Mathews No Cam HTR Review

Editors' review

Mathews built its name on aggressive, high-energy cams, so the No Cam HTR was a genuine plot twist: a flagship hunting bow with no cams at all. In place of eccentric cams it runs two circular, concentric wheels that keep the string the same distance from the axle's center of rotation through the entire draw. Owners quickly nicknamed it the "slow cam," and they were not wrong - this is not a speed bow. What it is instead is one of the most accurate and quiet hunting rigs of its era, a bow that trades fifteen to twenty feet per second for perfectly straight nock travel and a shot that dies in the hand. Launched in 2015 and carried unchanged into 2016, the HTR is built for the hunter who cares more about where the arrow lands than how fast it gets there. If you have ever wondered what Mathews could do when it stopped chasing the speed chart, this is the answer.

Finish

The No Cam HTR shipped in five finishes, enough to cover both the treestand and the tactical-minded buyer. Black Anthem is the solid-black option, understated and glare-free. Lost Camo and Lost Camo OT handle traditional woodland and open-terrain concealment. Black Tactical and Stone Tactical round out the line for shooters who prefer a muted, non-camo look that still reads as a working hunting bow rather than a target rig. The dip-and-cerakote-style coatings held up well to treestand and pack abuse in owner hands, with the tactical finishes in particular resisting the scuffs that show quickly on gloss. It is a sensible palette: no novelty patterns, just five ways to disappear into a stand or a truck bed.

Riser

The riser is where the No Cam's accuracy story really begins. Mathews used a less-reflexed geometry than its cam bows and stretched the riser to nearly thirty inches inside a 32-inch axle-to-axle frame, so the bow behaves on the shot like something noticeably longer and more forgiving. Just as important, the riser is stiff - owners doing bare-shaft and paper work repeatedly found that at full draw the string, arrow, and sight stayed in line with virtually no riser flex or cam lean to pull the shot off axis. That rigidity is what lets the concentric-wheel system deliver on its promise; a whippy riser would have undone the geometry. Twin Harmonic Stabilizers mount to bleed vibration out of the riser rather than the limbs alone. In my experience this is the kind of chassis that makes a mediocre shooter look better and a good shooter look excellent, because it simply does not fight you at the moment of release.

Grip

The HTR carries the slim Focus Grip, a narrow, low-torque panel with an engraved Mathews logo that sits the hand into a repeatable position shot after shot. Coming off a thicker grip it takes a little acclimation - the first dozen arrows feel unfamiliar before the hand learns the plane - but once it clicks, it promotes a consistent, non-torquing hold that pays off directly in downrange consistency. The panel is comfortable in cold weather and does not force a break in the wrist. One thing worth knowing: because the grip is a removable panel, a few owners have found it can work loose with hard field use, and a quick check of the mounting screws before the season keeps it seated. It is a grip built for accuracy first and hand-filling comfort second, which fits the bow's whole personality.

Limbs

The No Cam HTR uses shorter, more rigid quad limbs than the reflexed cam bows in the same lineup, a deliberate choice that supports the straight-tracking geometry rather than maximizing stored energy. Draw weight comes in the standard 50, 60, and 70-pound peaks, each adjustable down about ten pounds, which covers the great majority of adult hunting setups. The stiffer limbs contribute to the bow's dead-in-hand feel - there is less limb oscillation left over after the shot to buzz into the riser. Twin Harmonic dampers and stabilizers work with the limb design to quiet what little vibration remains. This is a proven parallel-limb layout that Mathews ran across its hunting line for years, so long-term durability is a known quantity rather than a gamble.

Eccentric System

This is the heart of the bow and the reason it exists. No Cam ST Technology replaces eccentric cams with two circular, concentric string tracks, so the string stays a constant distance from the center of rotation the whole way back. The practical consequences are large: there is nothing to time and nothing to sync, no cam lean to tune out, and the nock travels in a straight, level line from brace to full draw. That is the mechanical basis for the accuracy owners rave about. The cost is stored energy, and the numbers are honest about it - IBO is rated up to 330 fps at 65% let-off, 325 at 75%, and 321 at 85%, and in the real world with a hunting-weight arrow the bow chronographs closer to 303 fps at 70 pounds with a 385-grain shaft. Let-off is set by swappable RockMods in 65, 75, or 85% - the 85% module drops the holding weight low enough that the bow nearly parks itself at full draw, which is a real advantage when you are waiting out a buck. Drawing it back the first time, I understood the "slow cam" nickname instantly, but I also understood the trade: this system gives up speed to buy something most cam bows can't, which is effortless, drift-free aiming.

