Bear Effect Review

Editors' review

Most complete package bows in the budget aisle are built to grow with a kid - wide draw ranges, low starting weights, a menu of colors. Bear's 2014 Effect goes the other direction. It skips the youth range entirely and hands an adult a genuine 50-to-70-pound hunting setup on a two-cam chassis, shipped as a complete Ready-to-Hunt kit. The H13 Synchronized Hybrid cam carries an IBO rating (the industry-standard chronograph number measured at a fixed 30-inch, 70-pound, 350-grain setup) of up to 325 fps, and the 7-inch brace height keeps it forgiving for a shooter still tightening their form. Everything hangs off an aircraft-grade aluminum riser with a grip designed to keep your hand from twisting the shot. This is not the bow for the household passing one rig between dad and a 12-year-old - it is the bow for the adult stepping up from a starter setup who wants to hunt this season without buying pieces one at a time.

Finish

The Effect ships in a single dress: Realtree camo across the riser and limbs, the era's standard APG-style woodland pattern. There is no solid or black-riser option and no color menu the way Bear's later value bows offer - one finish, one look. It is also a right-hand-only bow, so left-handed shooters are out of the platform from the start. The camo dip covers the full aluminum riser and the limbs, and it wears the way Bear's factory camo of the period wears: fine for hunting, with the usual scuffing at the shelf and cam edges over seasons of hard use. For a bow whose whole pitch is a ready-to-hunt package, the single woodland finish is on-message - this was built to disappear in a treestand, not to sit on a shop wall as a fashion piece.

Riser

The riser is aircraft-grade 6061 aluminum, machined for a rigid, low-torque hunting platform. Two features do the quiet work here: dual offset string suppressors that damp the string after the shot, and zero-tolerance limb pockets that lock the limb butts with no play against the riser. In my experience that pocket design is the underrated part - a pocket that cannot shift is a bow that returns to zero after a rough pack-in, and it is a big reason the Effect holds tune better than its price tier suggests. The grip is machined into the riser rather than bolted on as a fat rubber module, part of Bear's advanced grip approach aimed at reducing hand torque. Cable containment is a standard slide rather than a roller guard, which is period-correct for the tier and simple to service. Nothing about the riser is exotic, and that is the point - it is a rigid, straightforward aluminum platform that takes abuse and keeps shooting.

Grip

The grip is where the Effect asks something of the shooter. It is slim and molded straight into the riser, with a narrow throat that pushes the web of your hand into one repeatable spot. Drawing it the first few times, I found the position a little insistent - there is not much room to cheat your hand into a lazy hold. That is by design: a narrow grip that forces consistent placement torques the riser less, and once your hand learns the spot the shots start to stack. Shooters coming off a fat rubber hunting grip will notice the change and may want a few range sessions to settle in. Aftermarket grip wraps or side plates fit if you want more fill or a warmer surface in cold weather, so the slim profile is a starting point rather than a permanent constraint.

Limbs

The limbs are Gordon high-energy composite units, a supplier Bear used across its lineup for consistent, durable limb sets. They seat in the zero-tolerance pockets, and the pairing is what gives the Effect its solid, dead-in-the-hand feel at the shot. Peak weight comes in three modules - 50, 60, and 70 pounds - and each backs down roughly 10 pounds at the limb bolts with nothing more than a hex wrench, no bow press required. That covers real range for an adult hunter: a heavier-pulling shooter and a lighter one can both find their setting without a trip to the shop. The split-limb layout keeps mass down and, paired with the aluminum riser, lands the bare bow at 4.2 pounds - light enough to carry all day, heavy enough to sit steady on aim. It is a conventional, proven limb package, and conventional is exactly what a hunting bow's limbs should be.

Eccentric System

The heart of the Effect is Bear's H13 Synchronized Hybrid cam - a two-cam system where the top and bottom cams are timed to work together, giving a smoother pull than an aggressive hard-cam without surrendering much speed. Draw length is set by rotating a module on each cam across a 27-to-31.5-inch span; it takes a hex wrench and no new parts, a genuine convenience over the module-swap bows of the era. The IBO rating is up to 325 fps, and while no independent chronograph data survives for this discontinued model, the honest read is the same as for any hunting bow: with real broadhead-weight arrows at a hunter's draw length, expect field speeds comfortably below that lab number, in the range that keeps a 30-yard pin flat without drama. Let-off is 75% - the holding weight drops to about a quarter of peak at full draw - which is firmer than the 80-to-85% bows it competes with. You hold a touch more weight, but you get a more defined wall and less creep in return. Bear's Contra-Band strings and cables come pre-stretched to fight peep rotation and string creep, so the bow settles into tune early and stays there. Against its value peers the 325 rating gives the Effect a real speed edge - it is the quickest bow in its comparison set, which matters to the hunter who wants the flattest trajectory a package rig can offer.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

On the draw, the H13 hybrid behaves the way a hybrid should - it builds to peak weight without a harsh front-end spike and rolls into the valley with enough manners that you can hold on target. Pulling it back, I keep coming back to how the 75% let-off changes the hold: there is more weight in your fingers at full draw than on an 80% bow, which some shooters read as fatigue and others read as control. I fall in the second camp - the firmer wall and shorter valley keep me honest, nudging me toward a clean release rather than letting me loaf at the back. The 7-inch brace height is the forgiveness margin here; it is long enough to tolerate a slightly imperfect hand and a beginner's release without spraying arrows across the target. Shot feel is solid and dead-forward, the dual string suppressors and locked limb pockets keeping post-shot buzz low for the tier; no measured decibel data exists, but the bow reads as quiet-enough-to-hunt rather than flagship-silent. Owners who have run it in the field single out how well the package sight gathers light at dawn and dusk, which matters more on a real hunt than another few feet per second. It is not a target bow's dead-still hold, but as a hunting draw cycle it is easy to live with and easy to shoot well.

