I have been lurking here for a few days, taking in a LOT of information and asking a few questions to help me get a feel for what sort of bow I was looking for. I also read all the great info at huntersfriend.com, and as a newbie it came quite useful to me.

I finally took the plunge today.. walked into a local sports shop and expressed my interests in several bows, all of which they had in stock. I had the chance to fire several bows, including the Tomkat, Diamond Rapture, Diamond Triumph, and a Parker bow (model I cannot remember).

Of the four, the Tomkat felt AMAZING. It was absolutely quiet, and had no recoil that I noticed. It was equipped with 28" draw and 70 pound, so we had to set it to 29" for me and I quickly realized how much of a wimp I am . It was interesting to me that it had NO stabilizer, just the factory bowtech vibration equipment (string leeches and limb dampeners) yet still shot SO smoothly.

Fortunately, we were able to tune it down to 60-65 pounds, and I can draw it... barely. I can hold the draw no problem, as it has a very easy 80% letoff with a solid wall at the end of the draw.

I shot probably 10-15 arrows with this bow, and despite this essentially being my first time EVER shooting a modern bow, I had fairly consistent groupings (Granted, it was probably 20 yards).

I just have to say so far, so good. I swapped the stock rest for a whisker biscuit, kept the stock sight. Picked up 6 CX300 arrows that were cut to size and matched to the bow's weight, 100-grain practice points, and a nice hard case. Got a hurricane mech. release (cant recall the model right now, low end.. kinda cheap).

I have a few concerns though. The guy sold me the demo bow on the shelf, perhaps this is why he was pushing the default limbs so hard? I wonder if I should have INSISTED on a bow straight out of the box - how do most people buy new bows?

Other thing that sucked is the Tomkat only comes as a package, and the rest SUCKS and the sight is marginal. The Diamond Rapture/Triumph is a better deal per se, but I just LOVED how the Tomkat feels when I shoot it, better than either diamond bow. All in all, I dropped about $650 today, so I am not tickled with the price but I am rationalizing to myself that I will have it forever, its a good bow, etc.

Going to go get some practice in tomorrow if the weather holds up - I will post a full report