Bowtech Liberty Review

Editors' review

BowTech built its early name on raw speed and loud talk, so the surprise is that the FreedomCam bow its owners still praise two decades later is not the fastest one in the rack - it is the Liberty VFT, remembered less for its fps than for being one of the smoothest and most forgiving bows the company made. Sold in 2004 and 2005 for $729, it sits at the longer, more versatile end of BowTech's mid-2000s hunting line: a 33-1/4-inch axle-to-axle chassis, a 7-1/2-inch brace height, and the VFT limb design that gives it a quiet, low-vibration shot. The FreedomCam pairs modular draw length with a draw post that dials let-off (the percentage of peak weight your holding weight drops to at full draw) anywhere from 65 to 80 percent. Unlike the camo-only bows around it in the lineup, the Liberty also came in solid Target Colors, which is a clue to what it really is - a mid-length all-rounder that crosses from the treestand to the 3D range as easily as any bow of its day. Two decades on it is a used-market bow, not a new purchase, but it remains a genuinely smooth, shootable, hunt-capable rig for a first-timer or a second bow. This review covers the FreedomCam-era Liberty VFT specifically; BowTech never revived the name on a modern bow, so there is no newer Liberty to confuse it with.

Finish

The Liberty VFT shipped in two finish directions across both years: Mossy Oak Obsession, the high-contrast camo BowTech leaned on across its mid-2000s hunting bows, and a set of solid Target Colors. That second option matters, because most of the mid-priced hunters in the FreedomCam group - the Justice among them - were camo-only; the Liberty's target-color availability is part of why it reads as a hunting-and-target crossover rather than a pure whitetail rig. Coverage was even across the machined riser and the split limbs, and the dip-and-cure finishes of the period have generally aged well, with two-decade-old examples still showing intact camo or solid color where the bow was not knocked around. There was no premium or anniversary finish tier. For a used buyer today, finish condition is mostly a cosmetic question - the coating rarely changes how the bow shoots - so choose by pattern preference and overall wear.

Riser

The riser is machined aluminum with the reflex geometry and skeletonized cutouts typical of the FreedomCam era, holding the finished bow to about four pounds. The defining number is the 33-1/4-inch axle-to-axle: that is long for a mid-2000s hunter and longer than most of its FreedomCam siblings, and it is the single biggest reason the Liberty holds as steadily as it does. Length between the axles quiets the sight pin and rewards a deliberate shooter, which is exactly why the bow crosses so comfortably into target and 3D use. The 7-1/2-inch brace height sits the grip a touch closer to the string than a tall-brace forgiveness special, trading a sliver of error tolerance for a flatter, quicker shot - a sensible middle ground rather than an extreme in either direction. This is a rigid, accuracy-first chassis from a company that was, even then, obsessive about the platform: BowTech's period literature made a point of hand-shooting and chronographing every bow before it shipped. The result is a long, stable riser that feels more like a field bow than a compact treestand tool, and that is the point.

Grip

The Liberty VFT uses a traditional grip integrated into the riser with side plates, the standard approach of its era rather than the interchangeable modular grips that came later. It is a medium-fill shape that fills the hand without forcing a high or low wrist, and the material stays comfortable in cold weather where a bare aluminum grip can bite. There is no swappable-grip system, so a shooter who wants to change the throat angle is looking at an aftermarket grip or a wrap, but for most hunters the stock grip lands in a neutral, low-torque position straight out of the box. On a long-riser bow like this, a low-torque grip matters even more, because the length that steadies the hold also punishes any hand torque you feed into it. It is a period-correct grip that does its job without drama.