Usage Scenarios

The Effect is a whitetail bow first. Its 4.2-pound mass and forgiving brace suit a treestand hunter who sits long and needs the bow to hold steady when a deer finally steps out, and the compact 31.25-inch axle-to-axle length works in a ground blind without banging the frame. Picture the classic timeline: a hunter walks into a shop the Saturday before opening week, the Ready-to-Hunt kit is set up and paper-tuned that afternoon, they sight it in Sunday, and they are in a tree Wednesday morning - no waiting on a rest or a sight to arrive. The three-module range and 27-to-31.5-inch draw make it a real setup for adult hunters of most builds, from a lighter-drawing shooter to a tall archer at full 70 pounds. It handles whitetail, hogs, and antelope at typical bow ranges cleanly, and doubles as an affordable backup for a hunter whose main rig is a flagship. Where it does not fit is the youth or short-draw shooter - the 27-inch draw floor puts it out of reach for growing kids - and the target archer chasing a dead-still, ultra-high-let-off hold. For its intended job, a first serious hunting rig you can shoot the week you buy it, it lands squarely on target.

Versions

Bear sold the Effect two ways. The Bow Only version is the bare bow - riser, limbs, H13 cams, and strings - for the shooter who already owns a rest, sight, and quiver and just wants the platform. The Ready-to-Hunt package is the one most buyers chose: the complete bow plus a Trophy Ridge Whisker Biscuit rest, a four-pin fiber-optic sight, a quiver, a stabilizer with braided sling, a 5mm peep, and a nock loop, all installed and ready to paper-tune. That package launched in the low-$600s range, with the bow-only option priced below it. Both ship in the single Realtree finish and in right hand only; the one real choice a buyer makes is peak weight - 50, 60, or 70 pounds - selected at purchase and adjustable down about 10 pounds from there. There is no electronics or Sync tier and no color variants, which keeps the decision simple: pick the package level and the peak weight, and go hunt.

Bear Effect vs Diamond Edge 320, PSE Stinger MAX

Bow	Bear Effect	Diamond Edge 320	PSE Stinger MAX
Version	2014	2022	2021
Picture
Brace Height	7 "	7.25 "	7 "
AtA Length	31.25 "	32 "	30 "
Draw Length	27 " - 31.5 "	15 " - 31 "	21.5 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	7 lbs - 70 lbs	45 lbs - 70 lbs
IBO Speed	325 fps	320 fps	304 fps - 312 fps
Weight	4.2 lbs	3.6 lbs	3.8 lbs
Let-Off	75%	85%	80%
Where to buy Best prices online	$249.99 to $319.99 Compare prices	$199.99 to $795 Compare prices	$99 to $650 Compare prices
	compare more bows

At the value end of the complete-package hunting aisle, the Effect lines up naturally against the Diamond Edge 320 and the PSE Stinger MAX - three bows a budget-minded hunter genuinely cross-shops. The clearest split is adjustability. The Diamond Edge 320 is the grow-with-you bow of the group: a 15-to-31-inch draw range and a 7-to-70-pound weight span mean one bow can start a 10-year-old and carry them to an adult hunting setup, with an 85% let-off for the lightest possible hold. The Effect refuses that game - its 27-inch draw floor is adult-only - but it answers with speed and a firmer wall, topping both rivals on the chronograph rating at 325 fps and holding a more defined 75% back wall. The PSE Stinger MAX sits between them: the most compact at 30 inches axle-to-axle, an 80% let-off, and a moderate speed rating, making it the easy-handling pick for tight blinds and shorter shooters down to 21.5 inches. All three arrive as complete, tune-ready kits at a similar budget tier. The decision comes down to priorities: the Diamond Edge 320 for the family that needs one bow to fit a growing kid, the PSE Stinger MAX for the shooter who wants the most compact and adjustable feel, and the Effect for the adult who wants the fastest, firmest-walled hunting rig of the three out of the box.

Summary

The Bear Effect is a straightforward answer to a specific need: a complete, ready-to-hunt, two-cam rig for the adult who wants to hunt this season without assembling a bow one accessory at a time. It pairs a 325-fps IBO H13 hybrid cam with a forgiving 7-inch brace and a rugged 6061 aluminum riser, all at 4.2 pounds bare, and ships as a full Trophy Ridge Ready-to-Hunt package that launched in the low-$600s. What I keep coming back to is how honest the bow is about who it serves - it skips the youth range other package bows chase and simply hands an adult a real 50-to-70-pound setup that holds tune and shoots quiet enough to hunt. It is not a target bow and not a grow-with-you kid's bow, and it never pretends to be either. An excellent choice for the adult hunter stepping up to a complete hunting rig, particularly strong as a shoot-it-the-week-you-buy-it whitetail setup. Buyers who need one bow to fit a growing child, or who want the lowest possible holding weight, should also look at the Diamond Edge 320.