I hunted my first two seasons with a diamond edge xt. You can get a ready to hunt package with arrows and release for well under $500. You’ll probably want to upgrade the sight pretty quickly, but it’ll kill deer (if that’s what you’re after).
All of them are fine if they’ve got good strings. I’ve yet to encounter a budget bow with what I’d call good strings. All of them suck with strings that constantly stretch. Whatever you buy, I’d factor in another 150-200 for a good set of strings.
I'd recommend a leftover new or unregistered Prime bow if you're looking to save money. A used Prime Revex is leftover new at $700 and comes with FREE strings every 2 years for LIFE to the original owner. 4 years later you'll have a flagship bow but paid budget price.
Dont buy someone elses problem prime makes a decent mid range bow or my personal favorite the Darton consequence. Simple, forgiving, and super well priced without the worry of a used rig.
Check craigslist and ebay. It is crazy how much you can save on a 3+ year old bow. Throw some new strings on it and you will be good to go. You will not see any difference in performance on a bow a few years old vs a 2025 bow.
Since asking for entry level, I will assume this bow is for you and you haven’t learned a ton about archery just yet. While it may seem risky and intimidating, you really would get a lot more bang for your buck by getting a used bow that was top of the line 3-4 years ago. Trying before you buy is ideal, but if you don’t have experience to base anything off of, I think it’s a marginal benefit. I’d recommend a used Hoyt Torrex for real cost savings, but for a little bit more will find pretty premium bows. Some brands will be easier to tune that others so take that into consideration as well. Torrex is easy.
If you do look at used bows, as others have said, be prepared to replace the strings immediately but it could be fine. Other than that, just make sure the cams don’t look chipped or bent and that the limbs don’t have any cracks or chips and you’ll be good
I got a Diamond Edge. Its been a good bow. So far I've put more than it's worth in accessories on it, but they will go on my upgrade whenever I get one. The factory sight is trash so that was a must. Added a B stinger stabilizer, QAD drop away rest, tight spot quiver, and some silencers. Upgrading strings is next, but as of now it shoots just fine. I can do decent groupings at 50yds and it's put a turkey in the dirt.
I’m a Bowtech at a shop in MS. We carry Bowtech as well as diamond and like others here have mentioned, you can go wrong with the Edge. I think they are now calling it the Pro 305 but it’s the best bow to start with for most folks and it’s not hard to move when you’re ready to upgrade. Also very good to start kids on as well. The Hoyt Torrex is also a great option if you want to start with a bow that borrows a lot of Hoyt’s flagship tech.