Youth bow comparrow: Bear Apprentice 2 vs. Outbreak
 

I have 2 sons, age 10 and 8, for their birthdays I did some looking around and ended up burning up my Cabelas points and getting a Bear Apprentice 2 bow for them. Yes, yes, yes, I know. It won't work for two different kids of different sizes to shoot the same bow. Well, I was stubborn and tried to make it work. It didn't. The bow just happened to work better for the 8 year old, so I sold a rifle that I won and bought the Outbreak for the 10 year old. Now, once they are shooting each bow well, this is what I see:

Size: Apprentice 2 is quite a bit smaller and lighter, ie much better for the 8 year old, though it is obvious that this little bow packs a punch and flings a dang nice arrow. He's at a 21" draw and pulling about 30lbs but it looks/sounds faster than the Oubreak. It came with factory test stickers on it showing a 63# draw weight at 27"I would realistically say this bow will work until he's 16-17 y.o.

The Outbreak on the other hand is almost the exact size of any other "compact" bow. I could see it being a great starter bow, woman's bow, back up bow, teen-age through-the-college-years-bow etc. This model has a peak draw of 29" and 70#, though we are at 23" and 35#. It too is a straight shooter.

The Apprentice 2 is a bit quieter at this light draw weight, and has a better back-wall than the outbreak at this point, but a slightly harder roll-over of the cams to let off.

Both are ultra easy to work on/adjust.

The Apprentice 2 came supplied with a whisker biscuit, trophy ridge sights that are...ok. They aren't aluminum, so I could see potential breakage at some point. And a 4 arrow 2 piece quiver which is pretty slim and tucked in nicely to the bow. I didn't buy the outbreak package, so I bought the extras separate and upgraded the quiver and sights.

My boys shoot with our neighbor kids who have a Craze and a Riot, It would be almost impossible to judge which bow is better based on my observations. Each can hammer tight groups if that kid is shooting well. I would say the only difference is out at 20 yards, where the neighbor kids, being older and pulling a higher draw weight, have a flatter shooting arrow, but that is how it should be.

Overall, I think I ended up making a good decision, twice. If you've got a youngster, 9 or less, I'd give the nod to the Apprentice 2, lots of room for them to grow, and heck, keep it in great shape and the grandkids will be able to use it someday. If I was looking for 10-15 year old and up, or a gf, wife, etc, the outbreak would get the nod, though I dislike the handle, my kid is fine with it.