Finally shot a few bows today!
06-29-2009, 08:06 PM
#1
Nontypical Buck
Thread Starter
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Allegany County Maryland
Posts: 1,977
Finally shot a few bows today!
Hey all its been awhile since I have been on but I am starting to get back into the swing of things so i figured I would share my OPINION onthe six bows I shot today. I went on a little road trip and on the return swung into the local bow shop in hopes to get an idea of what bow I will be hunting with this year?? I have been putting off buying a new one for the past three(3) yrs, figure its about time?!?! I went in with an open mind, i was not bias to any certain brand of bow!!
So here goes in the order I shot them......all set up with a WB and a string loop thats it....
1. Hoyt AlphaMax 32~~ Initial thought was WOW this thing is SOOOOOOO much lighter then any hoyt I have ever held in my hand and a good balance. It felt good in my hand. The draw was awesome, smooth very easy break at the valley. It did however have a spongy wall to it that allowed me to creep a good bit at full draw. The bow had a slight vibration and slght thunk sound to it, but overall I would rate this bow a solid8 out of 10!!! I was highly impressed, in my head I was thinking these other bows better perform to be able to beat this one!!
2. G5 Quest~~ Initial thought was slightly top heavy, bad riser shelf design almost hurt to draw but the bow looked somewhat nice. It felt basically horrible in my hand. The draw was not bad but not great either if I could get past the pain it was putting on my grip hand. It did have a solid back wall that it slammed into at the valley kind of unexpecting, but no sponginess(is that even a word?) at all at full draw. The bow was a little loud with a small amount of vibration. I would rate this bow 5.5 out of 10!!
3. Bowtech Admiral~~ Initial thought was VERY well balanced! It felt like it belonged in my hand!! In my head I am thinking the Hoyt has competition!! The draw was smooth, but not AS smooth as the hoyt. It slowly rolled past the valley into the back wall, very smooth and had a solid back wall with basically no creep at full draw. This bow felt absolutely wonderful at full draw once again like it was made to fit me!! I then shot and did not even know I had let the arrow go? This bow has ZERO(0) vibration and ZERO sound at the shot I was HIGHLY impressed, it is now the top runner in my head!!! I would rate this bow a 9 out of 10!!!!!
4. Mathews Monster~~ Initial thought was I need a crane to pick this thing up, WOW talk about top heavy and whats up with this cable/buss sysyem??!! It did not feel good in my hand at all. The draw, haha well the draw was horrendous all the way through! It absolutely slammed into the back wall and I couldnt even think about creeping at all as it nearly took off at minimal movement! The shot well once again horrendous it had much vibration and a nice loud crack sound to the shot! I am now thinking maybe I shouldnt have shot this bow right after the Admiral???? I would rate this bow a 4 out of 10!!!
5. Mathews Reezen 6.5~~ Initial thought was the bow is not bad on the weight but still has a top heavy side to it that I do not like?! The draw was not smooth but it was not horrible either it was tolerable. It also slammed into the back wall through the valley but was sturdy at full draw. The vibration was definantely noticeable and it also had a SLIGHT crack sound to it?? I would rate this bow just above the G5 because of the grip but the two did feel very similiar to each other, a 6 out of 10!
6. Bowtech Airraid~~ Initial thought, what is it with this cable system?? It just looks like one more thing to have to worry about on the bow, something else to stretch/go out of tune? It did however have a good balance of weight to it though. The grip was comfortable in my hand. The draw was smooth, better then both the Mathews and the G5 but still not great! It slowly popped into the back wall and was semi-sturdy with the slightest creep to it. The vibration was actually very little and the sound was a noticable thump but not bad. I would rate this bow in the 7 out of 10 range!!
So if I would have had the money on me I might have been walking out of there with the Bowtech Admiral, but I am kind of hoping to get the chance to shoot a couple of the Diamonds, PSE, Martin's, and if I could find a Ross and Elite dealer that would be nice too???
I still have a hard time swallowing the $770 price tag on the Admiral but could see today why it was worth that much!!
If anyone has any other reccomendations of what I should shoot please let me know I am open minded to anything!!!???!!! Sorry to ramble on just figured I would share my experience with ya'll!!!!
So here goes in the order I shot them......all set up with a WB and a string loop thats it....
1. Hoyt AlphaMax 32~~ Initial thought was WOW this thing is SOOOOOOO much lighter then any hoyt I have ever held in my hand and a good balance. It felt good in my hand. The draw was awesome, smooth very easy break at the valley. It did however have a spongy wall to it that allowed me to creep a good bit at full draw. The bow had a slight vibration and slght thunk sound to it, but overall I would rate this bow a solid8 out of 10!!! I was highly impressed, in my head I was thinking these other bows better perform to be able to beat this one!!
2. G5 Quest~~ Initial thought was slightly top heavy, bad riser shelf design almost hurt to draw but the bow looked somewhat nice. It felt basically horrible in my hand. The draw was not bad but not great either if I could get past the pain it was putting on my grip hand. It did have a solid back wall that it slammed into at the valley kind of unexpecting, but no sponginess(is that even a word?) at all at full draw. The bow was a little loud with a small amount of vibration. I would rate this bow 5.5 out of 10!!
3. Bowtech Admiral~~ Initial thought was VERY well balanced! It felt like it belonged in my hand!! In my head I am thinking the Hoyt has competition!! The draw was smooth, but not AS smooth as the hoyt. It slowly rolled past the valley into the back wall, very smooth and had a solid back wall with basically no creep at full draw. This bow felt absolutely wonderful at full draw once again like it was made to fit me!! I then shot and did not even know I had let the arrow go? This bow has ZERO(0) vibration and ZERO sound at the shot I was HIGHLY impressed, it is now the top runner in my head!!! I would rate this bow a 9 out of 10!!!!!
