Bear Epic Extreme Review

Editors' review

Most bows this old are remembered for being slow and heavy - the Epic Extreme is the opposite, and that is exactly why it is worth a page. This is a Fred Bear single-cam hunter from 2000 to 2002, and its whole identity is that it was quick and genuinely light for its day, a sub-four-pound machined-aluminum bow that shot a fast IBO number when most turn-of-the-millennium hunting rigs were slower and heftier. It is not a modern bow - the let-off is lower than what you shoot now, the mounting is drilled-and-tapped rather than dovetailed, and you will only ever find one used - but so many are still hanging in closets and turning up on the used market because the platform is simple and the metal riser is nearly indestructible. For the archer who inherited one, found one at a swap meet, or is deciding whether to hang a sight on an old Bear and hunt with it this fall, here is what the Epic Extreme actually is and who it still fits.

Finish

The Epic Extreme shipped in the factory hunting camo of its era rather than the deep-anodized colorways buyers expect from a modern Bear. Surviving units on the used market almost all wear a woodland camo film over the aluminum riser and limbs, with the Fred Bear branding of the period, and both right- and left-hand bows turn up. This is a dip-pattern film finish over metal, not a modern powder-coat, so honest examples show wear at the shelf, grip, and cam axle after two decades of use - cosmetic character rather than structural trouble. There is no gloss target finish or multi-color palette to choose from here; it was a one-look hunting tool sold in the camo of the day. A buyer restoring one should treat the worn camo as period-correct patina, not a flaw to strip, since the underlying machined riser is the part that matters and it almost always outlasts the finish.

Riser

The riser is a machined aluminum handle in the solid, metal-heavy tradition of turn-of-the-millennium hunting bows, and it is the reason these survive. Bear built it as a reflex-geometry riser that positions the grip and sight window forward, a layout that helps the bow store energy for speed while keeping the physical mass low. There are no accessory rails or integrated dovetail systems - you get the era-standard drilled-and-tapped holes for a sight and an arrow rest, plus the mounting bosses for a bolt-on quiver - so a modern quick-detach rest or sight will be adapting to older hardware. Cable containment runs through a simple slide-style guard rather than a roller, keeping the string clear of the arrow's path. What genuinely stands out is the weight: for a full machined-metal riser, the finished bow comes in remarkably light, and owners consistently note how easy it is to carry all day. That combination - a stout metal handle that still weighs under four pounds - is unusual for the period and a large part of why the Epic Extreme still earns closet space.

Grip

The grip is formed directly into the aluminum riser with a simple grip panel, not a modular, swappable, angle-tuned unit like a current bow offers. It carries the medium-wrist feel typical of early-2000s hunting risers, filling the palm without the deep throat of a target grip. There is little torque-reducing sculpting, so a clean, relaxed hand matters more here than on a modern side-plate grip that quietly hides small errors - load the web of the hand the same way every shot and the bow rewards it. Late-season hunters often wrap the grip, because bare aluminum pulls heat out of the hand fast in the cold. It is a period grip: direct, honest, and completely serviceable once your hand learns it, and the low overall mass keeps the bow from feeling nose-heavy in that forward-riser layout.

Limbs

The limbs are the durable laminated-glass limbs of the era, bolted to the riser and built to store enough energy to drive the single cam to its era-fast speed. Peak draw weight tops out around 70 pounds, with 60-pound configurations common on the used market, and poundage backs down several turns at the limb bolts without a press - so a bow set heavy can be softened for a lighter or younger shooter, or simply dialed to a comfortable holding weight. This is a limb design that has aged well: unlike modern high-preload split limbs, these tolerate long storage and neglect, which is why so many turn up intact after twenty-plus years in a garage. They are not exotic, but they are honest and forgiving of a hard life, and paired with the light riser they keep the whole bow easy to live with. For a used buyer, the limbs are the first thing to inspect - check the tips and the pockets for cracks or delamination before trusting the bow at full draw.

Eccentric System

The heart of the Epic Extreme is a single perimeter-weighted cam running against an idler wheel - the mainstream Bear single-cam layout of the period, and the source of both its speed and its easy manners. On the string-and-cable side that shows up as a long 86-and-three-quarter-inch bowstring and a 34-and-seven-eighths-inch cable, the signature rigging of a single-cam bow (a long AMO string is normal here - a modern single-cam Bear runs a string in the same class). Speed is the headline: the factory rating put it around 303 fps IBO - that is the industry-standard chronograph number measured at a fixed 70-pound, 30-inch, light-arrow setup - which was genuinely quick for a hunting bow in 2000 to 2002, when many peers sat lower. Real hunting speed with a normal hunting arrow lands well below that IBO figure, as it does on every bow, but the point stands that this was a fast bow for its day. Let-off sits in the neighborhood of 75 percent, meaning you carry a bit more of peak weight to anchor than a current 80-to-90-percent bow. Draw length is set at 28, 29, or 30 inches through the cam, so this is a full-draw adult hunting bow rather than a wide-range youth adjuster. In my experience, a well-set single cam of this generation draws with a long, even pull, no sharp front-end hump, and a positive-if-modest wall - predictable and easy to shoot accurately, which is exactly the tuning payoff of having just one cam to time.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the Epic Extreme is a smooth, linear single-cam pull - the cam rolls the weight on gradually rather than spiking early, eases into a defined valley, and settles against a wall that is firm enough to anchor against without being harsh. Drawing a light, forward-riser single-cam like this, what stands out to me is how quickly the bow settles: the low mass means it comes to rest on target fast and does not fight your hold, so the aiming picture calms down sooner than a heavier bow of the same era. The 75-percent let-off is honest work by modern standards - you hold noticeably more weight at anchor than an 85-percent bow, so it rewards deliberate, well-conditioned shooting over marathon holding. Shot feel is where the single cam and metal riser trade off: the solid handle soaks up a good deal of the shot, but a bare 2002 single-cam without modern string suppressors and dampers is not going to be flagship-quiet, and a little hand buzz is period-normal. What it does deliver is a stable, repeatable shot that groups well for close-range hunting once you settle into its rhythm. Set up with a simple rest and pins, it is a genuinely pleasant bow to shoot - quick out of the hand, light to hold up, and forgiving enough to hunt with confidently inside sensible ranges.

