Compound Bow Reviews

The Bottom Line:The Force DS is the value story of PSE's 2026 lineup: the same FDS Cam System that powers the $1,799 carbon Mach 30 DS, dropped into a cast-aluminum bow at a $899 launch MSRP. It backs that up where it counts - roughly 340 fps on a chronograph at 70 lb and 30 inches with a 350 grain arrow, a realistic... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $999 bow-only launch MSRP, the 2026 Bowtech Ascend does something the brand has not done before - it puts a forged 6061 aluminum riser, metal limb pockets, and press-free DeadLock Lite cam tuning under $1,000. Its IBO rating is 340 fps, and the real-world numbers back it up: a 350-grain arrow chronographs... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Resilient solves a real gap in the short-draw market: at a $699.99 launch MSRP, it is the short-draw hunting bow that actually reaches full 70-pound adult hunting weight, while its closest rivals stop at 50 or 60. The numbers back the pitch - a 320 fps IBO rating that holds up to 314.8-321.2... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $1,499 launch MSRP, the 2026 Bowtech Alliance 33 is the rare bow that genuinely earns its keep across two seasons - a 33-inch, 4.25-pound platform built on the updated DeadLock cam that tunes left and right with an Allen key and no press, wrapped around a Comfort draw cycle that hands-on shooters... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear DeerMom is the women's flagship of Bear's 2026 lineup, launched October 2025 in collaboration with hunter Sarah Arrington and built around her input on what a women's hunting bow should be at the chassis level. Launch MSRP is $799.99 RTH, sold direct only at beararchery.com. The single configuration... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Frontier RTS arrives at $219.99 launch MSRP as the entry tier of Bear's 2026 youth lineup - a 26-inch axle-to-axle dual-cam bow with a 14-to-25-inch draw length range, 15-to-29-pound draw weight, 65 percent let-off, and a complete Ready-to-Shoot accessory bundle. The headline performance number... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Shootout is a budget crossover bow that does one job very well: it carries a young or new archer through the transition years on a single, affordable chassis. At a $279.99 launch MSRP it adjusts from a 14-inch draw and 20 pounds up to 28 inches and 50 pounds, rides a maneuverable 28-inch axle-to-axle... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2026 Bowtech Alliance answers a question hunters have asked for years - can one compact bow be both smooth and fast - by letting the shooter flip between the two with a disc rather than committing at the counter. At a $1,499.99 launch MSRP it delivers a 30.5-inch, 4.09-pound chassis carved out of... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Diamond Radian is the most youth-focused bow in the grow-with-me category and the one that best solves the problem of a very young beginner. At a $399.99 launch MSRP it undercuts the obvious alternatives while delivering the thing that actually matters at this tier: adult-grade aluminum hardware,... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $649.99 launch MSRP, the Pristine delivers something Bear's catalog had been missing - a purpose-built short-draw hunting bow for women and smaller-framed adults that arrives complete and ready to hunt rather than asking the shooter to fit a bow designed for someone else. The numbers that matter... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews ARC 30 is the 2026 refinement of a hunting platform Mathews has tuned for three model years - the same 6-inch brace, 3.99-pound mass, and up-to-348 fps IBO that the 29.5-inch Lift and Lift X carried before it, now on a 30-inch axle-to-axle frame. What is new is the SWX-2 cam with perimeter... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews ARC 34 is the long-axle half of the 2026 ARC platform, and it answers a different question than its compact sibling: how much stability can a hunting bow borrow from the target world without giving up the weight and speed a hunter needs. The answer is a 34-inch axle-to-axle aluminum bow that... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2026 PSE Sicario delivers on a hard promise: a carbon speed bow that actually shoots like a hunting bow. At $1,999 launch MSRP it asks flagship money, and it earns it with the numbers that matter - 350 to 353 fps real-world velocity at a hunting-weight setup, a class-leading 3.9-pound carbon package,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2026 PSE Sicario 35 is the forgiving half of the Sicario story - the bow that takes the carbon line's light weight and new FDS cam and wraps them in a longer, calmer, more aimable package. At $2,099 launch MSRP it sits a hundred dollars above the standard Sicario, and the premium buys a meaningfully... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Alpha AX-90 is Hoyt's 2026 Beast, and it earns the name honestly: an Alpha AX-3 chassis reinforced with steel limb hardware to hold a true 90-pound peak and pass a 1,500 dry-fire test at that weight, built with Cameron Hanes and Josh Bowmar for hunters who measure a bow by energy on target. At a... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2026 PSE Decree is the bow for the hunter who cares more about where the pin sits than about shaving the last ounce off the setup - and at $1,299 launch MSRP it delivers a flagship cam and an accuracy pedigree well under the price of the carbon bows it shares that cam with. The headline is the FDS... read full review

The Bottom Line:At $2,149 launch, the Carbon RX-10 is not trying to be the cheapest bow or the fastest - it is the carbon flagship for the hunter who has already decided carbon is what they want. The headline for 2026 is the XTS tuning system, which finally gives the platform press-free left/right and high/low correction... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Carbon RX-10 Ultra is the 2026 carbon flagship stretched to 33 1/2 inches for hunters who already know a longer bow aims better for them, at a $2,199 launch MSRP. Its headline for the year isn't speed or geometry - both carry over from the RX-9 Ultra - but XTS, Hoyt's first press-free tuning system,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Carbon RX-10 Ultra LD is the answer to a question tall archers have been asking for years: how to shoot a compact, quiet carbon hunting bow at a genuine 33-inch draw without switching to a target rig. Launched for 2026 at a $2,199 MSRP, it replaces the RX-9 as the carbon flagship and takes the... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Carbon RX-10 SD is Hoyt's answer to a real gap in the flagship market: a full carbon hunting bow built around a 23-27 inch draw and a 30-pound floor, so the shorter-draw shooter finally gets the same platform as everyone else instead of a compromised youth-adjacent rig. It carries the whole 2026... read full review