AMS Hooligan v2 Review

Editors' review

AMS had a proven bowfishing bow in the original Hooligan, so the Hooligan V2 is not a reinvention - it is a sharpening. The chassis, the 24-to-50-pound range, the zero let-off, and the two-post WRAP cam that makes it a real 40-pound bow and a real 50-pound bow all carry straight over. What changes is aimed squarely at the way bowfishing actually goes wrong. New heavy-wall deep-V cams hold the string down in the valley when you take one of those wild, reaching, off-form shots, cutting the risk of a dry-fire and shrugging one off if it happens; a cable slide stop built into the stainless cable guard reins in over-drawing; and stainless barrel nuts move the adjustment threads out of the aluminum riser so years of draw-weight changes never chew it up. Launched in 2022 and still AMS's current bowfishing compound, the V2 is the refinement of a platform that already worked. For the bowfisher who liked the idea of the Hooligan but wanted the shot itself made more forgiving, this is the version to know.

Finish

The Hooligan V2 comes in two looks rather than the original's one. The standard finish is Kryptek Inferno - AMS's cryptic red camo dip over the machined riser and composite limbs, a stealthy pattern for working the shallows at night. Alongside it, AMS offers the Blaze Hooligan V2, a bright Blaze-orange finish for shooters who would rather have a bow they can spot instantly on a dark, cluttered deck. Both wear the same corrosion-minded build underneath, with stainless hardware carrying the load where water does its damage. As with any bowfishing rig the coating is there to seal and protect as much as to look good, and both finishes are dressed to take the abuse of a season on the water.

Riser

The V2's riser is machined 6061 T6 aluminum, powder-coated and dipped, and it keeps the original Hooligan's long 34 3/4-inch axle-to-axle length at the 50-pound post - the geometry that opens the string angle for finger shooting and keeps the pinch down. What is new lives in the hardware bolted into that riser. Stainless steel barrel nuts now carry the threads for the draw-weight adjustment, so the turning happens in steel rather than in the aluminum of the riser itself; over many field changes that keeps adjustments smooth and stops the riser threads from stripping loose and sloppy the way bare-aluminum threads eventually can. A window in the limb pocket lets you see how much bolt is engaged, so you can adjust confidently without ever backing a bolt out far enough to let the bow come apart. Every fastener that matters is stainless, because corrosion is the enemy on a bow that lives around water. It is the same purpose-built platform as before, with the wear points quietly upgraded.

Grip

The grip is a molded, textured section on the riser, shaped for the wet, slick-handed reality of bowfishing - it gives the palm something to hold when a boat is rocking and everything is soaked, where a smooth grip would slip. It sits at a neutral wrist angle built for fast, instinctive shooting rather than the precise, repeatable hand placement a target archer chases. AMS installs String Things finger savers on the string, so the drawing fingers keep a little protection through a full night of shooting - a small thing that matters when you are throwing shot after shot for hours.

Limbs

The V2 rides on proprietary composite limbs built to take the shock loads bowfishing dishes out, from misses into hard water to arrows that stop dead in a heavy fish. Peak weight spans 24 to 50 pounds, wide enough to cover a full-power adult on big fish and a lighter or younger shooter at the bottom of the range. Adjustment is a single-tool job with no bow press, and the limbs can be relaxed completely by turning the bolts down so the string goes slack for a post change or a string swap. The barrel-nut upgrade in the pockets is what keeps that repeated adjustment from wearing the bow out - the threads live in stainless, not aluminum, so the limbs keep seating tight through years of changes. It is a limb-and-pocket system engineered around the fact that a bowfishing bow gets adjusted far more often than a hunting bow ever will.

Eccentric System

The cams are where the V2 separates itself from the original Hooligan. It keeps the no-let-off dual cam and the WRAP cam's Rapid Adjustment Posts - a 40-pound post and a 50-pound post, with the string seated on one or the other so the bow makes full, efficient power at whichever weight you pick rather than bleeding power through backed-off limb bolts. Set on the 40 it is a true 40-pound bow; set on the 50 it is a true 50 - two bows in one, changed on the water with an Allen wrench and no press. What is genuinely new is the cam profile: a heavy-wall, deep-V design. The deep valley keeps the string seated low in the cam through frantic, off-form shots - the reaching, twisting, string-cocked-sideways shots that define the sport - which sharply reduces the chance of a dry-fire when your form goes out the window. And the walls of the cam are built thick enough that even an accidental dry-fire should do minimal or no damage, a meaningful safeguard on a no-let-off bow that gets fired fast and loose. There is no let-off by design, so the bow is live at any point in the draw for an instant shot. Bowfishing bows are not IBO-rated and never see a chronograph, because the shots are close and instinctive; what the cam is judged on here is whether it keeps the string where it belongs when everything else is chaos, and the deep-V does exactly that.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the V2 feels like the original Hooligan with the rough edges of the shot smoothed off. The long 34 3/4-inch riser keeps the string angle open so the fingers are not pinched, and the draw runs smooth and continuous with no let-off to catch - the bow stays live and ready to fire the instant you release, at whatever partial draw the shot allows. Where the V2 changes the experience is on the ugly shots. Reaching around a trolling motor, twisting to a fish that just flashed past, drawing with the string cocked off to one side - these are the moments a bowfishing bow can dry-fire, and the deep-V cams are built to keep the string seated through exactly that abuse. In my experience that is the difference that matters on the water: not how the bow feels on a clean, square draw, but how forgiving it is on the frantic, off-balance shot you had no business taking and made anyway. Owners running it hard through a night describe a bow that just keeps shooting, with finger savers taking the edge off shot after shot. There is no dB or chronograph culture here; the measure of shootability is how well the rig holds together on the fiftieth wild shot, and the V2 is built to.

