The Archery Project

The Best Compound Bow of 2025: Our Honest Thoughts on Outdoor Life’s Bow Of The Year

• Zakk Plocica • Season 1 • Episode 19

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The archery landscape has a familiar champion for 2025, with PSE securing its third consecutive "Best Compound Bow" title in Outdoor Life's annual testing. The crew at Extreme Outfitters breaks down this impressive three-peat victory, diving deep into what makes the Mach 33 stand out in a fiercely competitive field.

Across nine premium compound bows from major manufacturers, we explore the nuanced differences in performance, feel, and technology that separate today's top contenders. The conversation reveals fascinating insights about PSE's "secret sauce" – their EC2 cam system and full-draw stability that consistently delivers downrange accuracy that's hard to match. When the testing dust settled, the results couldn't be denied, even when testers admitted they didn't want to crown the same brand again.

What sets this discussion apart is the balanced perspective from three experienced archers who've personally shot nearly every bow on the test list. They highlight standout innovations like Prime's revolutionary carbon-aluminum hybrid design, Bowtech's user-friendly tuning features, and Matthews' impressive speed-to-accuracy ratio. The hosts don't shy away from discussing price points either, acknowledging the reality that flagship bows have become significant investments while still maintaining that mid-price options remain highly capable hunting tools.

For anyone considering a new compound bow, this episode offers invaluable guidance on what factors truly matter – from draw cycle and string angle to grip ergonomics and post-shot vibration. The core message? Brand loyalty might be limiting your experience. Whether you're a seasoned archer or just getting started, taking the time to shoot multiple bows remains the surest path to finding your perfect match. Your next bow might come from a brand you've never considered, and that's the exciting part of today's innovative archery market.

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Zakk Plocica:

All right, boys and girls, we are live. We got another episode of the Archery Project for you today, for you guys today. Brian JR, thanks for joining me, my friends.

JR Gettler:

Welcome back.

Zakk Plocica:

Welcome back. I'm glad to be back Me too. Thanks for having me. Yeah, so you guys saw it first. Outdoor Life PJ Riley and the crew. They put the bows to the test the best compound bows of 2025 tested and reviewed and we have a winner.

Bryan Gay:

We do Again.

Zakk Plocica:

Again, back to back, back to back.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, definitely no surprise.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, so they tested one, two, three, four, five, six, nine bows. So we had a PSE Mach 33, an Elite Exalt 35,. Bowtech, virtue, PSE Decree, dart, sequel 33, Prime Form, the 34. Yep, the Matthews Lift X, a 29.5, which, again very weird it was, all these bows were long ATA bows, except for that one, the Decree. The Decree was a 31.5,. Yeah, okay, they kind of covered all spectrums. And then the Elite Artists I think that's how you say it. And then, oh, that's me guys Sorry, I'm not on silent, I thought I was. And then the Hoyt RX-9 Ultra, ultra. Yeah, so obviously all top contenders, all incredible bows, but again, pse Mach 33 took the cake. The they were JR, we were talking about it the other day. They won in 2022.

JR Gettler:

Yes, with the Levitate. Then they won last year with the Mach 30. And then this year with the Mach 33.

Zakk Plocica:

So PSE is on a roll crushing it. The carbon bows clearly are good bows, but you know, I think Outdoor Life did a fantastic job, the way they review these bows, all the tests they put them through. You've got three different shooters that are putting these things through the test. They're looking features, spec, spec, feels, feels, feel, speed. I mean they go through everything and really review the bows well, and then they've got three different individuals behind each of them, which you know, to give that consistency across the board and they really, they really don't do a lot of intercommunication while they're doing the testing, like, oh, I like this, oh, I like this.

Bryan Gay:

They don't do a lot of that.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, it's almost like a silent panel where they're just taking their own notes and yep.

Bryan Gay:

Yep, and it was. It was definitely not a giveaway from the beginning, by any means, but you could tell and we've all shot the mach 33, mach 30 line against everything that is in here and we all have said the same thing, so it's uh I mean you, you're just not gonna beat it that ec2 cam is insane, yeah all the bows are fantastic bows, right.