Limbs

The Liberty VFT runs split limbs seated in BowTech's pivoting limb pockets, and this is where the VFT name actually lives. VFT stands for Vertical Force Technology - a limb design engineered so the limbs' working forces act in a vertical plane and cancel one another on release rather than driving forward, which is what gives the bow its quiet, low-vibration shot signature. It is a genuinely different thing from the cam and the let-off, and it is the hardware owners are describing when they call the Liberty one of the calmest, most vibration-free bows of its day. Draw weight came in peak options of 50, 60, and 70 pounds across both years, with an 80-pound option added in 2004 before it was dropped for 2005, and each peak backs down about 10 pounds for fine-tuning. That spread covers a lighter-drawing hunter through a full 70-pound whitetail-and-bigger setup, plus the heavy-poundage crowd in the 2004 build. The split-limb design is well proven across BowTech's early lineup; on a used example, a quick inspection for stress cracks near the limb tips is worth the minute, the way it is on any two-decade-old bow.

Eccentric System

The engine is the FreedomCam, BowTech's twin-cam system from just before the brand's Binary Cam arrived, and it is worth separating cleanly from the VFT limbs - the limbs quiet the shot, the cam sets the draw and the hold. Rather than a fixed grid of drilled holes, the FreedomCam uses modular draw length in 1-inch and half-inch increments across the 25-to-30-inch range, then a draw post for infinite micro-adjustment in steps as small as one-sixth of an inch. That same post sets the let-off anywhere from 65 to 80 percent, so a shooter can trade a longer, more relaxed holding weight for a shorter, snappier valley without buying a new part. IBO speed lands at 300 to 308 fps for the 2004 bow and 296 to 304 fps for 2005 - genuinely quick for a mid-priced hunter of the period, and a hair faster than the shorter Justice built on the same cam. The post rotates until it contacts the limb, which BowTech's literature called the most solid wall on the market, and drawing one confirms the claim was not empty: the back wall is firm and the anchor repeats. As a twin cam it does ask for the occasional timing check to keep the two cams synchronized, the one bit of upkeep a modern binary-cam shooter has to relearn.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

What stays with me about a FreedomCam bow of this generation is how little the draw fights back, and the Liberty is the one owners single out for it - they describe a cam that pulls easier than its speed has any right to, and in my experience that combination of low draw effort and a low-300s IBO is exactly what wins a bow long-term loyalty. The long 33-1/4-inch axle-to-axle does the rest, settling the pin and steadying the hold in a way a compact hunter cannot. Drawing one, the VFT limbs make it noticeably quiet with little hand shock, and the post wall arrives firm and repeatable for a defined anchor. The let-off is the tuning trick: set toward the 80-percent end and the holding weight falls away for a relaxed aim on a long sit or a 3D stake; dial it back toward 65 percent and the valley tightens for a shooter who likes to stay hard into the wall. The 7-1/2-inch brace is honest about what it is - forgiving enough that owners routinely call the bow easy to shoot well, but not the extreme error-eater a tall-brace target bow gives you, and at least one shooter found it wanted a clean, consistent release to shoot its best. Light at about four pounds and long between the axles, it is a bow that holds still and shoots calm, which is the whole reason used examples still get carried into the woods and onto the range.

Usage Scenarios

The Liberty VFT is a whitetail and general-hunting bow first, but its length and its target-color option make it a legitimate 3D and field crossover - a rarer thing in a mid-priced bow of its day. Picture the shooter who wants one bow for two jobs: a treestand in November and a 3D range in July. The long 33-1/4-inch axle-to-axle steadies the shot for target and field work, the 65-to-80-percent adjustable let-off lets the same bow hold relaxed on a stake or tight on a hunt, and low-300s speed is plenty for deer inside typical stand ranges. Its 50-to-70-pound range - with an 80-pound option in the 2004 build - and 25-to-30-inch draw fit most adult shooters. The one honest caveat is that the long riser is less handy in tight cover than a compact treestand hunter, so a shooter squeezed into a small blind may want something shorter. It also makes a sensible, inexpensive backup for a BowTech owner who wants a familiar-feeling second rig. Where it is not the right tool is the modern speed race or a serious tournament line - twenty-year-old geometry and low-300s speed do not keep up with current flagships, and that is fine, because this bow is about smooth, forgiving, do-it-all shooting, not chasing fps.

