Hoyt RX8 Test and Review Updated July 2024

[wapitispokes]

Needed to see if the factory strings would get wonky in cold/wet, if things went sideways with the addition of possible torque from layering up, and if the grip agreed with gloves. All went well.

49yds quiver in front
View attachment 667787

53yds quiver on side
View attachment 667788

Self timer and the gorillapod
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View attachment 667790

Nice! What bow site are you using and how is it mounted? It looks like the mounting hardware fits into a notch in the front edge of the bow. (hard to tell especially with all that snow - what a great cold weather test!!)

 

[sndmn11]

Nice! What bow site are you using and how is it mounted? It looks like the mounting hardware fits into a notch in the front edge of the bow. (hard to tell especially with all that snow - what a great cold weather test!!)

I am just using a standard spot hogg fast Eddie that I have had for a few years. I might get a picatinny sight later on.

 

[sndmn11]

This thing has some giddyup. I got my own XeroC1 from @S&S ARCHERY the other day.

 

[sndmn11]

These are about 550gr.

 

[Billy Goat]

If I remember correctly, these are about 533gr.
View attachment 683703

That's a pretty wide spread, I usually don't see but maybe 2 fps.

Is it tuned with those arrows? Or are they on the weak side?

At 7-8 gpp bows are usually really consistent.

 

[sndmn11]

That's a pretty wide spread, I usually don't see but maybe 2 fps.

Is it tuned with those arrows? Or are they on the weak side?

At 7-8 gpp bows are usually really consistent.

That initial screenshot was the wrong one!

The ones I think are 550gr are .166 and it is tuned to the 465ish grain .246 arrows.

Since that Garmin is so easy to set up, I'll shoot over it a good bit more and see what Iearn.

 

[Billy Goat]

That initial screenshot was the wrong one!

The ones I think are 533gr are .166 and it is tuned to the 465ish grain .246 arrows.

I glanced over and saw the 4.6 and was still thinking 14.

My bad.

Or I was just going between the 2 incorrectly.

 

[sndmn11]

I glanced over and saw the 4.6 and was still thinking 14.

My bad.

Or I was just going between the 2 incorrectly.

There was definitely a 14fps spread between the 11 arrows I have it tuned for and have been shooting. I kept track of which did what and there's no correlation. So that leaves in order of likelihood:
-Kyle working on his release
-the confinement of the garage (on the 9 shots yesterday I actually shot 12 but it missed 3)
-something with the bow that I'll never figure out.

The arrows:

Altra 246 (paper tuned currently)
300 spine
Aluminum insert 16gr
125gr point
29 1/8" nock to point
Aae ip nocks
4x hybrid 26

Altra 166
250 spine
28 1/4" nock to carbon, 29 5/8" nock to point
Aluminum arcos half out 50gr
125 point
Aae ip
4x hybrid26

 

[Billy Goat]

-the confinement of the garage (on the 9 shots yesterday I actually shot 12 but it missed 3)

I'd think this is about the only thing it could be. Or the Garmin sucks for arrows.

14 fps is about like an inch and a half of draw length, or 40-45 gr different shafts. I doubt you can be screwing it up that much. I haven't personally seen a compound be that inconsistent with arrow speeds.

 

[sndmn11]

I'd think this is about the only thing it could be. Or the Garmin sucks for arrows.

14 fps is about like an inch and a half of draw length, or 40-45 gr different shafts. I doubt you can be screwing it up that much. I haven't personally seen a compound be that inconsistent with arrow speeds.

Could also be shooting directly over it vs a little offset. I'll play around.

 

[sndmn11]

Here's my which .246 arrow was what velocity paper, with the grain mass on the left. The bottom has the .166 arrows used for the velocity avg of 273fps and in the screen shot above is labeled as ~533gr. They are actually ~550gr.

 

[sndmn11]

Shot some cutthroat 3 blades today.



40yds, broadhead right.


Moved the rest ~1/16" to the right.

60yds

 

[sndmn11]

First two shots of the day following "broadhead tuning" with the 3 blade Cutthroats.

60yd, fp. @robby denning when's CBC ?

 

[sndmn11]

Can't miss a chance to shoot in layers and gloves.

32yds arrows 1-3 of the day


50yd arrows 4-6


78yd arrows 7-9 with bare shafts sent as 10&11 of the day


100yds arrows 12-14 with bare shafts following for 15&16.


Shooting with gloves on, a 30" axle to axle bow drawn to 30", a carbon riser, and sending bare shafts; I can't think of what more could be wanted. Most will tell you this should not be "accurate" or "forgiving".

