Compound Bow Comparator

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 a value-tier bow, it delivers a smooth 65-to-75-percent-let-off draw, a genuinely quiet and shock-free shot, and a planted 341/2-inch platform that holds steady on aim. Its 295 fps IBO is modest by design, because this was never a speed bow, but the real-world 257 fps a 27-inch shooter measured is honest hunting performance for deer and hogs at practical range. What keeps the LazerTec relevant two decades later is its wide 23-to-31.5-inch draw range and its reputation for holding tune, which make it one of the best-value ways onto a real Hoyt on the used market, where clean examples trade in the low-to-mid hundreds today. Buy one used, budget a fresh string and a quick tune, and you have a forgiving, quiet hunting bow that still flatters an average shooter. In my time with the Cam & 1/2 draw, what stuck was how relaxed it felt to settle the pin, because the bow does the hard part for you. It is an excellent choice for the value-minded hunter or the family that wants one adjustable bow to share, particularly strong as a quiet, forgiving treestand and 3D rig. Buyers who want maximum arrow speed and a more compact bow should look at the Hoyt Trykon, and those who prize the most forgiving brace height and single-cam simplicity should look at the Bowtech Tomkat. Read full review...

The Hoyt Trykon was Hoyt's mid-2000s flagship-tier hunting bow - the model that modernized the line around the hybrid Zephyr Cam & 1/2 - and today it is one of the best-reasoned used buys on the market for a hunter who wants real Hoyt engineering without a new-bow budget. The core numbers hold up: a 316 fps IBO from the Zephyr cam, a forgiving 33 inch axle-to-axle and 7 inch brace, XT500 limbs on a machined riser, a wide 40-80 lb and 25-31 inch fit range, and buyer-selectable 65% or 80% let-off. Real-world speed lands where the setup dictates - a tuned example chronographed 297 fps with a 338 grain arrow at a modest 65 lb, 28.5 inch setup - and the accuracy is treestand-lethal out to 40 yards with nothing exotic bolted on. Hoyt never published a mass weight or a launch price for the Trykon, and the honest characterization is a bow that runs heavier and livelier at the shot than a modern rig - both of which an experienced owner turns to advantage, the mass for a steadier hold and the liveliness dispatched by a low-cost string and damping kit. In my experience the Trykon converts skeptics the moment they shoot a tuned one: the Zephyr draw is the whole appeal, and it still holds up. This is an excellent bow for the value-minded whitetail hunter who wants a stable, forgiving, genuinely fast used chassis and does not mind a tune and a damping kit to bring it current, particularly strong from a treestand where its mass and geometry pay off. Buyers who rank absolute silence and single-cam simplicity first should also look at the Mathews Switchback, and those chasing the most raw speed of the era should weigh the Bowtech Allegiance. Read full review...

No editors' review yet.
Please see user reviews below.

• Smooth, easy Cam & 1/2 draw cycle that builds to peak and rolls over the wall without a fight, staying manageable even at a 70-pound draw
• Dead-quiet, soft shot with no felt hand shock, thanks to the RizerShox and AlphaShox dampers that settle the bow before you notice the arrow is gone
• Planted, steady balance on aim that makes an average shooter look better than the price tag suggests
• Value that outshoots its cost, delivering the shooting manners of a far pricier bow in an affordable mid-tier package

• The hybrid Zephyr Cam & 1/2 draws with a rounded, forgiving pull that made the Trykon Hoyt's smooth-but-fast hunting choice of the mid-2000s
• Buyer-selectable 65% or 80% let-off by module lets a shooter set the hold to match either speed-tuned or long-stand-comfort priorities
• Machined riser and XT500 limbs give the platform a stiff, durable chassis that owners still hunt hard with 15-plus years on
• Wide 25-31 inch draw and 40-80 lb range make one used chassis fit almost any adult hunter without a proprietary module hunt
• Responds strongly to a modern string set and a damping kit - a low-cost path to a quiet, dead-in-hand shot on a used bow

• As a discontinued 2006 model it comes used, so budget a fresh string and cable set and a quick cam-timing check at a pro shop before you hunt it

• Runs heavier in the hand than a modern hunting bow - many owners actually prefer that mass for a steadier hold on aim, but shooters counting ounces for long mobile hunts may want to weigh it in person first
• Stock 2006-07 damping is dated - an aftermarket string-silencer and limb-dampener kit takes the vibration and noise out and is the first upgrade most owners make
• Draw-length changes are a bow-press job on the Z-module string set, not a tool-free rotating module - dial in your exact draw at a shop before the season