Zakk Plocica:

Every bot, every bow has its own unique feel, something that draws somebody to it. But you know, what was funny about it is, if you watch the video version of it and you you listen to pj riley going through it they're like he's like man. We didn't want to choose this bow because we had already chose the Mach 30 the year before. But you know what do you do when it just outperforms the others.

JR Gettler:

Right. I mean it's just a solid choice. It's very hard to beat but, like Zach was saying, you know all the bows are really good. We've shot most of the bows except for um. I've never shot a darton.

Bryan Gay:

I don't think it's not any of the new dartons right um, but they're all, yeah, all really good performing bows it's just the, the mach 33, just took the cake again we we have had this conversation, the three of us, oh yeah, where where do we go next? Right, I mean I think that right now, I think we are at the pinnacle. The peak of you know performance. You know versus, you know comfort speed. You know all of the adjustnacle. The peak of you know performance. You know versus, you know comfort speed. You know all of the adjustability, you know the user-friendly. I mean, I can only. What's next?

JR Gettler:

Yeah, I mean that's been the trend over the last couple of years is getting everything more streamlined on the bows. So, yeah, what's going to be the next big innovative thing with archery and that's kind of where the form series came in this year big innovative thing with archery, and that's kind of where the the form series came in this year. You know, that's probably the biggest innovative bow that I've seen, where it's joining the aluminum and carbon together. So, and then there's gonna be endless possibilities with that which they've already dropped, the form 30. So I mean, what's gonna be next for that?

Zakk Plocica:

which it's pretty cool, right. So back to the form, from prime. It's a. It's a very unique bow and, honestly, whenever we all first saw it, I'm pretty sure everybody was kind of taken back and like is this real, is this a joke? And when you see the initial pictures of it? But when you see that thing in person and really get hands on it, it'll really changes your idea of bows in general. For me at least, it did. With those carbon tubes they've got carbon where you need it, aluminum where you need it, and it's just a really great feeling bow. And the ability to change the ATA lengths that they have now with those carbon tubes is is pretty cool and I, I personally, am drawn more towards the form 30. That 34 is just a lot of bow and that 30, the form 30. Uh, that 34 is just a lot of bow and that 30 when you look at it is look for whatever reason it looks incredibly tiny.

Bryan Gay:

It does. Does it's we? It's deceiving. It looks like someone pulled the top end of a crossbow off yeah, it's made it.

Zakk Plocica:

Why it's going to be a fantastic tree stand or blind bow right east coast phenomenal only thing that gets me on that is the string angle yes, you know it's very steep string angle compared to ie.

Bryan Gay:

The matthews lift x 29 and a half where that is so comfortable because the riser is so much bigger and the way their limb deflection is right, um, but I mean that's the only reason I would go with the 34 over.

Zakk Plocica:

The 30 is just sheer string angle yeah, you know, um, the um, the 34 is just a lot of, especially for me. 20 and a half inches, that's just a. That bow, for whatever reason, seems significantly larger than that 30, even though it's only four inches it seems massive. Um, but I was talking to John Dill and he's drawn to, he's a bigger guy. Uh, he's drawn to the 30 itself. He has a 29-inch draw length and he really likes that bow. But you know, I was talking to some other guys about the prime, the form in general, and they say it feels about a half-inch short to them. Has anyone else noticed that?

JR Gettler:

Short string angle no like the draw length.

Zakk Plocica:

Feels like a 29, feels like a 28-and-a-half.

JR Gettler:

I've only shot it a handful of times at 29 and a half, and it didn't feel that bad. No, it felt almost spot on for me, but I mean, I haven't shot it that much.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, I think when we set it up for me, I think it was at 29. And I mean I came stretched to a 29. It didn't feel like I was overstretched at all, it just felt the string angle was just so steep.

