell the practical story: at 50 pounds and a 24.5-inch draw, a light 350-grain arrow ran 270 fps, a 385-grain shaft 258 fps, a 410-grain 240 fps, and a heavy 435-grain 235 fps - meaning a common 385-to-410-grain hunting arrow leaves in the 240s, plenty of momentum for an ethical whitetail or hog shot inside normal bow range. Let-off is 80 percent (the share of peak weight your holding weight drops to at full draw), so a hunter holding a 50-pound Eclipse is carrying only about 10 pounds at full draw - easy to settle and hold while a deer takes its time stepping into the lane. The back wall the system delivers is solid and defined, and despite the speed, working through the draw myself I never felt it harden into the stiff, radical pull fast cams often demand.Draw Cycle/Shootability
The thing experienced shooters notice first is what they expected and did not get: a fast short-draw bow that should pull stiff, and does not. Drawing it at a short length and a moderate weight, what surprised me is how cleanly the Eclipse Cam loads, rolls over the peak without a harsh hump, and settles onto a solid, repeatable back wall - a wall, not a slope - so anchoring feels firm and consistent. Hold weight is light thanks to the 80 percent let-off, and at 3.7 pounds the bow is genuinely easy to keep steady at full draw, which is exactly what a hunter wants on a long, cold sit when the shot finally develops; one owner who moved over from a slightly heavier carbon bow noted that even that small weight difference shows up when you hold out at full draw for a long stretch. Post-shot, the Shock Pods on the riser, the Limb Shox in the pockets, and the StealthShot string stop combine to keep the shot quiet and low in vibration, with the bow staying calm in the hand rather than buzzing. What stays with me is the balance - for a small-frame bow it settles and holds on target rather than feeling whippy, and it shoots accurately straight out of a basic setup, to the point that one shop owner stacked arrows and Robin-Hooded a shaft the first time she shot it. Drawn at a short length and a moderate weight, it still drives a hunting arrow with authority, and it is the kind of bow you can shoot comfortably all afternoon without your bow arm wearing out.Usage Scenarios
The Eclipse is built for the short-draw and smaller-framed hunter who wants a real premier bow, and its light, compact 29-inch frame is the through-line. Picture a woman hunter at a 24-inch draw pulling 45 pounds: she settles into a treestand before first light, holds the 3.7-pound bow steady through a long, cold wait, and when a whitetail finally steps into the lane the 80 percent let-off means she is holding only a handful of pounds while she waits for the shot to clear - then a 400-grain arrow leaves in the 240s and drives clean through the vitals at 20 yards. The short axle-to-axle threads tight treestand and ground-blind windows that a longer flagship fights, and the quiet, low-shock shot keeps a close deer from jumping the string. The wide 20-to-60-pound draw-weight span and 23.5-to-28-inch draw range let one bow grow with a shooter - a brand-new archer or a youth can start at 20 pounds and a short module, then step up in both as strength and confidence build, without buying a second bow. It also makes an excellent short-draw 3D or backyard target rig, where the smooth draw and accurate balance reward practice. The honest boundary is the top end: a hunter who needs more than 28 inches of draw, or who wants to push maximum kinetic energy at 60-plus pounds for elk at distance, is outside what this platform was designed to do and should step up to a full-size Hoyt.Versions
The Hoyt Eclipse was sold as a single bow configuration with no package or RTH-kit SKUs, and it was a true four-year carryover: it debuted in 2021 at roughly $1,099 and was carried over unchanged through 2022, 2023, and 2024 - identical riser, Eclipse Cam, limbs, and 314 fps / 29-inch / 6.75-inch-brace / 3.7-pound spec every season - before being discontinued after 2024 and dropped from the 2026 lineup. Because the specs never changed, the buyer's real choices are made within the bow rather than by model year. The first is cam size: the EC #1 cam for a 23.5-to-25.5-inch draw, or the EC #2 cam for a 26-to-28-inch draw. The second is the draw-weight module - 20-30, 30-40, 40-50, or 50-60 pounds - chosen to match the shooter's strength now with room to grow. Finish and hand round out the order. A buyer shopping the used market should focus on cam size and module fit for the shooter rather than the year stamped on the bow, since a 2021 and a 2024 Eclipse are the same bow.Hoyt Eclipse vs Mathews Prima, Bear Legit
| Bow | Hoyt Eclipse | Mathews Prima | Bear Legit |
| Version | 2024 | 2024 | 2024 |
| Picture |  |  |  |
| Brace Height | 6.75 " | 5.5 " | 6 " |
| AtA Length | 29 " | 30 " | 30 " |
| Draw Length | 23.5 " - 28 " | 21.5 " - 27.5 " | 14 " - 30 " |
| Draw Weight | 20 lbs - 60 lbs | 30 lbs - 60 lbs | 10 lbs - 70 lbs |
| IBO Speed | 314 fps | 321 fps | 315 fps |
| Weight | 3.7 lbs | 3.93 lbs | 3.8 lbs |
| Let-Off | 80% | 80% | 75% |
| Where to buy Best prices online | |||
| compare more bows | |||
An Eclipse buyer is almost always cross-shopping the same short-draw, smaller-framed landscape, and two bows come up most. The Mathews Prima is the direct premium rival - Mathews' 2021 women's flagship at the same $1,099 tier, a 30-inch, 5.5-inch-brace, 321 fps bow at 3.93 pounds with the same 80 percent let-off, a 21.5-to-27.5-inch draw range that reaches a hair shorter than the Eclipse, and Mathews' Crosscentric cam, Centerguard cable containment, and Nano 740 damping. The Bear Legit plays the value-and-adjustability card: a $449.99 ready-to-hunt package with a 14-to-30-inch draw range and a 10-to-70-pound weight span on a twin-cam rotating module, 315 fps, 6-inch brace, and 3.8 pounds, built so one bow grows with a shooter from a child to an adult hunter. Against the Bear Legit, the Eclipse's case is build and refinement - a machined-aluminum premier chassis, flagship-grade pockets, and a purpose-built cam versus a value bow with an enormous adjustment range and a full accessory kit in the box. Against the Mathews Prima, the choice is closer and comes down to feel: the Prima counters with Mathews' renowned silence and a deeper-reaching short draw, while the Eclipse answers with a higher brace height for a touch more forgiveness and Hoyt's machined-pocket tuning. The decision comes down to priorities: the Hoyt Eclipse for the short-draw hunter who wants a light, premier Hoyt with flagship-grade build, the Mathews Prima for the buyer who prizes Mathews quiet and an even shorter draw at the same price, and the Bear Legit for the shooter who wants the widest grow-with-you range and a complete ready-to-hunt kit for a third of the cost.