Bow Recommendations?

I live in Benton, LA. Northwest Louisiana.

I would go read alot at Archerytalk, see what people are saying

Stop at archery shops, look at consignment bows. Shoot them.

I picked up an almost new Bowtech Assassin 2012 model in 2017, for $ 100
Cash America Pawn. What a steal.

Bought a 2008 Bowtech Tomkat whole rig from a friend for $ 150.

I put a new set of good x99 strings on each, changed a few things on each.

Getting a slightly used bow leaves you room for arrows, a 200 dollar release
( carter Like Mike 2 ), the accessories that YOU want.

I switched from pse to Matthew’s after last season after shooting pse’s since I was about 12 years old. I had 3 different pse bows over those years. I won my phase 4 and didn’t know if I was going to keep it or sell it but after shooting it side by side with my carbon levitate, there was no comparison. I’ve never been a Matthew’s fan boy, and I’m still not, but it felt much better to me so I kept it and sold the pse.
It just goes to show that you should shoot a few different bows side by side and see what you like because I always just went for the pse’s without shooting anything else and when I finally did, I realized there was something better for me.

Bows haven’t really changed much in the last ten years but they have really refined their designs to make them draw smoother and adjustable while still being really accurate and fast.

Elites SET system is nice, you can adjust draw length, let off, and cam lean without a press and the draw length is in 1/4” adjustments

Bowtechs deadlock system is similar and also very nice.

The PSE EZ 220 system is nice but not as slick as the bowtech and elite setup.

The Mathews mod system is my least favorite. Trying to correct cam lean with the top hat system and change poundage with the mods is frustrating.

I just don’t know anything about hoyt but I’ve heard their rx7 and ultra are the best they’ve put out in years. I’ve never shot one.

If I wanted a carbon bow I’d personally be looking at the pse levitate or Mach 34 with the ec2 cam or an elite era. For aluminum, I’d be looking at a bowtech ss34, any of the PSEs with the ec2 cam, or an omnia with a comfort mod. I’d probably try to find a hoyt to try as well.

Shoot everything you can, there’s almost no bad options. Don’t get hung up on speed unless you have a very short draw or can’t draw much weight.

The best bow is the one that you feel most comfortable with which will increase your confidence. As others have mentioned, go test drive and shoot 8-10 bows. The correct bow will choose you.

You don’t have to buy the most expensive bow setup. If you “buy once, cry once”’ you could easily drop $2500+ on everything needed. A solid, mid-level $750 bow will kill deer the same as the top of the line flagship $1500 model.

I’ve been bow hunting since the mid 80’s. I’ve owned practically every brand including Oregon and the first carbon fiber bow made by Diamond Archery in Shreveport: Widowmaker (solid limbs) and Marquis (split limbs with hatchet cams) . With today’s technology, many bows are similar in draw cycle, hold, and forgiveness. I chose to shoot Elite Archery bows because they felt the best to me. This Elite E35 has insane let-off and holds itself

Keep us posted on what you decide upon

Custom recurve. Real archery

quote:

---

I chose to shoot Elite Archery bows because they felt the best to me. This Elite E35 has insane let-off and holds itself

---

I hope it does not continue to hold itself when you release on a deer shot!