Draw Cycle/Shootability

If you only ever pull a No Cam HTR once, this is the section you will remember. The draw is remarkably even - the concentric wheels roll the weight up and hold it in a smooth, flat curve with no aggressive hump and no dump into the valley, just a clean pull into a firm, set back wall reminiscent of the Creed XS. There are no sticking points anywhere in the cycle, which is exactly why shooters with shoulder issues gravitate to it. At full draw the 85% module makes the hold feel light and unhurried. The shot is the other revelation: the HTR is about as dead as a bow gets, hopping gently forward in the hand with no discernible vibration and a noise signature that bench measurement put at 56.7 dBA with a hunting-weight arrow and 52.9 dBA with a heavy target shaft, even without a stabilizer - quiet enough that game is far less likely to jump the string. Paper-tuning is quick; several owners reported tearing bullet holes almost immediately. Shooting it back to back against a fast cam bow, what struck me was not what the HTR does loudly but what it refuses to do - it does not buzz, does not torque, and does not punish a slightly imperfect release.

Usage Scenarios

The No Cam HTR is, first and last, a whitetail and accuracy hunter's bow. Picture a treestand hunter easing to full draw as a buck steps into the lane at last light - the smooth pull doesn't yank the arm, the 85% let-off carries the wait, and the near-silent shot doesn't send the deer ducking. That is the scenario this bow was built for. It is equally at home in the hands of a hunter who shoots 3D and league targets in the off-season, because the straight nock travel and forgiving riser reward a deliberate, aim-driven style. Short-to-mid-range hunting of whitetail, hogs, and black bear is squarely in its wheelhouse, as is the shooter recovering from or managing a shoulder injury who needs a genuinely smooth 60 or 70-pound setup. Where it asks for honesty is open-country western hunting, where a flatter, faster arrow matters more than a dead-quiet shot - a speed-first buyer will feel the trajectory difference. For everyone else, the HTR's blend of silence and accuracy covers the vast majority of real hunting shots.

Mathews No Cam HTR vs Bowtech Prodigy, Elite Energy 32

Bow	Mathews No Cam HTR	Bowtech Prodigy	Elite Energy 32
Version	2016	2017	2016
Picture
Brace Height	6.625 "	7 "	7 "
AtA Length	32 "	32 "	31.75 "
Draw Length	24 " - 30 "	25 " - 30.5 "	26 " - 30 "
Draw Weight	40 lbs - 70 lbs	40 lbs - 80 lbs	30 lbs - 80 lbs
IBO Speed	321 fps - 330 fps	343 fps	293 fps - 335 fps
Weight	4.14 lbs	4.2 lbs	4.3 lbs
Let-Off	65%, 75%, 85%	80%	80%+
Where to buy Best prices online	$500 to $750 Compare prices	Not available now. Please check later.	$60 to $1100 Compare prices
	compare more bows

All three of these 2015 bows sold on shootability rather than raw speed, which makes them the honest cross-shop for a No Cam HTR buyer. The Bowtech Prodigy matches the HTR's 32-inch axle-to-axle length and its $1,099 launch MSRP, but takes the opposite philosophy on the draw: its PowerShift system lets the shooter dial the cam between Performance, Classic, and Comfort feels, and it is genuinely faster at 343 IBO. Where the HTR gives you one fixed, sublime draw and straight nock travel, the Prodigy gives you an adjustable draw and more speed in reserve. The Elite Energy 32 is the value play - same 32-inch length, the smooth-draw benchmark of its day, at a lower $899 launch price, though it uses a conventional single-cam rather than a no-cam system. Against both, the HTR's separators are its silence and its drift-free nock travel; neither rival is louder in any meaningful way, but neither quite matches the HTR's dead-in-hand shot. The decision comes down to priorities: the No Cam HTR for the hunter who wants the quietest, straightest-shooting rig of the three, the Bowtech Prodigy for the shooter who wants adjustable draw feel and extra speed, and the Elite Energy 32 for the buyer chasing a smooth draw at the lowest price.

Summary

The Mathews No Cam HTR launched in 2015 at $1,099 and carried into 2016 as one of the most distinctive hunting bows the brand ever made - a flagship that deliberately walked away from the speed race. Its numbers tell the story plainly: up to 330 fps IBO but closer to 303-310 fps with real hunting arrows, offset by straight, level nock travel, a firm back wall, and a shot that measures in the mid-50s dBA and dies in the hand. The 32-inch frame holds like a longer bow, the concentric-wheel draw is as smooth as anything in its class, and the three RockMod let-off options let a hunter tune the hold to the way they like to wait out an animal. What I keep coming back to is how little the HTR asks of the shooter - it does not fight your release, your grip, or your patience. It is an excellent bow for the accuracy-and-silence-first hunter, particularly strong in the treestand where a quiet, forgiving shot matters more than a flat trajectory, and it remains a smart used-market buy for that shooter today. Its compact 2016 sibling, the No Cam HTX, shrinks the same system to a 30-inch frame for tight-quarters hunters. Buyers who prioritize speed and an adjustable draw feel should also look at the Bowtech Prodigy, while those chasing a smooth draw at a lower price should consider the Elite Energy 32.