JeffB

UPDATE- NOW WITH PICS



This will not be a bow report per-se- just some general observations.

I messed with alot of bows tonite-Mathews, Hoyt, PSE, Elite, Browning, Martin, BowTech, Diamond, Bear, and probably something I am forgetting.

Honestly, I was very disappointed with most of the bows on my "want to try" list when it came to the draw cycle. I was surprised (in a good way) by a few I did not think I'd like as much or had my doubts about.

Having not even drawn a bow in 3.5 to 4 years really puts a good perspective on what is and is not smooth. IMO, most of the "hot bows" out there are a far cry from the bows of just a few years ago- there seems to be another "ultimate speed" game being played by the industry, like there was in the late 90s. Trading comfort for a few more FPS. Yayyy... No thanks. There was nothing out there that drew like the old BT feeedom cam, or the Mathews Outback or Q2. Well, I say that- the Bear Truth bows were pretty smooth I guess. Some of the bows were ALOT stiffer than others, but that said, all of them shot pretty nice- little recoil or vibe, all were quiet as could be (most all had some kind of string supressor arm thing), and most seemed to be tossing an arrow out pretty quick to extremely quick.

Out of the "Hybrids/binary/C&1/2s", the Elite and Hoyt bows were by far the smoothest and easiest to draw pound for pound, draw length for draw length. As I said previous, the Bear was the only smooth drawing single though the Mathews Drenalin was decent as was the S2 (which apparently is the same thing as the old switchback?)

I don't want to pee off any PSE fans with my comments on the Xforce and X force SS cos I have little good to say other than they are built well- However the the Dream Season/Drury Brothers model was pretty cool. I'd def rock that bow in the woods.

The Bowtechs- gosh- They have really stepped up the past few years in the the fit and finish- The machining now is really absolute on par with ANYONE- gorgeous well machined risers and cams. The In-velvet is very cool. But I gotta be completely honest and say I thought the draw force curve was horrible on the 2009s (admiral and captain) as well as 2008s (commander and general). They felt 8 or 10 pounds heavier apples to Hoyt and Elite and they loaded up at the back end of the draw. The Diamond Iceman didn't have the back end load up, but was also stiff as heck from start to finish. The Marquis was pretty nice but it was last years model with the string suppressor thing on the roller guard- which I did not like at all- looked like an accident waiting to happen.

On a positive note- every single one of the BTs shot with no vibe, no recoil, and almost no noise. The Valley was incredible- nice solid hole, super comfy but not torquey. I WANTED to buy one cos once it was back and you pulled the trigger it was just freaking brilliant- but the draw force curves just killed it for me.

Martin- meh...Martin, not much to say- Built extremely well as always, decent draw, wishy washy valley (single cam design, not sure of name) still vibey/shocky with that loud "plock" sound (even limbsavered and string supressored- gotta get rid of those half round steel pivots/limb pocket system they use if they want to ever improve on that)

Elite Z28/GT500 and the Hoyt AlphaMax 35/32 were definitely the stars of the evening. Couldn't make a legitimate complaint about any of them. They drew the smoothest, neither cam system had the back end load up, all had nice comfy valleys (Z28 was a tad narrower), all were very quiet and had little vibe or recoil . The Elite's had a much harder wall (limb stop) which I prefer and ultimately that was the decision maker for me- I came home with the Elite GT500- 28.5" draw, peaks @ 63 pounds. No I did not chrono it.

Here are some pics (The brass nock will be removed)








And a couple of the cabin we stayed in the Adirondacks over the New Year holiday- Lake Clear- about 20 min from Lake Placid. Lady who owns it is a world-calss chef, and I had home-made Venison sauage and a Venison/Beef Tenderloin Stroganoff that was absolutely incredible. My GF, who is one of those beyond picky eaters, has major issues with food texture, and who swore she would never EVER try Deer meat finally caved and absolutely loved it.

TFOX

Congrats Jeff,I am waiting for the bow report.

I really like the smooth draw of the Elite as well but where you like the hard wall,that was where I was worried with it.I prefer the feel of the Hoyt wall much better,just as well because I could get a staff bow through my shop with the Hoyt and he doesn't carry Elite so it was a no brainer for me.

I agree with you on the binaries,atleast the ones I have pulled.I haven't tried the 09's.

