Favorite Bow or Brand.

I have had a lot of different bows. My first compound bow was a PSE and man I wore that thing out, then a hoyt, then a bear. The biggest factor for most of my bows was price since I was young. So I found the most comfortable bow with my price range and settle on that. My advice would be to go out and hold them for yourself. Everyone is built different and my favorite might be your least favorite.

In compounds I still like my old PSE Fire-Flite Express and see no need for me to buy a new one every year like some folks do. If I lived out west and got to hunt a lot of open country I probably would buy a newer/faster model. I normally hunt whitetails with a homemade laminated 52# longbow and cedar arrows just because they are so much fun to shoot.

I have only ever owned Mathews bows, and they are all I will ever own. I have never had a problem with the bows that I've owned (except that I outgrew the first!). I am sure that a lot of the other brands out there produce very high quality bows too, so I wouldn't necessarily say that Mathews is the bow you should choose..just what I have had a good experience with. I would definitely recommend getting a bow with parallel limb design. These shoot very smooth and silent.

I shoot a Hoyt... you get what you pay for. They make bows that last a lifetime

I shoot Mathews but I wouldn’t tell you to only buy Mathews. When I started I went and tried as many bows as possible and found what worked for me, It really narrowed it down when I could touch and feel the small differences between them.

I've had a couple of Bowtech Diamond bows, a Black Ice and a Marquis. They both are in a far better place right now. The Marquis was the last one. I shot it to pieces in 5 months. They repaired it under warranty though no questions asked. I could never hurt any Mathews I owned but don't know about the new ones. The top end PSE bows are good. Same with Martin. I'm shooting a G-5 Primal right now and it seems indestructable. I haven't owned a Hoyt but hear no complaints from anyone that shoots them and some of them beat me. Take your time and talk to people that shoot lots. Most bows will stand the 500 arrows a year that most guys put through them for years. I'd buy a Mathews Drenlin off eBay with no qualms at all.
Mark

Thanks for all the advice :thumb

i really like my mathews drenaline. but like sneekee said, my favorite bow might be your worst. just go shoot a bunch. you'll find "the one"

Like everyone else was sayin, just shoot some and you will find the perfect one. I have been shooting a diamond for the past couple of years, and have had no problems and am actually gettin ready to pick up a new one in a couple of weeks, cause i have outgrown the other. But just test'em out and pick the best one for you.
Good luck! :thumb

I've shot a bear, browning, hoyt and mathews. I thought the bear, browning and hoyt were good when I was shooting them, but then I finally broke down and bought the mathews and am now hooked for life! As said earlier, you get what you pay for. That being said, I think you can buy my current bow (mathews outback) completely set up on ebay for around $400. It's pretty hard to find a NEW bow from any manufacturer for much less than that. I'm not saying that these other guys don't make good bows, it's just my opinion that mathews takes the cake for smoothness, forgiveness, quietness and speed. I've shot the new drenalin and DXT and it is actually pretty amazing how much lighter and more quite they are than my bow, but I can't get myself to spend the money to buy a new bow when mine works perfectly fine. That's just my two cents....

I've had several Mathews and really liked the XT,,,, but my new favorite is the alahamax hoyt.

I shoot a Hoyt Katera and love it....I shoot all the new 2010 bows and I like the new Hoyt maxxis, but I also liked the Matthews Z7, but I am loyal to Hoyt and will buy another Hoyt.

Another vote for Mathews. If you can't fit one into your budget, go with Mission, made by Mathews, and has many of the same features the Mathews has. Don't shy away from Hoyt though, they make great bows and I really liked the Quest Primal too. Then not to stear you to another website, but for used bows I always look at Archerytalk.com, classifieds. You may find a new bow at a used bow price.