Compound Bow Comparator

The Hoyt Raptor is one of the great value stories of Hoyt's magnesium era: built through 1998 (and, by owner accounts, from around 1996), it delivered a genuine Hoyt shooting experience - smooth, quiet, accurate - to the beginner and budget-minded hunter, and it did so well below the price of the flagship Enticer of the day, a real budget alternative to the top of Hoyt's line. Its die-cast magnesium riser, long forgiving axle-to-axle, and famously durable laminated Carbonite limbs are the reasons so many are still in the field decades later, usually needing nothing more than fresh strings. The configurability is what makes it worth hunting for today: with a menu of five limb-and-cam combinations, a buyer can find a Raptor tuned soft as a wheel bow or sharp as a cam bow, from 40-50 up to 60-70 pounds of draw. Its honest limitations are the ones any late-1990s bow carries - no factory speed rating and modest velocity by modern measures, cable serving that wants watching at the cam, and scarce replacement cams that make a complete, tunable example worth holding out for. What I keep coming back to is how planted it feels at anchor for a bow that cost so little new; that stability is the whole point. An excellent bow for the budget-minded or first-time hunter who wants real Hoyt accuracy and durability without flagship pricing, and a rewarding nostalgia or backup buy for anyone who shot one in the 1990s. Buyers prioritizing single-cam simplicity and forgiveness should also look at the Mathews MQ32, while those chasing speed and a dead-in-hand shot should consider the Bowtech Patriot. Read full review...

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The Bowtech Patriot matters because it is where Vertical Force Technology started, the platform that first turned Bowtech's cancel-the-recoil idea into a production hunting bow, and two decades on it still shoots soft in the hand for exactly that reason. From 2002 to 2005 it delivered IBO speeds from 312 up to 333 fps in single-cam trim and up to the 340 fps band as a Dually, with real chronograph numbers landing within about one percent of the claims, catalog pricing of $649 to $719 for the single cam and $749 for the Dually, and a compact 33.75-inch, 4-pound-1-ounce package. What I keep coming back to is the split personality: the single-cam InfinityCam is the quiet, smooth, forgiving version most owners loved, while the Dually is the fast, aggressive, short-valley version that rewards a shooter with settled form. An excellent used bow for the whitetail hunter who values a soft-shooting, recoil-cancelling feel and does not need modern conveniences, particularly in single-cam trim on a treestand. Buyers who rank an ultra-smooth draw above all else should also look at the Mathews Switchback, and speed-first shooters who want a firmer modern cam feel should weigh the Hoyt Trykon. Read full review...

• Smooth, quiet, accurate shooter that long-time owners still speak well of decades later
• Five limb-and-cam combinations let a buyer dial the character from soft wheel to aggressive cam
• Die-cast magnesium riser paired with laminated limbs that have proven famously hard to kill
• Genuine Hoyt build quality and accuracy at an entry, budget-minded price point

• Vertical Force Technology limbs cancel most hand shock and recoil, so the shot settles into the hand rather than kicking against it
• Single-cam InfinityCam version runs genuinely quiet and vibration-free once set up, rated among the calmest bows of its day
• Real-world chronograph speed lands within about one percent of the advertised IBO number, so the marketing speed is close to what you actually get
• Firm, no-creep back wall and repeatable accuracy, with owners stacking arrows at 20 yards and one taking an IBO class win

• Some owners have noted the cable serving wears quickly where it wraps the cam - a fresh serving or string at any pro shop handles it and is routine on a bow of this age
• As a discontinued late-1990s bow, replacement Carbonite cams and modules are scarce today - worth confirming a used example is complete and tunable before buying

• Short, narrow valley makes the higher-let-off and twin-cam setups feel touchy to hold at full draw; running the InfinityCam at its 80% let-off setting, or choosing the single cam over the Dually, softens the hold
• The twin-cam Dually needs accessory tuning to reach its quietest, repositioning the VibraBlocks and adding limb dampeners; the single-cam version is calmer straight out of the box
• Front-loaded, aggressive draw on the Dually takes some getting used to; shooters who want a smoother pull should pick the single-cam InfinityCam VFT