Bear Assault Review

Editors' review

Bear built the 2010 Assault as the maneuverable half of a two-bow question: the flagship Attack chased 340 fps on a longer frame, and the Assault took the same E-Cam and Max Pre-Load limbs and packed them into a shorter, lighter, hunt-anywhere chassis. What comes out the other side is one of the better value propositions of its era - a 328 fps IBO single-cam (IBO speed is the industry-standard chronograph rating at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup) that ships as a complete Ready-to-Hunt rig for around $549 at launch. It is quiet, it is genuinely light at 3.9 pounds, and it adjusts from 26 to 31 inches of draw without a trip to the shop. More than a decade on, it still turns up used as a first serious hunting bow, and it holds up because the fundamentals - a clean draw, a dead-in-hand shot, and a kit that leaves nothing else to buy - were right the first time.

Finish

The Assault was offered in a single finish: Realtree APG HD, the open, high-contrast pattern Bear leaned on across its 2010 hunting line. There is no color menu here the way modern Bear bows offer four or five options - this is a one-camo model, and buyers cross-shopping today's multi-finish lineups should know the Assault predates that flexibility. The dip coating is a full-coverage job over the riser, limbs and cams, and it wears the way period Bear camo wears: fine under normal handling, with some owners noting the surface can scuff on hard contact over several seasons. For a hunting bow that will spend its life against tree bark and pack straps, the pattern does its job in eastern hardwoods and mixed cover, and a worn spot is cosmetic rather than functional.

Riser

The Assault rides on a machined aluminum riser cut for a short, quick-handling profile, and the geometry is where it separates from the longer Attack - the whole point of the model was maneuverability in tight quarters. Bear seated the limbs in zero-tolerance limb pockets, a machined pocket that locks limb position for repeatable tune, and hung the Dual Arc Offset String Suppressors off the riser to intercept string oscillation after the shot. The reflex geometry and 7.25-inch brace height put the Assault in a moderate-forgiveness window - not the long, mistake-eating brace of a target bow, but roomy enough that a hunter with a repeatable anchor keeps it honest. The riser carries standard threaded accessory holes, so the RTH rest and any aftermarket upgrade thread on without adapters. It is a straightforward, well-braced platform whose main job is to stay quiet and hold zero, and it does both.

Grip

The grip is the first thing you notice drawing the Assault - it is genuinely thin, close to the width of a thumb, a narrow synthetic profile rather than the fatter grips common on budget bows of the era. In my experience a grip this slim helps the hand find the same spot every time and gives torque less leverage to creep in, which matters more on a hunting bow gripped with a cold or gloved hand than any spec on the sheet. Shooters with large hands or those who prefer to fill the palm may find it lean and will want to shoot one before deciding, but for most hunters the low-torque, repeatable placement is a quiet advantage. The synthetic material stays warmer than bare aluminum in late-season cold, and it takes an aftermarket grip if a buyer wants more shelf. It is a small detail that shapes how consistently the bow points.

Limbs

The Assault uses Bear's Max Pre-Load Quad Limbs - a preloaded, split-limb design that stores energy without stacking hard at the top of the draw, which is a large part of why the draw feels as smooth as it does. Draw weight comes in two module ranges, a 50-to-60 and a 60-to-70, each adjustable roughly ten pounds down from peak, so a single bow covers most adult hunters from a comfortable 50 up to a full 70. Adjustment is done at the limb bolts with a hex key rather than a press, and it moves in predictable increments - but the preloaded geometry means the two limbs must stay even, and running one bolt well ahead of the other is the one mistake to avoid on this platform. That is worth knowing for a buyer setting the bow up at home: back both bolts the same number of turns, check timing, and the limbs reward the care with a stable, long-lived tune. The zero-tolerance pockets keep everything located while you work.

Eccentric System

The heart of the Assault is Bear's E-Cam, a single cam - the "E" is for efficiency - that spins on sealed ball bearings over an asymmetric power track to cut friction through the draw. Single-cam simplicity is the practical selling point: there is no twin-cam timing to chase, tuning is forgiving, and the string and cables stay put thanks to Bear's Contra-Band HP construction, which resists stretch and peep rotation. The published number is 328 fps IBO, and like every bow that figure is the lab ceiling - real arrows at real hunting weights land meaningfully below it, which owners have flagged and which is simply the honest gap between the IBO setup and a broadhead-tipped hunting arrow. Where the E-Cam earns its keep is draw-length adjustment: the cam takes numbered modules, six for a 26-inch draw, seven for 27, eight for 28 and up, and swapping one is two set screws and a hex key with no press required for the one-inch steps. In my experience that turns a job most shooters send to a pro shop into a five-minute task at the kitchen table, which is exactly what a first-bow buyer or a bow-sharing household wants. The 80-percent let-off (the percentage of peak weight the holding weight drops to at full draw) holds a 70-pound bow at roughly 14 pounds, light enough to wait out a deer at full draw. It is not the fastest cam of its year, but it is one of the easiest to live with.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the Assault, the thing that stands out is how little it asks of the wrist at the shot. The front end of the draw ramps without a sharp hump, the preloaded limbs keep it from stacking as you approach the wall, and the cam rolls into a defined valley that holds an arrow at full draw without wanting to creep forward. The back wall is the one place opinions split - it is present but has a little give rather than the concrete stop a firm limb-stop bow gives you, which some owners read as spongy and others simply get used to; a shooter who wants a hard wall should draw one first. At the shot the Assault is quiet and low in vibration, settling dead in the hand - quiet enough, in the field, that it does not send nearby game bolting before the arrow arrives. The dual offset suppressors and the Contra-Band strings do real work here, and paired with the 3.9-pound mass the bow neither jumps nor rings. It is a forgiving, undramatic bow to shoot, which for a hunting rig is high praise: nothing about the draw or the shot fights the shooter.