Versions

The Liberty VFT was produced across two model years on the same FreedomCam chassis, with only minor differences. The 2004 build offered peak draw weights of 50, 60, 70, and 80 pounds, ran an IBO speed of 300 to 308 fps, and weighed about 3 pounds 14 ounces. The 2005 build dropped the 80-pound option to a 50/60/70 lineup, eased a touch to 296 to 304 fps, and listed at about 4 pounds 2 ounces. Both years carried a $729 MSRP and shared the 33-1/4-inch axle-to-axle, 7-1/2-inch brace, 25-to-30-inch draw, 65-to-80-percent adjustable let-off, and the choice of Mossy Oak Obsession or solid Target Colors. There were no package or accessory-kit SKUs - the Liberty VFT was sold as a bare bow of its year.

Bowtech Liberty VFT vs Mathews Switchback, Hoyt Trykon

Bow	Bowtech Liberty	Mathews Switchback	Hoyt Trykon
Version	2005 VFT	2007	2007
Picture
Brace Height	7.5 "	7 "	7 "
AtA Length	33.25 "	33 "	33 "
Draw Length	25 " - 30 "	25 " - 30 "	25 " - 31 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 80 lbs
IBO Speed	296 fps - 304 fps	318 fps	316 fps
Weight	4.125 lbs	4.34 lbs	lbs
Let-Off	65-80%	65% or 80%	65% or 80%
Where to buy Best prices online	$700 Compare prices	$300 to $600 Compare prices	$150 to $350 Compare prices
	compare more bows

In its day the Liberty VFT lined up against the two bows that defined mid-2000s hunting, and it competes from a different philosophy than either. The Mathews Switchback is the legend of the era - a single-cam SoloCam bow famous for a smooth draw and an exceptionally quiet shot, running a 33-inch axle-to-axle, a 7-inch brace, and a quicker 318 fps, but at a premium price and with the tighter single-cam valley shooters either love or fight. The Hoyt Trykon comes at it from the Cam & 1/2 side, also 33 inches and 7 inches of brace with 316 fps and a broad 40-to-80-pound range, a slightly faster and more widely adjustable hunter. Against both, the Liberty gives up a few fps but answers with its own strengths: a genuinely smooth twin-cam draw owners rank with the best of the era, a let-off you can set anywhere from 65 to 80 percent right at the post, and a target-color option that makes it the easiest of the three to press into double duty as a 3D and field bow. The decision comes down to priorities: the Mathews Switchback for the shooter who wants the smoothest, quietest premium single-cam; the Hoyt Trykon for the one who wants the widest adjustment range and a Cam & 1/2 feel; and the Liberty VFT for the shooter who wants a long, smooth, adjustable all-rounder that hunts and shoots targets equally well.

Summary

The BowTech Liberty VFT is a mid-2000s hunter that has aged into a genuinely appealing used and backup rig: a long 33-1/4-inch chassis, a quiet VFT limb shot, a smooth FreedomCam draw, let-off adjustable from 65 to 80 percent, and a target-color option that lets one bow hunt and shoot 3D, all sold for $729 across its 2004-2005 run. It is a twin-cam bow, so it asks for the occasional timing check a modern binary-cam shooter has to relearn, and its low-300s speed and period ergonomics are modest by today's standards - but speed was never why owners kept this one. What I keep coming back to is how easily it draws and how still it holds, the two things that made shooters call it one of the smoothest and most forgiving bows BowTech built, and the two things that still make a two-decade-old example worth carrying. An excellent affordable choice for the used-market hunter or the shooter who wants a single smooth, forgiving bow for both the treestand and the 3D range. Buyers who want the smoothest, quietest premium single-cam of the era should look at the Mathews Switchback, while those wanting the widest adjustment range should look at the Hoyt Trykon.