I have had my Hoyt Xtec for a couple of week and decided to post a little review of it. This is short and sweet. As you may know, I started the year with a Hoyt Vipertec, and after about a month, realized it was not the perfect bow for me this year. I did not like the short ATA of it all that well. It did shoot very well for me, but it wasn't all that comfortable for me.

In comes the Xtec. The "X" is longer, 35 1/2 ATA and feels much like my 02 Cybertec which it replaces this year. Hoyt utilized the same riser that they are using this season on the Ultratec. The only difference is the shorter XT1000 limbs instead of the XT2000 found on the Ultra. Finish on the riser is excellent. I honestly didn't find any specs or blems in it. I did find a couple on my Vipertec I owned.

New this season was the TRIAX limb pocket system. Though I couldn't see anything wrong with what I felt was the best pocket system in the industry before, they found a way to improve on the design. It is supposed to offer a more stable pocket by increasing the contact the pocket and the riser have with one another. It does its job well. No slop or play at all and as usual from Hoyt, great fit and finish.

Shooting: This bow flat out shoots. Very stable in my hands and very, very little vibration. I feel it has a tad more than the Vipertec, but nothing that is very noticable. As usual with the Hoyt lineup, its was also very quiet. In my hands, this bow is very accurate. Once I got a tune put in it, I was quickly able to put together very respectable 3" groups out at 45 yards. It was much easier to do for me with this bow than my Vipertec was. I think this is attributed to the longer riser and ATA of the bow.

Nitpicks: I honestly don't have any really. This bow fits me perfectly and shoots very well for me. I now know that I prefer a longer ATA bow. As with my last gripe, strings left a lot to be desired from Hoyt. In two weeks of hard shooting, the ATA increased by about 1/4".

I haven't chrono'd it yet, but I will say that I would still like to see more speed out of Hoyt. This bow is rated at 310fps. We've been here for a while and I think its time for Hoyt to make a better attempt to speed things up some. But I'm not really complaining, if it shoots like this thing does, I'll take 300fps with a smile.

My final setup: 2004 Hoyt Xtec 65lbs 28.5" draw
Xtreme Sniper sight
Trophy Taker Shakey Hunter rest
Sims Modular Stabilizer
Easton Axis St 400 @ 27" with a 100gr. point