Confused Newbie!
 

I need help! [:@]

I am going to get back into bowhunting. I have been out of it for like 10 years. I have been looking at every brand of bow on the internet and at shops. I shot a few but not all. I like the feel of the Matthews DXT but haven't really felt the Bowtech's and Hoyt's. I am willing to spend up to $800 for bare bow which leaves it open for about everything.

Which bow brand/model tends to be the quietest of the 3 brands?
Any suggestions that might help me decide?

All I know is that I want the smoothest and quietest bow. I will need a 29" draw/70 lbs. perferred.

Thanks for helping a newbie out!

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Most everyone on here is going to tell you to shoot them yourself and decide on your on, but just for some tips i think the Bowtech Generel is th new hot bow for your criteria, a completley silent shot, and you feel nothing whe you let the string go, just what ive herd though. BTW welcome:)

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I realize that in the end it comes down to personal preferrence but I am just looking for people's 2 cents. You have already helped me out :)

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

The general is definatly the most shock free and quietest bows I have ever shot, you feel nothing at the shot, and I do mean nothing. Also buck_master is right in saying that you need to get out there and shoot as many different models as possible and find the one that feels good to you. You will know when you find the right one, it will just fall into place perfectly. The most important thing is shoot what feels best for you, not what somebody "thinks" is the best bow made. All of the top brands will outshoot any of our abilities. Just get out there and find the one for YOU.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

all three make great bows...... Its up to what feels best for you... I shoot a Mathew Drenalin.... Felt the best for me, and I shot the best with it at the shops I bought it from.....

good luck on any of the three you pick, all three are great:)

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Anyone shot the new Matthews DXT, S2 and Drenaline? Same price at local shop.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

well im going to say Hoyt its never proved me wrong, but like the other guys are saying go out and try each bow the minimum your going to spend on a bow is 800 unless you go with PSE or another off brand bow !!! but pick the one that fits you the best !!!

good luck

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I have laid down my two cents . . . And I would go with Hoyt. Have owned two different Matthews, and have shot a bow tech and would not give up my Trykon for anything. My opinion is that Matthews is like the Red and Black Nike Jordans from the 80's. It is the name brand with the big names marketing them, but the others will get the job done as well if not better, for a lower price.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Good to hear from a Hoyt user. Thanks. Is the Hoyt pretty quiet? I found a Hoyt dealer and plan on checking them out this weekend.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Mathewsinc.com...and for Bowtech shooters archerytalk.com
I like Mathews not because they are the best, but because I shoot mine well and I can do all my tuning myself..All three are the top bows, IMO

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I can't wait for the local dealers to get all the 2008's in. I want to get a new bow soooooooo bad! :)Hope they get a Katera and General in by this weekend.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I shot both the general and katera as well as several others last week. Comparing the katera to the general is comparing apples to oranges. If you shoot one then immediately pick up the other and shoot it you'll know what I mean. Katera is fast and very nice but the General is in a league of it's own when it comes to shock or vibration which you mentioned was important to you, butI hated the draw cycle of the general so Ichose a smooth, quiet and fastPSE made bow. They don't get much support on this boardbut it's what felt good to me. By the way,my old bow was a hoyt.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

when picking between $800 bows, its an obvious win win, so you can also pick between bow shops too. Say you like a couple bows equally, but they aren't both sold in the same place. Then part of your decision could be the shop and the people at it. If one shop is set up better, or the people at it seem more knowledgeable and helpful, you'll likely get more out of buying a bow there, because of the future time you'll spend setting it up and maintaining it with that shop if needed.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I shot Hoyt and Mathews for several years, but after I shot my 1st Bowtech in 03 I have been hooked. They have the Binary cam technology which IMO is the most trouble free, best performing Cam system currently on the market. Shoot them yourself and you will know. One bit of advice be sure to shoot them set at Your draw length as that does affect how the Bow feels and shoots;)

Dan

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

You will not go wrong with any of the big manufacturers out there, all make great bows.

I prefer single cam bows, very easy to work on and maintain, withsolid reliable performance.Of the three you are looking at I'd go with the Mathews. The only other single cam bow that even comes close (IMO)are the Ross bows.

Good luck and be sure to post a picture of the new rig!

Welcome back to bow hunting.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Make sure that you shoot everything.....I was always a Hoyt guy until I shot the Bowtech General...The General is the smoothest and quitest bow I have ever shot. Make sure that you really look into Bowtech

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I just bought a new High Country Iron Mace and it is the first new bow i have ever bought. I have had a Bowtech Alligance - A mathews sq2 and liked them both but after shooting a Iron Mace there was no question i put it down after 15 shots and had the HCA dealer rig it out it shoots smooth and fast. Good luck there are lots of quality bows this one i just couldnt live without.


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RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Ishoot mathews very quiet on draw, no cable slide. The bow shoots good for me to, but you have to decide yourself. Go at it open minded an you will get the best bow for you. Make sure you do not get your draw length to long.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I was a Switchback owner until I shot the Allegiance. I gave up NOTHING in the switch.......and picked up speed.

