Compound Bow Reviews

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt LazerTec was the 2006 line's answer to a simple question: how much of the Hoyt shooting experience can you get without paying flagship money? The answer, then and now, is most of it. Built on the same Cam & 1/2 system and RizerShox and AlphaShox damping as its pricier stablemates but sold as... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Avenger earns its "sleeper" reputation honestly: it took Hoyt's TEC aluminum riser, XT1000 split limbs, and the smooth Cam & 1/2 system, wrapped them in period dealer pricing of around $599 in camo (target-color risers ran roughly a hundred more), and delivered a quiet, forgiving 309 fps IBO... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Vantage X7 is the original 2008 Vantage target bow - the shorter-brace, faster half of Hoyt's X7-and-X8 debut, built on a machined-aluminum TEC riser with XT1000 laminated limbs and the Cam & 1/2 Plus. Its headline is a 41-inch axle-to-axle platform that still rates 305 fps IBO, and its real-world... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Vantage X8 is the forgiveness-first half of the 2008 Vantage debut: a 41-inch, 8-inch-brace target bow on XT2000 limbs and the optimized Cam & 1/2 Plus, offered at roughly $919 US retail that year. It gives up a nominal 5 fps to its XT1000 twin the X7 and, in return, hangs steadier on the aim,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Avenger Plus was a one-year refinement done right: it kept everything that made the 2007-2008 Avenger the value "sleeper" of the Hoyt line - the TEC aluminum riser, XT1000 split limbs, quiet damping, and very wide fit range - and upgraded the cam to Cam & 1/2 Plus for a firmer, more defined... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $1,299 launch MSRP, the Bowtech SR350 is a flagship-tier hunting bow that delivers genuine 350-class speed without the punishing draw that usually comes with it - 342 fps with a light arrow in Performance, 300 fps with a real hunting shaft, and a dead-in-hand 96.9 dB shot that belies the velocity.... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a launch MSRP of 1,299 dollars in 2023, the SS34 was priced as a flagship, and it spends that money on comfort rather than chasing the chronograph. The published 331 fps IBO becomes about 315 fps of real-world speed on the comfort disc and climbs into the low 320s on performance, but speed was never... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Whitetail Legend Pro takes the smooth, value-minded Whitetail Legend platform and elevates it with the EKO cam, and the result is a bow that punches well above its $559.99 launch price. It backs up its up-to-339 fps IBO claim with a real 333 fps chronograph reading, holds a quiet 97.1 dB shot,... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $999.99 launch MSRP held across both 2022 and 2023, the Bear Refine EKO delivered a full flagship feature set - the EKO cam's four press-free let-off positions, the enhanced Vibration Reduction System, new KillerWave limb dampeners, the AlignLok riser level, and two included grips - on a long, forgiving... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews V3 31 is the steady, forgiving half of the 2021 V3 platform - a 31-inch flagship that holds like a target bow, shoots like a hunting bow, and whispers like nothing else in its class. At $1,199 launch MSRP it sits squarely in the flagship field and earns its place with a dead-solid hold, a... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Tempest E T launched at $1,249.99 in target colors as the indoor and spot member of Darton's 2021 Tempest E line, trading speed for a long 37.25-inch bar, a tall 7 5/16-inch brace, and the forgiving E-System roller - everything pointed at a still hold rather than a fast arrow. Its 310 to 315 fps... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Darton Cyclone SD solves a problem the industry mostly ignores: it gives short-draw shooters a real hunting bow instead of a youth rig or a bottomed-out adult cam. On the standard Cyclone's fast, forgiving 30-inch chassis it fits a dedicated 24-to-28-inch cam that keeps the efficiency a wide-range... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews V3X 33 is the steady, forgiving half of the 2022 V3X platform - a 33-inch flagship that holds like a target bow, shoots like a hunting bow, and whispers like nothing else in its class. At $1,299 launch MSRP it sits squarely in the flagship field and earns its place with a dead-solid hold,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Epic Extreme is not a bow you chase for modern refinement - it is one you appreciate for being quick and light decades before that combination was common. Across 2000 to 2002 it delivered a genuinely fast single-cam hunter, near 303 fps IBO, on a machined-aluminum riser that still comes in under... read full review

The Bottom Line:Launched for the 2021 model year at a $1,199 launch MSRP and carried unchanged into 2022, the Solution SS is the Super Smooth member of Bowtech's three-bow family - the one that trades about fourteen feet per second of IBO speed for the easiest draw the brand made that year. A smaller, rounder DeadLock... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews Atlas is a purpose-built answer to a question the industry ignored for years: what does a real flagship hunting bow look like for an archer with a 32 to 34 inch draw? At its $1,349 launch price it delivers a long 34.75 inch axle-to-axle chassis, a forgiving 7.75 inch brace height, and a published... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt REDWRX Carbon RX-5 Ultra, launched in 2021 at roughly $1,699, is the long-axle, maximum-forgiveness build of Hoyt's 2021 carbon platform - and the bow that quietly outshot its own spec sheet. Its 334 fps IBO was the slowest of the year's flagships on paper, yet it chronographed 328 fps and tied... read full review