Zakk Plocica:

yeah, it was steep at what draw length for you 29 29 yeah yeah, that's what I'm curious about, because that bow is kind of limited as far as draw length goes, right, it's maxes out at 29 and a half inches. So that really for a short bow I mean most of them you see they max out at 30 inches, right, so that's going to cut out a lot of people that have the ability to shoot it. But yeah, it is a steep angle because it is such a short platform.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, I mean, that is one thing with prime, those their drawings seem shorter than average, like a 34 inch. It only maxes at 30 and a half or 30, yep. So yeah, their drawings are a little bit shorter to begin with.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, but there's the spectrum comparing thearing the Form 30 to the Mach 30, I mean 30 inches axle-to-axle, that's what it is. They're almost comparable. The string angle for the Mach 30 is phenomenal.

JR Gettler:

Yeah.

Bryan Gay:

I can't. I mean, it's just not. There's no compromise with it. As soon as I drop back, I hit my anchor point. It's there, I know exactly where it is. It's there, I know exactly where it is. It's repeatable every time. I'm not moving my head to a weird angle to get to that. You know straight in the peep to where I want it. Um it, I'm just going to go with the mug 30 every time.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, yeah. No, it's fantastic bow, that is for sure. So back to the testing when you look at it. So all these bows were tested at 60 pounds. So everything was set up identically. Yep, so 60 pounds, 29 and a half inches of draw length so that they can get consistent speed draw weight. When they set these bows up, they went through and tuned each of these bows. So it says they set the center shot to the standard 13-16ths for pretty much all of them. They set the knocking point level 13 16th for pretty much all of them. They saw set the knocking point level, uh, and then they went through and they paper tuned the each of the bows to get a bullet hole to make sure that they were shooting accurately, consistently and performing like they should. Um, and then they used q80 rests on them and they used the new hha nitrix. So everything was set up about as consistently and across the board for all bows so that there really wasn't any favoritism.

Bryan Gay:

Yes.

Zakk Plocica:

Rhythm with the tism son Good.

Bryan Gay:

Lord, spit it out, junior. I think even the arrows were the same Yep Easton 5.0.

Zakk Plocica:

They shot 395 grains across all of them. So everything was as consistent as as it can be, as as fair as it can be across the board for testing these bows. They did a fantastic job with that. So they went through, they, they. There was a scoring that they went through. Anybody that hasn't seen or read the article on it. They did innovation, you know, for new technology and compound bows. So they scored based off innovation features tuning adjustment, draw length adjustment, customizable grips. Then they scored based off the back wall. The draw cycle, the grip, the post shot feel were all things that went into consideration with scoring these bows. And then the other big thing was the accuracy side of things. So they shot groups out to 50 yards to see which of the bows were the most consistent. All of them did that. And then they measured those groups to see which were tight, which groups were tightest, and they shot a boatload of arrows through these.

Zakk Plocica:

So, it's not like they over this was over a couple of days it's not like they just shot one, each bow once or twice and then moved on to the next. They spent plenty of time behind each of the risers to get a feel for them, to make sure they were dialed in and shooting well. And the big thing was which was interesting was the bows that were the most accurate was number one the pse decree. Number two. Number two the Mach 33, which is pretty wild, right, like I figured, there would have been another bow in there.

Zakk Plocica:

But when you look at it, the accuracy side of things we talk about the full draw stability from PSE. That's been a marketing term that's thrown around and based off the past two years, it's clearly not just a marketing term. It is for real. That that dynamic brace height, that brace height at full draw, the way PSE has built these bows, they are incredibly accurate. The decree which is weird, a 31 and a half inch ATA shorter than the mock 30, outshot the mock 30 that fit, or mock 33 at 50 yards with a tighter group by almost a half inch.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, on all three occasions.

Zakk Plocica:

On all three occasions, which is wild. Almost an inch and a half shorter ATA outperformed all the other bows, even the 35s that were out there, 34s.

JR Gettler:

Yep, pse has the secret formula right now. They got the secret sauce, the secret sauce is what we refer to it.

Zakk Plocica:

So as far as accurate accuracy goes, uh, and shootability out the distance, pse is doing something right. But from there they looked at um speeds and they used they were pretty consistent with the speeds. I mean, pse's bows were not the fastest bows. I think the fastest bow was the matthews lift x, 29 and a half, which makes sense.

