Bowtech CP28 Review

Editors' review

Ask a hunter why he'd pick a 28-inch bow over a 30- or 34-inch one and the answer is almost always the same: he shoots from tight places. The Bowtech CP28 is built for exactly that hunter - the one wedged into a pop-up blind, shooting off his knees, or tucked against a tree trunk where a longer bow catches on everything. Bowtech calls it the most compact platform it has ever built around the DeadLock cam, and the numbers back it: 28 inches axle-to-axle (ATA - the tip-to-tip distance along the cams) with a 33.5-inch cam-to-cam span. Launched for 2022 and carried unchanged through 2023, it packs the full Bowtech toolkit into that short frame - the press-free DeadLock cam, the two-setting FlipDisc, an aluminum riser that kills vibration, and, new for this bow, an Integrate rest dovetail machined right into the riser. The engineering trick is the cam: oversized on purpose, so a short bow doesn't pinch the arrow at full draw. What you get is a genuinely maneuverable hunting bow that still draws smooth, holds steady, and shoots dead-quiet - the compact that doesn't feel like a compromise.

Finish

The CP28 comes in Bowtech's standard hunting palette, anchored by four solid finishes - Black, OD Green, Smoke Grey, and Flat Dark Earth - with camo patterns available on top of those, including the brand's Mossy Oak, Realtree, Kuiu, and Kryptek options. The four solids cover the shooter who wants a low-key, snag-free look on a bow that already lives in tight cover, while the camo choices dress it for a specific Western or whitetail setting. Bowtech's mix-and-match program lets you combine a solid riser with camo limbs or vice versa. Standard finishes all carry the same price; custom and alternate decorations add an upcharge. The coatings are the same durable anodize-and-dip treatments used across Bowtech's flagship bows, so they hold up to the scrapes a treestand-and-blind bow takes.

Riser

The aluminum riser is where the CP28's compactness is engineered without giving up stability. It is cut with a wide limb pocket and a wide limb stance, which is what lets a 28-inch bow sit as steady as it does at full draw, and it carries a modest reflex - the grip sits about 4.75 inches behind the limb bolts - for a forgiving balance point. The headline addition for this bow is the Integrate Mounting System: a dovetail machined into the back of the riser so an Integrate-compatible rest locks in-line with no bracket, streamlining the profile and letting the quiver ride closer to the riser. Two Orbit dampeners come mounted where Bowtech's testing put them, but there are plenty of threaded positions to move them and fine-tune where vibration gets absorbed. The riser keeps a single front stabilizer bushing and a single string stop at the bottom, both there to pull shock and noise out of the shot. It is a clean, purposeful riser - every cut serves either maneuverability or stability.

Grip

The CP28 wears Bowtech's Clutch Performance Grip, the same swappable system the brand runs across its lineup. Out of the box it is a slim, comfortable grip that seats repeatably in the hand and gives very little for the shooter to torque against - important on a short bow, where torque shows up fast in arrow flight. The value is in the modularity: the grip panels pop off and swap for a different Clutch profile to raise or lower the wrist angle, or for a different color to personalize the bow. That means a shooter can tune the hand position to their own draw rather than adapting to a fixed grip, which is exactly what you want on a bow you'll shoot from awkward, improvised field positions. It is one of the more useful factory grips in the price tier.

Limbs

The CP28 runs wide split limbs locked into Bowtech's DeadLock Pockets, and the wide stance is doing double duty - it stabilizes a short bow that would otherwise feel twitchy, and it anchors the whole tuning system. Each limb clamps to the pocket with two screws, and the pocket locks to the riser, so once torqued nothing walks out of tune. Draw weight comes in 50, 60, and 70-pound peak modules, and because each limb backs down about 10 pounds, the working range runs from roughly 40 to 70 pounds - enough to fit most adult hunters and to let a shooter ease off weight late in a cold season. Adjusting weight is a bolt turn after loosening the pocket screw, no press needed. This limb-and-pocket design is shared across the DeadLock family and has a solid reliability record. The one honest note is mass: even with the compact frame, the extra riser bulk that buys the stability keeps the bare weight around 4.4 pounds, in the same neighborhood as some longer bows.

Eccentric System

The cam is the clever part of the CP28. On a 28-inch bow, a normal-diameter cam would create a steep string angle at full draw and pinch the nock between the fingers or the release - the classic short-bow problem. Bowtech's answer is an oversized cam that opens that angle back up, so even a shooter near the 30-inch top of the draw range gets a clean, pinch-free anchor, and the larger cam rolls a little smoother in the bargain. The tuning system is the DeadLock cam itself: loosen a locking screw, turn an Allen key, and the entire cam shifts left or right in small geared increments to chase out a nock tear, then locks solid - done on the shooting line with no bow press and no yokes. Over that sits the FlipDisc, which flips between an 87% Comfort setting (let-off is how much of the peak weight your hand stops holding at full draw - 87% means holding roughly 9 pounds of a 70-pound peak) and an 85% Performance setting that trades a smoother pull for about 7 to 9 fps. Rotating modules cover the 24.5 to 30-inch draw range with the positions marked on the cam, so there's no chart to look up. Speed is strong for such a short bow: the published IBO (the standard fixed-setup speed rating) reaches 335 fps, and real chronograph runs at 29 inches and 70 pounds show 308 fps with a 350-grain arrow, 291 with a 400-grain, and 262 with a heavy 500-grain hunting shaft; Bowtech's faster Performance FlipDisc setting is worth another 7 to 9 fps.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the CP28 is where a short bow usually betrays itself, and this one mostly doesn't. The oversized cam keeps the ramp smooth and even - not quite the glass-smooth pull of Bowtech's longer Solution SS, but genuinely easy, with no aggressive hump to wrestle through on the Comfort setting. Drawing it, I braced for the cramped, harsh pull short bows are known for and simply didn't find it. It settles into a solid back wall (the hard stop at the end of the draw); the wall comes from a cable stop rather than a limb stop, so it is firm and repeatable without being the concrete-hard wall a limb-stop bow gives you. Pull it back next to a longer bow, as one head-to-head test did against the SR350, and the CP28 feels almost toy-like - small, light in the hands, and quick to full draw. The shot is quiet at 96.4 dB and, impressively for such a compact bare bow, comes with no hand shock at all. I did notice the trade a short frame always makes: there's a touch more residual buzz after the shot than a longer bow leaves - a brief, damped flicker, not a jolt - and it disappears once you load the movable Orbit weights and a stabilizer. On the Performance setting the draw firms up and the valley shortens, keeping you pulling into the wall; on Comfort it is all about the easy, hold-it-forever draw a ground hunter wants.