I've since ordered an 82nd Airborne for my target bow and a Guardian for my son (he was shooting the switchback and we sold it before Christmas).

THE reason I/we shoot Bowtechs is..........like I said.....I give up NOTHING.....and I shoot a seriously fast bow. My Allegiance is a hunting machine. I've thought about the general......but I will wait another year to do that.

Shoot 'em all. Good luck.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I've never heard of Matthews, but I knowof acompany by the name of Mathews that makes a great bow. ;)I've owned bows from all three companies over the past 3 or 4 years. Actually, I still own a BowTech Constitution whichI enjoy shooting very muchin addition to my 2 Mathews bows. (Sold the Hoyt Trykon XL about 5 months after buying it though. Not my cup of tea.) If I'm being honest, none have reallyshot/feltas nice as theMathews. (Oh, and I've worked for a few shops, so I've shot countless others... Ross, Martin, PSE, Browning, Bear, Kodiak, HCA, Diamond... owned a Black Ice too... Sold it.)

Anyway, aside from getting out there and shooting them for yourself, I would suggest Googling "Norb Mullaney" and reading some of his "dynamic efficiency testing". In keeping away from the "fanning" and just putting out hard facts, Mathews has been his tested most efficient bow for the past severalyears. (Basically,that'sa ratio ofarrow speedagainst the draw force curve of the bow.) In simple terms, you get more speed out of a Mathews bow when compared to the difficulty or harshness of thedraw cyclethan any other compound bow testedon the planet. They are also consistently in the top 3 quietest bows tested annually in various resources. (Until a couple years ago, they were numberone pretty regularly.)

All told, you can find bows faster but they will have a much more harsh draw cycle. Youcan even find a couple bows thatmay bequieter, but none have the efficiency that Mathews does. Given that (and the fact thata quick browse of your local shop for prices will reveal several bows in the same, if not higher, price range) I don't see too many folks throughout the "overpriced" tag anymore. But, hey, to each his or herown.:)

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

First of all, I want to thank everyone for their help and thanks to this forum. I am glad I found it!:D

I shot a MATHEWS (with one "T"...lol...still a newbie) DXT and a Bowtech General today. Both were smooth and really nice. They didn't have a sight on them so I just spot shot. At least I got the feel for them. There is a difference in a solocam and dual cam when drawing back which you all know. I am used to a solocam so the Mathews felt a little more natural but that's not to say the Bowtech wouldn't after using it. I guess the Gaurdian is a better way of going over the General for speed.GMMAT was talking about the 82nd Airborne....man that sounds like a FAST bow!

I shot my buddies Fred Bear Instinct recentley. I haven't shot a bow let alone with a release in like 10 years and got 2 bulls eyes with 2 shots. Granted it was only 15 yards away but I was surprised with his $400 bow. I know the price of a bow doesn't make you shoot better, the shooter does but it makes me wonder how much I really need to spend.

Anyways, thank you all for input and keep it coming. I will eventual figure out this madness and be sure to post my choice whenever I make a decision.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I shot the general, airborns, dxt, and hoyts a week ago. I left with the general. With my 30" draw, the speed of the bows was not a valid point. With the general you feel NOTHING. the dxt was a nice shooter, but it was so short, at my draw length, the string was at a BIG angle. The one thing I liked about the DXT over the others was it was balanced perfectly without a stabilizer, and was very light. It has just the tiniest bit of vibration, but it wasnt bad by any means. I wasnt really impressed with the hoyts, and thats what I was shooting before I got the General. (2005 vtec). I felt like the differences between the 2008's and 2005's hoyts were not worth the expense. I felt they were noticeably heavier than the other bows.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Does anyone have insight on Diamond, Parker or Fred Bear? I am a knowledge sponge...give me water to soak up! :D

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Don't forget to look at the Diamond line of bows. I bought a Diamond Marquis and i LOVE IT!:D

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I shot the Diamond Marquis, By far the smoothest bow "I" have shot. I was considering buying it, but i have found a great deal on another bow.

I have herd the Black Ice has actually a smoother draw than the Marquis but the marquis is faster.

Here this may help some withBowtech/Diamond linehttp://www.huntingnet.com/forum/tm.aspx?m=2461220

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Several of the Parker models are nice. The Frontier surprised me how fast it was. My main complaint with themis the lack of a pivoting (or "floating") limb pocket. This means that if the limb bolts are turned out to back the max poundage down that the limbs come out of the pocket itself. This can (and usually does) lead to misalignment/tolerance issues as opposed to a limb pocket which actually pivots away from the riser when poundage adjustments are madeto stay in contact with the limb.

