Every year I like to look and see what the new hot bow for hunting will be and weather it will hold up. This year so far at least for me the most interesting is probably the New single cam Patriot. At least on paper. What do things look like to you folks so far?

Well I have already placed an order for the Black Knight.

The Justice has really caught my eye so I just might have to try that as well it should make a great tree stand bow.

I think there are several each year from a few manufacturers..

Of course I think the Liberty from BowTech will be one, and possibly the Justice.

Hoyt' s ViperTec and possibly more-so the X-Tec.

I don' t really think any specific model from Martin looks like it could be " hot" , but with their complete re-vamp I can see them doing much better overall than in previous years..and I' m sure the all the girly ads will help sell some bows :rollseyes:

Whatever Mathews brings should do very well, despite alot of folks saying they are " spent" .

Not sure if it will be " hot" but PSE' s Scorpion looks very nice too.

Those are the major players we' ve seen so far..I think we' ll see some really cool stuff from many of the smaller guys too...I think 2004 will be a much better year overall for great bows than 2003 was.

Well how about a recap of the last 2 years. I' d say that the Legacy dominated ' 02. And that for ' 03 it looked like it would be the patriot dually but instead it turned out to be a competition between the Bowtech Ext VTF, the LX and the Razortech. How did the last 2 years look to you guys?

Martin Slayr with nitrous cams and 325 FPS speed Super quality, great service, and a dual cam rocket. How could you go wrong? Oh yeah, you can also add pieces on to the cams and convert it to shoot through cables...no more cable guard.

Also, they have the new ultimate fingers bow...45" axle to axle, same Nitrous cams, 8" brace height and 300 fps...

Yeah I went over to archery talk and took a look at the new martins, wow i sure didn' t expect that much out of them. Looks like they' re taking a serious assault at innovation. Yeah that Slayr looks awesome 35' 6.75 brace 325ft/sec nice long riser, plus a handsome looking bow, full of technical innovation. Maybe!!!

Bottom of the page for the Slayer:

http://www.archerytalk.com/vb/showth...&pagenumber=13

I have not had a chance to check out the new Martins yet but based on the comments maybe I should.

As for my two perennial favorites, Hoyt and Bowtech, I, as usual, agree with Jeff. From Hoyt both the Vipertec and Xtec look to be big for hunters though their Ultratec and shoot through risers should be big on the target circuit.

From Bowtech I have to agree that, on paper, the Patriot SC is going to be hard to beat for an awesome hunting bow....

- 7 inch brace height
- 33 inch axle to axle length
- 320-328 IBO speed (conservative rating according to the designer)
- adjustable percentage of letoff
- and that new well-balanced riser

Though, I personally chose the new Mighty Might VFT to experiment with this as a hunting bow simply because it has similar specs but with a larger brace and shorter axle to axle length. Speed is comparable as well.

Maybe I should try both...

Though I am sure some information has leaked about some of the other good quality companies out there, I cannot remember seeing much on the forums.

And last but not least, Mathews...

...though I will be surely surprised should they come out with something really innovative again this year I must admit that it is their bowline release that makes me look forward to the ATA show every year.

You will see the same old thing

The new Hoyts & Mathews will sell really well like always, they have the money to market & always build a lot of hype. They will continue to go at each other this year but who really cares? Both are great products & have a loyal following.

The new Bowtechs will have a strong following - not sure how the speed guys will take to some of their new bows since speed isn' t the driving force behind them which is reflected in their IBO speed (I really like their new stuff by the way - great looking bows!) The Liberty & Justice rock & I can' t wait to see them.

The new PSE' s in my opinion are the ones to watch - best looking bows from Pete & the gang in a long long time! I think 2004 will put PSE back in the top for high end bows!

I think AR will continue to gain ground & should be a strong player in the next few years. PSE is starting to push a bit more marketing on them & it seems to be working with dealers poping up everywhere.

Some of the other companies like Parker, Champion, etc. make a great bow but really they don' t come up with anything revolutionary. They have their market & seem to hold that ground fairly well. I don' t expect anything revolutionary from these companies but they provide great value for the money & will continue to do well if they keep their dealers happy.

Martin does well with the target crowd but honestly you hardly see a Martin bow around where I live. A few dealers but they have to sell other things to make up for the lack of sales. I am sure in some regions they are really strong & have a loyal following. Nice marketing BUT I think a poor idea - they are really not trying to grow the sport and the new magazine adds turn most woman & children away form their products.

Darton is just holding ground in my opinion, they tried to play off of the cam & a half in their marketing but I don' t knwo if it even put a dent in Hoyt' s marketing or share of the market. Darton has a loyal following but it seems to get smaller every year in my region.

Well that is my take on 2004 - I don' t expect anything revolutionary & I think it will just be a continuation of refinements on most companies bows.