JR Gettler:

Uh, that boat was scooting buddy yeah, 348 ibo on that, I think yeah, I don't remember off the top of my head but dude, yeah it was, I think, with the arrow that they shot.

Zakk Plocica:

The speed that they got out of it was like 288, yeah, and at 60 pounds.

Bryan Gay:

60 pounds, that is cruising yeah, 395 grand or 60 pounds, that thing's 288, which is, I mean, like we talk about all the time, that 285, 290 sweet spot, where I mean attuning a bow at that speed, is just butter.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, it's hard, yeah, honestly hard to beat.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

I like my bow shooting that 285 to low 290s, except for whenever, and that's a hunting-based scenario. Right For tack total archery 3D stuff. I like to get closer to that 300 feet per second.

Bryan Gay:

If I'm building something specific for it, that's not just a hunting rig yep get like it fast that's it man, flat trajectory for those far shots, 100 yep although they have, they have thrown a twist in it as of late, because they know that people are building bows specifically for that and, talking with the folks attack. Now they're putting targets behind, you know trees, making it to where you have to lob that arrow in. They don't want everyone to be able to just shoot straight and flat.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, yeah. Anytime you shoot a TAC event, you can see where the hard targets are, because there's plenty of arrows in the trees all around them. Yep.

Bryan Gay:

So they're getting wise to our tricks.

Zakk Plocica:

So Keeps it fun.

Bryan Gay:

It does so keeps it fun, it does absolutely but I think regardless.

Zakk Plocica:

So we shot tennessee and we shot. Well, we didn't get to shoot pa this year we busy working um, but we shot pa last year, um, and I think both of my my bows shot right at like 298 feet per second or right right at 300 somewhere around there, and I didn't have any issues whatsoever yeah same with it, arcing into anything or whatnot, because, um, dude, what was the shot in tennessee? That little sasquatch? Yes, yeah buddy, that was a tough that was very tough what 68 yards, I think at

Zakk Plocica:

least something like that yeah you couldn't even see the target, though what yeah?

Bryan Gay:

I think you, I think zach found it. Yeah, when he said it looks like the tree that a buck had rubbed.

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, it's right behind. Elk has rubbed.

JR Gettler:

It was blown up yeah, that's the only way we identified it yeah, and you had barely just like the left side of the target to see. Really, yep, it's curving arrows that's what we do curving. We're wanting to know Yep.

Zakk Plocica:

So what did you guys think? I mean out of all the bows. So obviously we've shot majority of these bows, right? We carry majority of the bows. When it comes to your guys' experience on them, what are your thoughts? I mean Mach 33, I mean, did you guys honestly feel like that's the best performing out of the ones that were in the lineup?

JR Gettler:

Best performing. I would say it's close. The lift is another very great performing bow, I mean it's, and especially with the new tunability on it with the limb shift technology. That's super hard to beat now too. So I was figuring it would be matthews, possibly number one. I was also thinking maybe the form would be number one, because I mean the new technology that they added to it. The core cam is another phenomenal cam, so I mean that's just another hard bow to beat, in my opinion dude, you know you say that they the the matthews lift wasn't even in the top five.

Bryan Gay:

I would like to have seen them do the 33 though. Yes, if they did a lift x 33, I think it would have been more apples to apples and the same with the uh form.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah right yeah, they did use the form 34. Yeah, they didn't use the 30.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah so I'd like to see the, the lift x um 33, I think it would have been. It may have shook things up just a little bit, you know, just because, like you said, I mean, and we've shot them all right, I mean 95 of the bows that they had on that list, um, and it's really hard to pick a single winner. I mean you shot the mach 33 for attack and I mean you shot phenomenally, I mean the only I think it wouldn't even be something that's bad was. You said that it got a little light and high winds.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, so that was my biggest thing with the bow. Right is just, for me, the setup side of things, because it is such a light bow, which is fantastic. You can add weight where you want it to, and I hadn't spent enough time with it out in like those that type of scenario side of a mountain, a strong crosswind and that was one of the issues is that the wind would really based off the design it would. It would really float a lot more than I wanted to. So I'm trying to counter that and I think I have countered it.

