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...

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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

• 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

• 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