4. Mathews Monster~~ Initial thought was I need a crane to pick this thing up, WOW talk about top heavy and whats up with this cable/buss sysyem??!! It did not feel good in my hand at all. The draw, haha well the draw was horrendous all the way through! It absolutely slammed into the back wall and I couldnt even think about creeping at all as it nearly took off at minimal movement! The shot well once again horrendous it had much vibration and a nice loud crack sound to the shot! I am now thinking maybe I shouldnt have shot this bow right after the Admiral???? I would rate this bow a 4 out of 10!!!
5. Mathews Reezen 6.5~~ Initial thought was the bow is not bad on the weight but still has a top heavy side to it that I do not like?! The draw was not smooth but it was not horrible either it was tolerable. It also slammed into the back wall through the valley but was sturdy at full draw. The vibration was definantely noticeable and it also had a SLIGHT crack sound to it?? I would rate this bow just above the G5 because of the grip but the two did feel very similiar to each other, a 6 out of 10!
6. Bowtech Airraid~~ Initial thought, what is it with this cable system?? It just looks like one more thing to have to worry about on the bow, something else to stretch/go out of tune? It did however have a good balance of weight to it though. The grip was comfortable in my hand. The draw was smooth, better then both the Mathews and the G5 but still not great! It slowly popped into the back wall and was semi-sturdy with the slightest creep to it. The vibration was actually very little and the sound was a noticable thump but not bad. I would rate this bow in the 7 out of 10 range!!
So if I would have had the money on me I might have been walking out of there with the Bowtech Admiral, but I am kind of hoping to get the chance to shoot a couple of the Diamonds, PSE, Martin's, and if I could find a Ross and Elite dealer that would be nice too???
I still have a hard time swallowing the $770 price tag on the Admiral but could see today why it was worth that much!!
If anyone has any other reccomendations of what I should shoot please let me know I am open minded to anything!!!???!!! Sorry to ramble on just figured I would share my experience with ya'll!!!!
06-29-2009, 11:48 PM
#2
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: Henderson, KY
Posts: 1,760
RE: Finally shot a few bows today!
Nice reviews! The walls on the binary cam systems are super solid compared to everything else! The AM can be setup with a bit more valley, but it really does make you hold hard into the wall.
Derek
Derek
06-30-2009, 01:26 AM
#4
Typical Buck
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Fraziers Bottom, WV
Posts: 500
RE: Finally shot a few bows today!
Bowtech does make really nice stuff! Definatly check out the Ross line. They've come along way. The Cardiacs look sweet and the new Carnivor too. Martins have a cult following. they are prices lower then the others also. Be worth a looky.
Shoot everything you want to shoot before you make a decision. They all are awesome bows in the right persons hands.
keep us informed, those are great writeups!
Shoot everything you want to shoot before you make a decision. They all are awesome bows in the right persons hands.
keep us informed, those are great writeups!
06-30-2009, 09:59 AM
#7
Nontypical Buck
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: CT, USA
Posts: 3,058
RE: Finally shot a few bows today!
ORIGINAL: mohunter82
great info. id still like to hear from someone that has shot the deadzone from limbsaver
great info. id still like to hear from someone that has shot the deadzone from limbsaver
1) It uses a Hoyt C.5 cam (Vectrix style ) that Limbsaver licenses. The draw loads up QUICK from the very beginning,the transitions are pretty smooth but the valley is VERY narrow.
2) The 32 model I shot was last years and had the gigantic fat wooden medium/high wrist grip (It makes a Mathews grip seem minimal), but they are including sideplates this year I believe. Balance/lack of torque is good, but the mass weight is up there. The 32 is heavier than the Katera and the 36 is a real brute at 5 pounds bare. LOVE the extra long sight window.
3) Winners choice string/cables, cable and string leeches,shelf pad, limbsavers dampers on limbs and cable guard, teflon slide, etc. Very cool.
4) Shot feel is somewhat like a Hoyt Katera or a Vulcan-not amazing,but certainly better than average as far as recoil/vibe. I think the name Deadzone is kind of a misnomer- It doesn' t have that absolutely "dead" feel like a General/Guardian/Admiral/Outback at all. It's a little quieter than the Katera/Vulcan (has more silencing gear with the cable and string leeches), I don't think the DZ riser does anything better than what the TEC riser has been doing for many years.
5) I did not chrono it, but it's obviously no slouch for speed. It was sending arrows downrange with some zip and authoritah!!
It had a really cool "snappy" (in a good way) feel to it.Overall I thought it was very cool, and the looks have grown on me (especially with the the new camo pockets or the all black color scheme). My shop is selling the one I shot for cost as its just collecting dust unfortunately. I think it offers alot of value at full price (with all the Simms extras and WC string/cables), but for another hundred dollars you can get into a Hoyt and have a much better re-sale value, and better quality riser machining, etc. The Hoyt Z3 cam is also much nicer to draw and hold for the same kind of arrow speeds.
Tough call-It's a good bow, but nothing revolutionary or really groundbreaking (other than aesthetically, and most would probably say "facebreaking", instead) I'd buy one, but only at a significantly lower price than MSRP, otherwise I'd just spend a bit extra and buy a Hoyt.
07-01-2009, 05:23 AM
#9
Typical Buck
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location:
Posts: 734
RE: Finally shot a few bows today!
Nice reviews. Neat to see an impartial one. Bowtech is without a doubt the only brand for me. I have shot and owned most of the bows out there at one time or another and I always come back to bowtech.
rick
rick
