Bow shopping

[IdahoRyan]

Considering a new to me setup for archery. I had to take a few years off because I was coaching high school football. That pretty much eats up any possibility of hunting in September and October.
I'm looking at a couple different bows, and I'm having a difficult time deciding. I shot the bowtech carbon icon rak, and it seems awesome. I am also looking at a prime logic g3. I can pick up a new prime bare bow for $599, and the fully setup bowtech for $1000.
Any input?

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[longspeak74]

Prime for the win.

 

[Billy Goat]

I'd be more concerned about what the pro shops around me carried and knew. No point in getting something that you or nobody around you is familiar with tuning, unless you want to figure it out on your own. I'd also give a lot of consideration on how to get replacement parts. Having a pro shop close by that supports what you are shooting might be the most important thing in my opinion.

 

[Gearqueer]

I'd be more concerned about what the pro shops around me carried and knew. No point in getting something that you or nobody around you is familiar with tuning, unless you want to figure it out on your own. I'd also give a lot of consideration on how to get replacement parts. Having a pro shop close by that supports what you are shooting might be the most important thing in my opinion.

This is totally the most important thing. Be selective in what archery shop you choose though. Good quality bows last (and stay relevant) for a very very long time.


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[timmymac24]

If you know your draw length and the poundage you want I would suggest Archery Talk classifieds. You can pick a ton of good deals on bows and accessories. Used or even new left over stock.

 

[IdahoRyan]

If you know your draw length and the poundage you want I would suggest Archery Talk classifieds. You can pick a ton of good deals on bows and accessories. Used or even new left over stock.

I was having trouble getting to the classified area on the site.

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[NYSKIER]

Like the guys above said if you find a good shop get in there and shoot as many bows as you can then go with what feels right and is in your price range. Or see if they will help you set up a bow bought in classifieds at a reasonable price

 

[PrimeArcher]

Prime over the bowtech anyday

 

[Billy Goat]

Prime over the bowtech anyday

Why?

 

[PrimeArcher]

The Primes are very well balanced, and the parallel cam system prevents cam lean. Find a local bow shop that markets both and try them out for yourself. Bowtech has a good reputation for sweet shooting bows, but they continually have issues with their limbs and cams.

 

[Billy Goat]

The Primes are very well balanced, and the parallel cam system prevents cam lean. Find a local bow shop that markets both and try them out for yourself. Bowtech has a good reputation for sweet shooting bows, but they continually have issues with their limbs and cams.

I have messed with the prime just a little. To me the down fall is with the parallel track cam system you can't tune the lean. If you put face pressure on the string for example you can't really tune around it.

My post was mainly to make the point that we try to provide information behind our answers. When you make a statement like you did, just try to put some context with it to support it. Don't try to make things a pissing match either. Tho I can't say that I haven't done that sometimes.

Welcome to the forum.

 

[IdahoRyan]

Thanks for all the input!

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[Spiral Horn]

Owned several Bowtechs over the years - can’t remember what the first one was called, had a Patriot, Destroyer 340 (my favorite), and an Experience. They were all great shooters and I really loved the yoke system for tuning. A lot of fond memories and great shots on game. Also love the theory behind their newest cam tuning system although I haven’t shot one yet. However there is some merit to the cracked limb comment - I cracked more than one.

Archery involves a lot of personal preference and I never really liked the feel, draw cycle or weight/balance of Prime bows. Those clunky cams always turned me off, I’ve owned a lot of different brands of bows over the decades but keep coming back to Mathews and Bowtech - found Mathews very easy to tune, Bowtech‘s system just a bit more involved and challenging - but when I found the “sweet spot” it was lights-out.

 

[timmymac24]

I think you can safely say the Bowtech limb issues have slowed down since they started building their limbs in house. I own a Reign 7 and did a bunch of research before buying due to their bad limbs years. Hopefully those years are behind them now. The Reign I own shoots better than the guy behind it.

 

[Whitetaildown215]

I was having trouble getting to the classifieds on AT as well. Once I logged in it came up to go to it but it wasn’t there before that.

 

[Chadpearson]

The primes are very well balanced but man those suckers are loud.. and are a tuning fork in your hand after the shot. that being said if you can get over that ive never had a bow tune so well or hold a tune so well. very solidly built

 

[standard_lengthy]

I had a Diamond black ice (made by bowtec) for many years. Great single cam shooter, always easy to tune, etc. Then I got an rpm 360. Fast!!! Then the draw stop module came loose and cracked. A bit disappointed for having 100 arrows through it. Got that fixed. Shot a turkey with it. Then my buddy dry fired it. The cams buckled and the limbs splintered. Back to the Diamond! Later in the summer got a prime centergy. Set it up once and nothing has moved or changed a bit. I feel like the bowtec cams are very skeletonized and are more fragile than anybody else's cam design plus all the little draw stop module pieces.

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[JeffRaines]

Buy used 100%.

I do agree that you’re still gonna need a pro shop, but a pro shop isn’t worth the 300-500 difference in bow price.

I’d rather buy used and then shop around bow guys. Yes, you’ll have to spend money to get it tuned and whatnot, but you’re not gonna be locked into a guy that you spent the extra money with. Don’t like the guy? Move along to another one.

Or do what I’m doing in the next 6 months - buying my own press and doing my own work. No more worrying about someone to do the work for me, no more worrying about someone being on vacation, and best of all, you’re going to care about your setup more than a guy working at a shop. That isn’t to say they won’t do the best they can, but I have a feeling most send people out the door “good enough” instead of it being the best it could be.

With the money saved you could buy a press haha.

 

[Biggern'yurs]

I went to my local shop that had the best selection and tried all of them to the point of exhaustion on the part of the techs! Tried Bowtech RevoltX, Prime Black 3, PSE Evo, Mathews ect. Ended up with Bowtech Revolt X and It's shoots awesome for me. First try past 50 yards the other day and I put 5 arrows in 10" at 100 yards. And I'm pretty new... I'd say the bow is good.
I'd also recommend used once you know what you want.

 

[mzurovec]

I shoot a Bowtech Revolt X, and before that a Prodigy. The Prodigy just cracked a limb yesterday after 5 years of regular shooting. It is going to be replaced through the warranty, but that freaked me out with what if's while on an expensive hunt. I can't say enough good things about the Revolt X, but it was a hard decision between it, Hoyt, and Mathews when I shot them all.

The Carbon Icon is a very solid and reasonably priced bow. I have only shot the 35" Prime, I have to say I really liked it. I'm not really sure you can go wrong these days as the bows are all very fast and very quiet. It really boils down to whatever feels best in the hand, and that your shop can easily work on when you need them to. Good luck!