 

[sndmn11]

Seeing serving separation/cutting on a top cam cable. You can see at full draw where that area might be catching an edge of the cam


The center serving has some separation where the D loop has set which is fine, but the upper end of the serving slides easily.


I've got one more week of indoor league and then these will get swapped out.

 

[sndmn11]

I had second thoughts about shooting any more and swapped out the factory strings. Here is the cable.


I emailed Hoyt through their contact page and was told they only work with dealers on any warranty inquiries.

 

[sndmn11]

Hoyt sent me out a new string and cable set pretty quick. Unfortunately, today while blind bailing, I got about 6" into the draw cycle and one of the mod screws shot off from shearing.

 

[sndmn11]

@KickinNDishin is shooting the replacement factory string set and is a few hundred shots; n with zero serving issues on the cables like I had.


While I needed the red shims set up to move the cams the furthest right as is possible, she is sending clean arrows with the gray shims and back to centered cams.

 

[wapitispokes]

That's a pretty wide spread, I usually don't see but maybe 2 fps.

Is it tuned with those arrows? Or are they on the weak side?

At 7-8 gpp bows are usually really consistent.

I thought the same thing, my reaction was that given the large number of arrows shot and the fact that it is a new bow, maybe a couple of shots were "blown", or maybe a couple of arrows were bad.... Looks like the OP commented later on that the data presented in that dialogue box might have accidentally included data from another bow or something like that...

 

[wapitispokes]

Could also be shooting directly over it vs a little offset. I'll play around.

I have found my Garmin to be a bit finicky until you've used it enough to understand the set up and what delivers consistent repeatable results.

My Pro shop set theirs up for me and insisted that you should not shoot over it!! (LOL). I told them that they were wrong (they were) but they didn't want to listen to me. Went home, did some research, confirmed that I was correct. I came back two weeks later and set up my Garmin Chronograph and their's in series to do a little testing...of course shooting "5 inches to 15 inches" over the tops of them.

IIRC, in order to obtain reliable readings, it is important that the target is ten yards beyond the chronograph. Or something along those lines.... Also, in my usage so far, the devices seems sensitive to the distance from the launching point. Meaning, based on a few sessions it "seems" that I'm more likely to get funky readings if the tip of my arrow is , say, only 36 inches from the device. Since my arrows are 29.5 inches long, with a 36 inch distance they should have been released from the string and yet I get funky readings. The last time I used the unit I stood about 6 feet from the device and obtained consistent, repeatable results through a series of about 30 shots (testing different arrow weights).

I haven't looked very hard for Garmin trouble shooting info to address proper set up and inconsistent readings, but I don't think it is addressed in their, um, "instructions".

No doubt there are about 20 worthless YouTube videos on the Garmin and maybe 2-3 really good ones. I haven't taken the time (patience) to sort out the good ones from the lousy ones yet. Generically, DC Rainmaker does the best Garmin reviews - nobody is even close. In fact, I've never seen anyone do a better job reviewing any sporting technology than DC Rainmaker. Even Garmin refers people to DC. But he is a cyclist / triathlete so he may not be a good source for info on the Chronograph.

When I'm shooting one arrow three times with proper set up, I usually get two virtually identical readings and one reading not more than 1.0 to 1.5 fps different. I have not yet shot a long string of identical arrows (or a series of same weight arrows). I have been addicted to Garmin products for, hmmm, probably at least 25 years. I only own Garmin...watch, bike computers, car gps, RINO radios, on and on. I think I'm on their "VIP" list. I've always said and always told Garmin - they have the best hardware and the worst user interface. To that point, I feel that their instructions (and menu) for the chronograph are, shall we say "sub-optimal". But Garmin can't make anything without having sub-optimal user interface.

For fun, I'll call out two things on the Garmin Chronograph user interface. As far as I can tell, it won't let you proceed with a session unless you clumsily push the top buttons to remind it that you want "bow" mode, and you must click again to decline to input the arrow weight. Why not have it remember the last "mode"? Something isn't right with the input requirements, but wait..it's a Garmin. LOL. Now, if you do include arrow weight it won't deliver momentum - only KE. Personally, for my uses, I don't give a hoot about KE. If I want a number other than velocity, I want Momentum. If someone is developing a chronograph for shooting sports, and decides to ask the user for projectile weight in order to calculate KE, how hard could it be to include a few lines of code to deliver Momentum instead of or in addition to KE? Maybe it's there and hidden in the user interface....

Lucky for them, their technology is so superior they can still grow their market. Net, net I still love Garmin, but hate their user interface (whether it be instructions, troubleshooting, menus, you name it...). They also have awesome customer service.