A few bows in the Diamond lineareverynice. (I'd steer you toward the Liberty, Black Ice, and Marquis.)I admit that I am a single cam fan more than others. (I find it easier to tune than anything else out there. Of course, I will admit that this may be because I have more years experience with them than newer systems such as the Binary & Hybrid.) As I stated in my last reply, I owned a Black Ice last year. (I ended up getting a deal on another bow I wanted more, so I soldthe Ice.) But, long story short, it was an incredibly smooth drawing and quiet/shock free bow. In my opinion, it was the closest thing to a "Mathews feel" I had in a non-Mathews bow. Except, of course, the grip. (The grip on the Ice was better than Mathews factory grip,IMO.)One thing that did disappoint me a bit was the speed. It was respectable (certainly faster than the Liberty) but I felt that for what the bow was it could have done more. I also personally felt that the way the string hooked up to the cam was a bit "cheesy" as well. (In the center at the end of a track instead of being routed to opposite sides of the cam. I know several bows have done this over the years... Usually with cables. But, I've never cared for it.) I have yet to shoot the Marquis, but those I know who have tell me it's similar to the Black Ice, but with noticeably more speed. If that's true, I would say it's certainly worth shooting along with the others you started with.

In the Bear line-up I have yet to shoot the Truth 2 and since that is likely what most will be pushing you to shoot if you go to look at them I can't comment. Last yearwe set up and sold a fair amount of the "lower end" Bears such as the Element and Instinct. The Element was the cheaper of the two. It has plastic limb pockets like the old (original) "Buckmaster" bows which I never really cared for. I tended to steer clear of it in favor of something with machined aluminum.Outside of that, the Instinct and Element shot very similar to one another. I would say "pretty decent for the price". The thing that never quite sat right with me about them (and the original Truth bow) is that they all seemed to have more forward "jump" on the shot than other bows with similar nearly parallel limb geometry. (It was actually a bit of an enigma to me as to why.) Had the original Truth been more "dead in the hand" on the shot I would have definitely seen it in a much better light. But, as it was, I viewed it as a bow I probably would not buy myself.

Of course, you are likely to hear 5 other opinions if you get 5 more replies. (And that's cool.) But, I know that we at the store would always compare notes after shooting "the new bows" and we were usually at least near the same page. So, I feel fairly confident that I'm at least not totally off my rocker.

Happy Shooting/Shopping!:D

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Not sure if there is a thread elsewhere, but can someone recommend a good drop away? I want one that will cradle the arrow and is quiet. Thanks.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I switched from shooting PSE to Hoyt and now I shoot Bowtech's and like others have already said, they are very quiet and shock free. ( Guardian-General)

There are faster bows out there than these 2 models, but speed is way over rated in my opinion.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Word! I shot the General. Very nice

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

gave my Mathews ICON to my son and was looking, shot drenalin and switchback. had pretty much been a mathew shooter. they were very nice. read about some of the bowtech and shot the General and walked out with it. draw is different with speed cams but i'm planning on getting the smooth cams when the dealer gets them in. i'm shooting better with this bow than my last. using diamond rest that has 3 brushes, can not recall it's name. by far the quietest bow i have ever shot. lots of comments at the range at work from others about how quiet it is.
one problem with the General is a portable bow press to carry on hunts here in Alaska, 300-400 miles to bow shop, from my caribou hunting area. i think i can make my old one work but limb angle is a problem. bow shop where i got it struggles getting it in their big bow press. they have the proper press on order.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

The rest is called the Hostage. Great Rest for full containment:D

Dan

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Like other have said try them all out and see what you like best. As far as quiet goes they are all very quiet. Now the smoothest thing goes that is open for debate. I know which feels the smoothest to me, but you will know as soon as you shoot them all. If you can try to go to a shop that carries them all that way you can shoot them side by side.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

I do make an attempt to try everything I can but I don't have the time to try everything ever made. I think I'm going to leave in a little bit and go to some shops.

Is there any diminishing returns when it comes to axle to axle length and draw length??? I have a 73" wingspan so I need a 29" draw length. If I got a short bow like a Mathews DXT which is just under 30", is there some mechanical problems with that? Should I go a little longer or worry more about brace height???

Thanks

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Shorter A to A bows give you a different string angle and thus can mess with your anchor. It boils down to what feels good to you;)

Dan

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

By anchor, do you just mean holding it back?

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

No, I'm talking about where you settle the string into your face, where the peep is in relation to your face/eye, etc. That all changes with different A to A bows. Some it doesn't seem to affect and others it does;)

Dan

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

O.K. thanks.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

It's all about being comfortable and having a solid repeatable anchor:D

Dan

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Shoot as many bows as you can, don't let someone push you into any certain brand.I had a mathews for a while ,it was a good bow, now I shoot a bowtech. Also a good bow , it was an '06 leftover got it at half price.Keep your eyes and ears open and you can find a good deal.

RE: Confused Newbie, Matthew, Bowtech or Hoyt
 

Anyone know if there is a big difference in the 2007's and 2008's Bowtech Guardians?