Bow test, what should I be looking for?

[TG78]

I am heading out to Sportsmans Warehouse in Thornton, CO today to try out some bows but had a few questions. I have only shot a few times and am a little nervous about buying the wrong bow since I don't really know what to look for as far as fit/feel. For example I know a single cam diamond is going to feel smoother than a double cam bowtech which might give me an unnecessary bias so should I only look at singles and then when I shoot I don't know how to recognize what could be a potential problem. I tend to over analyze things and want to keep it as simple as I can. Not to mention I am a little hesitant in trusting the archery counter at a big box like Sportsmans but their selection is just so darned good. It is a lot of money to spend and I just don't want to make a bad purchase being a rookie. I have a feeling that even if one does not stand out and I bought based on asthetics then we would mesh if I treated her right after a little practice, but I still would appreciate any guidance. Thanks Travis

[TexasBowHunter]

COMFORT!!!! 1st then what ever you have in your mind that you think is important to you!!!

[WVSPORTSMAN]

shoot several to get an idea what feels good, like: heavy/ light bows. short/ long, brace height long /short, cams single/ bi cams. then you will start to notice what you like more then others

[Wiaxle]

Ask yourself what you are willing to sacrifice or compromise on?

Speed a requirement? then you might be looking at a little harsher drawing/shooting bow (I said might for any nit-pickers out there )

A shorter bow could be a little less stable than a longer axle-axle bow

And so forth.

Decide on what you want and then judge the bow accordingly.

If you do not have any preconceived notions on what you want, then buy the bow that feels the best to you.

My bow shopping this winter/spring included a variety of bows, the one I ended up with wasn't the fastest/shortest/heaviest/longest/slowest/etc.....but it was the one that met the most of my criteria.

[Roskoe]

In my limited experience, it seems like solo cam bows are a little less complicated to tune. When a binary cam bow is all tuned and dialed in; however, that is my personal preference. I also have played around with shorter and lighter; and have found longer bows to be more forgiving. In the field under hunting conditions, this can become a critical feature of a bow. 34 and 36 inch bows are really not too bad to manuever in tight places.

In terms of the tradeoff between smoother and slower, or harsher and faster; I like smoother and slower. And even if I could shoot the harsher speed bows as consistently; I still wouldn't use the light arrows necessary to really bring out their trajectory advantage. I'm going to use a range finder for any shot over 30 yards regardless - and, once I know the range, I can hit a spot with a 250 fps bow just as well with a 311 fps bow.

And, finally, some bows just sing for certain people. For me, that bow is the Hoyt Vectrix XL. My buddy shot it and it's just another bow to him. I have the same opinion of his Switchback XT. You may have to shoot a lot of bows to determine this - and you may wind up testing some that are not tuned properly or otherwise won't shoot up to their potential; in which case you may wind up overlooking a bow that really could have been your "Stradavarious" (sp).