Need help buying a bow

[mrpenguin]

I have spend a lot of time on the internet reading about different bows.
Every bow's description makes it seem as if it is the best bow ever made.

My biggest problem is the price .. I only have +- $350 for the bow, so 99% of all Mathews bows are out of the question.

The area I live in only has two archery stores and both have very limited stock, if i was able to hold every bow i am considering and maybe shoot and arrow or two with them then I would have no problem but I am not in the position to do that.

The bows I have been considering is the :

Reflex Excursion
PSE Triton 2004
Fred Bear Vapor 300
Alpine VX Series 2004


out of these 4 the only one in stock is the Fred bear and it feels great in my hands.

I have a 29' draw and I want a bow weight of 60 - 70 pounds.
I will use it for hunting and 3D shooting.

Out of these 4 bows what would you recommend is the better of these bows ? or is there something else on the market in the same price class as these bows that is much better ??

Now I know everybody says the right bow is the bow that feels right for you, but like I said there is not that many bows i can hold in my hands, I will most probably have to oder the bow off the internet, so i need all the advice I can get in making a decision, especially a decision over what make is better.
If that is to difficult to answer then just compare these 4 bows I have mentioned.


Thanks

[dwaasp]

ORIGINAL: mrpenguin
Now I know everybody says the right bow is the bow that feels right for you, but like I said there is not that many bows i can hold in my hands, I will most probably have to oder the bow off the internet, so i need all the advice I can get in making a decision, especially a decision over what make is better.
If that is to difficult to answer then just compare these 4 bows I have mentioned.
Thanks

If you can find where a club meets or shoots, some of these people will be buying or know someone who is buying a new bow & may wish to sell one of their older ones.
& there you may even get a chance to see how it shoots at it"™s best.

Older in bows, does not always mean slower or inferior, as I have found out lately.

Bows were once sold under the AMO standard, something like 60# 30"� 540gr, so if the bow you are looking at is rated so, the numbers will be much different than IBO of today.

E-bay is one place to look, but you could not get the feel there either.

[kingsbayhunter]

Are you wanting new or used? I picked up a split limb Jennings Airmaster 2000 in 60-70 with 75% let off and changeable cams for draw length, it is 35.5" axle to axle and weighs 3lbs. This bow is 2yrs old and shoots 282 IBO and is very quiet! New I think it was around $400-$500. Picked it up on ebay for $160. Cant find anything bad to say about it. Like I said its quiet and forgiving.
www.huntersfriend.com under bowspecs. This site is very helpful and has a wealth of info on bows and selection!

[XzyluM]

I'm thinking about selling my Martin Magnum bow. It has all the accessories: whisker biscuit, impact archery fiber optic sight, quiver, stablilizer. It's pretty much tuned as well. Bought it last year and has less than 250 shots on it. Looking to get $350-400 for it, let me know if you are interested.

[JPruiett]

I have a reflex buckskin. I love this bow. The cam and 1/2 really zings those arrows. Solid backwall just like on the XTec. The nice thing is that this bow is only 300 through bass pro or cabelas now, and I got mine for even cheaper on ebay.

[mjqood0]

I will also chime in to support the used bow theory. I was in the same place you were last year and while shopping around, I found my bow (Browning Ambush) used at a local dealer. A little research later I found out that the bow is rated 280 IBO and the draw and weight fit me. While it's not super fancy, I was able to pick up the bow, a half dozen XX-75 arrows, whisker biscuit, Quet Tune stabilizer and fiber optic sight, plus have it all tuned for around $250. Not too bad in my book. Plus, the bow looked brand new! I think it was something someone bought to try archery and didn't like it so they never used it. Not a scratch on it.

Looking around now, a similar Browning bow would cost around $250 - $300 new, and that would just get me the bow!

Plus, since I didn't put a lot into it right off the bat, the wife was happy. I'm upgrading many of the things on the bow (DropZone rest, MicroMatrix Sight and Scott Release) but these will all come with me when I decide to upgrade the bow.

Good luck with the search!

[midmich]

I also bought used this year off the net. It happened to be a '03 Pearson Freedom Pro. I did some research first & it sold new at $600. I got it, a drop away rest & fiber optic sight delivered for $350. I'm very happy with it.
Don't count a year or two old bow out.

[BGfisher]

How's $300 for a new 2003 McPherson SDS sound. Only thing is it's a 60 lb'er.

Another bow to consider is the Martin TomCat or Phantam. Of course you have to get there trwo at Gander Mountain as they are made just for Gander. They run right at $350 and $300 respectively.

Personall I would not even consider bows made by Bear Archery, or whatever they are calling themselves these days. The company is in financial troubles for a few years and I wonder how long they will be around. Decent bows, but what good is a Lifetime Warranty if the company isn't around to get the parts and service. Ditto my opinion of PSE. They need to get with the program and step up their quality standards--especially with the lower end bows. They need to do more than just change the camo color from year to year. Oh, and Browning is made by PSE. Need I say more.

If you are seriously looking at single cam bows then pay attention to cam-lean. Make sure that the bow you buy does not have any or very little cam-lean. This is not something you can do anything about if it's bad. Look at the bow you have in your hand at the time. Some are worse than others and some manufacturers are worse than others. If the idler wheel is off a bit you can always twist up one side of the cable yoke to square the wheel up. Not so with the cam end. There is no yoke to twist. Better yet, see what you can find in a dual cam bow.

Parker Buck Hunter outfitter might fall into this realm. It runs about $300 in kit form, meaning the whole package. Not a speed burner but a good value from a good company. One step up from that is the Parker Hunter Mag Outfitter, for about $439. Both these kits include 4 carbon arrows. The Hunter Mag is real decent.