Zakk Plocica:

I've added a little bit of weight to a little bit longer front bar. I went from a 12 to a 15, longer front bar. I went from a 12 to a 15 and then I added a back bar to it. That's a 10 inch back bar to offset it a little bit. I didn't run a quiver on it initially when I was out there. I put a quiver on it now. So it's a little bit heavier of a bow but it does seem to hold on target a little bit better for me and a little bit more stable.

JR Gettler:

Right, yeah, I mean adding that weight. It's going to help a lot. So a light bow is nice to have, but there is the caveat to it is you can you can see that movement a lot more. So if you can get a little bit more weight on it, it will help a lot better for that drift, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

And also one of the things I've been playing with is the AccuArchery SOS Hunter Elite System, pretty cool. If you're not familiar with it, I talked to Eric Griggs out in Pennsylvania. So AccuArchery is a company that created the SOS, the target system, right For the target excuse me, for the target bows, and it's basically it's what they refer to as a mass tune dampener and what it does is it helps absorb vibration within the bow right. So it's not a stabilizer, it's not meant to replace your stabilizer. It's helped to take some of the vibration out of the bow and where you really notice it is what Eric describes is that little bit of back and forth that you get with your pin right.

Zakk Plocica:

So what I noticed when I put it on my bow and I've got it mounted to the front of the riser at the lower on the mach 30 currently, right now um, that lower stabilizer bushing. I've got it mounted there, offset to the left of my quiver and I notice at full draw, especially at distance, my pin settles much quicker really, like much quicker, like when I go in and I draw and I get anchor on this bow and I set my pin on something. It's the float is not a hundred percent gone, but the pin settles that much faster. For me it's honestly pretty impressive, and I haven't even dialed it in all the way yet. I know JR has been playing with one as well and it is it's a very cool system, so there's adjustability in it.

JR Gettler:

Oh yes, yeah. So it's a very cool system, so there's adjustability in it. Oh, yes, yeah. So it's the way that it's set up, so it's got those wires that connects all the way to it, and there's one side that is closer together, the other side is farther apart, and so what you can do with that is you can adjust that um. I forgot what they said. It was um, but if, if you have it like the, the skinnier part is facing up, that's supposed to help, I think, for the left and right.

Zakk Plocica:

I might have it backwards, though, but it's got a weak axis in it, and then a stiffer axis essentially that you can rotate through it's dude, it's, it's cool, it's pretty.

Bryan Gay:

I didn't think that it would.

Zakk Plocica:

I thought it would be more post-shot, uh, vibration, no so so if you look at the video whenever you're, you're standing at full draw. There's still movement in that riser, sure, and you see that little mass tune dampener moving and it's absorbing that and offsetting it and it's steadying that pin. It's, it's.

JR Gettler:

It's super neat, man yeah, it's just like one of those gimbals that they use for cameras and stuff. Yeah, it just helps get. It's going to move all the vibration into that system with all that weight, instead of onto the bow itself it's's just physics, I guess.

Bryan Gay:

Physics. I thought it was more post shot. I'm sure it helps with that as well. It does.

Zakk Plocica:

So it does quiet the bow down a little bit further because again it's something else absorbing vibration, that post shot feel. But the big thing that I've noticed is that full draw at distance my pin just settles that much faster.

Bryan Gay:

So I'm just going to have to spend more money. That's it. That's all. That's the game of archery. I mean, they'll print more. That's what we're doing, yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

So is it a need for anybody? Absolutely not, but it is cool for tactile events if you're looking to really improve archery or archery accuracy at distance. I think it's a designed to replace a stabilizer like a back bar or anything like that, but I think you could use it to offset instead of putting a back bar on there, because it is heavier.

JR Gettler:

That's almost what I would do.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, it's not a bad call.