Usage Scenarios

The Assault fits the hunter who wants one complete bow that will not fight them. A first-time buyer can walk out of a shop with the Ready-to-Hunt package on a Saturday, sight it in Sunday afternoon, and be in a treestand by opening week with nothing else to buy. The compact 30.75-inch axle-to-axle length is at home in a tight treestand or a ground blind where a longer flagship would clip the rails, and at 3.9 pounds it carries without wearing on you over a long sit. The 50-to-70-pound draw range and full 31-inch top-end draw mean it is not a youth bow - it covers grown hunters, including larger-framed shooters who need the longer draw, and a household can pass it back and forth across a couple of seasons by swapping modules. For whitetail and hogs at typical bow ranges it carries plenty of energy; a hunter chasing elk at longer distances would want more speed than the E-Cam delivers. As a quiet, dependable first serious hunting bow or an inexpensive backup, it still earns its place.

Versions

The Assault was sold under one model name in two package versions, both finished in Realtree APG HD. The **Bow Only** version is the bare bow for a shooter who already has a rest, sight and quiver or wants to build the setup to taste. The **Ready-to-Hunt (RTH) package** is the version most buyers chose and the one that defines the model's value: it bundles a Trophy Ridge Whisker Biscuit arrow rest, a 5-pin lighted fiber-optic sight, a bow quiver, a stabilizer with braided sling, a peep sight and an installed nock loop, so the bow is genuinely hunt-ready out of the box. Bear listed the Assault around $549 at its 2010 launch, and the RTH kit is the reason that figure reads as a bargain - the accessory package would cost a meaningful fraction of the bow price bought piece by piece. Both versions were offered in right- and left-hand configurations.

Bear Assault vs PSE Stinger, Bowtech Assassin

Bow	Bear Assault	PSE Stinger	Bowtech Assassin
Version	2011	2013 3G	2013
Picture
Brace Height	7.25 "	7.75 "	7 "
AtA Length	30.75 "	33 "	30.625 "
Draw Length	26 " - 31 "	25.5 " - 30.5 "	26 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	50 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 70 lbs
IBO Speed	328 fps	306 fps - 314 fps	333 fps
Weight	3.9 lbs	4.7 lbs	3.8 lbs
Let-Off	80%	75%	65% - 80%
Where to buy Best prices online	Not available now. Please check later.	$124.99 to $550 Compare prices	$199.99 to $675 Compare prices
	compare more bows

Cross-shopped against its era, the Bear Assault sits between two natural alternatives. The PSE Stinger is the closest match in spirit - another single-cam, value Ready-to-Hunt hunting bow that owners praise as quiet and low in vibration, running a hair slower at 306 to 314 fps and typically sitting a notch below the Assault in price. If the priority is the lowest-cost complete single-cam rig and a shooter values quiet over raw speed, the PSE Stinger is the honest comparison. The Bowtech Assassin comes at it from the other direction: nearly the same compact footprint at 30.625 inches axle-to-axle, but a dual-cam bow that pushes 333 fps, so it trades the Assault's single-cam simplicity for more speed in the same maneuverable size, at a similar-to-slightly-higher price. Where the Assault splits the difference is adjustability and setup ease - its numbered-module draw changes and press-free one-inch steps make it the friendliest of the three to refit at home, and its 26-to-31-inch draw range is the widest. The decision comes down to priorities: the Bear Assault for the buyer who wants the easiest-to-live-with complete package, the PSE Stinger for the quietest value single-cam on the tightest budget, and the Bowtech Assassin for the shooter who wants the most speed out of a compact frame. Buyers who like the Assault's platform but want more axle-to-axle length and speed should also look at its bigger brother, the Bear Attack.

Summary

The Bear Assault is a complete, quiet, easy-to-own hunting bow that has aged well because it got the basics right: a smooth E-Cam draw, a dead-in-hand shot, 3.9 pounds of compact maneuverability, and a Ready-to-Hunt kit that leaves nothing else on the shopping list - all for roughly $549 at its 2010 launch. Its 328 fps IBO was never class-leading, and real hunting arrows land below that number, but speed was never the point; livability was. What I keep coming back to is how much finished, field-ready bow it puts in a first-time buyer's hands, and how little it asks of them to set up - an inch of draw change is a hex key and five minutes, not a pro-shop appointment. It is an excellent choice for the budget-minded or first-serious hunter who wants one quiet, light, adjustable bow that is ready on day one, and it is particularly strong as a compact treestand and ground-blind rig for whitetail and hogs. Buyers prioritizing raw speed in the same compact size should also look at the Bowtech Assassin; those wanting the lowest-cost quiet single-cam should look at the PSE Stinger.