Beginner bow help.

[Billy Goat]

You are the perfect example of what I feel Mathews is targeting. A hunter who can take their bow right out of the box and hunt with it.

The amount of people who like to move weight on their bows with side bars and weighted stabilization is far less then those who buy a hunting rig, put a quiver and simple stabilizer on it and get to hunting. Mathews has those guys wrapped up. There is not a bow on the market right out of the box that sits do still in your hand after the shot, out of the box than a Mathews VRX series. The question people don’t ask themselves is how is Mathews doing this ?

Is it design ? Yes and no. Design in that Mathews has bridged their riders with I think I counted 6 mini bridges to transfer and dampen vibration as it’s dispersed. Coupled with a more heftier riser per inch than anyone in the biz, you now see that riser is built to dispense vibration, dampen it thru bridges and on account of its compacted shear weight, makes it harder to move after the shot.

Mathews was thinking when designing that VR riser.


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Several of us have gotten away from the front and back bars. Too much weight to be carrying around all the time. It has advantages and disadvantages. I have found that I can shoot a light bow really well, not everyone can. My target bow has a 10" stabilizer now with 4oz out front.

 

[Billy Goat]

Now that is the kinda info I like.
I hear/read so much this brand/bow is bad,that brand/bow is bad,but never why.
Without a good why,it´s just an opinion,which may or may not be valid.And useless, to me at least.
If I buy on Monday it will not be a Vxr as the delivery has been delayed.
Bowtech Icon seems interesting.

I honestly don't think any bows out there are bad now. Bad customer service yes. That's something to consider when purchasing.

Different bows tune different also. I honestly don't think you can do better than something like a Bear Kuma for the money. Performance wise it's in line with everything else. It is slightly louder, produces a little more hand shock, but is easy to tune if you understand yokes, can also shim the cams on it. Can change the draw length through a wide range without purchasing anything else.

 

[Reburn]

You are the perfect example of what I feel Mathews is targeting. A hunter who can take their bow right out of the box and hunt with it.

The amount of people who like to move weight on their bows with side bars and weighted stabilization is far less then those who buy a hunting rig, put a quiver and simple stabilizer on it and get to hunting. Mathews has those guys wrapped up. There is not a bow on the market right out of the box that sits do still in your hand after the shot, out of the box than a Mathews VRX series. The question people don’t ask themselves is how is Mathews doing this ?

Is it design ? Yes and no. Design in that Mathews has bridged their riders with I think I counted 6 mini bridges to transfer and dampen vibration as it’s dispersed. Coupled with a more heftier riser per inch than anyone in the biz, you now see that riser is built to dispense vibration, dampen it thru bridges and on account of its compacted shear weight, makes it harder to move after the shot.

Mathews was thinking when designing that VR riser.

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Agreed that they put a fair amount of thinking into the riser. Looking at the bow compared to everything else the riser is much longer. But the VXR comes in at the advertised weight ready to go. I have not weighed a bow yet personally that actually weighs what they say it weighs except mathews. The hoyt rx3 ultra weighed more as well as my brothers rx4 and my other brothers bowtech sr6. There are a few amount of people out there including me that have learned if you actually take the time to micro adjust your DL in 1/8" increments you can get a bow to hold very stable without the need to add a bunch of stabs with weight to help the bow hold steady. The stabs at that point help torquing not holding.

 

[Reburn]

Several of us have gotten away from the front and back bars. Too much weight to be carrying around all the time. It has advantages and disadvantages. I have found that I can shoot a light bow really well, not everyone can. My target bow has a 10" stabilizer now with 4oz out front.

The sad part is my vxr and rx3 both weigh more without stabs and arrows (7.5 lbs) then my barrett fieldcraft does scoped with rounds (7 lbs).

 

[Billy Goat]

The sad part is my vxr and rx3 both weigh more without stabs and arrows (7.5 lbs) then my barrett fieldcraft does scoped with rounds (7 lbs).

Something seems wrong there. My VXR 31.5 with 5 arrows is 6# 6.5 oz. I should be able to add an arrow and loose a few ounces by switching to the q-lite quiver from the 5 arrow tight spot I have now. I admittedly got wrapped up in trying to shave ounces on this bow, but I'm happy where it is. 5 pin fixed sight, still steady and holds well.

 

[Florida Bow Hunter]

Several of us have gotten away from the front and back bars. Too much weight to be carrying around all the time. It has advantages and disadvantages. I have found that I can shoot a light bow really well, not everyone can. My target bow has a 10" stabilizer now with 4oz out front.

I’m with you. If I’m treestand hunting which is what I do, I want a light as possible rig. My choice ? Hoyt Carbon Spyder Turbo. Not the WX Series. My bow is lite as a feather, 33 axle with a Carbon Blade stabilizer and few tipped weights. I practice to 60 yards and that’s much further then I’ll ever be able to shoot in a stand.