JR Gettler:

That's what I've done with mine. I don't have a back bar in mine Smart. I'm just running on the back stabilizer, bushing on the back of the riser, yeah that's what I that Expedition this year, and that's another very light bow, so I just added that on and that's been perfect for me.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah you shot that bow really good at TAC too. Yeah, thank you. So let's look at the score sheet. So this is the final from what I can tell. So PSC Mach 33 was first. Bowtech Virtue was number two. Yes, so the Virtue's a pretty sick bow. A lot of that came from the innovation that was. So, yes, the bow tech virtue and the prime scored highest as far as innovation goes, because the amount of technology bow tech has as far as like tunability and capability with the tuning side of things, bow heck, bow heck. Bow tech has nailed it. I talked to I've had a monster energy drink dude, I'm running you are dude.

Zakk Plocica:

I didn't go to bed till four like just one of those yes this morning so like I'm dude, I'm locked in, as Joey would say. Okay, locked in, kind of, but no, you're right, bowtech won it. It's like had the most innovative features locks, but they're all very useful pieces of technology that you can get behind right. You can change the angle of that grip based off how you index that bow. You know, adjusting your timing with the time lock doesn't require a bow press. Shifting your cam left or right to accommodate a tear doesn't require a bow press. Super innovative features which they've had for a while but still.

Bryan Gay:

They upgraded all the hardware.

JR Gettler:

That's what I was going to say. Titanium is phenomenal.

Bryan Gay:

It doesn't rust. I mean you don't have to worry about it ever. Where we East North Carolina, it rains a lot. We're in the swamps a lot. I mean there's surface rust on everything.

JR Gettler:

We're on the coast, so we get plenty of salt water, sometimes Mm-hmm.

Bryan Gay:

So I mean that in itself. I mean, there is that one company.

JR Gettler:

Fire Knock.

Bryan Gay:

That does all of the replaceable hardware Fire Knock.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, that'd be worth getting. Yeah, especially for here, because all my stuff has, like you said, that surface.

JR Gettler:

That's what I put on my Levitate when I had the Mach 34. I put it on there. I haven't done it on anything else yet, but yeah.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

JR Gettler:

Any bow I plan on keeping for a long time, I get it fired and I cut it.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, so there again, I mean, and that's in already on the bow from Bowtech with all of their lock technology. So I mean, that's what gave him so many points was all of that with the innovation stuff.

Zakk Plocica:

Bowtech scored highest out of anybody for both innovation and features that they offered, which I mean no doubt the other thing. I'm looking at the speeds right now. So speeds for these bows are all very, very consistent. So whenever people are talking about this bow's faster than the other dude, looking at the speeds right now, so PSE Mach 33, 282, virtue 282.4, exalt 35 from Elite 282.5, the Dart and Sequel 33, 279.7. They are all within. Like, the fastest bow was the lift, which was 288, and then the decree behind that at 285. So all within 10 feet per second and most of them within six feet per second difference.

Bryan Gay:

Was the Bowtech shot in performance or comfort? I don't remember.

Zakk Plocica:

We do not, not sure.

JR Gettler:

Okay, let me see if I can find it, I'm assuming, probably comfort that, not sure, okay, um, let me see, if I can.

Bryan Gay:

I'm assuming probably comfort. That's what I thought it was comfort. I just don't recall and I don't want to misspeak, but I mean even that the ability to to switch from performance to comfort is just yet another feature, that's you know.

JR Gettler:

If you want some more horsepower right, yeah, like uh, prime hasn't known too with their performance mods, but that's a whole different mod right, right.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, that's where the technology and stuff that you know that Bottek has is incredible, man. I mean that flip disc technology. You don't have to buy a different mod, you've got all your draw lengths and the ability to run from performance to comfort, which I'll tell you. Man, the Botteks like their core SS. I would shoot on performance, but their SR and their Virtue. I would run on performance, but their SR and their Virtue, I would run on comfort.

Bryan Gay:

Yes, based off the draw cycle Yep, yep, same Agreed.

