Compound Bow Reviews

The Bottom Line:The Bear Escalate is the mainline bow that got the flagship's cam. For a $779.99 launch MSRP - bow only, with a Ready-to-Hunt package also offered - the buyer gets Bear's EKO system with selectable 75-to-90-percent let-off, an honest 300-plus fps with hunting-weight arrows against a 339-fps IBO rating,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews V3 27 is a compact flagship that refuses the usual compromise - it delivers the silence, speed, and steady hold of a much larger bow in a 27-inch package built for tight country. At $1,199 launch MSRP it lands in the heart of the flagship class, and it earns the spot: a real 326 fps with... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews TRX 38 G2 is the Gen 2 refresh of the bow that anchored the middle of the TRX target ladder -- the same forgiving 38-inch platform, now driven by the C3X Crosscentric cam and carrying the new-for-2021 75% let-off mod the original 2018 bow never had. Launched at $1,849, it pairs a 329 fps... 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 is the fast one in Bowtech's three-bow family - and the one that shoots least like a speed bow is supposed to. It rates 346 fps IBO, chronographs in the low 310s at a realistic 60 pounds and 29 inches,... read full review

The Bottom Line:Launched for the 2021 model year at a $1,199 launch MSRP and carried through 2022 and 2023 - the only Solution to see three model years - the SD is Bowtech's answer for the short-draw archer who refuses to settle for a downsized bow. It packs full 50, 60, and 70-pound hunting weights into a compact 3.9-pound... read full review

The Bottom Line:Sold from 2021 through 2023 at a $1,199 launch MSRP, the Eva Shockey Gen 2 was Bowtech's answer to a long-standing gap: a women's-specific hunting bow that gives up none of the brand's flagship engineering. It is the Solution SD platform - DeadLock cams you tune with a wrench on the line, a FlipDisc... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bowtech Amplify is the rare budget bow that spends its engineering where a shooter actually feels it. At a $599 launch MSRP in 2021 and a $649 starting price in the 2026 lineup, it delivers a hard limb-stop back wall, an 85 percent hold that leaves only about ten and a half pounds in your hand at... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bowtech Carbon Zion did something rare in its 2021 debut and held it through 2025: it put a real carbon riser - the light, durable, corrosion-proof material usually locked behind $1,500-plus flagships - into a hunting bow that launched at $749.99 for the bare bow, with the fully-kitted Carbon Zion... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Ventum 30, launched at $1,199 for 2021, is the bow that quietly argues you do not need carbon to get the carbon-flagship feel. Built on the same all-new HBX binary cam, In-Line accessory system, XACT grip, and hunting finishes as the carbon REDWRX Carbon RX-5, it trades the hollow-carbon riser... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Ventum 33, launched at $1,199 for 2021, is the long, forgiving aluminum hunter of Hoyt's two-bow Ventum line - the one owners kept calling the best Hoyt they had shot in years. Built on the all-new HBX binary cam, the In-Line accessory system, the XACT grip, and the same hunting finishes as... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt REDWRX Carbon RX-5, launched at $1,699 for 2021, was the year Hoyt stopped refining the REDWRX formula and rebuilt its engine. The all-new HBX Cam - a Tri-Track binary that finally retired the old split-yoke layout - gave this compact 30-inch carbon hunter the one thing earlier RedWRX bows lacked:... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Eclipse, launched at roughly $1,099 in 2021 and carried over unchanged through 2024, answers a real frustration: it is a premier hunting bow built for the short-draw and smaller-framed hunter, not a full-size flagship shrunk down and cheapened. It pairs a machined TEC aluminum riser, zero-tolerance... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Torrex is one of the most capable bows you can buy for under $600 - a $599 bow-only ($699 ready-to-hunt) value hunter that borrows the X-Act grip and Cam & 1/2 system from Hoyt's carbon flagships and only gives up the things a hunter rarely misses: a machined riser and aluminum limb pockets.... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Torrex XT is the fast, refined half of Hoyt's value lineup - a $749 bow-only hunter that takes the bargain-flagship Torrex formula, drops the brace height an inch for 9 fps more on its 336 IBO rating, and adds the roller cable guard and Shock Pods dampers the base bow does without. It keeps... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Hoyt Torrex XT LD is the long-draw answer in Hoyt's value lineup - a $749 bow-only hunter that takes the Torrex XT's fast, refined chassis, fits a long-draw module for a 30-to-31-inch window, and opens the brace height back up to a forgiving 7 inches so the tall shooter gets clearance and margin... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Trace HC is a really great offering for shooters just getting started in the world of archery, or those without much money to spend on a new bow. On paper, the Trace HC is as competitive as they come, pretty easily able to size itself up against the best of the best in the archery world. There is... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $999.99 launch MSRP, the Bear Redemption EKO delivered a flagship's feature set - the EKO cam's four selectable let-off positions, an all-new Vibration Reduction System, the Align-Lok built-in level, and two included grips - in a maneuverable 31-inch aluminum package that undercut most flagships... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Whitetail Legend is a study in doing one thing deliberately: it puts a smooth single cam and a firm Draw Stop into a complete ready-to-hunt package that launched at $479.99 in 2021 and $499.99 by 2022. The headline IBO is 320 fps, but the honest hunting-arrow numbers of 265-291 fps tell the... read full review