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

My next to last bow cost me $112.00 brand new and lasted me 13 seasons. My most recent bow purchase cost $600.00 before taxes and accessories. Talk about sticker shock! I'll be shooting it for quite a while too.

I think the bow companies want to see just how much pain we'll take before we say "enough!" Bow prices are definately out of control as are arrow prices and most other accessories, but the companies will continue to increase them until we can't pay anymore.

I think atlasman is right on the mark. I love my Q2XL and have been very successful with it and haven't had any problems with it. I almost told my wife I was going to shoot the switchback to see how it feels, which means "honey, I'm going to buy a switchback". I rethought about how if I got a new bow it would be to more or less just have a new bow not a necessity, but it would have been nice. I told myself that I would give this bow one maybe two more years and then go "shoot to see how they feel" = I'll get a new bow.

We buy the new stuff because we want the new stuff, not because we need it Certainly there are advances in the technology but with the exception of Wilbur Allen's invention of the compound itself all of the inovation since then has been incremental. You have to look at at least 5 to 10 year periods to see appreciable improvement. Manufactures would like you to think you need to buy every new model when often times the changes by year are nothing more than cosmentic.

Here's another thing to keep in mind. The rate of improvement at least with regard to the speed a bow will throw an arrow has to be slowing down. Early on 200 ft/sec was pretty unusual, now 300 ft/sec is pretty common. Regardless of technology the maximum speed a 70 pound peak weight, 7" brace and 30" drawlength bow will EVER shoot a 350 grain arrow is less then 400 ft/sec. That's with a perfectly square power stroke (not possible) and 100% efficient (also not possible). As the technology approaches the limit (I'd say 370 ft/sec is more realistic) what improvements are made will be even less noticeable.

The bow companies don't force you to buy the 600 and $700 dollar bows. Most offer some really cheap packages that will still drop a deer and put a hole in a target with exceptional accuracy. People who complain just do so because they would like to buy a top end, brand name bow, but really can't afford it. Live with it!