RE: Why 3-4 bows are "must shoot" before buying?
A little more general than that, but if you shoot some Hoyt's, Mathews, and BowTech bows you should be able to find one that suits you. Of the dozen bows I shot my three favorite were the BowTech Patriot, the Mathews Outback, and the Hoyt Razortec. I wanted a fairly short bow for hunting from a tree stand, but didn't want to go too short and sacrifice too much stability.
Gordon