Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Mathews flops....again

It's the best bow I ever drew. But I haven't drawn one since I bought it! Maybe that's the secret. Or maybe that my longest shot ever was 22 yards ...

I bought the Chill R and I love it. Dead in the hand, accurate and forgiving. I shot Hoyt and Elite before deciding on the Mathews. It really comes down to what feels best to the shooter. All of the top brands make great bows.

I'm quite grateful that there are so many folks that will spend the money on new gear every year.

Regardless of the new products released by any company, the decisions are made by the company. They will flourish or fail with their decisions. It is after all their business and responsibility. Everyone of us has the option to shop and decide for ourselves.

The beauty of the shoppers that spend lots of money every year on new gear is the R&D. That does not come cheap, getting a new product from idea, through concept, design and tooling to packaging and marketing delivered to shelves is all part of the margin sucking business of manufacturing and retail.

All the shoppers keep this flowing comfortably for me to benefit from in the one year old used market, or the end of the model run liquidation.

Thanks Shoppers! keep on buying and testing this stuff for me! Still waiting on something better then the Switchback XT. Until then I'm just gonna keep killing bears, pigs, and anything else that gets in the way with it.

From Mathews, you may be waiting quite a while. Until then, when the ol SBXT gets in need of some new threads and a tune up, give me a shout. Ill take good care of it for u

JJ -- the beauty of folks buying new gear is the wealth of good used gear!

Exactly, a skilled observer can find gems in the used market.

Even on the rare occasions I get burned, I just chalk it up to " tuition" and don't sweat it. Heck I bought new Bushnell Fusion 1 mile binos. They were bad, had them replaced, they were bad too. Got a third pair, they sucked worse of all. total refund.

Could have bough used and had them just as good! However no return policy then!

Some things are better off buying new, that knowledge comes with the "tuition" spent!

I got a little bored about page 2 so I can't address every point made but Matthews does make a great product. Of course when you are an innovator, you change the market to make things in the image of your innovation. "Standing on the shoulders of Giants" as they say. Now you can get a better bow from the worst manufacturer out there (I will leave it to you to decide which that is), that was available when I got my first Bear Whitetail back in the 80's (on the clearance rack no less).

The point is, if you find a bow that fits you, you can shoot that baby for many years with no degradation in hunting performance. If you are shooting competition, then the nit picking does arise as you are obviously committed to the endeavor, whether rifles, pistols, or bows. I have had the pleasure of meeting many of those masters over the years and the differences between them and other competitors is minute (between them and me huge) but the focus on what will add advantage in the next shoot is big in the microscopic measurements of success.

Physics will dictate what arrow speed will be attainable with controlability. There is a balance. Dropping 325 fps as a performance bar may likely be the perfect speed for a semi-average joe to perform well with a bow, while 350, 375 etc might make that baby uncontrollable for the average hand.

After a shoulder injury I dropped down to a 60 pound compound and found out a lot about performance. That bow, while old tech (Hoyt), shot an arrow at 310, was accurate, and I could shoot a long time before fatigue set in. The Matthews Switchback in a 70 pound bow, replaced that bow and I was very enamored with it. Of course I have since transitioned to a long bow...

The most important thing that I have learned in archery was finding a mentor to help the beginner learn to evaluate the spine, draw weight, sights and all the incredible amount of minutae that archery comes with. I have been lucky enough to meet some of those types in archery, pistol shooting, perhaps rifle, darts, etc. They are not the braggarts but the lovers of the discipline, usually competitors with some humility intact.

Too many beers tonight I fear...