JR Gettler:

I shot the Core SR on performance and I didn't mind it. Ooh, that's got such a dump off on the back, it feels like it wasn't that bad for me, but I mean, I was used to shooting the Levitator a lot, so they tested it on the setting did they?

Zakk Plocica:

okay, yeah, they sure did 61.3 pounds on comfort that's what I thought, but I was.

Bryan Gay:

I didn't want to misspeak, so I mean so you can even get more speed out of that 10 feet per second is what you're going to get out of it 10.

Zakk Plocica:

We've tested it.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, on average you get 10 feet, I mean, and that's so that put it at what 292 which is at number one. Yeah, but again now. Now you're sacrificing that draw cycle to get that. So I mean there's give and take everywhere, um, and I'm glad they tested in comfort because I mean I I did not like shooting that virtue in performance I didn't like it either yeah, so that's one of the things, like it's scored middle of the road for draw cycle, even on comfort.

Zakk Plocica:

So, on on performance, that thing would have been bottom of the barrel man. Sure, it's just because it is you've got to be with. Like you said, there's give and take. You got to be. You know you're going to give up something to gain something. That's typically how it goes um and that performance it just stacks and then really dumps off. But I mean it shoots really well. You get that 10 feet per second on average more speed out of it. So if you're a guy that's a little bit shorter draw length that needs that speed, it's a good addition. Right, you just have to be willing to sacrifice.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, as long as you're not compromising your form and the way you do things, which you don't have.

Zakk Plocica:

It's not like it's not manageable. I just don't think it has that. It just doesn't have that same feel right. It just stacks and then dumps off into the back and that back wall so shallow right, it is zero forgiving.

Bryan Gay:

If you're trying out a new release, don't do it on that performance setting.

JR Gettler:

You are gonna send it through somewhere, yeah, or if you're going to a hinge, don't try it with the hinge.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that'd be the one way scared of crap out of me hinge does. Anyways, I would not do it with that. On performance yeah, I agree.

JR Gettler:

Well, since we're on draw cycles, so wasn't it, matthews, that they, on their scoring it, had like two humps to it? Do I remember right?

Zakk Plocica:

Yes, so Matthews scored the worst on draw cycle and they do a good job of detailing it in the video, right. So, or the article and what they say is you've got to, you give up something to gain something. And the Matthews they said it takes. There's two points in the draw cycle that require. I think what PJ Reilly said is effort. Right In the beginning of the draw cycle it builds, it kind of rolls over a little bit and then you've got one more peak on the back half of the draw cycle before it rolls over, and that's where they knocked it as saying the draw cycle was a little bit more aggressive. Um, that was, it says.

Zakk Plocica:

The biggest complaint about the draw cycle is that it has two areas that require effort one at the start of the draw and one right before the cams roll over. You can see this in the draw force, force curve as a peak in the beginning of the draw cycle, and another one just as the draw weight drops down. Which is really cool with what they did. They showed the peak of of each draw cycle right and they outline it and you can clearly see it in the matthews where beginning, and then at the end there's another hump, which to me, when you actually draw the bow I don't notice it.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, I don't feel it either but if you take your time and you watch the way when they were actually testing for draw cycle, it's very methodical, it's very slow and you can see them okay. One yeah, two, and it rolls back over so to the average person probably not a big deal, but as far as testing goes, they really took their time with it to show every um the full curve of the draw cycle.

Bryan Gay:

I mean, that's just a testament to exactly like what they're going through to do this. And the Mach 33 still came out on top I mean that EC2 cam like I mean we all firmly believe in that EC2 cam. I mean there's no reason to change it if it's working.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, and the other thing that they say too is with the matthews bow is this is the second year in a row that it came in second to pse in the accuracy testing. So it averaged, uh, 0.3 inches larger group than the two pses. The pse, it was the decree, the 33 and then the matthews the matthews right there, not far off as far as accuracy goes. So I understand the appeal for the Matthews bows. I mean it's the number one bow out there, right, everyone, when you think archery, everyone goes straight to Matthews and it's the number one selling bow, I think, across what we see on the East coast at least. And there's a reason. I mean it performed incredibly well. One, it's fast. A lot of people want a fast bow. Two, when it comes to the accuracy side of things, 50-yard group. It was right there, you know, hanging close to the PSE bow.

