Youth Compound Bow Reviews

The Bottom Line:The Mathews Lift 33 is the do-everything member of the 2024 Lift platform - a 33-inch aluminum flagship that weighs like carbon, holds like a target bow, and shoots quieter than anything in its class. At $1,429 launch MSRP it sits at the top of this three-bow field and earns the spot with a real 310... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bowtech Justice is the value entry to a real Bowtech: a $1,099 launch-price hunting bow that trades flagship tuning hardware for proven binary-cam engineering and delivers the brand's signature quiet, low-vibration shot. It is not a speed bow - hunting-arrow speeds sit in the 250-to-275 fps range... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Phase4 29 launched at $1,199 as the more accessible, compact half of Mathews' 2023 flagship line - the everyman's flagship, $100 under its longer sibling. What that money buys is the quietest, deadest-in-hand shot Mathews had built to that point, wrapped in a maneuverable 29-inch frame that reads... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bowtech CP30 is a compact hunting bow that punches above its 30-inch length where it counts - steadiness, quiet, and shootability - and stays honest about where it doesn't, which is raw speed. At a $1,199 launch MSRP it delivers the full Bowtech tuning toolkit: press-free DeadLock cam adjustment... read full review

The Bottom Line: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... read full review

The Bottom Line: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... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Whitetail Legend Pro takes the smooth, value-minded Whitetail Legend platform and elevates it with the EKO cam, and the result is a bow that punches well above its $559.99 launch price. It backs up its up-to-339 fps IBO claim with a real 333 fps chronograph reading, holds a quiet 97.1 dB shot,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews V3X 33 is the steady, forgiving half of the 2022 V3X platform - a 33-inch flagship that holds like a target bow, shoots like a hunting bow, and whispers like nothing else in its class. At $1,299 launch MSRP it sits squarely in the flagship field and earns its place with a dead-solid hold,... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Mathews V3X 29 is the compact half of the 2022 V3X platform, and it fixes the one thing that divided shooters on its predecessor: the draw. At $1,199 launch MSRP it lands in the heart of the flagship class and earns the spot with a real 326 fps at 30 inches, one of the quietest shots on the market... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bowtech CP28 is a compact hunting bow that solves the short-bow problem instead of just accepting it. At a $1,199 launch MSRP it delivers the full Bowtech toolkit in the shortest DeadLock frame the brand makes: press-free cam tuning on the shooting line, a FlipDisc that swaps between a smooth 87%... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a $1,299 launch MSRP, the Bowtech Revolt XL is one of the few hunting bows that treats a 32- or 33-inch draw as a design target rather than an afterthought. Its 358 fps IBO is measured at a 33-inch draw, and the real-world numbers are honest, from the low-340s at that long draw down to the low-300s... read full review

The Bottom Line:At a launch MSRP of $1399 the Bowtech Revolt X80 is a specialist, and it plays that role better than any all-rounder could. It takes the trusted Revolt X chassis, adds higher-deflection limbs, the only Weighted Cams in the 2022 lineup, and DeadLock's press-free tuning, and turns a full 80 pounds into... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Bear Whitetail Legend is a study in doing one thing deliberately: it puts a smooth single cam and a firm Draw Stop into a complete ready-to-hunt package that launched at $479.99 in 2021 and $499.99 by 2022. The headline IBO is 320 fps, but the honest hunting-arrow numbers of 265-291 fps tell the... read full review

The Bottom Line:Hoyt has really hit a homeroom for shooters wanting a 40-inch axle-to-axle target bow. Everything about this, and the redesigned components was done to create the best, most accurate shooting platform possible. However, the price is borderline offensive with a bare bow price of $1899. To be fair, many... read full review

The Bottom Line:The 2020 Bowtech Revolt is a homerun, and deserves any attention it gets this year. The Deadlock Cam is a straight up game changer for shooters to have more ability in how their bow shoots. From a tuning perspective, everything is made easier, and gives shooters direct input without having to buy a bow... read full review

The Bottom Line:The Athens Summit 6 launched in 2020 at $824 for the base finish, rising to $874 across the standard finishes, with the 2021 edition moving up to the $949 to $999 range - direct-shop pricing for a hand-built, deeply configurable hunting bow. What the money buys is unusual for the tier: a 345 IBO that... read full review