Usage Scenarios

The Epic Extreme's natural home is close-to-mid-range whitetail hunting from a stand or blind, exactly the job Bear built it for, and its light weight makes it easy to carry into a walk-in setup or hold up through a long sit. The genuine speed for its era means flat-enough trajectory for typical bowhunting distances without forcing a heavy arrow, and the 60-to-70-pound top end has the energy for deer and similar game with good shot placement. Picture a hunter who pulls an old Epic Extreme out of a relative's closet, throws a modern rest and a fresh string on it, tunes the poundage to a comfortable hold, and is punching paper in the backyard the same afternoon before hunting it opening week - that is the bow at its best, a cheap, light, quick freezer-filler. It also makes a sensible light backup bow to keep in the truck, since it weighs little and asks almost nothing to maintain. Where it is out of its depth is anywhere that wants modern range-and-accessory integration or flagship-quiet performance - a competitive target setup, or a hunter who needs a wide youth-to-adult draw span, is better served elsewhere. As a first vintage hunter, an inherited-bow project, or a light and fast close-range rig, it still fits.

Versions

The Epic Extreme is one platform that ran across the 2000 to 2002 Fred Bear seasons rather than a family of separate models. Bear's own string-and-cable records list a spread of service item numbers for it - 9274, 9284, 9302, 9342, 9300, and 9304 across the AFM and AFR designations - which reflects draw-module and string-service variants on one bow, not distinct SKUs with their own prices. It was offered in right- and left-hand versions and in the factory hunting camo of the day, in the usual peak draw-weight classes topping out near 70 pounds. Because it was a hunting bow discontinued more than two decades ago, there is no meaningful launch-price differentiation to list, and it exists today only on the used market. What a buyer chooses between now is really hand, condition, and which draw-weight example turns up - not a package tier. Note that the earlier Fred Bear Epic (1999 to 2000) is a separate, longer-geometry model, not a version of this bow.

Bear Epic Extreme vs Diamond Edge 320, PSE Stinger MAX

Bow	Bear Epic Extreme	Diamond Edge 320	PSE Stinger MAX
Version	2002	2022	2021
Picture
Brace Height	7.5 "	7.25 "	7 "
AtA Length	"	32 "	30 "
Draw Length	28 " - 30 "	15 " - 31 "	21.5 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	60 lbs - 70 lbs	7 lbs - 70 lbs	45 lbs - 70 lbs
IBO Speed	303 fps	320 fps	304 fps - 312 fps
Weight	3.9 lbs	3.6 lbs	3.8 lbs
Let-Off		85%	80%
Where to buy Best prices online	$149 Compare prices	$199.99 to $795 Compare prices	$150 to $650 Compare prices
	compare more bows

The fairest way to place the Epic Extreme is to compare what it did well against how the same idea - a fast, light, affordable single-or-hybrid-cam hunter - is executed now, so set it beside the Diamond Edge 320 and the PSE Stinger MAX. On raw numbers the modern bows win where you would expect: the Diamond Edge 320 runs a compact 32-inch axle-to-axle, a 320 fps IBO rating, an enormous 15-to-31-inch draw range, a 7-to-70-pound span, and 85-percent let-off, while the PSE Stinger MAX sits at 30 inches, 304 to 312 fps, a 21.5-to-30-inch draw, 45 to 70 pounds, and 80-percent let-off. Both hold far less weight at full draw, adjust across a vastly wider range, and ship modern-quiet with today's string dampers - all for a modern budget-tier price in the rough $400-to-$550 class. What is striking is how close the Epic Extreme's headline speed already was: its 303 fps IBO from 2002 is right in the same conversation as these current value bows, which tells you how quick it really was for its day. Where it falls behind is everything around the speed - let-off, adjustability range, noise control, and accessory integration have all moved on. Both the Diamond Edge 320 and the PSE Stinger MAX are the right buy for a new hunter who wants one adjustable, quiet, warrantied bow to grow with out of the box. The decision comes down to priorities: a modern, quiet, widely adjustable tool for the archer starting fresh today, or the light, fast, dirt-cheap old Bear for the hunter reviving one that is already in the family.

Summary

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.