Is it worth it?

[RavensdaleYoungBuck]

Hey y'all,
So I am looking to upgrade my bow, I currently have an old Browning bow that has a 44 inch axle to axle and is frickin heavy. I'm gonna bow hunt for the first time this year and need a better bow that is lighter and easier to take on hunts into the back country. I am wondering if it is worth it to just get a really nice Mathews Bow because I am told they are the best, or should I spend 300-400 dollars on a cheaper Diamond Bow. Obviously, I know there is a difference between the two bows, but what I'm asking is if it is worth the price difference to just go with the better bow and use it in the long run. Also, I would prefer to buy new instead of used just because this bow will last me a while.
Thanks

[Jellymon]

    Whoever told you Mathews is the best, stop listening to thier advice. Anyone saying one manufacture is the best only wants you to shoot what they like. There is no best, only what fits you and what you shoot well. For the most part there isn't a bad bow on the market as long as you stay with known reputable brands. Every company makes a bow just as good as Mathews or better. One model of Mathews may be the best for someone else, but the absolute worst for you. The same with every other brand. My size 11 shoe isn't going to feel as good, or perform as well for someone who wears a 13.
    Also, EVERY brand has issues. Mathews is known for sloppy limb pockets, Hoyt's limb edges splinter easily, PSE mod screws come loose, Elites cam coating chips easily, Bowtech-well, just Google Bowtech failures. The truth is if you have a good dealer all these issues can be fixed as every big manufacture has pretty good warranties. Any bow you buy has a chance for failure. I tried to get serious and bought supposedly the best, most bulletproof toughest brand on the market. After all the paint flaked off, five limb splinters, and two sets of cams with bad bearings, I no longer buy that brand. Point is all the bows made now are very durable and reliable, with the occasional lemon thrown in and no brand is immune. So don't let that drive your decision.
    Everyone's skeletal/muscular/body shape is different, and everyone feels grips, draw cycles, wall, string angle differently. The best thing to do is shoot every brand/model you can and see what feels most comfortable. You will find one that jumps out at you. My advice since you're fairly new is pick a model that is easily adjustable for draw length. Everyone thinks they are a 30" draw when in reality average draw length is closer to 28". An easily adjusted draw length allows you to experiment with tuning, pin float, etc, easier until you learn your true draw length. I would stay at a 7" brace or higher, with an ATA of no less than 33", 32" bare minimum. I prefer a 35" bow as this gets the string touching my nose without tilting my head, and gets the peep closer to my eye for better alignment. It seems to align everything more naturally. This will be an easier to shoot setup.
     Only you can decide if the $950 bow is truly better then the $500 bow. In most cases there is actually not that much difference between the two. Have fun, bow shopping to me is almost more fun than shooting. Sorry for the long post, it's 1:00 in the morning and I can't sleep.
                                 And remember, speed isn't everything!
     

[Old Dog]

  

[MIKEXRAY]

Go shoot them & make the call based on what you feel. I left with a new Mathews a couple of years ago because it felt like the smoothest draw & best shooting. It was well worth it to me,  others may like the cheaper bow just fine. Good luck.

[coachcw]

I love my Bowtech s 

[syoungs]

I couldn't tell the difference between a 7-800$ bow and a 4-500$ bow when I was test shooting them. im sure someone that's been shooting longer may be able to tell. All I know is a arrow outta a " entry level" package is just as deadly as one of the more expensive units.

I still haven't made up my mind, either a g5, or a bear is coming home with me in a couple weeks, like em both the same, same warranty, same cost, similar setup on the rth packages.

[Whitelightning]

I am new to bow hunting and I agree there is a lot of talk and a lot of little things with every bow. I went with a Prime Impact, it just felt the best to me and was easy to shoot. Another thing for me was were the dealer was located and how they presented each bow brand and model. The shop I bought from didn't tell me what I needed or that this bow was the best, they were patient and answered my questions.  :twocents:d

[Vandal44]

Like others have said, shoot as many as you can. When you go to a pro shop make sure they set the bows to your draw length, and the poundage that you can pull failure easy.  I would recommend going in with a budget, you don't need a $1,000 bow to kill an animal

[STRINGSHOOTER]

I bought my first bow based on the name, low price, and how it looked after getting into archery through a couple buddies. Before long I sold it and then tried out a couple bows. I went with the one that felt natural in my hands all the way through the shot. You'll know it when you experience it.

[RadSav]

Is there really a hunting bow worth over $1K?  Like computers they will be obsolete by this time next year.  $1K buys you one heck of a rifle that you can hand down through the generations.  Make's me think that few top level bows are worth it.  Especially when there are so many great bows on the market costing half that from almost all manufacturers.

Of course you could buy last years "End all, supremo, nothing better, answer to all that ails you" $1K bow for almost half the price.  Should shoot just as well today as it did yesterday!

This year the mid range "Great Bow for the Money" selection went up about $100 over last year.  But they are really good!  Bear Traxx, PSE Source, Mission Blaze, Martin Lithium...All good bows!  All under $700.  That PSE Source HD is amazing good and probably should be priced with the Decree HD at $950!!!  Of course $700 used to be high end pricing.  So it's not as good a deal as last years $600 and under mid-priced bows.  But most are as good if not better than the Shock & Awe Headliner speed demons that no one can seem to shoot well.

[scoutdog346]

I would use the bow u have this year so u get a idea of what u like, want and need in a bow.  dont buy a different one until u can drop at least $900 on a used one.  U can get a fully loaded bow on Ebay that cost the original buyer over $1600 with all the components thats only 3 or 4 years old and was top of the line at tjat time for only $900 and he will probably throw in a case and some other stuff.  A 3 or 4 year old fully loaded bow that costs $1600 3 or 4 years ago will allmost allways b way better then a fully loaded $900 new bow.  Do that and u will have a bow that will take u a few years b4 u make a upgrade that will make a difference in ur shooting and the differences in the technological advancements will be significant enough to make a difference by that time. Buy a new $900 bow and u will have a bow that was never top of the line.

[trophyhunt]

I love my Hoyt, but go shoot an elite!  That is my next bow.