There are two choices, recurve or compound. Recurves are lighter and simpler, compounds are narrower and a little more complicated, more moving parts. In the recurve aspect, Excalibur is hands down the best choice, and of the Excalibur line, a Phoenix is a sweet bow, 175 lb pull, which a rope cocker cuts in half. They areas fast as 305 fps w/ light arrows. In the compound line, there are several choices, alot of people are serious fans of 10 pts.If your father needs a mechanical cocking device, 10 pts Acudraw is the best.Barnett and Horton also have a huge following of happy owners. All have great customer service departments, probably the best of any sporting goods companies out there. Best you can do is go to a shop that carries several and check them all out. I will say that Excalibur holds it's value very well. Try to shoot what you pick prior to purchase as some of the lower end models have terrible trigger pulls. All Excals have the same, 3-4 lbs. I am obviously sold on my two Excals, the second one is an E'max and is a monster, way over powered for deer. Don't let the fps be your deciding factor, as they all have plenty enough speed. You can get the Phoenix for about $380 if you shop around, but will need a few bucks in accessories. You will no doubt get several pages off of this one, so stand by!!! LOL Straight arrows to ya