RE: Looking for new bow, (Bowtech, Mathews or Hoyt)
Well, I just got back from the shop. I shot the General, the guardian, the allegience the Kateraand thePSE x-force (just because I could).The kid at the shop even gave me some of his hunting arrows and pulled out the chronograph.
General - Without a doubt the smoothest and queitest bow on the market. I did notice a little bit of jump and fall forward after the shot but a stabilizer took care of that. If I was not concerned with speed than this would be a no brainer, unbeleivable. 268fps. not exactly a barn burner. The draw cycle is smooth with a little hump at the end, not bad at all. Feels real steady as well. The weight is noticeable.
Guardian - Not as forgiving or smooth as the general, but definately faster 286fps. The draw cycle is a little rough and there is a pretty good jump after the shot, still not bad and probably smoother than most. It did not impress me as much as the general but it is considerably faster and still shoots nice.
Allegience - Fast and light with a pretty nice draw, not too harsh. It is a little jumpy after the shot and is similar to a high speed single cam. Not a bad bow and probably a great hunter.Being fast and lightthe shock has to go somewhere.
Katera- Nice shooting bow, great draw cycle very smooth and similar to asingle cam. I did notice the tuning fork feel that many of the others have talked about. I put on a stabilizer and it went away. This is a nice bow and was shooting in the low 300fps range. It is a little heavier than some and I'm not sure about the low brace height. I would recommend shooting one to anybody, it is agreat shooter and its pretty fast.
_Pse X-force - Wow, fast is all you can say. I have never shot anything like this before. It's a little on the harsh side but if speed is your thing than you can't beat it.
The local bow shop Bwana Archery in St. Paul, MN spent a good amount of time and was happy to let me shoot anything I was interested in. I came out of this with a better understanding of what the market currently has to offer. I am still going back and fourth on the speed question. If speed was not part of the equation than it would be the general hands down. I don't know what to think of the low brace height on the hoyt, that kind of leaves me with the guardian. I am going to shoot a Drenalin, Dxt, S etc. tomorrow and will let you guys know what I settle with. The new bows are nice but they still don't make my Q2 feel like old junk by any means.