The bowhunting crowd reminds me of the Golf crowd. Every year they put something on the magazine covers that every hunter MUST have........just like every golfer needs a new driver each year The only difference is 10 fps or 10 more yards off the tee. 99.9% of guys won't notice or even achieve either one.

I own a Bowtech Patriot.........I had a Fred Bear TRX before it. The TRX does everything anyone could ever need to kill a deer.....in fact it has killed 3 in 3 years.....1 by me and 2 by my brother. The Patriot is great too and I bought it because it gives me speed no other bow could.........at 27" draw I can shoot a decent weight arrow at 275 fps.......TRX was 250 fps with a lighter arrow. Other then that they both kill deer really well.

I almost fell into getting a new bow this year........went and shot THE bows everyone HAS to have this year and while they were both great bows neither one was better then my Patriot so much that I would think about upgrading.........in fact both bows had things about them I considered as a step down from my Patriot.

It's all a marketing game........of course no one NEEDS a new bow each year.......but getting new stuff is fun and if you have the money to spend then it's your choice. As far as bows pricing out the average Joe..........someone is buying them or they wouldn't be priced that way. Supply and demand........there is plenty of supply to meet everyone's demands. No matter what price range that may be.

There are VERY few things a bowhunter actually NEEDS when you think about it. All the other stuff is nice to have though