I'm looking to buy a new bow???

[PA BEN]

This is an outdoor related topic, so I thought I would ask here.  I have a Darton Maverick compound bow and haven’t hunted w/a bow for the past 7 years. I purchased a Bear Outbreak bow for my daughter and I can’t believe how fast and quite it is. My top of the line bow back in the day is outdated. I don’t want to break the bank right now but w/my daughter shooting and hopefully hunting this fall I want to find a good bow for a good price. I know if I ask I will get more different bows then dogs have flees. So I narrowed it down to two bows in my price range.  Both of these bows have good reviews so I want to ask here for a little more help.
 PSE Stinger 3G™ Ready-To-Shoot Package and Bear® Archery Encounter RTH Package
Thanks

[dawn2dusk]

A bow is kinda like a women, you gotta find the one that works best for you!  so my advice would be to shoot as many as you can in your price range. You will know once you shoot a few which one fits you best. Good luck and most of all have fun!

[DoubleJ]

2 things from me:

1.  I haven't shot the Bear Encounter but, I own the Bear Legion and LOVE LOVE LOVE it.  If you want more in depth info on Bear's, PM RadSav.  He works closely with Bear and has info you won't find on the Bear website.

2.  You will very quickly realize that the RTH package isn't.  Sure, it comes with everything you "Need" but, the accessories it comes with are the very bottom of the barrel parts and, I can almost guarantee you won't be happy with them and will soon be looking to replace them.  I'd suggest buying the bare bow and adding the accessories you want from the start.

[Arnbo]

A bow is kinda like a women, you gotta find the one that works best for you!  so my advice would be to shoot as many as you can in your price range. You will know once you shoot a few which one fits you best. Good luck and most of all have fun!

     

[romaknows]

Another option is to look for a top of the line used bow ,built after 2006 .Bows seemed to hit a plateau after that in my opinion.

That way you could have a  top of the line setup for a bottom line price.

[sakoshooter]

I'd post this in the 'bowhunting' section.

[carpsniperg2]

I just took your other one off since it had no responses and moved this one to bowhunting

[PA BEN]

Thanks

[deerslyr]

For a budget bow I personally really like mission. Been shooting the maniac for the last 4 years and have had great success. I shot the ballistic the other day and really liked it. 330 fps IBO and very smooth draw. I think they retail for 500 or so. Throw a biscuit and a truglow on there and your set. Bear and diamond are also putting out excellent budget bows. Hoyt came out with the charger this year and it seems to get good reviews as well. You can always find awesome deals on top of the line used bows on archerytalk.com too

[coop2424]

I bought the stinger last year since I was not sure if archery was for me.  In my mind for the price it is a great bow and I am very happy with it.  I have not shot really any other bows so can't compare to others.  At this point I updated the rest and soon will update the sight.  I probably will go to another bow in the future but this serves the purpose at this point.  I get great groups out to 50 yards which is all the pins I have.

[NWTFhunter]

As stated earlier, your going to get a different answer from every one who shoots a different bow.  I shot the stinger at cabelas last year and liked it a lot. But got a much better deal on the bowmadness.  I dont think there are many guys on here that shoot pse, but I can say they are very very quiet, and comfortable.  If you have narrowed it down to those two bows, go shoot each and see what feels best. I have never shot a bear before, and cant say anything good nor bad about them.

[sakoshooter]

A bow is kinda like a women, you gotta find the one that works best for you!  so my advice would be to shoot as many as you can in your price range. You will know once you shoot a few which one fits you best. Good luck and most of all have fun!

Good way to put it, LOL.

[bobcat]

Give Martin a try if you get a chance. They're made here in Washington state (Walla Walla)

I shoot a Martin Pantera. With Martin, you'll get a lot of bow for your money.

[BowForElk]

Another option is to look for a top of the line used bow ,built after 2006 .Bows seemed to hit a plateau after that in my opinion.

That way you could have a  top of the line setup for a bottom line price.

+1 Ive never had a brand new bow. I shoot a Bowtech Tomkat and its a few years old but I loveee it. Ill never buy a different brand. Ive also had PSE and Hoyt. You might look into Diamond as well (owned by bowtech )

Now is the time to be shopping though. Keep lookin, Craigslist is your friend!

[RadSav]

Are you looking at the factory R2H packages (around $399) or something more like Hunter's Friend R2H packages (around $525)?  Big difference between the two!

Both great bows.  Both with similar hand grips.  Both with good warranty.  Both very easy to shoot.  Both with a bow only price of $299.  Pretty hard to beat that no matter which one you choose.  Though I might go the route of getting just the bow.  You should already have accessories from your current bow.  Use those until you make sure you like it.  Then get on a search for nice accessories you really want.  A lot of guys here on H-W have some darned good stuff they aren't using anymore.  A simple shout out might get you set up better than you would for the extra money for the R2H factory pkg.