JeffB

Well I'll try and get some pics up at least tomorrow

I also went back on what I said regarding the QAD rest in that other thread. Shop owner convinced me the early issues had been solved and the new "HD" (?) model was incredible- they sold 507 of them this past year and gave me his personal guarantee (meaning he will put something else on for me if I dont end up liking it). I just didn't like the limb driver with all that extra cabling. We'll see.

Also outfitted it with a Cobra Sidewinder plus or deluxe or something 3 pin sight, a "blue" G5 peep (neat! I used a fletcher forever, this G5 is nice!) and a limbsaver stabilizer (the one with the metal mount and damper, and then like 3" S coil or whatever). Frankly the bow didn't really need it vibe wise-and it didn't do much in that regard, but it did help it balance a bit better though. Amazing how quiet and recoil/vibe free the GT500 is considering the horsepower behind it. No silencers other than the string suppressor thing.

Unfortunately the shop no longer carries Carbon Tech as they had major supply issues with them- so for now I just picked up a half dozen Beman ICS Hunters fletched with Blazers- Once I get to fletching again, and get my shooting back in the groove I will upgrade. The only other cheap options were the Carbon Express Rebels (?) and some other cheap CX shaft which the guys were pretty quick to tell me to not waste my money on.

drockw

Just curious, why did the extra "cabling" worry you?

Derek

TFOX

The long cable on the LD concerns me as well,I can see me getting it caught pulling it up in stand and my rest being off and costing me a deer.I seem to get my bow caught alot when pulling it up a tree. Might have something to do with the kinds of trees I like to hunt out of.

BUT,I do think it is an excellent rest.

The G5 peep is made out of magnesium,not aluminum.That is why it is lighter.

JeffB

As it is, I hate the fact that any drop away has a cable- As TFOX mentioned, it's one more thing to get snagged on in the woods/while hunting, and with the LD there is far more exposed cable. (basically half the bow's length) I'm sure the LD works fantastic, and it seems solidly built, but Murphy's Law tends to be a regular visitor to me when it comes to hunting and archery equipment.

muzzyman88

Jeff, did you happen to shoot any of the NON center pivot Bowtechs? The reason I say this is because I too had a similar experience with the draw cycle on the Captain.

Side by side with my Allegiance with smooth mods, the Captain definitely was more difficult for me to draw. What I'm not sure aboutiswhether that has to do with cam design more than the limb flex on the center pivots.

JeffB

They had a couple- one I believe was an Allegiance, the other an Equalizer or something? Leftovers from years past? I don't know. I did not pull them off the rack. Next time I go up there I will give 'em a draw and see what I think

PABowhntr

Jeff,

Though we have been emailing a bit lately I want to say "welcome back" to the forums. I have been absent quite a bit for the last year or so but now that you are back.....

Ya know, I read through your entire post and then kind of skimmed the last paragraph and totally missed where you said you decided on an Elite. I had to go back and re-read after seeing the subsequent comments.

(Yeah, I know...I am slow at times).

Congratulations on the new bow. Admittedly, I have never tried any of the Elites and don't know of anyone in my immediate area that carries them. I will have to do a little diggin' and see if I can find someone because you have my interest piqued.

I do wish you would have had the chance to try the Black Ice and the Carvnivore 31 or 34. If a smooth draw cycle (along with all the other "goodies") is your cup of tea then these two would have really appealed to you. I am not giving up my Carnivore 31 for anything. That is is one wonderful to draw and shoot bow. If it is, in large part, the result of the Crank then I would love to seeif it could be incorporatedfor the Binary or Single cam lines as well.

JeffB

Thanks Frank- really appreciate it, and nice to be back. I cannot believe how "dead" this place has been the past week or ten days I've been here[:'(]


Thanks and I would have loved to try even more bows, but I'm more than OK with what I picked out- very impressive As I stated in our emails, my only concern and "bias" was going to be price, and due to some good fortune and a good friend in the shop owner that never came to be an issue either. I simply went in basically "blind" and went with what shot/felt good for me, regardless of the name on the limbs, advertising/marketing, forum drama queens or "my weiner is bigger than yours" threads.For me- Elite came out on top, with the Alphamax 35 just a hair behind. The Z28/AM32 were pretty even as well. I wasn't enamored of anything else enough to lay down the cash save perhaps the Dream Season from PSE.

I would liked to have tried the Ross as well, as the original CR337 I had was a magnificent bow, but for whatever reason the shop did not have any (nor did I think to ask if they were getting any).