Compound Bow Comparator

The Mathews Prima is a genuine flagship-grade hunting bow scaled for short-draw archers, not a starter bow with a women's badge - the same Crosscentric cam, bridged riser, and 3D Damping as Mathews' top hunters, in a 30-inch, 3.93-pound frame that drops to a 21.5-inch draw. At a $1,099 launch MSRP it sits in premium-bow territory, and it earns the position: up to 321 fps at its 27.5-inch peak, a firm cable-stop back wall, a low-70s-dB shot, and near-zero hand shock. What keeps drawing me back to it is how little the reduced Crosscentric cam fights on the way to that solid wall, and how long you can hold it at full draw before fatigue sets in. It fits small-frame women, teenagers in transition, and any short-draw shooter who has been making do with a bow scaled for someone else, and the 40-, 50-, and 60-pound peaks mean it grows with a shooter rather than capping them. An excellent bow for the short-draw hunter who wants real flagship performance and quietness in a compact frame, and is particularly strong as a treestand and ground-blind bow where one silent shot decides the day. Buyers prioritizing maximum forgiveness and the easiest tuning should also look at the Bowtech Eva Shockey Gen 2, while those wanting the lightest possible carry weight should consider the Hoyt Eclipse. Read full review...

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 that lets the bow grow from a smooth Comfort draw to a faster Performance setting, locked-down limb pockets that hold tune through a season of hard use - scaled to 40-to-60-pound peak limbs and a 23.5-to-28.5-inch draw. In the real world it shoots in the mid-240s fps at a typical 50-pound, 28.5-inch hunting setup, quiet and dead in the hand, with a 7-inch brace that forgives an imperfect release better than its faster siblings. Having drawn the Comfort setting at 50 pounds, what stays with me is how little it asks of the shooter for what it gives back - the smoothness is the kind usually reserved for a brand's top hunting rigs. The only recurring nitpick, a faint post-shot twang some owners notice over time, is the sort of thing a stabilizer and the dampeners most hunters already run quietly erase. An excellent bow for the short-draw or women's hunter who refuses to be handed entry-level gear and wants real flagship tuning in a forgiving, compact package. Buyers who want the newest and most compact version of this lineage should also look at the Bowtech Eva Gen3. Read full review...

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 machined limb pockets, and flagship Limb Shox and Shock Pod damping with a feathery 3.7-pound mass and a purpose-designed Eclipse Cam that earns a 314 fps rating at 60 pounds and 28 inches. In my time behind it, the part that wins me over is the contrast - a fast short-draw bow that draws smooth instead of stiff, settles onto a solid back wall, holds light and steady at full draw, and shoots quiet and accurate right out of a basic setup. At a real 50-pound, 24.5-inch hunting setup it still pushes a 350-grain arrow to 270 fps and a heavier 400-grain hunting shaft into the 240s - plenty for an ethical whitetail or hog inside normal bow range. Its one honest boundary is the ceiling: by design it stops at a 28-inch draw and 60 pounds, so it is built for a specific hunter rather than everyone. An excellent bow for the woman or smaller-framed hunter who wants a light, no-compromise premier rig she can hold all afternoon and trust on game. Buyers who prize Mathews-grade silence and an even shorter draw at the same price should also look at the Mathews Prima, while those who want the widest grow-with-you adjustability and a complete ready-to-hunt kit for far less should look at the Bear Legit. Read full review...

• Featherweight and compact at 3.93 lb on a 30-inch axle-to-axle frame, easy to carry all day and swing around in a tight treestand
• Smooth, unaggressive draw from the reduced-size Crosscentric cam - flagship-grade build with a gentler pull than the full-size hunting cams
• Generous valley and a firm cable-stop back wall at 80% let-off, so it holds easily at full draw and lets you practice longer without fatigue
• Quiet in hand with minimal shock - measured in the low-70s dB with hunting-weight arrows, settling dead the moment the shot breaks
• Draw length reaches down to 21.5 inches with a 40-pound peak option, so it genuinely fits small-frame and youth short-draw archers most bows leave out

• Carries the full Solution SD flagship platform - same DeadLock cams, limbs, and riser - scaled to women's draw weights rather than stripped of features
• FlipDisc toggles a smooth Comfort draw or a faster Performance setting, adding seven feet per second without changing limbs or buying a new bow
• DeadLock cam tuning corrects a left or right tear with an Allen key right on the shooting line, no bow press required
• Holds speed at short draw lengths where many bows fall off, posting mid-240s fps at just 50 lb and a 28.5-inch draw
• Proven through a full season of hard hunting with no string changes or repairs

• A true premier bow, not a detuned youth model - machined TEC aluminum riser, zero-tolerance machined limb pockets, and the same Limb Shox damping Hoyt puts on its flagships
• Genuinely light at 3.7 pounds, so it stays easy to hold steady at full draw through a long treestand or ground-blind sit
• The Eclipse Cam draws smooth and rolls over to a solid back wall - the speed never turns it into a stiff, snappy pull
• Narrowed Xact grip wraps cleanly in smaller hands and the bow balances and shoots accurately right out of a basic setup
• Quiet, low-vibration shot from the Shock Pods, Limb Shox, and StealthShot string stop working together

• The Engage grip is a rounded profile some shooters find polarizing - those who prefer a flatter shelf for torque control can pull the grip and shoot off Mathews' side plates
• Some owners have noted a slightly top-heavy feel at full draw - a short rear stabilizer or back bar evens the balance out
• Peak weight (40/50/60) is set by the limbs rather than a module, so moving up a class later means a limb swap - pick the peak you will grow into, as many start at 40 and buy 50-pound limbs to build up

• Some owners have noted a slight post-shot twang and it is not the quietest bow bare - the stabilizer and dampeners most hunters already run settle it
• Out-of-box mass sits nearer 4.2 to 4.4 lb on a scale than the 3.9 lb spec - pulling the stock Orbit dampeners trims it for those counting every ounce on long packs

• Tops out at a 28-inch draw and 60-pound peak by design - a longer-draw or heavy-kinetic-energy hunter falls outside its window and should look to a full-size Hoyt like the Ventum
• Some owners have noted Hoyt routed the cables over a slide rather than a roller guard - it works fine in practice, but flagship shooters used to a roller may want to handle one first