Bow Only
Senior Member
I shot all the major bows there and some minor ones. Here is my opinion on what I shot. The Drenalin was not there.
Best Bow - I'd have to go with the BowTech Guardian. I'm a hunter, so I didn't shoot the longer axle to axle bows. The Guardian at 70lb is unbelievably dead, meaning it doesn't move at all when you shoot it. Maybe even more so than the SwitchBack. It's sweet. Not bad on the draw curve, holds well, shoots fast, and doesn't have any residual hand vibration. This new BowTech riser design, IMO, should be the future of compound bows. Easily the best bow at the show.
The PSE engineers have showed up. They've actually got some higher end bows that shoot very well. The FireStorm X was a very good shooter, but they had it on 50lb so it was hard to see what it would do at hunting poundage. At 50lb, there was no hand shock or thump at all. My only concern is that at 29 inches axle to axle, the string angle is VERY steep and might be more critical to shoot accuracy wise. The Brute Force has a 345 IBO speed.
I wasn't impressed with the Vectrix, but maybe it was me. It was set on 50lb and I had just shot the Firestorm X and the Guardian at 50lb. Comparing the 3, the Hoyt had more vibration. It is still a fine bow and will kill a ton of critters this year. The difference between them all is very small. It does draw 1000% better than the Trykon. It does hold well also.
High Country had some good looking aluminum bows. The Iron Mace will shoot their Speed Pros at 398 fps, so that's over a 330 IBO. It looks very nice and draws well. Shooting their light arrows, all their bows have more hand shock than when shooting heavier arrows.
For a speed bow, I shot the Mamba. From the get go, I remembered why I don't shoot a speed bow. Heavy draw, short valley, hard to hold, and concussion after the shot. It's fast though.
I didn't shoot a Ross, I never saw their lane. They were using my products to hold up 3 of their bows though.
I only got to stay for 7 hours so I didn't get to see it all. Every row, there was someone who I hadn't seen in a while and talked to.
Best Bow - I'd have to go with the BowTech Guardian. I'm a hunter, so I didn't shoot the longer axle to axle bows. The Guardian at 70lb is unbelievably dead, meaning it doesn't move at all when you shoot it. Maybe even more so than the SwitchBack. It's sweet. Not bad on the draw curve, holds well, shoots fast, and doesn't have any residual hand vibration. This new BowTech riser design, IMO, should be the future of compound bows. Easily the best bow at the show.
The PSE engineers have showed up. They've actually got some higher end bows that shoot very well. The FireStorm X was a very good shooter, but they had it on 50lb so it was hard to see what it would do at hunting poundage. At 50lb, there was no hand shock or thump at all. My only concern is that at 29 inches axle to axle, the string angle is VERY steep and might be more critical to shoot accuracy wise. The Brute Force has a 345 IBO speed.
I wasn't impressed with the Vectrix, but maybe it was me. It was set on 50lb and I had just shot the Firestorm X and the Guardian at 50lb. Comparing the 3, the Hoyt had more vibration. It is still a fine bow and will kill a ton of critters this year. The difference between them all is very small. It does draw 1000% better than the Trykon. It does hold well also.
High Country had some good looking aluminum bows. The Iron Mace will shoot their Speed Pros at 398 fps, so that's over a 330 IBO. It looks very nice and draws well. Shooting their light arrows, all their bows have more hand shock than when shooting heavier arrows.
For a speed bow, I shot the Mamba. From the get go, I remembered why I don't shoot a speed bow. Heavy draw, short valley, hard to hold, and concussion after the shot. It's fast though.
I didn't shoot a Ross, I never saw their lane. They were using my products to hold up 3 of their bows though.
I only got to stay for 7 hours so I didn't get to see it all. Every row, there was someone who I hadn't seen in a while and talked to.