Athens Vista 31 Compound Bow

The Athens Vista 31 launched in 2022 at $1,099 for a solid-black build, rising to $1,149 across the camo patterns - direct-shop pricing for a hand-built, deeply adjustable compact hunter. What the money buys is a 31-inch bow that draws far smoother than its length suggests, holds on a firm cable-stop wall, and finishes quiet and dead in the hand through past-parallel limbs and standard X-Out dampeners before a single accessory goes on. On a chronograph it is honest rather than headline-fast - mid-field speed at a hunting setup, with lighter arrows recovering ground - and that trade is the whole point: Athens tuned this cam for a calm, repeatable draw over a speed number. Drawing and shooting it, what stays with me is that calm, the way a bow this short refuses to snap over into the valley or buzz the hand at the shot. Add the 40-to-80-pound span, the two-module 24.5-to-30.5-inch draw range, the independent riser-and-limb color ordering, and Athens' transferable lifetime warranty, and the small-shop ownership case is strong. This is an excellent bow for the short-to-mid-draw whitetail and mule deer hunter who wants a compact, quiet, genuinely adjustable rig built to order, particularly strong from a tight treestand where its length and balance pay off. Buyers who want the widest adjustability at the lowest price should look at the Bowtech Amplify, and those wanting the broadest let-off latitude through a major dealer network should also look at the Bear Divergent EKO... read full review