Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Shot an elite archery 32 today caution!

Shot and compared the obsession Phoenix to the Elite energy 32 yesterday.

I shot each one plenty, using my arrows release and chronograph. The spec sheet of each is so close that just reading the data would be no help at all..

In actual practice they draw similar, shoot similar, and feel similar. Probably due in large part because the core design of the cams was done by the same guy( so I was told) The Elite was 4-5 fps faster but it also had an extra little "hump" in the draw. Almost imperceptible. However if blind folded I would be able to tell the difference by draw feel alone. This little hump in the draw is very late in the draw cycle. So in my opinion when it's cold, you have been sitting a long time and your bundled up in clothing it's not going to be a problem. It would be worse if it were at the beginning or early in the draw curve.

Over all, the minimal difference in draw between them is well worth the 4-5fps for this little "hump". The holding weight I unfortunately did not measure, however it was my opinion that the elite was much lower holding weight, and felt like I had a lot of room to creep without the cam roll over yanking my arm out of the socket. This is also a disadvantage to the undisciplined shooter. If your creeping on release you're not going to get consistent shooting. Holding at the wall 100% is consistent. So if you can get lazy and creep without the cam yanking your arm out it is more likely to happen.

There is an advantage to this bigger holding area for spot and stalk and awkward shooting positions. I like it, but the disciplne must be there on your part to shoot consistently.

Finally, the Elite had normal solid one piece limbs. The obsession has split limbs which seem to be the trend of the era we are in now. I have no fact based opinion here, just the visual and my engineering background.

I strongly prefer one piece limbs. It's a lot of alignment and balance in my opinion to have two limbs and two cams on a bow, four limbs just complicates this even further. ....... I know..... I know..... So many split limb bows on the market proven and durable with no complaints. Probably just my OCD issues. I simply prefer the one piece limbs. This design seems better at least in my comfort zone. As we know with archery confidence is a powerful tool in how well we shoot.

I think these are both great bows. I doubt I could kill more game with either one because of the design. The reality is that I like the look of the elite, the solid single limbs, the 4-5 fps higher speed, and the grip feel.
I still think the Switchback XT is a smoother better feeling draw then any bow I've used in my career. It is unfortunately slower then these two by 20 fps at the same draw weight.

For NA hunters that don't really have an energy minimum for the largest species of game there is no need to move up to heavier draw weights. However in Africa there is a move to set minimum energy levels for bigger species. This means finding a smooth draw bow that will get me 70-75 FPE with no less then a 400 grain arrow.

There may be additional minimums when the dust settles, but this 70-75 FPE minimum 400 grain arrow seems to be where the line in the sand is right now.