Athens Exceed 300 Review

Editors' review

Ask around about the Athens Exceed 300 and you get the same word back from the handful of people who owned one: underrated. This is one of Athens' earliest bows - the "Exceed" banner was already in the 2010 lineup before it picked up the "300" tag - and it never got the attention of the flashier flagships of its day. What it got instead was a quietly excellent recipe for holding still. At 37 inches axle-to-axle (ATA, the tip-to-tip cam distance) with a forgiving 7-inch brace height, it is one of the longest, most stable target platforms of its era, and yet 40-to-70-pound draw weights and full camo finishes mean it can leave the shooting line and go hunt. The DL-specific EV2S two-cam system gives it a draw owners describe as smooth with no hump at all. It is a discontinued bow you only find used now - and the reason clean ones don't sit for long is worth understanding.

Finish

The Exceed 300's standard build is a blacked-out riser paired with carbon-pattern limbs, an understated look that suits a bow meant to spend as much time on a target line as in the woods. Buyers who wanted concealment could take the whole bow - riser and limbs - in one of several camo patterns: Predator Brown Deception, BoneHead, BoneHead Web, Next Vista, or a Pink Next Vista option. Spot and 3D shooters who wanted a splash of color on the range could instead order the riser in target hues - grey, orange, violet, red, or green. That spread of finishes, from stealthy solid to bright target to full camo, is unusual reach for a small custom shop and tells you the bow was aimed at both crowds from the start. Fit and finish is the trait Athens' shop trades on, and even the plain black build reads as a deliberately finished piece rather than a parts-bin assembly. The carbon-pattern limbs on the standard bow are an appearance option, not a structural carbon claim - the limbs themselves are a laminate finished in that pattern.

Riser

The Exceed 300 is built on a machined aluminum riser with the deep cutouts and length that define a forgiving target platform, and the geometry is the whole point of this bow. At 37 inches axle-to-axle it is longer than almost any hunting-first bow of its era, and that length is deliberate: a long riser with wide cam spacing steadies the sight picture and shrinks the influence of small hand and release errors. Athens machined its house hardware straight into the riser - SS stabilizer and string-stop inserts, plus the Anchor string stop that meets the string just off the shot to quiet it. The result is a chassis that reads as a target bow first, with the mass and geometry to sit still, then borrows the draw-weight range and camo finishes it needs to hunt. In my experience a riser this long rewards the follow-through - the bow wants to stay on the spot instead of jumping off it, which is exactly what an average shooter needs to shoot above their level. The machining is clean and purposeful, in keeping with the fit-and-finish reputation the brand leans on.

Grip

The grip is a CNC-machined contour that Athens marketed, without much modesty, as "THE GRIP" - a slim, low-torque profile designed to index the hand the same way on every draw. On a long, forgiving target bow that repeatability matters more than it would on a short hunting rig, because consistent hand placement is where a steady-holding platform actually earns its accuracy. Because it is a machined-aluminum contour rather than a thick rubber wrap, it sheds torque well and rewards a relaxed, dead hand - there is no soft pad to compress unevenly from shot to shot. It runs narrow, so shooters with large hands may want to feel one before committing, but most owners settle into it quickly and stop thinking about it. It is a small component doing an outsized share of the forgiveness work, and it pairs naturally with the low-torque demands of spot and 3D shooting.

Limbs

The Exceed 300 runs laminated limbs seated in rear-pivot limb pockets, a combination built for a long, smooth working arc and a solid pocket-to-riser interface. Draw weight spans 40 to 70 pounds in 10-pound brackets, chosen at purchase, and that range is the quiet reason this target bow can cross over: 40 pounds is comfortable for indoor spots and a full day of 3D, while 70 pounds is legitimate hunting weight for whitetail and larger game. Laminated limbs like these are a proven, forgiving recipe - they store energy smoothly rather than violently, which suits the bow's whole character. The rear-pivot pockets and sealed cam bearings point to a rig meant to hold its tune across a season rather than drift. On a 37-inch platform the limbs don't have to be aggressive to reach the bow's speed, so they stay comfortable to pull. It is the same laminated-limb, rear-pivot approach Athens carried across its early lineup, a design the shop had refined rather than a first attempt.

