From: dasaxe@milton.u.washington.edu (Daniel Perreault)
Subject: Re: "Best" Hunting Bow for the Money??
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 03:45:46 GMT

In article <1992Jul23.095317@deneb.jsc.nasa.gov> lee@deneb.jsc.nasa.gov (Darrell Lee [MDSSC]) writes:
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>I have been bowhunting since I was 15 on a regularly irregular basis. The last year I hunted was 1986 and did very well. Then I went back to college
and got a degree, changed jobs, moved to another city and three years ago, got married. Now I believe my life has settled down and I want to get back
to enjoying some of it, my new wife agreed 100% and gave me some money to replenish my archery equipment. So I did and have been practicing very consi
stently for the last month. I am at this point shooting
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>l as, or better than in 1986, but I found that equipment wise alot has changed. The bow I have now is good but was only considered moderate quality e
ven in 1986. I am planning to hunt with it this one last season and then buy an new for next year.
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>So that leads to my question. Out of all the hunting bows on the market which ones are considered "best"? I would like to keep the retail value under
 $600.00. I asked this guy at the local archery shop the same question and he immediatly showed me a Hoyt, Supreme. Is this a good suggestion or was h
e trying to make a sale on his most expensive?
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>I understand that the selection of a bow and what is considered "best" will be different for alot of people, so I am not asking for personal opinions
. I was hoping someone would be able to recall a comparison they read in an archery magazine, or something like that.


Well, there are a couple of things involved that really make a difference to
what kind of bow you might want to shoot. Like wether you like to shoot high
poundage or not (+85lbs) wether you use a mechanical release or not and how
heavy an arrow do you want to shoot.

I have read about and shot alot of hunting bows and I believe there is an
article in Bowhunter magazine about 2 months ago that compared about 10 of the
top (in their opinion) bows coming out on the market.

I have seen and shot a Hoyt superslam Supreme and was not terribly impressed.
It is a slight redesign of an older riser with a modified cam and the same
limbs. I have shot bow fingers and release as well as sights and barebow.

In my humble opinion, for a release shooter who is not shooting huge poundage,
two of the best bows I know of are the Browning Mirage (NOT the new XE version
but the version before they went to sameside cabling) and the Proline New Wave
Point Blank in the 39 or 42 inch length. I would still go with the Mirage if
you started moving into the 85+ range.

Here are my reasons for saying this--first of all they are very fast. Both
bows are highly competative speedwise with any bow on the market, the Browning
shoots heavy arrows a little faster than the ProLine, the ProLine a little
faster for the lighter arrows.

second--stability, both bows are very stable in the hand and shoot cleanly
and quietly with little or no vibration after the shot. Both are very easy to
tune and shoot quite consistently.

Neither bow is very forgiving, so you have to shoot well to shoot them consisten

If you are a finger shooter I would drop the ProLine from that list and add
the Martin Firecat and the Browning Midas(again not the new XE version). Both
of these two bows are longer wheel to wheel, so they are more forgiving than
the Mirage. I personally shot a Browning Midas at about 97lbs barebow for
hunting and 3-D's. I know many people who shoot Martin speedflight and firecat
bows at over 100lbs.

I have shot an Oneida Phantom and found it very comfortable to shoot, and it
is very fast, but I don't know what maintenance and such are like. I personally
don't much like PSE bows, so I won't say anything about them.

No matter what you read here or what your shop pro tells you, you should
shoot the bow you are going to buy. For the money you may be putting down the
bowe had better do what you want it to do. All of the top of the line hunting
bows are going to be fast enough to kill most anything you hunt, so don't
let the issue of speed become a large one. Make sure you get a bow with a
good warrenty and that the shop has a good service record with the company.
I primarily shoot Browning and Martin and have stayed with them because I
have had no service problems with them.


Good luck and good hunting,

Dan Perreault
overeducated, unemployed and thinking about a Ph.D.