I will second the Diamond Marquis suggestion. It is a fantastic bow if you are looking for a smooth drawing single cam bow. It's pretty quick too, for as easy a draw it has! Do yourself a favor and shoot one before you buy!

I got mine with a 29" draw length, and at 65#. It was shooting a 377 grain arrow at 295 fps. If you crank up the weight and shorten the dl, plus shoot a lighter arrow, I'd have to believe that you'd easily be shooting in the 280's! Oh yeah, it does this with a 7" brace height.

Oh yeah, it runs $100 to $200 less than some of those other bows.... Check out the package you can get from hunter's friend. That's where I got mine, and I saved about 200 over Bass Pro...

I'm not necessarily thinking 280 is fast, that's about what I'm getting out of my Trykon XL at 29 (really 29.25") at 70#, shooting a 415gr total weight arrow. It's smooth quiet, and hits pretty hard. This is with a little weight on the string, and a tubed peep. What I'm meaning is that a little slower rig USUALLY feels better, not only on the draw, but also on the release. That being said, I really did like the Allegiance, and it's capable of the speeds you're asking for, plus a nice shooting bow. The Allegiance is not changed for 2008 as far as specs go, same IBO rating, same BH and ATA. So if you like the 07, you'll probably like the 08, too.

I need to also go back state that if I can find a bow that is just sweet to tthe touch and it shoots in the 270's Im fine with it. I have realized that What I want to shoot is a 365 gr arrow at 70# with any bow, and i realize that most bows won't do what the X force does for me, but I think my problem is the 6" brace. It is soo hard to get used too. Matt/Tn, yeh I know thebrace has nothing to do with, I was just thinking of forgiveness. I want really want few things out of a bow as far as hunting matters

1. shoot one pin to 25 yds.
2. be fast enough that deer won't have much chance to jump the string.
3. Consistency
4. smoothness when drawing and shooting

If any of you have shot the X force 6" bh then you know how hard it is.

As always, shoot as many bows as you can.... but like others have said, add the Diamond Marquis to the list of considerations!
1. When I shoot 30" feathered CX300's with 100 gr. tips, 30" DL and in the 62 to 65# range, I dial in at 20 yds; put my pin just above the X at 15 yds, just below the X at 25 yds, and that works for me.
2. Fast enough... no problem whatsoever with the above set-up. It's like "release... arrow appears in X", almost like playing a video game.
3. Personally, I think consistency is definitely more you than the bow, when you're looking at upper-end bows. Get a bow that's fun and encouraging to shoot, and you shoot more. Hopefully, the more you shoot (and the more you vary your distance, angle, and elevations from the target), the more you build your consistency.
4. When I do crank my Marquis up to 70#, it honestly pulls and releases just as smoothly as it does down towards 60#. I only shoot it somewhere in that 62 to 65 pound range because it seems to be "our" sweet spot. How "smoothness" is defined is a personal, subjective perspective. To me, it's being able to hold the bow on-target, sighted in, and then draw in one continuous, nearly-constant force motion until I hit the wall and anchor. Big check mark here, with the Marquis.

I'm just saying that I can accomplish your 4 things with my Marquis; there are plenty of other bows out there that can and would meet those same criteria. When I factor in things like looks, feel, durability and price, I'm never sorry about the choice I made.

Bruce how does it compare to the Black Ice??

Honestly, I didn't compare it to the Black Ice. I moved away from a "short" bow on purpose.

I have, however, recently tried a Diamond Liberty which falls between the Marquis and the Black Ice in size, but below both in price. I shot the Liberty vs. the Bowtech Allegiance, after reading so many accolades about the Ally... and for me, the Liberty came out on top. I'm 99% sure I'll be getting a Liberty this summer, as my back-up bow. I'm partial to cable/string rollers vs. slides, though, so I'm going to either overcome that bias or figure out how to modify the Liberty before going that final 1%.

Well Look at the whisper creek not the fastest thing in the world but so smooth its crazy. I just got one and love it.

Why are you so worried about a NUMBER,280 is just that,a number.Deer can jump the string at ANY SPEED a bow can put out.Plus,you can shoot 1 pin to 25 yards at 250 fps ,set the pin at 23 yards and deer are dead to 26.Better yett,set the pin for 26 or 27 and kill them to 30.

Find a bow that FEELS good and chances are it will shoot good and kill deer.That deer could care less if you have that NUMBER.


I kill deer with a 58# 28" draw and get passthroughs with mechanicals.Oh,and I am in the 250 fps range.Don't fall into the hype about misjudged yardage either.


The Katera Xl would probably give you what you are looking for.

WHAT ANOTHER BOW....TRUTH2 AND XFORCE...SEND ONE MY WAY..... I BOUGHT THE GTO THIS YEAR ALSO. LOVE IT. FIND A DEALER AND SHOOT IT. ROUND CAMS+7INCH BRACE HEIGHT=SMOOTH DRAW. THEY ALSO MAKE THE FIRE FOR SHORT DRAW SHOOTERS....HOW TALL ARE YOU BY THE WAY...SEEMS TO ME 26 DL MIGHT BE TOO SHORT..MY GIRL FRIEND USES THAT DL....I WISH YOU LIVED CLOSER I WOULD HELP YOU OUT ON THAT XFORCE..WHAT BOW DID YOU SHOOT BEFORE IT? WHAT MADE YOUR OLD BOW FEEL SO GOOD IN YOUR HANDS? LOOKING AT THOSE QUALITIES SHOULD DETERMINE YOUR NEXT BOW PURCHASE. I FEEL YOU SHOULD DO YOUR SELF A FAVOR AND CHECK OUT THE ELITE LINE...DRIVE TO A DEALER...ALSO WHEN TESTING BOWS OUT TAKE A NOTE PAD, WRITE DOWN YOUR LIKES AND DISLIKES OF EACH MODEL...POST A PICTURE OF YOUR GROUPINGS WITH THE XF AT 20YARDS..ALSO POST A PIC OF YOU AT FULL DRAW WITH IT.

Hoyt Katera is really smooth. I am looking to get one next summer