Hoyt Ventum Pro 33 Compound Bow

The Hoyt Ventum Pro 33, launched at $1,349 for 2022, is the aim-first aluminum hunter - the long, forgiving member of the Ventum Pro platform for shooters who want a dead-steady hold without paying for carbon. Built on the same HBX Pro binary cam, In-Line accessory system, and VitalPoint grip as the carbon REDWRX Carbon RX-7 Ultra, it stretches the platform onto a 33-inch frame with a taller 6 3/8-inch brace, and gives up only carbon's warmth and a third of a pound for several hundred dollars of saving. Its draw cycle is the highlight: owners shooting Hoyt's whole 2022 range rank it with the RX-7 Ultra's class-best draw, building and rolling over with no hump, and the 334 fps IBO lands at a real 296 fps with a hunting arrow at 71 pounds - flat enough for the longer shots this bow is built to take. The long axle-to-axle holds the pin rock-steady, especially once a stabilizer bar is on it, and the VitalPoint grip is the rare factory grip owners keep, gripping even in heat and humidity. The honest trade-offs are small and fixable - a touch of back-wall softness and imperfect bare-bow balance that a stabilizer and 80% let-off resolve, and an aluminum riser that chills faster than carbon on a late sit. Set up with a stabilizer the way it is meant to be shot, it gave me the steady, unhurried hold that is the whole reason to reach for a long bow. An excellent bow for the long-draw archer and the open-country hunter who values a steady aim and a silky draw over the last few feet per second. Buyers who want more speed and lock-in tuning should also look at the Bowtech SR350, while those who prize maximum forgiveness and the longest draw range for less should consider the PSE EVO NXT 33... read full review