Compound Bow Comparator

The Hoyt Havoc - and the HavocTec it became in 2002 - is a case study in why a bow outlives its spec sheet. On paper it is a low-300s-fps, roughly three-and-a-half-pound aluminum hunter with a mid-height grip and a menu of period cams; in the hand it is calm, quiet, forgiving, and easy to tune, which is why so many are still being shot two decades later. The defining upgrade is the TEC riser, whose bridged geometry routes vibration behind the hand and gives the bow a shot signature that punches well above its age. Long out of production, it now turns up used in roughly the $150-300 range depending on condition, which makes it one of the genuine bargains in a used Hoyt hunter - proven, capable to 70-80 pounds, and forgiving enough to learn on. In my experience the wide, unhurried valley is the trait that stays with you: it is a bow that rewards a deliberate shot rather than punishing a slightly imperfect one. It is an excellent choice for the budget-minded or new bowhunter who wants a dependable Hoyt-built whitetail rig without a flagship price, and it is particularly strong as a quiet, low-shock treestand bow at ordinary hunting range. Buyers prioritizing raw speed or a modern compact hunting geometry should also look at the Bowtech Patriot, while those who want the most forgiving, tall-brace platform of the era should consider the Mathews MQ32. 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...

• Forgiving, easy-tuning hunter - owners across the early-2000s consistently describe a bow that settles fast and holds a mark
• Quiet on the shot with little hand shock, helped by the bridged TEC riser routing vibration behind the grip
• Smooth draw across Hoyt's cam menu, finishing on the Cam & 1/2 hybrid with a wide, unhurried valley
• Genuinely affordable used today - a Hoyt-built hunter that shooters kept and hunted with for years

• 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 find the Cam & 1/2 back wall a touch spongy - a firm hook-and-lean into the wall tightens it, and cam timing/module setup accounts for most of the difference
• Long discontinued, so strings, cables and modules come from custom string shops rather than a dealer shelf - budget a fresh string set when buying one used

• 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