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...

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...

The Bear Legit earned its four-year run from 2021 through 2024 by answering one question cleanly: what is the least you can spend on a bow that fits a whole family and still shoots like a real hunting rig? At a $399.99 launch MSRP for the ready-to-hunt package, the answer was a 315 fps IBO platform that chronographs around 304 to 307 fps at the standard setup - within about ten feet per second of its claim - with a 14-to-30-inch draw and a 10-to-70-pound range that genuinely takes a shooter from the backyard to a whitetail stand on one bow. The riser is more rigid than the price suggests, the draw is smooth, and the ready-to-hunt kit is one of the more complete in the tier. The honest trade-offs are a firm 75-percent let-off with a short valley, composite draw modules that reward a dab of thread-locker, and a soft back wall that depends on keeping the cams in time - none of them dealbreakers, all of them worth knowing. What I keep coming back to is that the Legit spends its money where it counts, on the riser and the draw, and cuts corners where a diligent owner can quietly fix them. It is an excellent choice for the growing archer or the one-bow household that wants the most compact and affordable adjustable platform and does not mind staying engaged at the back wall; buyers who prioritize a more forgiving brace and an easier hold should look at the Diamond Edge 320, and those who need the widest range down to the smallest child should weigh the Diamond Infinite Edge Pro. Read full review...

• 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

• 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

• Wide 10-70 lb and 14-30 inch adjustment on one bow, all set with an Allen wrench and no bow press - a genuine one-bow platform for a growing archer or a whole household
• Ready-to-hunt kit arrives essentially shoot-ready: lighted four-pin sight, Whisker Biscuit rest, five-arrow quiver, stabilizer, and a pre-installed peep and D-loop
• Rigid machined-aluminum riser is a real step up from cheaper adjustable bows - it sits solid in the hand and tunes better than the price suggests
• Smooth draw cycle with a clean breakover and no hump, pulling to peak early and holding it across the stroke

• 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

• 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

• Soft, spongy back wall with no hard stop - syncing both draw stops and staying into back tension firms it up, so a timing check is worth doing on a new one
• Composite draw modules can vibrate loose over time - a dab of blue thread-locker on the module screws keeps them from walking out
• Firm 75 percent let-off keeps the valley short and creeps forward if you relax at anchor - good discipline for new archers, but flagship-hold shooters may want to try one first