I'm looking at buying a used compound and wanted to know what the opinions were of the esteemed members of this most elite forum! (gotta butter ya up bit ;))

I haven't shot a wheel bow in decades but want to shoot fingers and don't want to pay much so the new stuff is out. Any favorites/classics that are still hunt worthy?

I've been shooting compounds w/fingers for 15+ yrs. Any of your longer axle to axle length bows(38"and up) with not to short a brace height(7"and up) will work. I shoot two different ones. An old High Country Supreme and a first model Mathews Conquest Pro.

I would have to agree with EZEARL on the longer axle to axle bows. Wouldn't cause as much steep angle "finger pinch" when drawn. The shorter bows are best shot with a narrow mechanical release. I don't believe you are getting the let down on the longer bows that are being produced on the shorter ones. May be wrong about that. My last compound that I did shoot fingers with was a Hoylt Gamegetter and it worked fine. Plenty long compounds out there in the bow shops. Good Luck

Take a look at the ArcheryTalk.com classifieds. Lots of used bows over there. I'd look for a Hoyt Ultratec or Protec with XT3000 limbs or a used Reflex Caribou (what Chuck Adams uses).

I recall the Mathews Rival Pro and Conquest Pro being good finger bows for friends. I have not shot fingers since starting with a Hoyt Prohunter with the "energy wheels"

RR

some more options are a Bowtech Independance-single cam and smoooth to draw with a hard wall[draw stop]. also a BT Constitution-binary cam hard wall with draw stop and pretty fast, a PSE Concord-round wheel soft wall.all three of these are 40"+ ata. the bows listed in earlier post are great choices also.icurrently shoot a High Country Supreme Pro-38" ata binary cam hard wall with draw stop,its a very aggressive bow for fingers but is fast and accurate.

SBTCO,one thing you may want to take into consideation is letoff. I DID NOT like the 80% letoff on my Mathews so switched to a 65% cam. 3D and practice wasn't bad but I had too many accidental releases or letups do to various circumstances when hunting. NEVER a problem with 65%.

+1 for the Mathews Rival Pro = awesome bow!!

Gentlemen,
Thanks for all the responses. This helps to narrow down the field.

Another question. Which is going to be a smoother shooting bow, wheels or cams? I'm not familiar with the mechanics involved other than cams being faster and not too worried about speed, just smoother shooting.

Thanks

When you ask about smooth shooting I'm guessing you mean an easy breakover from the bow's set poundage into its letoff? Wheel bows are smoother than hard cam bows BUT you can find a happy medium in between. A single cam bow w/65% letoff is a very smooth shooting bow. You really need to connect with a bow shop that will work with you to get you a set-up your comfortable with. Keep looking for a shop that will.

Isn't there something wrong with the assumption that any used bow could be good for anything? If it is used, there are obviously newer models out there, so the bow in question could not possibly be of any use whatsoever. It certainly could not be expected to kill a deer!

Of course there's something wrong with that assumption! Both my High Country and Mathews I bought used at bow/pro shops. Both shops advised that the bows may not kill game. LOL

Thanks EZEARL, that's kind of what I thought, however my wallet has pretty much determined my shopping at the basement floor level!

So unless the local archery shop has some late 80's-90's models to try out I am more or less destined to the auction sights and local pawn shops.

5sdad, you weren't expecting me to actually use this thing, were you? I just wanna put a cammo bandana around my head and run around in the woods looking like RAMBOOO!
Why pay more???

I would STILL advise you to hit the shops. Even in my rural area of WV the shops have bows that would fit your price range. I looked at a late 80's Golden Eagle(ALWAYS liked the look of recurve compounds!)awhile back that had some accessories on it for $200. One thing about buying at any other place besides a shop,other than from someone you feel you can trust,is that most shops are busy enough with bows they sell that they may not have the time or simply may not want to service your bow since you didn't buy it there. Just SOMETHING ELSE to think about.
Where are you located,if you don't mind me asking?

Good Points. I'm in Montana. We have a couple good archery shops but they usually don't have a very good supply of used stuff that is low enough in price ( I'm cheap, I'm keeping my price point at around $100).

I killed a deer again last year with my Bear Whitetail Hunter. (At least he seemed dead when we gutted him, and the last I checked the skull plate mount was still on the wall in the garage.)

You may also consider a used Oneida bow, these are great for finger shooting as they are longer than most other bows and the 90's bows have pretty much the same technology as the stuff coming out of the factory today.