Athens Judgement Review

Editors' review

Athens called it a target bow and filed it under "Target-Bows," but the owners who lived with the Judgement gave it a better name: the "all-in-one." That is the core of this bow. It is a 36-inch axle-to-axle (ATA, the tip-to-tip cam distance) forgiving target platform that still carries 40-to-70-pound draw weights and full camo finishes, so the same riser that groups arrows at a 3D club night is ready for an October treestand. From Athens' early-2010s lineup, it pairs the EV2x Extreme Velocity Duo two-cam system with a 340 fps IBO rating (the industry-standard speed at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup) - quick for a bow this forgiving. What kept owners talking was not the number but the feel: a draw they called silky and effortless and a hold that behaves like a longer-brace bow. This is a review of a discontinued bow that still turns up on the used market, and it is worth understanding why the people who bought one rarely let it go.

Finish

The standard Judgement shipped as a blacked-out build: a black anodized riser with carbon-fiber-pattern limbs, gray-and-black strings with gray serving, and neutral limb decals and medallions. That understated look was the base configuration at the lower of its two price points. Buyers who wanted concealment stepped up to the camo tier, which wrapped the whole bow - riser and limbs - in one of several patterns: Predator Brown Deception, Bonehead, Bonehead Web, Next Vista, or a Pink Next Vista aimed at shooters who wanted it. The neutral decals and medallions carried across finishes, keeping the presentation clean rather than busy. Fit and finish is the trait Athens' small shop is known for, and the Judgement shows it: even the blacked-out base bow reads as a deliberately finished piece, not a parts-bin assembly. For a bow that doubled as a target rig and a hunting bow, offering both a stealthy solid and full camo was the right call.

Riser

The Judgement is built on a machined aluminum riser with the deep cutouts and reflex geometry typical of a target-leaning platform, and it anchors the bow's forgiving character. At 36 inches axle-to-axle it is longer than most hunting-first bows of its era, and that length is deliberate: a longer riser and wider cam spacing steady the sight picture and reduce the influence of small hand and release errors. Athens hung its house hardware here - SS stabilizer and string-stop inserts machined into the riser, 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 hold still, then adds the draw-weight range and finishes that let it hunt. In my experience with long-riser crossovers like this, the payoff shows up on the follow-through - the bow wants to sit on the spot rather than jump off it. Athens kept the machining clean and purposeful, in keeping with the fit-and-finish reputation the brand trades on.

Grip

The grip is one of the details owners bring up unprompted. It is a CNC-machined contour grip that Athens marketed, with no false modesty, as "THE GRIP" - a slim, low-torque profile designed to index the hand the same way every draw. A narrow grip like this matters more on a forgiving target bow than on a short hunting bow, because repeatable hand placement is where a steady-holding platform earns its accuracy. Owners describe it as comfortable and consistent, the kind of grip that disappears once you settle in. Because it is a machined-aluminum contour rather than a bulky rubber wrap, it sheds torque well and rewards a relaxed hand. There is no thick pad to compress unevenly shot to shot, which is exactly what a spot or 3D shooter wants. It is a small part of the bow that does an outsized share of the forgiveness work.

Limbs

The Judgement uses split limbs seated in rear-pivot limb pockets, a design that lets the limb tips work through a longer, smoother arc and keeps the pocket-to-riser interface solid. Draw weight spans 40 to 70 pounds in 10-pound increments, so a buyer picks a limb-weight bracket at purchase and tunes within it. That range is the quiet reason the Judgement crosses over: 40 pounds is comfortable for indoor spots and 3D all day, while 70 pounds is real hunting weight for whitetail and larger game. The rear-pivot pockets and sealed cam bearings speak to a bow meant to hold tune through a season rather than drift. Peak-weight storage on a 36-inch platform is efficient enough to reach that 340 IBO number without an aggressive, punishing limb. Athens' split-limb, rear-pivot approach was shared across its early-2010s bows, a design the shop had refined rather than a first attempt.

Eccentric System

The heart of the Judgement is the EV2x Extreme Velocity Duo - a dual-cam (two-cam) system, one cam top and bottom, tuned for a blend of speed and a clean draw. The cam runs an adjustable let-off (the percentage the holding weight drops to at full draw) of 65 to 80 percent, so a shooter can dial a shorter, punchier 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. Draw stops give a solid, defined wall rather than a mushy transition, which is what a target shooter anchors against. On the chronograph the system is rated at 340 fps IBO, quick for a 36-inch forgiving platform; the real-world number will land lower at typical hunting arrow weights, as it does on any bow, but the point is that Athens did not sacrifice speed to buy the forgiveness. Draw length runs 25.5 to 30.5 inches in half-inch steps, covering short-draw target shooters through tall hunters. Sealed cam bearings keep grit out of the system and help the cams stay in time. Two round cams on a long riser is an old-school recipe, and here it produces exactly what owners praise: a smooth, controllable draw with a firm wall and no drama at the top. It is the kind of cam setup you tune once and trust.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the Judgement, the first thing that registers is how quietly the 6.5-inch brace announces itself - the bow holds like something an inch longer in the brace, and that impression is the single most repeated observation from the people who own one. The pull is even from the break to the wall, with no sharp hump to muscle through, which is why owners describe it as glass-smooth. The draw stops deliver a firm, repeatable back wall - a wall, not a slope - so the anchor is the same every shot. At the release I felt none of the buzz I expect from a target rig running this fast; the Anchor string stop and the machined-in inserts absorb it, and owners are unanimous that the bow sits dead in the hand with no hand shock. That combination - steady hold, firm wall, dead shot - is what turns a 36-inch bow into a bow you can hold on a spot and trust. It is forgiving in the way that flatters an average shooter into shooting better than they expected. The valley is comfortable at the higher let-off setting, giving a relaxed hold for slow, deliberate target work. There is nothing here to fight; the Judgement asks only that you execute the shot.