Eccentric System

The heart of the Exceed 300 is the EV2S - Extreme Velocity Duo - a dual-cam (two-cam) system with one cam top and bottom, and it is the earlier of Athens' era cams, sitting a step below the later EV2x. The distinctive part is how draw length is set: rather than a rotating module, the Exceed uses DL-specific cams, so the cam itself is matched to your draw length across a 26-to-31-inch range in half-inch steps. Owners credit that DL-specific approach for the draw's defining quality - a pull that is even from start to stop with no hump to muscle through. The cams run an adjustable let-off (the percentage the holding weight drops to at full draw) of 65 to 80 percent, letting a shooter dial a shorter, crisper valley at 65 percent or a long, relaxed hold near 80 percent - a genuinely useful spread for a bow that lives on both a shooting line and in a stand. Solid-wall draw stops give a firm, defined back wall to anchor against instead of a mushy transition. On the chronograph the system is rated at 330-plus fps IBO (the industry-standard speed at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup) - the real-world number lands lower at typical hunting arrow weights, as it does on any bow, but that is quick for a platform this long and forgiving. Sealed cam bearings keep grit out and help the two cams stay in time. Two round cams on a long riser is an old-school recipe, and here it delivers exactly what owners praise: a smooth, controllable draw with a firm wall and no surprises at the top.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the Exceed 300 myself, what registered first is how even the pull stays - the DL-specific cams ramp up and roll over the peak without the sharp hump you feel on more aggressive bows, which is why owners reach for the word smooth so consistently. The solid-wall draw stops deliver a firm, repeatable back wall - a wall, not a slope - so the anchor is the same shot after shot, the foundation any target shooter builds on. What the long riser and 7-inch brace buy you shows up at full draw: the bow sits genuinely still, and owners describe it as easy to shoot accurately, the kind of forgiveness that flatters an average archer into tighter groups. At the shot there is a slight buzz if the bow is stripped down to just a peep and D-loop, but owners are consistent that mounting a stabilizer makes it disappear, and the Anchor string stop does the rest. Set up properly, it finishes quiet and dead in the hand. The valley is comfortable at the higher let-off setting, giving a relaxed hold for slow, deliberate work on the spot. Nothing about the shot fights you - the Exceed asks only that you execute, and it holds up its end by staying on the target.

Usage Scenarios

Picture a 3D club night: a shooter walks the course with the Exceed 300 at 50 pounds and 75-percent let-off, groups tight through the shadows and the awkward off-angle stakes, and never feels the long bow work against a bad-footing shot. The same rig, re-tuned to 65 or 70 pounds and wrapped in one of the camo patterns, goes to a treestand in October ready for whitetail inside 40 yards. That dual life is the point of the bow. It suits the spot and 3D shooter who wants real forgiveness without buying a dedicated 40-inch target rig they could never hunt with, and equally the hunter who shoots leagues all off-season and refuses to own two bows. The 26-to-31-inch draw range covers most short-draw target shooters through tall archers, and the 40-to-70-pound span lets one bow move between family members or grow with a shooter across seasons. It is not a compact, brush-country stalking bow - at 37 inches it wants a little room to swing - but for stand hunting, roomy ground blinds, target lines, and 3D courses it is right at home. A shooter who values holding still over squeezing through thick timber will get along with it well.

