this year, i plan on buying a new 2008 model bow. This will be my last for a few years. I'm going with a completely open mind, and will shoot all of them that I can get to that are recommended here. No brand loyalty, just want a good shooting bow.

What I'm looking for.

A hunting bow. Decently forgiving, short, relatively fast. Debating between 60 and 70 lbs, depending on the model I chose.

Heres your chance guys, sell me a bow.

I absolutely love Mathews bows, I dont sell them, but they are just what I have shot for the last 6 years. I have shot the new hoyts and don't like the grip and I feel like mathews bows have better forgiveness. I would go and shoot the new mathews, hoyt, and bowtech lines and see which you prefer.

I've ordered an Elite GTO, just by looking at specs and going by other people's testaments. It should shoot pretty well. I'm not sure what you're into but I think this bow on 60# is going to be sufficient.

ross cardiac 31, bowtech general, diamond black ice, mathews dxt, bear truth2, doubt you'd go wrong with any of those, surely there are more, but those are the ones I'd go out of my way to try before I settled on something else... and frankly, 60# is as much bow as you need for anything in north america, hell, anything above 50# will do the job for that matter unless you are tryin to take game above 45 yds...

You should at least try the Bowtech Guardian, 101st & 82nd. Also, since yo seem to like Hotys, I suggest the Katera as well. And I guess I even say you should at least try a Mathews Drenalin and DXT.

If you're not opposed to buying a gently used bow, then look at a Bowtech Tribute. That is quite possibly the sweetest bow they have built in a long time. Too bad they discontinued it in '08. They replaced it with the General and I'm not a fan.

Good call on the Tribute, Mike... I'd also look at a new Allegiance. Believe it or not, I'm probably going to order another brand new one even though I'm getting an 82nd Airborne... I like the fact that it's almost as fast as the 101st, but is three inches shorter a-to-a and a good bit lighter, too. I won't know for sure yet until I get to do some side-by-side comparisons myself, but if I could only buy one, I think it'd have to be the 82nd. As it is though, I think the Ally still offers enough for me to make me want to get another one.

I think my next bow will be a Ross. Shoot a cardiac I'm sure you'll love it.

Unless you happen to be wrong (left handed)[:-]

What!? No more Hoyt!? [&:]

I'm selling my Allegiance in favor of the Black Ice. I've yet to really take a hard look at Ross, but they're nice shooting bows. If you're not interested in speed, I'd look hard at either the Black Ice or the Cardiac. You'll get decent speeds with your draw length and they'll be silky smooth to draw.

If speed is what you're after, the Allegiance is definitely a shooter. Elite, as mentioned by Matt, makes an excellent bow. We don't carrythem but I've shot several and all have been nice to shoot. Agressive cams, but no harsher than the Allegiance.

We'll see what they do next year, not in the market this year. Ross is really getting my attention after shooting the cardiac a few, okay a lot of times. But for the sake of that full back window hoyt decal, I hope hoyt makes a bow I can't resist[8D].

I've been told I need to go another 1/2" or 1" more in draw length. are these bows available in a 30.5 or 31"?