Usage Scenarios

The Hooligan V2 is a dedicated bowfishing bow, at home on carp, buffalo, gar, and other rough fish, and it shines in the messiest conditions the sport serves up. Picture a spring night in the front of the boat, deck lights on the water, fish appearing and vanishing in the beam while you snap fast shots at odd angles with no time to set your form. Those wild, unsquared shots are the ones I most want a bow to forgive, and it is exactly where the deep-V cams earn their keep, keeping the string seated when the shot is anything but square. Seat the string on the 50-pound post for big or deep fish - the common carp holding down in the column, or a gator if you have the tag - and drop to the 40-pound post for smaller fish in the shallows or when a lighter shooter takes the bow. That two-in-one range makes it a natural boat bow to share, covering a full-power adult and a first-timer on the same night. It is not a hunting or target bow, and it is not trying to be; there is no sight and no release. As a rugged, forgiving, reel-and-line fishing instrument that takes the abuse and keeps firing, it is exactly what a modern bowfishing boat wants.

Versions

The Hooligan V2 is sold as a bare bow or a ready-to-shoot kit, in two finishes. The Bow Only carries a $449.99 launch MSRP in Kryptek Inferno camo, right or left hand. The Bow Kit steps up to $599.99 and turns it into a complete rig, adding a Speedy 610 TNT reel, a Tidal Wave arrow rest, a fiberglass arrow with a Chaos point and the EverGlide Safety Slide, and String Things finger savers installed. The Blaze Hooligan V2 offers the same bow in the bright Blaze-orange finish, sold bow-only or as its own kit built around an AMS Retriever Pro reel with 25 yards of 200-pound line, a Zip Arrow Rest, orange String Things, and a nock point. Arrows and extra line beyond a kit are sold separately, as always in bowfishing. Shooting behavior is identical across every version - the differences are the finish and what arrives in the box, not how the bow draws or fires.

AMS Hooligan V2 vs AMS Fire Eagle, PSE Mudd Dawg

Bow	AMS Hooligan v2	AMS Fire Eagle	PSE Mudd Dawg
Version	2026	2014	2025
Picture
Brace Height	7.5 "	7.75 "	6 "
AtA Length	34.75 "	35.5 "	32.25 "
Draw Length	22 " - 32 "	15 " - 30 "	0 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	24 lbs - 50 lbs	40 lbs - 50 lbs	30 lbs - 40 lbs
IBO Speed	fps	fps	fps
Weight	3.25 lbs	3.4 lbs	3.6 lbs
Let-Off	0%	20%
Where to buy Best prices online	$399.99 to $579.99 Compare prices	$199.99 Compare prices	$339.99 to $569.99 Compare prices
	compare more bows

The V2's most direct cousin is the original Hooligan, which shares its chassis and range and differs only in the cams and hardware - that comparison lives in the Versions section above, since the two are versions of one lineage rather than rivals. Looking further back in AMS's own line, the AMS Fire Eagle (2009-2013) is where the family started: a longer 35.5-inch riser, a 40-to-50-pound range, and an unusual slight let-off of around 20 percent, with perimeter-weighted cams that hit hard, now a used-market find. Against it the V2 offers a wider 24-to-50-pound range, true zero let-off, the RAP two-post system, and the dry-fire-resistant deep-V cams the Fire Eagle's era never had. Cross-brand, the PSE Mudd Dawg is the value benchmark: a snap-shooting fishing compound in a lower price tier, but on a shorter 32.25-inch chassis with a narrower 30-to-40-pound range, built for the first-rig or backup buyer. The V2's advantages are the forgiving deep-V cam, the two-in-one draw weight, and the corrosion-minded stainless hardware; where it asks more is price. The decision comes down to priorities: the AMS Fire Eagle for a smooth used-market bargain with a slight hold, the PSE Mudd Dawg for the lowest-cost way onto the water, and the Hooligan V2 for the shooter who wants the most forgiving, most adjustable current bowfishing rig AMS builds.

Summary

The AMS Hooligan V2 is the refinement of a bowfishing bow that already worked - a $449.99 launch-MSRP rig (or $599.99 as a ready-to-shoot kit) that keeps the original Hooligan's machined aluminum riser, 24-to-50-pound range, zero let-off, and two-post WRAP cam, then sharpens the shot itself. Heavy-wall deep-V cams hold the string in the valley on the frantic, off-form shots the sport is built around, cutting dry-fire risk and surviving one if it happens; a cable slide stop reins in over-drawing; and stainless barrel nuts keep years of field adjustments from ever stripping the riser. Its long 34 3/4-inch riser keeps finger pinch low, and everything still changes on the water with a single Allen wrench and no press. In my experience the deep-V cam is the upgrade you feel exactly when you need it - on the wild shot you had no business taking. Made in the USA and still AMS's current bowfishing compound, it fits everyone from a first-timer to a full-time fanatic on the same boat. An excellent choice for the bowfisher who wants the most forgiving, most adjustable rig in AMS's lineup; buyers hunting a smooth used-market bargain should look at the AMS Fire Eagle, and those after the lowest entry price should also look at the PSE Mudd Dawg.