I wish most of the $1,000 bows out there were as easy to shoot as these bargain bows.  Both really are a darned good bang for the buck!  Only thing they lack is the $200.00 roller guard and $500.00 Hoyt and Mathews name tag

[dmr400]

I was in the same spot you were in last year, I shot Hoyt's and Matthews for years but when it was time to upgrade after moving to Washington I decided to try some lower end bows and put the savings towards tree stands, game cams, and other equipment I didn't have after hunting wide open eastern oregon for years. 

One brand I haven't seen mentioned is Diamond...basically bowtechs with single cams.  I shot several at places like sportsmans and sportco, decided on the diamond outlaw, and then went searching for it used.  Found one in the classifieds over at archerytalk.com, and there I was.  I agree that the accessories (other than the quiver) on most of the "ready to hunt" bows are junk though, so other than having a backup don't contribute much to the package.

[PA BEN]

Well I purchased the Bear Archery Encounter RTH Package. Nice short axle bow, it will work well out of a treestand or ground blind. Never shot a whisker biscuit and don't have a bow press or pro shop even close to where I live, so I got the package. Good sites, whisker biscuit rest, nice peep, release loop and limb saver type stabilizer. Don't like the quiver (4-Arrow) or wrist band. I put my old ones on off my old bow. I'm going to shoot the whisker biscuit for awhile and see if I like it. I have a Dalton fall away on my old bow. This bow is smooth to draw and no hand shock at all and faster they any bow I've shot. It does make a hollow low thud when I shoot it. I need to look into noise suppression for a split limb bow. Any help would be nice. Over all I like this bow.

[coachcw]

congrats it should do well for you , I've heard that there strings are pretty good , not having a bow shop around you may want to get a second string and the means to change it , some bows like the limb saver you can back the limbs down and change strings without a press (i'm not sure if the bear doe's) wisker bisckits work and are a lil hard on fletchings , if your not trying to be a speed freak i'd just stick with it. , you may want to check your arrow wieght going to a slighty heavier arrow may quiet that bow down a bunch. 

[D-Rock425]

Give Martin a try if you get a chance. They're made here in Washington state (Walla Walla)

I shoot a Martin Pantera. With Martin, you'll get a lot of bow for your money.

martin is in selling right now I'd avoid them until after company business is settled.

[DoubleJ]

It does make a hollow low thud when I shoot it. I need to look into noise suppression for a split limb bow.

http://www.amazon.com/Limbsaver-Superquad-Split-Limb-Black/dp/B001EYHLOE
They come in camo also

And if you want to change to your drop away rest later, PM me and I'll walk you through it without you needing a bow press or I can do it for you if you can make the 1.5 hr drive to Shelton.

[PA BEN]

It does make a hollow low thud when I shoot it. I need to look into noise suppression for a split limb bow.

http://www.amazon.com/Limbsaver-Superquad-Split-Limb-Black/dp/B001EYHLOE
They come in camo also

And if you want to change to your drop away rest later, PM me and I'll walk you through it without you needing a bow press or I can do it for you if you can make the 1.5 hr drive to Shelton.

My drop away is real ez to install. Thanks

[motg9_6]

i know its aways away from you but contact Straight-N-Arrow archery in Goldendale WA. he is a martin dealer and has several really good used bows very reasonably priced.

[dmr400]

I'd highly suggest getting a bow press and learning to do your own work if you are a long ways away from a good shop...you can build a serviceable press for less than the cost of a new release if you do your homework...the savings in fuel alone will pay for the press and materials very quickly. With all the resources and information available via the internet today it isn't hard to learn.

[PA BEN]

I have a cable press and it works well on my Darton and yes I have done my own work. But this new Bear w/quad split limbs I have to use a different press. I see that there are adapters for split limb bows but I don't know if they make one for quad limbs. Swaines has one here in PA for my cable press but the Package said not to us it on Bear quad limbs???

[PA BEN]

Yeah I should have bought a bare bow. No archery shops in PA so I'm over at Mom and Dads in Chewelah. Had surgery on my finger so I'm off work for a week so I thought I'd take a road trip. And yes I stopped at every shop in Spokane, Deer park and Clarks in Colville and Reds just north of Chewelah. Now I have a trophy taker smack down, new quiver and other goodies. Lots of turkeys around I brought my shotgun hope to shoot one Monday morning then head back for a doctor app. on Tuesday morning. Can't wait to put these new goodies on my bow.

[Beardo]

  You will very quickly realize that the RTH package isn't.  Sure, it comes with everything you "Need" but, the accessories it comes with are the very bottom of the barrel parts and, I can almost guarantee you won't be happy with them and will soon be looking to replace them.  I'd suggest buying the bare bow and adding the accessories you want from the start.

Very good advise. I only wish someone mentioned this to me with my first bow.  I had it less than a week before dumping a bunch more money into it to get it the way I liked.  Just remember you get what you pay for.   One thing with any bow low or high end that I would suggest is getting a set of high quality pre stretched strings made for it.