So, the last couple years ive been tossing around the idea of a new bow. Currently, I'm shooting a 2014 mathews z7 extreme that i bought ised in 2016, and have little complaint with it, kills deer just fine, but just got a hankering for something new. What bows do you guys shoot and recommend? Not sold on mathews or hoyt, open to other brands. Actually shot a brand new martin the other day and it was really nice, and super light. One thing I liked about the martin was a solid back wall where my mathews is rather spongy. One down side of my mathews is being a 27" axle to axle, and 29.5" draw length, my string angle at full draw is horrendous. What say you archers of trapperman?

Name brand will cost you a grand to 1500 new and you won't get much a benefit from what you have. Keep what you got and take that grand and put it towards a hunting trip and make a memory. Just my opinion. It's your money, do what you want with it.

I'll be of no help to you. I recommend finding a longbow or recurve. I switched to traditional as a teen and haven't looked back.

If you're hunting deer from a stand you'll likely not notice a ton of difference in new bow performance. If you shoot at a distance or hunt out west the longer axel to axel bows shoot sweet

When I leave Mathews I seem to buy a new Mathews the following year

It’s not only the cost of the bow the “set up” cost about the same as the bow now to shoot that first arrow.

I picked up a Mathew’s Atlas this summer. I think it’s 3 years old, replaced a Parker that was probably 15-20 years old. This Mathews is an incredible upgrade! 31.5 draw length, 70 pounds, it’s 34.5 axel to axel.

Same, except I didn't switch until 2008, in my early 40's. More challenging, more satisfying. Less complicated.

Im of no help, my "new" bow is probably getting close to 25 years old and i bought it used. And I have no desire to replace it. I've shot quite a few new bows and they are nice but my old bow is setup the way i want it, it shots good for me and I'm comfortable and familiar with it. I do more hunting with it than all my other weapons combined and it does it's job well.

Got a Bear Whitetail I bought in '77 I'm willing to cut you a deal on!

Ive shot Deer with 8 different compounds
Last 3 were Matthews...my all time favorite was A Matthews MQ1 solo cam.
I had a stroke and now have a Crossbow

If I could go back, I'd buy an older matthews, put new strings on it, get new cables, then I'd be happy.I like the old solo cams the best

Still using my Mathew’s Q2 I’ve had it for years shoots like a dream no need to replace it here.

[quote=330-Trapper]Ive shot Deer with 8 different compounds
Last 3 were Matthews...my all time favorite was A Matthews MQ1 solo cam.
I had a stroke and now have a Crossbow

I had a Q2. Those old Mathews were cam specific. No adjustments. Not sure how easy it is to find a cam for those old bows today.

Mathews will sell you a cam for every model they have made, you have to go through a dealer. They are the only bow manufacturer that I know of that does this.

For the OP, I also have the Z7X along with a Vertix and a TRX 34. Overall there are subtle changes between the V series of bows.

For me the Z7X is my #1 for stand hunting and if I was hunting more open ground with longer shots I would use the TRX 34 or something similar.

Elite makes a excellent bow with a solid back wall.

Go to a reputable shop shoot a bunch of different brands, see if you find something better than what you have. Some guys just stay with what they have.

Bought a Mathew’s Lift last year nice bow

Majority of my hunting is stand hunting, and I will admit, that z7x does really fit the bill well!

Actually did that this afternoon, well, not a bunch of bows, but 3. Shot a hoyt, a prime form, and a mathews lift. Gotta say, the prime form was rather impressive, and the new lift was quite nice as well. Wasn't a huge fan of the hoyt

That Lift looks like a great bow. I'm still shooting an Outback from Mathews.

I have shot PSE for many years. I have shot bow for 50 years. PSE wasnt even around when I started shooting so it was Allen, and Jennings.I still shoot a PSE for the reason that I have never had issues. I have used them for hunting and also for completion archery. Don't ever plan buying anything different.

Dump the wheels and become a real bowhunter. I've killed 77 deer with a stickbow. It isn't that hard.

If you were a "real" hunter, you'd use a spear and wear only a loincloth. Lol

That is definitely something I want to get into in the future is traditional archery. If nothing else, it's another challenge lol

I do

I shoot a Bowtech admiral, 2009 bow. Love it, every once in a while I think about replacing it but it’s got a good streak going. Shoots very smooth and fits me well. My dad always said “ You can’t kill em but so dead”.

I’ll most likely stick with Bowtech when I shop for another, that’s what I’ve always shot.

Do it now. All the compounds are all the same these days anyway. Free yourself from the junk and come dive into traditional. Its way more rewarding. There is definitely a broad price range of bows and arrows, but you could get started at a very fair price. If you’re shooting a 70# compound, find a 55#ish bow. Will kill anything in N.America

Go shoot all three major bow manufactures bow's. Mathews, Hoyt and BowTech. You will find that you are able to draw one brand better then the other two brands. One brand has the weight to pull set up at the front of the curve, one brand has it in the middle and one at the end. Now that you know which brand is easier to generally pull for you, then go to whatever model that will give you what you want in the bow.

Example. I find BowTech's easiest for me to draw on their weight curve. Not just one model of BowTech, almost all of them. Then I found what axle length I wanted and what model had what features. Do this every time you buy a new bow and you will find that your body pulls a particular brand much easier than the others. My friend shoots only Mathews bows and we can shoot each others, but each person can barely draw the other guys bows because of where the weight is set at in the curve. All of our bows are set around the same draw weight of 65 lbs.

