Earlier this year I decided that '04 would be a good time to upgrade from my 4 year old Browning. I was looking forward to trying out the Browning Eclipse & Mirage. But then they released their lineup on the web & I was a little bummed to see that they have dropped the Eclipse. They still have the Mirage, but rather than just settle on that one bow, I decided I would shop around a little after the first of the year and try several bows from several companies.

Then you all start talking about how nice the '04 Bowtechs are so I had to add them to my list to try. I really wanted to wait until most of the companies had released their new lineup before I tried any, but I had a little free time over the weekend so I made the trip to the "local" (50 miles away) Bowtech dealer. My plan was to just try them out, and then wait to try out some others when they come out and make a purchase in a couple months.

That was the plan. However that plan quickly changed as soon as I started shooting these new bows. New plan; might as well buy one of these now & enjoy it for a while, and if I find something I like better later I'll just trade this one in.

So I am now the proud owner of a very sweet shooting Bowtech Liberty. I had planned to shoot the Liberty & Pro 40 because, on paper, they are closer to the 36" ata of my current bow. I wasn't even going to try the others because I just thought they'd be way too short. However, the Pro 40 just seemed huge compared to my Browning. I'm sure it would make a great target bow, but it was just way too long for my style of hunting.

And since the bows feel and look longer than their actual ata, the Liberty and the Justice both seemed pretty close to the same size as my Browning. I shot them both several times and it wasn't easy to choose between the two. I'll save the reviewing to those with more experience & technical knowledge. But I will say that everything I've read here is right on the money.

I shot them both at 65 lbs. and it did feel a whole lot lighter than that. If the Liberty feels like you're pulling 10 lbs less, then the Justice felt like 15 lbs. less. I'm not sure why the difference, but the Justice was much easier to draw. I think my wife could have shot that bow set at 65 lbs. It wasn't an easy choice, but I finally went with the Liberty because its size was a little closer to what I'm used to shooting and it just felt a little more comfortable to me.

I got it all set up yesterday & shot for a couple hours. I took it out for an afternoon hunt yesterday but didn't see a thing. I can't wait to get home & shoot it again. If I can get out of here on time today I should have about 15 minutes of daylight left when I get home. Hmm...maybe I'll pick up some 500 watt halogen work lights on the way home.