To lug a Mathews VRX in Florida heat is insane. My Hoyt will outdo my friends Triax day in and day out, especially penetration and he’s longer on draw.

I love the little Mathews bows. But they aren’t a Hoyt.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it until Hoyt keeps screwing me over and not making what I’m wanting next. A 34 axle, Turbo cam 6 inch brace with a 350+ ibo that comes in a 27 draw.


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[Billy Goat]

I’m with you. If I’m treestand hunting which is what I do, I want a light as possible rig. My choice ? Hoyt Carbon Spyder Turbo. Not the WX Series. My bow is lite as a feather, 33 axle with a Carbon Blade stabilizer and few tipped weights. I practice to 60 yards and that’s much further then I’ll ever be able to shoot in a stand.

To lug a Mathews VRX in Florida heat is insane. My Hoyt will outdo my friends Triax day in and day out, especially penetration and he’s longer on draw.

I love the little Mathews bows. But they aren’t a Hoyt.

That’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it until Hoyt keeps screwing me over and not making what I’m wanting next. A 34 axle, Turbo cam 6 inch brace with a 350+ ibo that comes in a 27 draw.


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I love how you call it lug around. I had two Hoyt carbon bows. An original carbon matrix, and a carbon defiant turbo. Those carbon spyders are good bows, but I'm done with carbon. Curious what your bow is actually weighing. Stick it on a food scale if you get the chance. Honestly stand hunting is not where I worry about weight, however where I am it's easy walking, no more than a 1/2 mile generally. I hunt public whitetail a few times a year, that can be different. Hunting in the West is where I get concerned about weight. Carry enough around as it is.


I bet those swamps make it fun in Florida tho. Doesn't your season start like mid August? I'd say count my ass out of that. After sitting in 100 degrees, 95% humidity and fighting being carried off by the skeeters, I'd probably jump in front of the first gator that came by.

 

[Reburn]

Something seems wrong there. My VXR 31.5 with 5 arrows is 6# 6.5 oz. I should be able to add an arrow and loose a few ounces by switching to the q-lite quiver from the 5 arrow tight spot I have now. I admittedly got wrapped up in trying to shave ounces on this bow, but I'm happy where it is. 5 pin fixed sight, still steady and holds well.

Here is what it is. If I drop off the sight light, the front and rear QD stab attachments and the sling it comes out to 6.77 lbs without arrows. Yes I really am that OCD. Yes I really did weigh everything. The cool hand luke string stop was over stock string stop weight. On this bow I didn't notice a benefit to the cool hand luke. Made a world of difference on my rx3 and my brothers sr6 though.

 

[Billy Goat]

Here is what it is. If I drop off the sight light, the front and rear QD stab attachments and the sling it comes out to 6.77 lbs without arrows. Yes I really am that OCD. Yes I really did weigh everything. The cool hand luke string stop was over stock string stop weight. On this bow I didn't notice a benefit to the cool hand luke. Made a world of difference on my rx3 and my brothers sr6 though.

View attachment 198138

Surprised that sight weighs what it does. I almost went with the hamskea but didn't because of the weight penalty. I also don't use a sling anymore, haven't for years actually. Hopefully the q-lite won't change the balance, if it does I'll have it for sale.

 

[Reburn]

The pro head comes wtih a weight penatly. So worth it for the adjustments and pro pins. The pro head on an ML3 base still weighs 11 oz vs mine with the 4" wing truss. The spot hogg fast eddie was heavier by 2 oz I think. The hamskea is still a maybe on this bow as I havent gotten too deep into torque tuning it yet. I like having a sling sometimes when I'm stand hunting or moving packless hunting yotes.

 

[Florida Bow Hunter]

I love how you call it lug around. I had two Hoyt carbon bows. An original carbon matrix, and a carbon defiant turbo. Those carbon spyders are good bows, but I'm done with carbon. Curious what your bow is actually weighing. Stick it on a food scale if you get the chance. Honestly stand hunting is not where I worry about weight, however where I am it's easy walking, no more than a 1/2 mile generally. I hunt public whitetail a few times a year, that can be different. Hunting in the West is where I get concerned about weight. Carry enough around as it is.


I bet those swamps make it fun in Florida tho. Doesn't your season start like mid August? I'd say count my ass out of that. After sitting in 100 degrees, 95% humidity and fighting being carried off by the skeeters, I'd probably jump in front of the first gator that came by.

Lol

Yeah we start deer in 15 days. They are starting to bump doe. Rut starts soon. Truth.

As for the weight of a Hoyt and the VRX ? Well what bugs me most of all is the axle to axle per ounce of weight. They might weigh the same, maybe the Hoyt a tad less. Bit my Hoyt has 5 more inches of axle. You can spread that weight more for a better balance. Plus, if I want to use the bow for 3D, I can add stabilizer and side bars. Add more to a VRX and you get an over heavy lug,,, imho.


