I voted the Excursion, for a few reasons. It's got a good mix of a generous brace height, good ATA and good speed. Yeah, the Nova has a longer ATA, but unless he's gonna shoot fingers, it's almost too long, IMO...and slower. I will admit I don't have any experience w/ the Nova, but I do w/ the Excursion. Man alive, is that an awesome bow, especially for the money.

I am not a fan of Parker. We USED to see them at our shop, but we had so many problems w/ the bows themselves and the customer service that we said screw it. And Bear....well....I just don't really have anything good to say about them either. We see quite a few of those at the shop as well, and they are not only a PITA to work on, but they are made.....well.......cheap. Just my .02.