Don't ever sell you old bow. Find the brand, then the model and then put on all the things you like. Go to a bow shop and let them help you, even if you buy a bow from a big box store. Go to the bow shop first and learn what works for you before you spend your money.

JesseA, if you are seriously interested in shooting traditional, then I honestly recommend putting down the compound and finding a recurve or longbow. When I switched it took me some time to get my first deer, but when I finally killed my first deer with the recurve, but when I shot that little button buck at 4 paces, it was the most rewarding thing that I had experienced in years. I love the simplicity. I love the fact that I have to get closer. I love building my own arrows and cutting my own fletchings. I've nothing against a compound shooter, and I still use a rifle when time and the freezer dictate, but hunting with traditional gear is the bees knees man. Just my opinion though.

I agree with the traditional shooters. I have a few older recurves hanging up and shoot them quite often. But still haven't got myself to hunt with one yet. I don't hunt anymore with a rifle so its archery only all fall for me. Shoot what works for you. There's a lot of good manufacturers out there now days.

No help here. Hunted with one recurve for about ten years, then the same longbow for over 20 years.

Accounted for well over 100 deer, shot daily and enjoyed it every time. Lots of buddies chase the newest wheel contraptions, and they seem to enjoy that also, but that equipment just does not interest me. I prefer the simplicity of two adjustments - brace height and nock point.

I shot a prime for 10 years. Loved it, got a great deal on a Mathews, to good to pass up and it is sweet.

I shoot one of these.....72 inch English Yew Self Bow

Most fun you can have with your pants on .

Puts the arch ..back in archery

Not hard to spend 2000 - 2500 real fast now days

Yeah, I'm out on this one. If I need a bow press to switch out a string ? Not interested.

Know who I won't be traveling with.

my new bow is a 1997 pse sting ray still works can't justify the cost of a new one. I did shoot a z 7 at the shop when they cam out and loved how smoth and the lack of shock and vibration at the shot. It was the first bow I was tempted to buy but I heald out.

Brain fart here... that bow was a Solo cam- no adjustment.

My first bow was a Jennings Super t

Been all the routes. But keep coming back to a custom longbow. A stick is light. Effective and what’s better to carry around when messing around in the fall and winter woods. For me I had to practice daily or at least 3 times a week to keep body and muscles in shape. A fun tool. Not at all belittling the compound shooters. I started in the 60s with a Shakespeare Neceda recurve and graduated to a longbow. For 2nd custom was built by Byron Ferguson that I met at portage de sou sp .very interesting man. He made me one at 63 pounds at 27 in at my age I can’t pull it anymore grandkid one of them will get it. Need a 43 lb at 27 but have not ordered one. At 73 it’s a hard to decide if I need one at my age my 2nd custom was made by Howard hill archery. 53 at 27. To much now for this old man other grandkids will get it. Yes I harvest deer. Bucket list was turkeys but what ever you hear Missouri does not have the birds we had in the 80 s. At least on this side of the state. And they look up. Pheasant was also a challenge as they look up. Talking to the hunters at Shanks with 6000 bow hunter trips a season when the green tree pin oaks were alive the deer learned to look up. Bow hunters reliable one told me that. Between working and quack hunting I only bow hunted Shanks a few times. Waterfowl was always #1 for me. Hunted deer for does only to feed my 2 daughters wife and me as a state employee makes $. Little done ranting the flood of 93 took care of that. 2000 acres of mature timber. Done ranting

Blaine has an Elite for sale on Trap Shed.

I bought an Elite Remedy 4 years ago. Great shooting bow and has Set technology which helps in tuning. A used one would save a few hundred $$$.

It would certainly be beneficial to find a dealer and at least shoot one or two of the Elite bows.

Length is over talked. 40 years ago, we were using 48" compounds and killing everything no problem. I even hunted with a 66" Brackenbury recurve without issue.

Mamy want my old trad bows.
Old wheel bow no one wants. Just sayin.
Fun read guys.

Dont let anyone tell you that you dont need another bow. Ive been told I dont need another shotgun, it’s crazy talk.

Guns don't depreciate like bows. Funny how people buy a rifle and keep it forever but will trade in a bow every year or 2. Lol

You could always toss the training wheels and get a “real” bow!

Stick bows work just fine!

Nice photos newhouse!

Elite .... with that I have not priced a new bow in 8 years. I have an Elite Hunter and unless something goes wrong that is not fixable I will probably shoot it until I can't shoot it anymore. I would love to kill a deer with a stick and string, but maybe like me the original poster does not have the time to shoot enough to feel comfortable taking aim at a critter and being accurate. While I am certainly not saying that practice is not necessary with a compound, I personally can go a few months without shooting and still stack arrows in the 10 ring at 20 yards consistently when I do shoot again. I have shot a ton of arrows in my life though.

A few months back I went through the same thing. I shot a few bows and ended up with a Hoyt RX8. It was brand new last years model. I never thought I would spend that much money on a bow but that carbon bow is something else. I have to admit I a Hoyt guy. My other bow is a Hoyt Turbo Hawk and if I find a local kid that is wanting to get into bow hunting, I will set him up.
I even went down the arrow rabbit hole, ended up with Black Eagle Spartans