Usage Scenarios

The CP28 is a specialist, and its specialty is tight quarters. It is the bow for the pop-up ground blind, where a 34-inch axle-to-axle bow bangs the frame on the draw; for the saddle or hang-on hunter twisting for a shot around the trunk; and for the still-hunter who may have to shoot from a knee or a seat when a deer materializes close. One real-world hunter picked it precisely because he so often shoots from the ground and sitting, where every inch of bow length is a liability. The 40-to-70-pound working range and 24.5-to-30-inch draw span cover most adult hunters, and the pinch-free oversized cam means even longer-draw shooters aren't priced out of the short frame. Its natural game is whitetail and hogs inside typical bow range, and Western spot-and-stalk hunters who prize a packable bow will appreciate the short length on a mountain. Where it is not the first pick is long-range target work or a shooter who wants the steadiest possible hold of a big-ATA rig - a longer bow simply aims easier at distance. For close, quiet, awkward-angle hunting, though, the CP28 is purpose-built.

Versions

The CP28 was sold as a single bare-bow configuration (no factory rest/sight package) across two identical model years:- 2022 Bowtech CP28 - launch model, $1,199 MSRP.- 2023 Bowtech CP28 - carryover, unchanged specs, same $1,199 MSRP.Both years are mechanically identical; only finish availability shifted. The bow was discontinued after 2023. Its larger sibling, the Bowtech CP30, is the same DeadLock platform stretched to 30 inches axle-to-axle for a bit more forgiveness and hold at the cost of some maneuverability - cross-shop the two on length and how tight your typical shots are, since both launched at the same $1,199.

Bowtech CP28 vs V3X 29, Ventum 30

Bow	Bowtech CP28	Mathews V3X 29	Hoyt Ventum 30
Version	2023	2023	2021
Picture
Brace Height	6.75 "	6 "	6.125 "
AtA Length	28 "	29 "	30 "
Draw Length	24.5 " - 30 "	25.5 " - 30 "	25 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	50 lbs - 75 lbs	30 lbs - 80 lbs
IBO Speed	335 fps	340 fps	342 fps
Weight	4.4 lbs	4.47 lbs	4.6 lbs
Let-Off	85 / 87%	80 or 85%	80% or 85%
Where to buy Best prices online	$650 to $1200 Compare prices	$795 to $2000 Compare prices	$725 to $1200 Compare prices
	compare more bows

All three land near the same $1,199 launch price but chase the compact-hunter buyer differently. The Mathews V3X 29 is the premium-feel option at 29 inches axle-to-axle: its Crosscentric cam and Bridge-Lock integration make it one of the quietest bows in the class, chronographing around 326 fps, and it rewards a shooter who wants Mathews' silence and accessory ecosystem above tuning simplicity. The Hoyt Ventum 30 stretches to 30 inches and is the fastest of the three on paper at 342 fps IBO, built around Hoyt's In-Line Picatinny mounting and HBX cam - the pick for a hunter who wants speed headroom and a slightly longer, easier-aiming frame. Against both, the CP28's case is maneuverability and tuning: it is the shortest of the trio by an inch or two, its oversized cam keeps a genuinely short bow shootable, and its DeadLock cam re-tunes on the shooting line without a press - something neither competitor offers in the same one-tool form. The decision comes down to priorities: the Mathews V3X 29 for outright quiet and premium feel, the Hoyt Ventum 30 for speed and a longer hold, and the CP28 for the most compact frame and the simplest tuning when your shots come from tight, low, awkward positions.

Summary

The Bowtech CP28 is a compact hunting bow that solves the short-bow problem instead of just accepting it. At a $1,199 launch MSRP it delivers the full Bowtech toolkit in the shortest DeadLock frame the brand makes: press-free cam tuning on the shooting line, a FlipDisc that swaps between a smooth 87% Comfort draw and an 85% Performance setting worth several more fps, and an aluminum riser that brings the shot to a quiet 96.4 dB with no hand shock. The oversized cam is the difference-maker - it keeps a 28-inch bow pinch-free and smooth-drawing where lesser short bows get cramped and harsh, and real chronograph runs hold above 260 fps even with heavy 500-grain hunting arrows. What sold me on it is the intent: this is a bow with a clear job, and it does that job - close, quiet, tight-quarters hunting - better than a general-purpose bow ever could. It is an excellent choice for the ground-blind, saddle, and still-hunter who shoots from cramped positions and wants a maneuverable, easy-tuning, dead-quiet compact. Buyers who want the quietest premium feel should also look at the Mathews V3X 29, and those who prioritize speed and a slightly longer hold should look at the Hoyt Ventum 30.