...which bow "feels" the best at the shot.
I'm talking about no vibration -- the bow that's totally dead in your hands. This isn't about speed or your favorite brand. We're all going to have different opinions and this isn't a spitting contest.
The bow that "feels" the best for me at the shot is the Mathew's No Cam HTR.....and it's not even the bow that I own! I don't feel any vibration, any jump or palm slap.
You guys that get to shoot several different bows and several different brands -- what's your opinion?
You guys are talking brands...I'm talking models. There are tons of good bows today! We're fortunate...
Prime Impact, Rize, Centroid. Elite E34s are VERY nice as well.
Shot a lot of different bows before I bought a No Cam. All the write ups are about how smooth the draw is, but when you fire is when it's really smooth.
A few people who've shot mine remarked on the same thing.
Just fast enough to be fast enough, but almost like a target bow.
This or a Hoyt, IMO. But I'm a bit of a Hoyt fanboy.
Hoyt I'm speaking of is my Faktor, but I shot an Elite Energy 35 that had the most solid back wall I've ever felt and was pretty smooth.
Without a doubt, the Prime Rize. It makes me feel like i'm holding a tuning fork when I shoot my BT Carbon Overdrive.
The three that feel the most dead at the shot in my hand are a 2008 Ross Cardiac, a 2015 Obsession Addiction and a 2010 (I think) Mathews Conquest.
Been through them all in the last year, every flagship bow from every major brand except one (Obsession, sorry 280). For me, one stood clearly above all others.
Prime Rize! And I'll use this an excuse to repost the Arizona desert mule deer public land over the counter tag!
Buddy buys a lot of stuff. Prime is his fave.
I rather liked my old Hoyt Protec.
Would like to hot rod an Oneida Black Eagle 2 (they draw so smooth- nobody makes a fingers bow these days).
Recurve, my fave is Blackwidow....has been for about 30 yrs.
Brackenbury, I don't even recall the model name its that old. Smoothest bow I've ever had in my hands. Of course my PSE FireFlite is pretty smooth for a wheel bow too.
Obsession K34. Dont know that its possible for a bow to be any more dead in the hand and whisper quiet. Ive owned 5 Obsessions over the last 2.5 years. This one i will keep.
Until there is a standard issue hand and wrist for everyone, this will be a topic filled with opinions!
So many options that it's all but impossible to try them all out to see what feels best. There are a few brands and models that seem to rise to the top. Try those few on that short list and you will likely find the one you're looking for.
My guess is that all the bows on that short list will be fantastic. One additional way to help this is to step away from the focus on speed, and go towards the heaviest arrow you can choose for your needs. The difference between how a bow feels in your hand that shoots a 375 grain arrow, and then a 525 grain arrow is an astonishing difference.
Some do handle both exceptionally well. Jus sayin lol
How one gets to the shot is also important IMHO.
Hoyt Defiant - almost have to look down and see if the arrow is gone. Awesome bow.
Lots of good bows out. Both present year and years past. If anyone cant find a bow that fits them, they aint looking hard enough.
MQ 32. Bought the first year they made'em in LH and quite possibly the last I'll ever buy for myself.
Elite Synergy. I was a Mathews guy for years, shot an Elite last year and was sold.
Bowtech Equalizer - sold it as I thought I needed a "real" mans bow......f-up on my part. Shooting CRX now, and like it but don't love it.
The prime rize is real nice but for me the Hoyt Hyperedge is the smoothest shooting bow I have ever held.
Schit.....
After a 20 year break they are all pretty friggin amazing.
Both my bows are older model Bowtechs, an 07 Allegiance and an 04 Liberty. The Liberty is my backup bow and I don't shoot it that often anymore but the freedom cam is still the smoothest, butter smooth cam I have ever shot. The binary on the Allegiance is a totally different animal but is also very smooth and dead on the shot. Both are as quite as a church mouse. I've tried to upgrade several times but nothing out there that I've shot feels as good as these two bows in my hands. I can't see myself ever parting with either.