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[Billy Goat]

I was thinking wrist sling, not bow sling. I do use a primos bow sling some. Otherwise strapped to my pack or carried in hand.

Haven't torque tuned this VXR yet either, I was pleased with the TRX I was messing with tho. Hopefully this falls in those lines.

 

[Billy Goat]

Lol

Yeah we start deer in 15 days. They are starting to bump doe. Rut starts soon. Truth.

As for the weight of a Hoyt and the VRX ? Well what bugs me most of all is the axle to axle per ounce of weight. They might weigh the same, maybe the Hoyt a tad less. Bit my Hoyt has 5 more inches of axle. You can spread that weight more for a better balance. Plus, if I want to use the bow for 3D, I can add stabilizer and side bars. Add more to a VRX and you get an over heavy lug,,, imho.


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What's the top of cam to bottom cam difference in the spyder turbo versus the vxr 31? My VXR is 37" @ rest. I'll check it on the draw board at sometime. I honestly have always hated a short bow, this one isn't bothering me. I'm assuming it's big cams make it like a 34" bow. Also riser length is more like a 34-5" bow, probably longer riser than your Spyder, riser is where you will spread the weight. Just saying a 31.5 VXR doesn't act in any way like a shorter ata bow.

But each his own. Hell I really like bear bows. I'd put them up against most anything out there, then factor in the price difference. Can't hardly beat them.

 

[Reburn]

I was thinking wrist sling, not bow sling. I do use a primos bow sling some. Otherwise strapped to my pack or carried in hand.

Haven't torque tuned this VXR yet either, I was pleased with the TRX I was messing with tho. Hopefully this falls in those lines.

I think it was brennan or beendare that said they couldnt bring the sight in closer and couldnt move the rest in closer to get the VXR to torque tune to their liking he had to switch to the intergrate QAD to get the rest close enough to the riser to get the torque tuning done.

 

[Billy Goat]

I think it was brennan or beendare that said they couldnt bring the sight in closer and couldnt move the rest in closer to get the VXR to torque tune to their liking he had to switch to the intergrate QAD to get the rest close enough to the riser to get the torque tuning done.

That's interesting. Must have been an mxt rest, the hdx I'm using goes closer to the riser than the mxt I'm pretty certain. I haven't liked the idea of the integrate because it doesn't allow any adjustments for in and out. Not positive I'll stick with the hdx, I have an mxt I can use. Again I was counting ounces.

 

[Leaflet]

Found some tests I found a bit interesting:

Do Longer Brace Heights Make Bows More Forgiving?

_So how do you pick the perfect compound bow for your hunting? Two ways actually: You can turn to page 54 in the July issue of Field & Stream and read "Your Ultimate Bow," in which Scott Bestul, Will Brantley, and I put seven key assumptions to the test in order to answer the most vital...

www.fieldandstream.com

Monday is coming way too slow.

 

[serious hunter1218]

This will sound dumb but check ebay you could get a 1 or 2 year old bow lightly used for around 700-800 fully loaded. My dad got his Matthews triax off ebay this year it came with everything he needed such as a sight, rest etc for around a little less than 800. And he said it was the best bow hes ever shot but it came with 80 pound limbs so he cranked it down to 70 which was the lowest it could go. And this year ill be shooting a Mathews vertix set at 62 pounds. And the vertix is also a great shooting bow. So i would recommend those 2 although a Matthews halon or halon 32 is also a great shooting bow cuz i had a Halon before i got the vertix last year.

 

[Leaflet]

Bought a Vertix.
Set to 49 lbs,which is easy to pull.
It will stay at that poundage until I learn how to do this stuff.

 

[Reburn]

Bought a Vertix.
Set to 49 lbs,which is easy to pull.
It will stay at that poundage until I learn how to do this stuff.

Good buy, congrats.

 

[Oso]

Congrats on your first bow.

I am likewise very new to the bow community; about two months in. I am very happy with my choice, but I am too new/inexperienced to offer recommendations on a specific bow. I bought a PSE Evo NTN 33 Nock On edition. What I can say is that I am glad I went ahead and paid more up front for premium equipment. If I had not, I would be drooling over the same bow right now, waiting for an excuse to upgrade. I would end up buying the new bow before hunting season starts in September. Then I'm still in for the full cost of the premium bow and setup, with the added cost of the first cheaper bow and setup and the several month deprivation for no reason. I know myself well enough to know I become obsessed with my hobbies. That's how I ended up with a Squire Strat and a Fender Strat, and that's how I ended up with multiple 30 caliber rifles. If I have done my research and go ahead and buy what I want up front, I am happier and save money in the long run.