Bear Epic Extreme Compound Bow

The Bear Epic Extreme is not a bow you chase for modern refinement - it is one you appreciate for being quick and light decades before that combination was common. Across 2000 to 2002 it delivered a genuinely fast single-cam hunter, near 303 fps IBO, on a machined-aluminum riser that still comes in under four pounds, and it did the job well enough that plenty are still hunting today at used-market prices that amount to pocket change. Its honest limitations are the flip side of its age: the modest let-off by modern standards means real holding weight, the mounting is old-school drilled-and-tapped, and every example is a twenty-plus-year-old used bow that deserves a careful inspection and a fresh string before the season. But the same simple single cam and stout metal riser that date it are also why it survives, stays easy to tune, and shoots quick out of the hand. What I keep coming back to with these early-2000s single cams is how much honest hunting performance they still deliver for almost nothing, provided you set them up thoughtfully. It is an excellent pick for the vintage-Bear enthusiast, the hunter breathing new life into an inherited bow, or anyone who wants a light, fast, close-range freezer-filler on a shoestring. Buyers who want modern adjustability, quiet, and out-of-the-box warranty support should look instead at the Diamond Edge 320 or the PSE Stinger MAX... read full review