Fairly experienced hunter entering the compound bow world… need opinions

[mtclev5651]

Hey everyone! Since I have killed my fair share of deer this year, my focus is switching to purchasing my very first compound for next year. I’ve alway crossbow hunted because of collar bone problems but I feel good these days and want to get into it.

With that being said, price is of course there, but for somebody who hasn’t really ever hunted hard with compounds, what model and manufacturer would you recommend. Matthew’s, Hoyt, pse, bear….


6-1 and long wingspan for my height

Northeast ga hardwoods (most suburban to semi rural areas)

Can’t wait to read what y’all think

 

[Raylander]

Go shoot them all and see what fit you best. Lots of good bows or there..

I’ve shot them all. Mathews, Bowtec, PSE, Hoyt, Elite, Obsession, etc. Just go shoot them.

They’ll tell on themselves

 

[deerslayer0369]

You don’t need to shoot 70# draw weight and 350fps to be successful. I have 70# limbs but find my bow and myself shoot much better with the DW at 65#. Plenty of deer find their fates by 50-55# bows. Also, my opinion, stay with a reputable one piece cut on contact broadheads. Mechanical heads “steal” valuable kinetic energy for penetration especially when one may make a slight boo boo and get in a little to close to the shoulder goodies. Check out ranch fairy on YouTube, he really shows what COC heads with low poundage can do. Ultimately there is no right answer to which brand is better vs the other, YOU decide that.

 

[Pruitt1]

Go shoot them all and see what fit you best. Lots of good bows or there..

I’ve shot them all. Mathews, Bowtec, PSE, Hoyt, Elite, Obsession, etc. Just go shoot them.

They’ll tell on themselves

This is the best thing.

 

[ddd-shooter]

Agree, shoot them all.
If price is a concern, I recommend to shop used on archery talk once you find a brand that you like, especially with tournament season coming up and a lot of this years bows up for resale.
Anything from pse, Hoyt, bowtech, elite, or Mathews will do great.
Accessories, IMO, are more important. What style release are you shooting, wrist strap or handheld? Surprise or tension? Single pin or multi pin? Drop away or fixed rest?
Buy quality accessories for the expensive price-you’ll use them for every bow you purchase from here to eternity.

More important than what you spend money on is learning HOW to shoot. Bad habits learned early can be really really hard to rectify later. A great archer can shoot a mediocre bow, but a great bow will not make up for a bad archer. Period.

Also, stay away from the ranch fairy.

 

[Dbender]

This is strictly personal opinion. You can't hardly beat an older mathews solo cam bow for plain old hunting scenarios. In my opinion it is the ruger 10/22 of bows. Switchback, outback, z7 etc. Nothing to get out of adjustment, no extra bells or whistles to adjust. You can find one for 350-450 fully rigged all day long. I shoot an old bow and cannot tell the difference between a 15yr old bow and the latest and greatest. The main key is go to a good bow shop that has the time to set it up for you while you have a little time to kill. The worst thing is to try and start out with a bow that is set up for someone else. Wrong draw length, peep in wrong spot, too many lbs etc.

 

[ddd-shooter]

This is strictly personal opinion. You can't hardly beat an older mathews solo cam bow for plain old hunting scenarios. In my opinion it is the ruger 10/22 of bows. Switchback, outback, z7 etc. Nothing to get out of adjustment, no extra bells or whistles to adjust. You can find one for 350-450 fully rigged all day long. I shoot an old bow and cannot tell the difference between a 15yr old bow and the latest and greatest. The main key is go to a good bow shop that has the time to set it up for you while you have a little time to kill. The worst thing is to try and start out with a bow that is set up for someone else. Wrong draw length, peep in wrong spot, too many lbs etc.

The deer can’t tell the difference, but the shooter 100% can. Bows have come a long way since 08’
I still have my drenalin as a back up though…

 

[uturn]

Go shoot them all and see what fit you best. Lots of good bows or there..

I’ve shot them all. Mathews, Bowtec, PSE, Hoyt, Elite, Obsession, etc. Just go shoot them.

They’ll tell on themselves

This!

 

[Dbender]

Ddd I personally can't tell any/much difference in a v3 vs my older bows. Obviously it's shorter,and lighter, but shooting wise I can't tell much difference. Maybe I just don't know what to look for?

 

[ddd-shooter]

Ddd I personally can't tell any/much difference in a v3 vs my older bows. Obviously it's shorter,and lighter, but shooting wise I can't tell much difference. Maybe I just don't know what to look for?

Quieter, less vibration to the shooting hand. Generally faster.
Same lethality, same accuracy-generally speaking.

 

[Ihunt]

I’ll repeat the above and say shoot as many as you can. And don’t feel the least bit undergunned shooting a 40-50lb bow if you need to. I would strongly encourage you not to buy a 60-70.

