ORIGINAL: GVDocHoliday
The only problem with backing the limbs down is that the bow won't operate at peak efficiency. It's commom knowledge that bow will operate at peak efficiency when the limbs are bottomed out. If mathews bows had pivoting and lock down limb pockets I would actually consider purchasing one. Until then however I'll stick with Hoyt and my new fondled Bowtech Liberty.
In my opinion, this is an extremely minor consideration on today's bows. In real shooting situations, I've never been able to detect any difference between one backed down and one shooting with the limbs bottomed out. In fact, on a couple bows I've owned, the manufacturer advised not having the limbs completely bottomed out. I think they recommended backing the bolts out at least 1/2 turn. If this effects effeciency, it appears to be minor and only possibly a concern to someone who cares about a couple feet per second, which I'm not one. None of my bows have been noticably louder when shooting them backed out.
Personally, I'm turned off by locking limb pockets. They make adjusting draw weight a real pain (I adjust mine several times each year). They add unwanted screws and parts that might fall out or fail. With a hunting bow, I want simplicity and the locking limb pockets don't qualify. They add parts, weight and expensive to a bow, and I cannot see any significant benefit.