Bowtech Sentinel Compound Bow

The BowTech Sentinel earned its reputation the quiet way: the longest bow in BowTech's 2009 Center Pivot family, a 363/4-inch axle-to-axle crossover that shoots as dead in the hand as anything of its era and stays honest whether it is pointed at a 3D target or a whitetail. Launched in BowTech's roughly $800 Center Pivot tier and refined for 2010 with the flexing FLX-Guard - which cleaned up the tune and nudged the IBO rating from 317-325 to 322-330 fps - it pairs a forgiving 7-inch brace with the CenterTrac Binary Cam for a smooth draw, a firm wall, and a shot you feel in the target more than in your grip. It asks a little patience at tuning, the way every binary bow of the period does, and it asks for more room than a compact treestand hunter. In my experience a long, steady bow like this is what turns a good afternoon of arrows into a consistent one, and years later that is still the Sentinel's real value on the used market. An excellent choice for the accuracy-first archer - the 3D and spot shooter, the open-country or stand hunter, the release-or-fingers traditionalist who wants forgiveness over a short silhouette. Buyers who want a slightly punchier forgiving hunter should look at the Hoyt Maxxis 35, those who want the same dead shot with more speed at the Elite GT500, and anyone needing a more compact rig at the shorter 34-inch Captain or 32-inch Admiral on this same platform... read full review