Bear Redemption EKO Review

Editors' review

The Redemption EKO was Bear's flagship for 2021, and it answers a simple buyer question: how much flagship can you get without paying flagship money? Instead of chasing the absolute top of the speed chart, Bear built a 31-inch hunting bow around adjustability and a quiet shot, then priced it below where most flagships sit. The headline is the EKO cam's four selectable let-off positions - 75, 80, 85, and 90% (let-off is the share of peak draw weight the cam drops to at full draw) - which you set with a wrench rather than a press. Around that cam sits an all-new Vibration Reduction System, Bear's Align-Lok level built into the riser, and two interchangeable grips. It replaced the longer 33-inch Status EKO, trading nearly two inches of axle-to-axle length for a more maneuverable package while keeping the same family of adjustable let-off. Bear carried it unchanged into 2022, so the same bow spans two model years. For a hunter who wants to dial their hold weight and fit without a trip to the shop, this is where Bear concentrated the 2021 budget.

Finish

The 2021 Redemption EKO shipped in six finishes: Fred Bear Camo, Realtree Edge, Veil Stoke, Veil Alpine, an understated Iron, and a solid Olive that reads as a clean, modern hunting color rather than a pattern. For the 2022 carryover Bear refreshed the palette - adding Veil Whitetail, Mossy Oak Bottomland, and the two-tone Throwback Black and Throwback Tan while retiring the Veil Stoke and Veil Alpine options - so a shopper hunting a used one will find the camo mix shifts by year. Every finish wraps the full riser, limbs, and cams rather than leaving bare machined sections, and the dip-pattern coatings hold up to normal treestand and pack abuse. Right-hand and left-hand builds were offered across both the 45-60 and 55-70 pound options. The solid Iron and Olive colors in particular give the detailed riser cutouts a place to show, which several owners single out as one of the better-looking risers in Bear's lineup.

Riser

The riser is machined aluminum with an aggressively cut, almost cage-like profile that is the visual signature of this bow - owners consistently call it one of the sharper-looking risers Bear has built. It is a long riser for a 31-inch axle-to-axle bow (the distance between the two cam axles), and that length is deliberate: it puts more mass between the grip and the stabilizer mount, which is why the bow settles and holds on target better than its short length would suggest. Built into the center of the riser is Bear's Align-Lok, a small bubble level that lets a shooter set second and third sight axis directly off the riser without extra tools. Cable control runs through a roller guard on a swing arm, so the cables glide rather than drag across a solid rod - in my experience that is what keeps the draw feeling free of the stutter you get from a worn slide. The Vibration Reduction System hangs rubber dampeners at the riser center and front edge, with more on the limbs, and Bear added more of them here than it carried on the previous year's flagship.

Grip

The Redemption EKO ships with two grips, and that choice matters more than it sounds. The standard grip is a narrow, flat-backed VersaGrip aimed at reducing torque and keeping hand placement repeatable; a second, fuller NaroGrip is in the box for shooters who want more material to settle into. The flat back sits at a comfortable angle and includes a molded line that helps you eyeball center-shot during setup, plus a cutout in the handle that gives the web of the hand a consistent place to land. Shooters who prefer a thin, low-wrist grip tend to leave the VersaGrip on; those coming off a fatter rubber grip can swap to the NaroGrip in seconds without tools. It is a genuinely low-torque hand position, and because both options come included, buyers are not hunting for an aftermarket grip to get the feel they want.

Limbs

The limbs are split past-parallel, and for 2021 Bear revised the limb angle flatter than the Status EKO ran the year before - part of why the shot settles quieter. Draw weight comes in two modules, a 45-60 pound and a 55-70 pound, each giving a 15-pound adjustment window so a shooter can back weight off for practice or early season and bring it up for the hunt. That range covers everyone from a smaller-framed or younger hunter in the 45-pound band up to a full 70-pound setup on the heavier module. Limb dampeners sit top and bottom as part of the Vibration Reduction System, contributing to the dead-in-hand feel. The past-parallel geometry is the same broad approach Bear uses across its hunting line, with a track record of holding tune through a season.

Eccentric System

The EKO cam is the reason to buy this bow. It is a single-cam system Bear had run for a couple of seasons by 2021, and its defining trick is selectable let-off: a rotating mod sets the cam to 75, 80, 85, or 90% without a press, so the shooter picks their holding weight directly. Draw length adjusts separately from 26 to 30 inches in half-inch steps on its own post, also press-free, and the draw stop can be set on either the cable or the limb depending on the back wall you want. The published IBO speed is 342 fps (the industry's standardized chronograph rating at 30 inches, 70 pounds, and a 350-grain arrow), and real chronograph numbers line up sensibly below that: a light 350-grain arrow at 70 pounds and 29 inches ran about 322 fps, while hunting-weight arrows in the 400-460 grain range came in around 288 to 301 fps across several measured sessions. Think of the let-off adjustment as the difference between holding roughly 17 pounds at 75% versus about 7 pounds at 90% on a 70-pound bow - the same draw, a completely different experience at full draw. What I keep coming back to is how practical that range is: a spot shooter can run a lower let-off for a crisper shot, and an older hunter can dial 90% to sit at full draw waiting for a buck to clear. For 2021 Bear also smoothed the rollover slightly over the Status EKO.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing it at 70 pounds, the front end builds steadily into a peak that is defined rather than mushy, the cam rolls over, and the bow drops into a deep valley. Set at 90% let-off I could sit at full draw and wait - the hold weight is light enough that the bow almost wants to stay back, and letting down takes a deliberate push against the valley. The back wall is firm; at the higher let-off settings it reads as a solid stop you can lean into, which is what you want for a repeatable anchor. The shot itself is the bow's quiet surprise: between the Vibration Reduction System dampeners and the flatter limbs, it is genuinely dead in the hand, and owners consistently rate it quieter than the Status EKO it replaced. There is a mild character to the draw - a firm peak and a slight hump as the cam comes over the top before the wall - which is the usual trade for a 342-class speed cam, and it smooths out as you shoot the bow in. Post-shot there is very little hand vibration to speak of. For a bow that holds this steady and shoots this quiet, the 31-inch frame stays surprisingly maneuverable in a stand.

