Bowtech Sentinel Review

Editors' review

Longer bows forgive more - and the Sentinel is the longest bow BowTech built in its 2009 Center Pivot family. Where the 32-inch Admiral chases a compact hunting silhouette and the 34-inch Captain splits the difference, the Sentinel stretches to 363/4 inches of axle-to-axle length (the distance between the cam axles) and points squarely at the shooter who puts accuracy first. BowTech pitched it as an ideal hunting and 3D target bow and - unusual for a modern compound - one at home for release and finger shooters alike. It carries the same shock-killing Center Pivot riser, CenterTrac Binary Cam, and carbon-rod string stop that earned these bows a reputation for a dead, quiet shot. This review covers both catalog years, the 2009 Sentinel and the 2010 Sentinel FLX, which are the same bow with one genuine upgrade - the FLX's flexing cable guard, which we will come back to. If you want the family's forgiveness dialed to its longest, steadiest setting, this is the one to know.

Finish

BowTech dressed the Sentinel for both the woods and the range. Hardwoods Green HD was the standard hunting camo, joined by Black Ops as a blacked-out solid, plus APG HD, Mossy Oak Infinity, Optifade Open Country and Forest, and Next FLX for concealment. Because this bow leans toward competition as much as hunting, BowTech also offered its FireStorm competition colors - green, purple, and red - and the Testarossa scheme, black with red accents, for the archer who wanted a target rig that looked the part. On top of any of those, the optional InVelvet over-coating added a soft-touch armor layer that insulates the hand from cold aluminum, shrugs off DEET and solvents without scratching, and quiets incidental contact noise - a small thing that matters to a pre-dawn hunter gripping bare metal. Finish availability varied by dealer and year, so a used Sentinel today most often surfaces in Hardwoods Green or one of the solids, with the competition colors rarer and prized.

Riser

The Sentinel's character begins at the riser, and it is pure Center Pivot. Instead of meeting the riser at the tips, the split limbs pivot near the center of a deflexed, single-piece machined-aluminum riser, so the limb's pivot point sits behind the throat of the grip. That geometry is the mechanical reason these bows settle so quickly and give back so little: the release forces resolve behind your hand rather than snapping the riser forward. BowTech built this as its second-generation Center Pivot, combining the riser and the center-pivot structure into one forged-and-machined piece assembled to zero tolerance, so the joints do not develop slop over a season of shooting. To carry 363/4 inches of axle-to-axle length the riser runs long, and that length is the whole point - it is what plants the bow and steadies the pin. A machined shelf trough with a thumb groove brings the hand in close to the arrow to trim vertical torque, and a wide flanged shelf opens up the sight window. This is not a light, compact chassis; it is a long, stable one built to hold still.

Grip

The Sentinel wears BowTech's slim two-piece grip of the era - a low, straight, narrow profile that seats the web of the hand behind the pivot point. A narrow grip like this encourages a repeatable, low-torque hand position: set your hand once and the bow keeps finding the same spot draw after draw, which is half the reason a long bow like this aims so steadily. On InVelvet-equipped bows the soft-touch coating carries onto the grip area and takes the chill off the metal on cold mornings. Shooters with larger hands sometimes slip on aftermarket side plates for more fill, and the grip's flat back accepts them without fuss. Nothing here is exotic - the grip's job is to stay out of the way of the riser's balance, and it does.

Limbs

The Sentinel runs split limbs in the Center Pivot pockets, and BowTech offered it across an unusually broad spread of peak weights - 40, 50, 60, and 70 pounds. That 40-pound option is worth noting: it reaches lower than the sibling Captain's 50-pound floor, opening the Sentinel to lighter-framed and finger shooters and to a comfortable target draw without giving up the long, forgiving chassis. Each limb bolt backs the peak weight down roughly 10 pounds, so a 70-pound bow covers most adult hunting while a 50 or 60 suits a range of shooters, and changing peak weight is a matter of a few turns of the bolts. The Center Pivot models are self-pressing, so basic weight and tuning adjustments do not always demand a full bow press. Those split limbs feed the binary cams evenly and share their design with the Admiral and Captain of the same years - a limb layout with a long, reliable track record across BowTech's Center Pivot lineup. They are also what stand behind the 82-to-85 foot-pound kinetic-energy figures BowTech published across the two model years.

Eccentric System

At the heart of the Sentinel is the CenterTrac Binary Cam system. A binary cam ties the two cams to each other through split cables rather than to the limbs, so they slave together and self-correct; BowTech routed the power cables to either side of each cam to equalize tension and pull cam lean out of the picture, which is what gives these bows their flat nock travel and a tune that stays put. BowTech rated the 2009 Sentinel at 317 to 325 fps IBO (the industry-standard speed measured at 70 pounds, a 30-inch draw, and a 350-grain arrow) and lifted the 2010 FLX to 322 to 330 fps - honest speed for a long, forgiving hunting-and-target bow rather than a short speed rig. Let-off (the share of peak weight the cams shed at full draw) adjusts from 65 to 80 percent, so you can trade a longer, more forgiving valley for a lighter hold or tighten the wall to taste. That adjustment lives in the draw stop, and here is a real-world wrinkle: these bows ship with a single eccentrically drilled oval stop, and reading its position is how you set let-off. Swapping that oval for a set of four-sided aftermarket stops made dialing the same top-and-bottom stop far more repeatable in my experience - you know exactly which face you are on. Draw length spans 241/2 to 301/2 inches through the Rotating Mod System: loosen the module, rotate it, retighten - no new cam and no module to buy. The one thing to respect is that binary cams reward patient synchronization; set up right, the Sentinel tunes to a bullet hole and holds it.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

