Compound Bow Comparator

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...

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• 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

• 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