Learn proper form. Practice. I wouldn’t shoot a 300 grain arrow at deer and a 500 grain one is not needed either.

 

[Long Cut]

Go to a bow shop. Go shoot all the brands possible.
Go to Archery Talk Classifieds and find a used bow for cheap in the brand of your liking.
Stick to fixed blades broadheads
A 55-65# draw weight will suit your collar bone well. Don’t bother with 70-90# it’s pointless for deer.
Have fun, hope this helps

 

[HavocLover]

IMO Mathews and Elite are the most shootable and forgiving. But it comes down to personal preference too. Being new to it, I would start off that route. Also not brand specific, longer ATA. As you start figuring it out and all, if you want to get a more aggressive, shorter ATA bow, then you can. I wouldn't start out fresh with short ATA bow. They arent nearly as forgiving as a longer ATA bow, thus likely making it harder to get used to things.....

I'll echo trying to shoot a few at a shop and also echo buying off archery talk. I've done a lot of dealings there myself. Although, Idk if shooting this years Mathews at a shop, then turning around and buying a 6 year old Mathews off AT is gonna get you very far.

Speed is OVER RATED and the ranch fairy, you have to have a 28493472403 grain arrow stuff is over rated too. I tend to lean towards a heavier arrow myself, but theres definitely a happy medium somewhere.

Heads, I dont have much of an opinion on, but I do think that most of the folks that have bad experiences with expandables are also shooting super light arrows cause theyre shooting for speed.

 

[Kris87]

I get this question a lot. All of today's bows are good. Because of that, I'd get a bow that the average Joe can tune at home himself without a press and all the equipment a shop may have. An Elite or Bowtech are what I'd typically recommend. Both can be tuned easily due to advancements without having to pay a trip to the local bow shop.

I'm not partial to either of those brands, as I'm a PSE guy. Just what I'd get for a new shooter.

 

[deerslayer0369]

Okay so apparently I need to clarify something. The ranch fairy recommendation was more in regards to his concerns about DW and efficiency. You don’t have to have an million grain arrow to successfully harvest a whitetail but one things for sure a heavier arrow will help “quite a bow down” substantially more that a bow shooting an arrow barely heavy enough to prevent the dry fire scenario. There is definitely a happy medium too light to too heavy. I’ve found 475-515gr to be a great starting point. Ranch fairy is also great at showing the importance of a sharp broad head and that a 50# bow is more than capable of harvesting a whitetail. What ever he chooses to take from anny info he receives is his decision, why not allow someone to choose what they like or dislike on their own. Bottom line is go to a reputable shop and shoot what ever you fancy or can afford. The best setup is only as good as the archer and his abilities. I’d also recommend checking out John Dudley on YouTube in regards to tuning, shooting form, and release aid types.

 

[Hunter922]

Archery can be as complicated as you want it to be. Ke, arrow differentiation, weight forward, rear weighted And so on and so on..
As a new archer go to a pro shop. Not Cabelas- Bass pro.. Shoot different bows, different poundages. You will find one that feels good to you. Like others said, 55-60 pounds will punch a hole in a deer. The most important thing is it will have to be fun or you're not likely to stick with it. So make it fun from the start and don't turn it into a complex process.

 

[Andy12]

Bow tech with deadlock system is gonna be hard to beat for someone without a press and the know how to work on bows. You can literally tune to perfection with a Allen wrench.
Also if your really interested in archery go to ArcheryTalk.com and become a member, there is a plethora of endless information there.
You can also buy and sell in the classifieds after 20 posts and a two week membership.

 

[James12]

Great advice above. Any of those bows too! I shot them all and ended up with a short ATA Mathews (V3 27). I hunt on the ground and in blinds a lot though so it’s easier to manage; that and I’m shorter than avg… Nothing has been more important to me than having it properly tuned and practice.

 

[Hillbilly stalker]

The main thing with a compound is to make sure it fits you perfect. All the new ones are much more efficient than the older ones. when you go shoot several different vows, one will stand out as “ the one”. I shoot an older Mathews and see no Eason to change up personally. I prefer quiet over any other characteristic in a bow.

 

[Bubba_1122]

I’d find a reputable archery shop that sells quality bows and that has a range you can shoot on. I live in Valdosta so for me that’s Jeremie and Stephanie at Life Outdoors.

You can spend $1500 on a great bow but if it’s not set up correctly and if you don’t establish solid and repeatable habits early then you’ve spent a lot of money and you still don’t have much. A competent tech can make a lot of difference.

Just bought a Mission (Mathews) youth bow for my 11 y/o grandson for Christmas from LO. Coulda bought a much lesser bow at BPS for a whole lot less money. He’d a probably been frustrated soon and probably given up on it.