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: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 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:Launched for the 2025 model year at a $1,299 launch MSRP and carried unchanged into 2026, the Solution LS is Bowtech's answer for the hunter who wants real flagship tuning without flagship extras. It keeps the parts that matter for accuracy - the full DeadLock cam system you adjust with a wrench on the... read full review