1st bow recommendations

[GregB]

I'm looking to start bow hunting next year and am looking for recommendations on what to buy, (and avoid) for my first bow. Never bow hunted before and don't have any experience. I'm looking at a $500-600 budget for just the bow. I shot a couple the other day and so far seem to prefer one with a solid backwall. I'll take any advice on sights releases and rests as well.

 

[big44a4]

Shoot them all in that price range. For me a big thing is how well a certain grip works for your hand. Is it comfortably repeatable? Having a grip that fits you well will go a long ways towards helping your consistency. I prefer a single or double pin option because of sight picture. MBG or spot hogg sights are solid and both offer sights in single or multi pin setups.

I use a trophy taker smackdown pro. My buddy likes his vapor trail limb driver pro v and many people rave about the hamskea hybrid. Same as releases just preference but I prefer a limb driven rest.

Always check classifieds on here and archery talk as well as eBay. Can find great deals on gently used or new items if you have the patience.


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[Trial153]

Rather then a specific bow I will give you some ideas for specs that should be suitable for someone that is a beginner.

To start with I would chose binary cams with limb stops. You said you like a hard back wall, this will get you that. It will also get a you a fairly smooth draw force curve for the most part.

Look for a bow that is 32-35 ata, with a 7 inch brace height. Look for ibo speed from 315 to 335. Much higher then that will most likely have shorter brace heights and stiffer cams.

I wouldn’t be afraid in the least to buy a year or two old used flagship bow in the 450-600 range rather then a entry level bow.

 

[Dameon]

I concur with Tria153, I would rather have a used 1-2 year old flagship bow than a current entry level or mid-range bow. The flagships are worth it, even if they are a couple of years old as they still have smoother draws and more speed than the current entry and mid level bows.

Buying used can save you a lot of money if you are patient and shop carefully. My two bows would have cost me over $1000 each if I bought them new, but I bought the bows used after less than a season and spent the savings on getting the best accessories I could afford. Just remember, the bow may be expensive, but the accessories like a sight, rest, quiver, arrows, and release aid can set you back quite a bit also. Luckily, all of those can be bought used as well if you do the research to figure out exactly what you want and are patient enough to wait for the items you want to come up for sale and jump on them when they do. The classifieds here and on AT are good places to find great deals. The only thing I would recommend buying new is arrows. I have not had good luck with used arrows.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Shoot Prime and Elite bows to experience easy draw cycles and bows you can hold at full draw all day.

 

[KingOfTheRockies]

I'm looking to start bow hunting next year and am looking for recommendations on what to buy, (and avoid) for my first bow. Never bow hunted before and don't have any experience. I'm looking at a $500-600 budget for just the bow. I shot a couple the other day and so far seem to prefer one with a solid backwall. I'll take any advice on sights releases and rests as well.

I've been doing the same. I started getting back into archery recently and I went out to the garage and my backup bow as well as my hoyt alphamax were both stolen.

I've been heavily looking at the Obsession Turmoil from 2017 and the Turmoil RZ from 2018. Brand new it is $600-700 which is just slightly out of your budget. I've also been keeping my eye on craigslist for any Obsession, Prime or Elite. I went and shot their flagship bows and I would agree with most of the statements in here.

 

[AZElk]

If you are looking for something in the 500-600 dollar range you could look at the PSE Drive X RTS at $650 and the Hoyt PowerMax RTS also at $650. At my shop we carry both these with the RTS (Ready to Shoot) package already on them. This means that after you purchase the bow all you have to do is get arrows and a release and you're ready to start shooting. Your other option is the PSE Stinger Xtreme RTS which comes in at $399 for a full package bow. I recommend this to a lot of people and they find great joy in shooting the bow. Both the Drive X and PowerMax are dual cam bows so you will be more FPS and also a slightly more even feeling back wall. I personally am partial to the Drive X because of the new package that comes with it ( Micro adjust PSE sight, drop away rest, 8" stabilizer, PSE Raven quiver, and wrist sling). This makes it a virtually unbeatable bow and package for the money. Hope this helps you with getting into the sport.