I ran around today and shot several different bows. Here's my impressions ...
First and foremost, I'm not a fan boy of any particular brand. I've owned a few bows in my life - one Mathews, 2 Hoyts, and 1 PSE. I went in open minded and wanting to shoot everything I could get my hands on. My only requirement was wanting something with a 32" ATA (or less).
All bows were shot at 30" draw with 70lb limbs set to 70lbs, then set to 65lbs.
Obsession DefCon M7 - I was most excited to shoot this bow, and most disappointed in it. At 70lbs, the draw cycle was ok, but it wasn't anything to write home and brag about. The draw felt considerably better at 65. The back wall was rock solid - better than anything else I shot. After the shot, the bow felt clinky/clanky to me. I don't know why. It felt similar to the Hoyt Carbon Spyder 30 that I just sold. The bow had limb dampeners and a string stop, but I just wasn't crazy about the feel in my hand after the shot.
Obsession Addiction - This felt fairly similar to the DefCon M7 to me. The draw cycle felt a little better, but the vibration still felt apparent after the shot. I only flung a couple arrows with this bow due to the longer ATA and I moved on.
Bowtech BT-X 31 - This bow actually felt best in my hand. That's a very subjective thing, but the grip felt great. I shot it with the modules set on in position #3, which is the "Comfort" setting. I would draw 3/4 of the way back and expect the cams to roll over and let off. Then I realized I had to keep pulling hard. I felt like the letoff should have kicked in earlier than it did. I could see myself getting used to this, but it was awkward to me. I just didn't prefer it. The bow felt pretty good after the shot, but all in all - I don't think this bow is built for comfort, regardless of the settings. To me, it felt more dead after the shot than the Obsession.
Mathews Halon 6 & 7 - Overall, I loved the Halon. I shot them with 85% letoff . The draw cycle felt a wee bit better than the others to me. There wasn't a big hump like the Bowtech. It felt like one long, constant pull. I think there will be people that don't like it - but I did. The back wall was more mushy than the Obsession, but was more solid than my last bow (Hoyt Carbon Spyder 30). It was good enough for me. After the shot is where the bow shined to me, it felt much more dead in the hands than the others. I kept going back and forth between all bows, and I just overwhelmingly liked the Halon best. I'm not saying there's no other bows that have less vibration than the Halon - I'm sure there are plenty - but I simply liked everything about this bow. I shot both the 6 and 7" brace heights. That is just a subjective feel. I could have been happy with either. My hunting arrows are about 400g. We chrono'd a 400g arrow in the Halon 6... 30"/65lbs at 303fps. Not a speed demon by any means, but certainly nothing to whine about.
In the end, there was no question which bow I liked best. I would have liked to have shot the Elite lineup, but I can't imagine I would have liked it much more than the Halon.
I ordered the Halon 7.... 70lbs, 30"... Lost XD camo ... Vapor Trail strings (flo green, black serving).
Should have it next week.
First and foremost, I'm not a fan boy of any particular brand. I've owned a few bows in my life - one Mathews, 2 Hoyts, and 1 PSE. I went in open minded and wanting to shoot everything I could get my hands on. My only requirement was wanting something with a 32" ATA (or less).
All bows were shot at 30" draw with 70lb limbs set to 70lbs, then set to 65lbs.
Obsession DefCon M7 - I was most excited to shoot this bow, and most disappointed in it. At 70lbs, the draw cycle was ok, but it wasn't anything to write home and brag about. The draw felt considerably better at 65. The back wall was rock solid - better than anything else I shot. After the shot, the bow felt clinky/clanky to me. I don't know why. It felt similar to the Hoyt Carbon Spyder 30 that I just sold. The bow had limb dampeners and a string stop, but I just wasn't crazy about the feel in my hand after the shot.
Obsession Addiction - This felt fairly similar to the DefCon M7 to me. The draw cycle felt a little better, but the vibration still felt apparent after the shot. I only flung a couple arrows with this bow due to the longer ATA and I moved on.
Bowtech BT-X 31 - This bow actually felt best in my hand. That's a very subjective thing, but the grip felt great. I shot it with the modules set on in position #3, which is the "Comfort" setting. I would draw 3/4 of the way back and expect the cams to roll over and let off. Then I realized I had to keep pulling hard. I felt like the letoff should have kicked in earlier than it did. I could see myself getting used to this, but it was awkward to me. I just didn't prefer it. The bow felt pretty good after the shot, but all in all - I don't think this bow is built for comfort, regardless of the settings. To me, it felt more dead after the shot than the Obsession.
Mathews Halon 6 & 7 - Overall, I loved the Halon. I shot them with 85% letoff . The draw cycle felt a wee bit better than the others to me. There wasn't a big hump like the Bowtech. It felt like one long, constant pull. I think there will be people that don't like it - but I did. The back wall was more mushy than the Obsession, but was more solid than my last bow (Hoyt Carbon Spyder 30). It was good enough for me. After the shot is where the bow shined to me, it felt much more dead in the hands than the others. I kept going back and forth between all bows, and I just overwhelmingly liked the Halon best. I'm not saying there's no other bows that have less vibration than the Halon - I'm sure there are plenty - but I simply liked everything about this bow. I shot both the 6 and 7" brace heights. That is just a subjective feel. I could have been happy with either. My hunting arrows are about 400g. We chrono'd a 400g arrow in the Halon 6... 30"/65lbs at 303fps. Not a speed demon by any means, but certainly nothing to whine about.
In the end, there was no question which bow I liked best. I would have liked to have shot the Elite lineup, but I can't imagine I would have liked it much more than the Halon.
I ordered the Halon 7.... 70lbs, 30"... Lost XD camo ... Vapor Trail strings (flo green, black serving).
Should have it next week.