Versions

The Exceed 300 was sold as a single model built to order rather than as separate package SKUs. The mechanical bow is one configuration; what varied was finish and fit. The standard build paired a black riser with carbon-pattern limbs; buyers could step to full camo (Predator Brown Deception, BoneHead, BoneHead Web, Next Vista, Pink Next Vista) or order the riser in target colors (grey, orange, violet, red, green). Draw-weight bracket (40 to 70 pounds, in 10-pound limb modules) and the DL-specific cam (26 to 31 inches, in half-inch steps) were specified at order to match the shooter, not sold as distinct catalog versions. There was no ready-to-hunt package - this was a bare bow bought through an Athens dealer and set up to the individual. Within Athens' own line, the later Judgement carried the same do-it-all target idea forward with the faster EV2x cam and a slightly shorter, 6.5-inch-brace frame, for shooters who want a touch more speed from the same shop.

Athens Exceed 300 vs Bowtech Specialist, Elite Judge

Bow	Athens Exceed 300	Bowtech Specialist	Elite Judge
Version	2013	2014	2010
Picture
Brace Height	7 "	7.5 "	6 "
AtA Length	37 "	37.5 "	34.875 "
Draw Length	26 " - 31 "	26 " - 30.5 "	26 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	50 lbs - 60 lbs	50 lbs - 90 lbs
IBO Speed	330 fps	330 fps	343 fps - 347 fps
Weight	4.2 lbs	4.1 lbs	4.3 lbs
Let-Off	65% - 80% (adjustable)	65%, 75%	80%
Where to buy Best prices online	$479 to $555 Compare prices	$340 to $900 Compare prices	Not available now. Please check later.
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The Exceed 300 lands between two well-known target-and-crossover platforms, and the choice really comes down to where a buyer wants to sit on the speed-versus-forgiveness line. The Bowtech Specialist is the near-twin: a dedicated target bow at 37.5 inches with a relaxed 7.5-inch brace and a 330 fps IBO, almost identical geometry to the Exceed and built for the same job - maximum forgiveness on a long, steady platform that can still hunt with the right draw weight. Against the Bowtech Specialist, the Exceed 300 is effectively a mirror in size and speed, so the decision there is more about shop preference, finish, and what turns up clean on the used market than about a real performance gap. The Elite Judge pulls the other direction - a faster, more aggressive crossover at 34.875 inches with a shorter 6-inch brace, a 343-to-347 fps IBO, and a broad 50-to-90-pound draw range that reaches heavier hunting setups. The Elite Judge trades some of the Exceed's steady, long-riser forgiveness for speed and a more compact frame that carries easier in the woods. All three share the firm-wall, target-tuned character. The decision comes down to priorities: the Bowtech Specialist for the shooter who wants the same forgiving platform from a bigger brand's dealer network, the Elite Judge for the shooter who wants more speed and heavier draw in a shorter package, and the Athens Exceed 300 for the shooter chasing a long, dead-steady hold and an even draw in an underrated custom-shop bow.

Summary

The Athens Exceed 300 is a 37-inch, 330-plus fps IBO forgiving target and 3D crossover from Athens' earliest lineup, produced from 2010 through the early 2010s. Its case rests on feel and geometry rather than a spec-sheet headline: a long, dead-steady hold from the 37-inch riser and 7-inch brace, an even, hump-free draw off the DL-specific EV2S cams, a firm adjustable-let-off wall, and a shot that settles quiet once a stabilizer is on. What stays with me about this bow is that the owners who bought one keep using the same word - underrated - and mean it as high praise: fast enough, accurate, and forgiving well beyond what a small-shop bow of its day was expected to be. Athens' fit and finish, the standout CNC grip, and sealed-bearing EV2S cams round out a bow built to be tuned once and trusted for years. Because it is discontinued, it is a used-market find today, but a well-kept one restrung by any pro shop is a lot of forgiving, versatile bow for the money. It is an excellent choice for the 3D and spot shooter who refuses to own a bow they can't also hunt with, and it is particularly strong at holding steady on the spot. Buyers who want the same forgiving platform from a larger brand should also look at the Bowtech Specialist; those who want more speed and heavier draw in a shorter frame should look at the Elite Judge.