Best Bows at the ATA Show: Top 5 Bows at Archery Trade 2018
Words By: North 40 Outfitters
Posted: January 12, 2018
Comments: 5

Aiming a bow at a target resting a few yards away doesn’t exactly mimic an actual hunting situation. But it provides an opportunity to draw, hold and release a string, and that gives an educated shooter a pretty good idea of how that bow might perform in the field.

That’s exactly what the North 40 hunting team did yesterday, walking the isles at the Archery Trade Association’s 2018 show in Indianapolis, shooting the bows we were most excited to see. And this is what we learned—in the past year some bow manufactures made incredible improvements over previous models, and all of the bows we shot are, arguably, better than any bow you could have found on the market just five short years ago.

Here’s a rundown of the bows we liked best after testing more than a dozen. Any of these would be a joy for you to shoot, and all would make a solid hunting tool, whether you’re pursuing big whitetails from a tree-stand, stalking antelope in plains terrain, or going high in the mountains for moose, mountain goat, elk, bear and mule deer.

Hoyt Carbon RX-1 Bow

Be careful what you wish for—this may be the smoothest shooting bow of the lot, and it’s super lightweight, weighing in at a mere 3.9 pounds. And it’s highly packable, measuring 32 inches between the axels. It’s fast, too, shooting at an estimated 340 feet per second (fps). But . . . it checks in at a cost of $1,650. This is not what we would call an entry-level setup, but it’s a great tool for those who want a performance bow that is easy to pack, and fits the bill for our “big three,” meaning elk, antelope and deer.

Hoyt carbon rx-1 bow

Reviews

Calvin Fuller: It’s the smoothest Hoyt bow to date and has 50 percent less hand-shock than last year’s model. A great, versatile, all around hunting bow that is lightweight and packable.

Paul Considine: For me, being a beginning archery hunter, the first thing I noticed is how light this bow is in comparison to the others I shot today. And, out of all the bows we shot, this one had the smoothest draw. Sometimes, when you draw and roll over the cam, there’s a noticeable jerk. But not with this one. This was my top bow from the show.

Drew Steinberger: It has a really smooth draw. I mean really smooth. And it has a nice back wall. I want to shoot this bow because it hits all the attributes of a good bow—it’s smooth, shoots well, and it’s lightweight. This is well suited for deer elk and antelope, which is what I hunt every year.

PSE Carbon Air Stealth Bow

The Carbon Air Stealth is touted as the most advanced carbon bow ever produced. And there’s no doubt it’s a great hunting bow—it weighs just 3.2 pounds, shoots an arrow at 342 feet per second, and allows 90 percent let-off. But, we didn’t think it was as smooth as Hoyt’s Carbon RX-1, nor did we see it shoot as well. But it is lightweight and comes in a little less expensive than the Carbon RX-1. Cost:$1,500

pse carbon air stealth bow

Reviews

Drew Steinberger: It’s extremely light, but it lacked in the draw quality and shooting quality of the other bows I shot. But this isn’t a bad bow—in fact, it’s a really good bow that any hunter would be happy with.

Paul Considine: It’s very noticeably light. But I didn’t think it shot as well as the Hoyt. But it still felt good and shot great and it didn’t vibrate much.

Bowtech Realm Bow

The Realm is a little heavier than some of the bows we shot today, and weighs in at 4.3 pounds. Weight isn’t always bad, however, so you shouldn’t shy away from this one for that reason alone. This bow is touted for accuracy while flinging an arrow at 345 fps. So, you might be willing to pack a little extra weight as a tradeoff for those attributes. Price: $1,099

BowTech realm bow

Reviews

Drew Steinberger: The Realm was third best on my list, and I thought it was the smoothest drawing of them all. But it is heavier and lacked some of the performance that I found in other bows. If you are looking for a lower price point, but really want a quality bow, this one stands out. And remember, weight isn’t necessarily a bad thing—it helps damper vibration and stabilizes a bow during the shot. The tradeoff is it’s heavier to carry and that makes a difference when you’re packing in or packing out.

Paul Considine: I thought the Realm offered the best draw cycle of any bow I shot today, and it felt really good while I pulled it back. This bow is easy to tune, too. In fact, when it comes in from the factory it’s laser-tuned so the cams synch perfectly with each other.

 

Mathews Triax Bow

If you’ve got a cool grand stashed away, and a serious itch for a new bow, you may want to lift the mattress and snatch that cash—the new Mathews Triax, which retails for $1,099, impressed all of us. The consensus—this thing shoots.

Mathews triax bow

Reviews

Calvin Fuller: I came to the show being skeptical of the Triax, due to my 30-inch draw length and it being a 28-inch axel-to-axel bow. I figured the string angles would be too severe for me to find a good anchor point. But I was mistaken. This was the smoothest shooting bow in the show and, in fact, it is my top choice. And this: Up to today, the Mathews Halon 32 was the smoothest bow I’d ever shot, but the Triax has half the amount of vibration as the Halon. However, the draw cycle on the Triax is a little aggressive—it takes a little more effort to turn the cams, but once it’s locked in there’s a solid back wall. And it shoots great. The cool thing about the 28-inch axel-to-axel length is that it allows for great packability, especially when strapped to a pack while pushing through brush, or charging in several miles to a camp.

Paul Considine: This bow was a little harder to draw than some of the others.It took more to turn the large cams over. I first shot a 70-pound Triax and then shot a 60-pound. I didn’t notice such a difficult draw at 60 pounds and you could certainly get used to this bow with some practice. Overall, I really liked the way it shot.

Drew Steinberger: To me, the Triax was right up there with Hoyt and it was my number two bow. It’s super smooth, very quiet, and it has a really great feel in my hand. And it was fun to shoot. It’s so fun, I went back and reshot it again. Last year when I shot the Halon 32, I thought that was a top-shelf bow. So this time I shot the Halon along with the Triax and found the Triax to be a noticeable improvement. Last year the Halon was my top pick; for the Triax to outdo the Halon, in only a year, was surprising and super impressive.

Prime Logic Bow

Riding the success of its Centergy bow, which came on the market last year, Prime’s new Logic (the first split-limb bow offered by the company) is expected to be a sweet shooting and extremely stable instrument that excels in western hunting situations. Why wouldn't it—the Logic uses Prime’s center-grip technology for perfect balance, which allows a hunter to find a target quickly and hold on that target for extended periods. The bow also utilizes wider parallel cams than the Centergy, which eliminates lean and assists in accuracy. This 31-inch axel-to-axel bow shoots arrows at 330 fps and weighs in at 4.3 pounds, which is a little heavier than some of the bows we shot. While it may not be quite as packable or light as some other bows, this is an impressive bow and especially accurate. Cost: 1,099.

Prime Logic bow 2018

Reviews

Drew Steinberger: It’s very quiet and when I shot the bow I didn’t really even grip it and it still held fast. Most bows don’t have a perfect center of balance but this one does. It’s comfortable to shoot, but the only thing I didn’t like is that it has a hard back wall—when I drew back it hit that back wall. That keeps you from overdrawing, which is good, but it is still a little bit of a shock when you hit it. But anyone could shoot this bow, and if you are tired of a soft back wall this would be a good bow for you.

Paul Considine: It has a smooth draw and felt well-balanced in my hand. This is supposed to be a really, really accurate bow, and although I didn’t get to shoot it at distance, it felt like it could be.