Usage Scenarios

This is a whitetail and all-around hunting bow first. At 31 inches axle-to-axle it threads the needle between the maneuverability a treestand or ground blind rewards and the stability a longer riser gives you on an open-country shot, so it is at home in thick timber and comfortable out to sensible hunting distances on deer and hog. The selectable let-off makes it a real fit for an aging shooter or anyone who wants to hold at full draw while an animal works closer - dial 90% and the wait gets easy. The same adjustability covers a household where draw lengths differ, since 26 to 30 inches and two draw-weight modules move without a press. A new-to-serious hunter who wants genuine flagship features without a flagship invoice lands squarely in the target audience. It has the speed and let-off range to double as a backyard and 3D bow at a lower let-off setting, though a dedicated long-draw elk hunter who needs maximum stored energy will want to run the 70-pound module and heavier arrows. What it is not is an ultra-short compact - buyers who want a sub-30-inch bow for tight quarters should weigh the length.

Bear Redemption EKO vs Bear Inception, Bowtech Amplify

Bow	Bear Redemption EKO	Bear Inception	Bowtech Amplify
Version	2022	2021	2026
Picture
Brace Height	6.25 "	6 "	6 "
AtA Length	31 "	32 "	31.5 "
Draw Length	26 " - 30 "	25.5 " - 30 "	21 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	45 lbs - 70 lbs	45 lbs - 70 lbs	8 lbs - 70 lbs
IBO Speed	342 fps	340 fps	335 fps
Weight	4.1 lbs	4.3 lbs	4.0 lbs
Let-Off	75% - 90%	75%	85%
Where to buy Best prices online	Not available now. Please check later.	$310 to $360 Compare prices	$400 to $750 Compare prices
	compare more bows

Two bows bracket the Redemption EKO for a shopper. Alongside it in Bear's own 2021 Legend Series sits the Bear Inception, a compact 32-inch hunting bow at a $599.99 launch MSRP for the full Ready-to-Hunt kit. The Inception matches the speed almost exactly - a 340 fps IBO against the Redemption's 342 - but it runs a synchronized hybrid cam with a fixed 75% let-off and skips the Vibration Reduction System, so it is the pick for a hunter who wants most of the performance in a slim package and does not need adjustable hold weight or the extra dampening. From another brand, the Bowtech Amplify at a $599 launch MSRP comes at the question from the adjustability side: its 335 fps IBO is a touch slower, but an 8-to-70 pound draw weight and 21-to-30 inch draw length give it a far wider fit window, making it the better grow-with-you and family-share bow on a budget. The Redemption EKO sits above both on price and refinement, trading the Amplify's enormous range for a tighter 45-to-70 pound hunting window plus the EKO cam's selectable let-off, Align-Lok, and two included grips. The decision comes down to priorities: the Bear Inception for the hunter who wants flagship speed in a slim, cheaper package and is fine with fixed let-off, the Bowtech Amplify for the shooter who needs maximum draw adjustability for a growing or shared setup, and the Bear Redemption EKO for the buyer who wants selectable let-off and flagship polish without paying for a carbon flagship.

Summary

At a $999.99 launch MSRP, the Bear Redemption EKO delivered a flagship's feature set - the EKO cam's four selectable let-off positions, an all-new Vibration Reduction System, the Align-Lok built-in level, and two included grips - in a maneuverable 31-inch aluminum package that undercut most flagships of its day. The 342 fps IBO rating translates to a real-world 288 to 301 fps with typical 400-to-460 grain hunting arrows, which is plenty for whitetail and hog out to normal hunting ranges. What sets it apart is not raw speed but control: the press-free adjustability across let-off, draw length, and draw weight means one bow fits a wide range of shooters and shooting styles. In my hands the standout was how quiet and dead the shot felt for a bow this fast, with the 90% let-off letting me hold at full draw almost indefinitely. Carried across 2021 and 2022 with identical specs, it is a strong used-market buy today for a hunter who values adjustability and a quiet shot over chart-topping fps. An excellent bow for the hunter who wants selectable let-off and flagship refinement without flagship money, and particularly strong for an older or patient hunter who holds at full draw waiting for the shot. Buyers who want the same speed in a slimmer, cheaper package should look at the Bear Inception, and those who need maximum draw adjustability for a growing shooter should look at the Bowtech Amplify.