Just got home from one of the local archery shops. I managed to get to shoot 3 of Hoyts new 2015 bows along with also getting to shoot the new Mathews No Cam HTR. It was nice to have all 4 bows side x side and shoot back and forth amongst them. Spent a good bit shooting each one of them. The Hoyts I shot were the 30" Carbon Spyder, 30" Nitrum, and the Nitrum Turbo. First, I will start off by saying that these were all good solid bows and they would all most likely make a fella happy ... don't see how any of them could be considered a bad choice. I decided to shoot the Mathews for the fact that everyone and their brother in my area seems to shoot them and I wanted to give it the benefit of the doubt. Also, wanted to see/feel what this new No Cam technology was all about. I will say that the Mathews was probably the quietest and most dead in my hand bow I have ever shot, but for me that is where it stops. It didn't feel comfortable in my hands from the second I grabbed it and remained that way while shooting it. I did not care for the feel of the draw cycle in the slightest bit. Also, in my opinion this bow is a step backwards in speed even compared to my current Alphamax. I'm not a speed guy and never will be but this thing was noticeably slow ... end of story. The diehard Mathews guys will still buy them. I loved the feel of the Carbon Spyder the most out of the bunch. It just screams don't put me down! The Nitrum has a very similar feel though. Comparing the Carbon Spyder and the Nitrum side x side, the differences between them was very very minimal if any at all. Yes the one is Carbon and yes you can tell it is just a tad lighter but To Me it is not worth the $450 price difference they are asking for the Carbon. Not in the slightest bit! The Nitrum 30" was equally Impressive in performance and for me the biggest difference in these new bows compared to my current Alphamax was how they felt holding them at full draw. They feel like they can be held there forever ... no pull forward whatsoever. It truly was noticeably different. The Nitrum 30" was pretty darn comparable in quietness as the Mathews but again the Mathews had the edge in that department. Finally, I also shot the Nitrum Turbo and just don't have a strong enough desire for speed to shoot it as a hunting bow. It was definitely the fastest of the bunch but you lose some of the quietness and smoothness in the draw cycle in my opinion. Just not my cup of tea. If money wasn't a factor I might splurge on the Carbon Spyder but for no other reason than to just say look what I have ... if you know what I mean. For me the clear winner today was the 30" Nitrum and I'm sure that's what will be coming home with me in the very near future. I will say, I'm glad I took the time to shoot and handle them all. I will not be second guessing my decision in the least little way.
