Best Mathew's bow in last decade?

bcvolk12

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Jan 17, 2021
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Hoping for some input and opinions with regard to the best bow that Mathews had made in recent years. Looking at purchasing a used Mathews bow. Some of the online deals are piquing my interest, but I need a little direction. Hoping to use this bow for western big game hunting, as well as sitting in a tripod/bowblind in south texas hunting whitetail. Let me know what y'all think.
 

OR Archer

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Feb 29, 2012
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I’ve had the opportunity to have first hand experience with every Mathews made for the last 12 years. If you’re looking at used then last years line up is pretty hard to beat. VXR 31.5 or Traverse would be solid choices.
 
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bcvolk12

FNG
Joined
Jan 17, 2021
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Awesome to hear, I'll start digging around. I appreciate the help. There will be a day that I can afford to shell out the money for a new Mathews bow, but for now something second hand ought to do
 

JLL

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Jan 13, 2021
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I have owned a bunch of different Mathews bows over the last 15 years and I think he Halon 32 is my favorite.
 

Hoot

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Judging only from friends and helping them get theirs dialed in, I would have to agree that the Traverse and the Halon 32 seem to be the most forgiving bows mathews has had recently. The no cam bows lacked some performance, but they were very "shootable" as well...
 

7layerburrito

Lil-Rokslider
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Oct 1, 2019
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Washington / Wyoming
Had the Traverse and it was stolen in a break-in. Insurance replaced with the VXR 31.5. The VXR is absolutely incredible but if I could swap it for my old Traverse right now I would.
 

hodgeman

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Mar 4, 2012
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The no cam bows lacked some performance, but they were very "shootable" as well...

I've got one of the No-Cams...that is a really easy to shoot bow. I've shot a bunch of grouse and a moose with mine. I'm not a dedicated bow hunter (yet) so I can't imagine what performance gains could be had. I did like the look of the VXR.
 
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Still love shooting my Switchback XT, but I did buy a VXR and it is incredible. Draw cycle is the only thing it doesn’t equal the SXT, but the performance is amazing.
 
Joined
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Any thoughts on the Chill X from experienced folks? Specs look like what I’m looking for in a bow. Or an alternative with similar specs?
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2021
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Still love shooting my Switchback XT, but I did buy a VXR and it is incredible. Draw cycle is the only thing it doesn’t equal the SXT, but the performance is amazing.
I've got a Mathews Chill-R, and I got a gift card for a new bow. I shot both the VXR and V3 31, and honestly, the VXR felt better to me. I will say that the breakover point for me seemed more aggressive than my Chill, which was surprising to me. It was definitely more of a "snap" than I was used to. Even in watching some of the review videos for both the VXR/V3, it's just noticeable to me now how sharp it is.

Maybe I'm really more like 67-68# on my Chill as opposed to the 70 I shot? Would 2 lbs make that much difference? Is there anything that could be done to address that.

I've been reading some comments about this draw cycle and people adjusting to it. I just haven't been convinced to "upgrade" as of yet.
 
Joined
Feb 4, 2021
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Still love shooting my Switchback XT, but I did buy a VXR and it is incredible. Draw cycle is the only thing it doesn’t equal the SXT, but the performance is amazing.

Can you describe the difference you felt? I've got a Chill-R, and when I pulled back a VXR, I felt a much more noticeable snap on the breakover.
 
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