I bought a Merlin HQ35 toward the end of last season so I wasn' t looking to buy a 2003 bow this year, but I still went out and checked them out because I like looking at new toys. Here is my feelings on the 2003 offerings. Hoyt' s Cam 1/2 is very nice. It offers a great blend of speed and smoothness that is just what I look for in a hunting bow. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of split limbs (even though Hoyt' s are the best in the industry IMO) and I am very over the Tec riser. I have a short draw so the Patriot DC and its counterparts interested me. I drew both the Patriot DC and the Black Knight and it is obvious where that speed comes from. The weight stacks up immediately and remains throughout the draw cycle and then drops into an almost non-existent valley. While the additional speed is attractive, that would not be a good hunting bow for me. I prefer a smooth controlled draw and if you draw those bows you had better be prepared to shoot because if you need to let down you are likely to be busted. I would like to see BowTech come out with a Patriot next year that offers a more conservative cam. Granted you wouldn' t get the same speed, but with a smoother draw and longer valley I would definitely look into buying a Patriot DC. I haven' t had a chance to shoot the new Mathews bows, but since their innovations for this year haven' t been drastic they are most likely the same quiet, smooth, accurate bows that they have always been. I think they have been trying too hard the last two years to offer something " new" and have disappointed their following. It would be interesting to see what they could do with a hybrid system. I would love to take a look at the new Merlin bows, but I don' t have a dealer near me. The Omega system looks like a competitor to the Cam 1/2 and the Darton CPS system and with Merlin' s Fusion limbs would be very sweet. I have been told that the Rapid 2 cams are even smoother than the Rapid cam and offer several more FPS, (maybe an upgrade for my bow???). All in all some great new bows this year, but nothing that has my money burning a hole in my pocket.