Usage Scenarios

Picture a 3D club night: a shooter walks the course with the Judgement at 50 pounds and 75-percent let-off, groups tight through the shadows and off-angle stakes, and never feels the bow work against a bad-footing shot. The same bow, re-tuned to 65 or 70 pounds, goes to a treestand in October ready for whitetail inside 40 yards, its camo finish already handling concealment. That dual life is the whole point. It suits the spot and 3D shooter who wants forgiveness without buying a dedicated 40-inch target rig they can never hunt with, and equally the hunter who shoots leagues in the off-season and refuses to own two bows. The 25.5-to-30.5-inch draw range covers short-draw shooters and tall archers alike, and the 40-to-70-pound span means one bow can grow with a shooter or move between family members across seasons. It is not a compact, brush-country stalking bow - at 36 inches it wants a little room - but for stand hunting, ground blinds with space, target lines, and 3D courses, it is genuinely at home. A shooter who values holding still over squeezing through thick timber will get along with it well.

Versions

The Judgement was sold as a single model in two finish-based price points at launch: the standard black riser with carbon-fiber-pattern limbs at $849, and any of the full camo patterns (Predator Brown Deception, Bonehead, Bonehead Web, Next Vista, Pink Next Vista) at $899. Mechanically the two are identical - the $50 step buys the camo dip, not different hardware, geometry, or speed. Draw-weight bracket (40 to 70 pounds, in 10-pound modules) and draw length (25.5 to 30.5 inches) were specified at order rather than sold as separate SKUs. There was no RTH package; this was a bare bow bought through an Athens dealer and set up to the shooter.

Athens Judgement vs Elite Judge, Bowtech Specialist

Bow	Athens Judgement	Elite Judge	Bowtech Specialist
Version	2015	2010	2014
Picture
Brace Height	6.5 "	6 "	7.5 "
AtA Length	36 "	34.875 "	37.5 "
Draw Length	25.5 " - 30.5 "	26 " - 30 "	26 " - 30.5 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	50 lbs - 90 lbs	50 lbs - 60 lbs
IBO Speed	340 fps	343 fps - 347 fps	330 fps
Weight	lbs	4.3 lbs	4.1 lbs
Let-Off	65-80%	80%	65%, 75%
Where to buy Best prices online	$299.99 Compare prices	Not available now. Please check later.	$340 to $900 Compare prices
	compare more bows

The Judgement lands between two well-known do-it-all and target platforms, and the comparison is really about where a buyer wants to sit on the speed-versus-forgiveness line. The Elite Judge is the closest spiritual match - a same-era crossover built to shoot targets and hunt, and even the name rhymes. The Elite Judge is faster and more aggressive, with a 343-to-347 fps IBO and a shorter 6-inch brace on a slightly more compact 34.875-inch frame, plus a broad 50-to-90-pound draw range for heavier hunting setups. The Judgement gives up a few feet per second to buy back forgiveness: a longer 36-inch riser and a 6.5-inch brace that, as owners note, holds like more. The Bowtech Specialist pulls the other direction - a dedicated target bow at 37.5 inches with a relaxed 7.5-inch brace and a 330 IBO, the most forgiving and the slowest of the three. Against the Bowtech Specialist, the Judgement is more compact and quicker while keeping most of that steady-holding character, which is why it hunts more comfortably than the longer Specialist. All three share the firm-wall, target-tuned DNA. The decision comes down to priorities: the Elite Judge for the shooter who wants the most speed and heaviest draw, the Bowtech Specialist for the shooter who wants maximum forgiveness on a pure target line, and the Athens Judgement for the shooter who wants the middle path - target forgiveness that still hunts, in a custom-shop package.

Summary

The Athens Judgement is a 36-inch, 340 fps IBO do-it-all target bow from Athens' early-2010s lineup, launched at $849 for the blacked-out standard and $899 for full camo. Its case rests on feel rather than a spec-sheet headline: a smooth, even draw, a hold that behaves like a longer-brace bow, a firm adjustable-let-off wall, and a dead-in-the-hand release that the Anchor string stop earns. What I keep coming back to is that "all-in-one" is not marketing here - the 40-to-70-pound range and camo finishes make the crossover real, and owners genuinely used it for both spots and hunting. Athens' small-shop fit and finish, the standout CNC grip, and sealed-bearing EV2x cams round out a bow that was built to be tuned once and trusted. 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. It is an excellent choice for the 3D and spot shooter who refuses to own a bow they can't hunt with, and it is particularly strong at holding steady on the spot. Buyers who want the most speed and heaviest draw should also look at the Elite Judge; those who want maximum forgiveness on a dedicated target line should look at the Bowtech Specialist.