Drawing the Sentinel is a smooth affair by the standard of its day. The binary cam builds weight steadily without a hard spike and rolls toward a firm back wall; there is a slight bump some owners notice just before let-off and others do not, and on a long riser like this it is easy to miss. The valley behind the wall is forgiving enough that the string does not fight to creep forward, which suits the deliberate shooter this bow is built for. Then comes the part the Center Pivot family is known for. Drawing one of these the first time, what struck me was how little the riser wanted to move at the shot - the deflexed, center-pivot geometry keeps the recoil behind the hand, and owners describe the same thing again and again: dead in the hand, no ring, no jump, quiet enough to shoot without a stabilizer hanging off the front. The carbon-rod string stop, mounted inline with the front stabilizer bushing, catches the string's leftover energy and takes most of the residual noise with it; BowTech went as far as saying it removes the need for added string silencers. On a 363/4-inch bow all of that adds up to a shot that just sits there - the pin settles, the wall is solid, and the release is quiet and shock-free. It is exactly the calm, planted feel a target or 3D shooter wants to repeat a hundred times in an afternoon.

Usage Scenarios

The Sentinel is built for the shooter who values a steady hold over a short silhouette. Picture a 3D archer walking a club course on a Sunday morning: the 363/4-inch length settles the pin on a downhill 40-yarder and forgives a less-than-perfect release, and the quiet, dead shot keeps fatigue down over a long day of arrows. It is just as at home on an indoor spot line or a backyard block, where consistency is the whole game and the long riser rewards a clean, static aim - and, uncommon among modern compounds, it is genuinely finger-friendly for the traditional-leaning target shooter. As a hunting bow it shines in open country and from roomy blinds and elevated stands where length is not a liability: a Western spot-and-stalk, a field-edge whitetail sit, the shots where forgiveness earns its keep. With a 70-pound module and a mid-weight hunting arrow it carries plenty of energy for whitetail and, at sensible range, elk. And because the peak weight reaches down to 40 pounds, the same long chassis suits a smaller-framed or short-draw shooter or a lighter target setup without becoming a different bow. Where it is least at home is the tight treestand or a small box blind, where 363/4 inches is simply a lot of bow to work around.

Versions

The Sentinel shipped across two model years, and unlike some carry-overs the second year brought a real change. The 2009 Sentinel used a conventional Roller Guard for cable containment and was rated 317 to 325 fps IBO (82.1 foot-pounds of kinetic energy). For 2010 the bow became the Sentinel FLX and adopted BowTech's new FLX-Guard: a cable-containment guard that flexes inward as the bow is drawn, absorbing much of the cable-guard torque that would otherwise be transferred into the riser. The payoff is cleaner tuning under the high cable tension a long binary bow generates - and, on paper, a little more speed, with the FLX rated 322 to 330 fps IBO (84.65 foot-pounds). Everything else stayed put: the same 363/4-inch geometry, 7-inch brace, 241/2-to-301/2-inch draw range, the 40/50/60/70-pound module choices, and the same hunting and competition finishes with the optional InVelvet coating. Both years launched in BowTech's roughly $800 Center Pivot tier, alongside the Captain, and there were no package or draw-weight sub-SKUs beyond the module and finish choices. For a used buyer the takeaway is simple: a 2010 FLX is the more refined tune of the same bow, while a well-kept 2009 delivers the identical shooting character at the roller-guard price.

Bowtech Sentinel vs Hoyt Maxxis 35, Elite GT500

Bow	Bowtech Sentinel	Hoyt Maxxis 35	Elite GT500
Version	2010 FLX	2011 (XTR Cam)	2010 (Revolution Cam)
Picture
Brace Height	7 "	7 "	7.125 "
AtA Length	36.75 "	35 "	34.875 "
Draw Length	24.5 " - 30.5 "	27 " - 31 "	27 " - 31 "
Draw Weight	30 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 90 lbs	50 lbs - 90 lbs
IBO Speed	322 fps - 330 fps	318 fps	332 fps - 336 fps
Weight	4.2 lbs	4.2 lbs	4.1 lbs
Let-Off	65% - 80%	75%	80%
Where to buy Best prices online	Not available now. Please check later.	$485 Compare prices	Not available now. Please check later.
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Three long, forgiving crossovers from the same era make the natural cross-shop, and the Sentinel is the longest of the three. The Hoyt Maxxis 35 is the closest spec-twin in intent - 35 inches axle-to-axle on a 7-inch brace, rated 318 fps IBO with Hoyt's XTR cam and a 75-percent let-off, a bow Hoyt tuned for a forgiving, accurate hunting shot. Against it the Sentinel gives up draw-weight headroom - the Maxxis reaches to 80 pounds where the Sentinel tops out at 70 - but answers with nearly two more inches of axle-to-axle length and let-off you can adjust from 65 to 80 percent where the Maxxis is fixed at 75, so the Sentinel is the longer, more forgiving of the two and the Maxxis the higher-poundage hunter. The Elite GT500 is the character rival: Elite built its name on a smooth draw and a dead-in-hand shot, exactly the Sentinel's calling card, on a nearly identical 34.875-inch chassis with a 7.125-inch brace. Where the GT500 separates is speed - its Revolution cam is rated 332 to 346 fps IBO, meaningfully quicker than the Sentinel, at an 80-percent let-off. All three land around four pounds and all three reward a shooter who wants the bow to sit still. The decision comes down to priorities: the Sentinel for the longest, most forgiving hold and true finger-shooter friendliness, the Hoyt Maxxis 35 for Hoyt's proven forgiving-hunter tune, and the Elite GT500 for the same calm shot with more speed on tap.

Summary

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.