JR Gettler:

So it's fast and accurate. Yeah, and then all the innovation with Matthews. I mean there's so much you can add on for it. We always joke in the shop and say you know they apple of the archery world. There's so much accessories you can get for them yeah, yeah, this proprietary system.

Bryan Gay:

If you run that system together, it's a good feeling but so here's what we did and you and I in pennsylvania, so many people were like coming up saying, looking at your mach 33 going, I just don't know like you need to go go talk to pse, go put one in your hand and you watch, you're just going to be so pleasantly surprised that you're going to. And they we kept them so busy. They were like guys, stop stop telling people to come over here because they didn't have a chance to go to the bathroom.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, and that goes back to total archery, right, like? The cool thing about total archery is how it brings the whole community together and you've got all your bow manufacturers there now that it wasn't like that matthews wasn't at all these events.

JR Gettler:

I don't think last year not, not even the years I've gone no, this was the first year that they're actually out there.

Zakk Plocica:

They they actually missed some ibo events to come out to total archery challenge. So total archery challenge is the archery event to be at and the cool thing about it is you can go and test, like like we talk about not everybody has a shop that carries all these manufacturers like we do. You can go to these, to this event and you can test all those bows and get a feel for them there and see what you, you know what really makes the most sense for you yeah, that was what cooper was saying.

Bryan Gay:

He was like guys, yeah yeah, you guys are keeping us so busy. This is ridiculous. They're like yeah, the guys from extreme outfitters keep sending us over here.

JR Gettler:

Yep, it sounded like you guys were super busy too, oh my gosh, it was crazy.

Zakk Plocica:

It was a good event, man.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, minus the rain, the rain and the mud, I mean it seemed to follow us everywhere we went. So it's just what it was the black cloud.

Zakk Plocica:

So when we look at now, so average group, we talked about accuracy, draw weight, speed um features. So, honestly, pse had the lowest in as far as innovation and features go, and botech and the prime form were the highest in those which I. I would agree sure um innovation wise well, what, what did so?

Bryan Gay:

let's look big picture. What did PSE have to change from last year to this year?

Zakk Plocica:

Well funny. Yes, you say that that's exactly what they say in the video. They're like you know, yeah, they didn't really innovate it, but they didn't need to.

Bryan Gay:

They made it three inches longer.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, when the bow, it just performs, that's it. It just performs, that's it. Yep, what else do you want them to do? Exactly so, and you know people argue about the tuning side of things. Right, the easy 220 shim system is a great system. It's very simplistic, but it is not as easy as a deadlock cam from bow tech. It is not as easy as um limb shift.

Bryan Gay:

The limb shift from matthews.

Zakk Plocica:

But let's be realistic. Not everybody needs to be able to tune their bows and tinker like that. That's why I still think Hoyt has a really good system. Hoyt bows are proven time and time again. They are the most durable bows on the market and we've tested it. A handful of other people have tested it from the dry fire testing that they do 1,500 dry fire tests to. We ran them over, we threw it, we dry fired it. The bow performs and the thing about a hoit bow is, once you set it up and tune it, you don't need to touch it. Right, I mean right, you can drop it off your backpack. It's still in tune still in time.

Bryan Gay:

Well, I mean the same thing with the easy 220. I mean literally took it, hung it up, didn't do anything with it. I mean once it, once it's tuned, it's it should be. I mean, for the most part, tune unless you drastically change something. Change something, yeah, or you, you know, strings, cables, x y right, yeah, I mean.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, if you don't change anything within a year, I mean that's, I mean it's recommended time we do this until we come back in a year to get it retuned. Sure, and a lot of times. Yeah, we don't have to retune most of them unless they change something. Yeah, right, even like.

Zakk Plocica:

So my solution ss that I had from Bowtech a few years back. It had stock strings on it, that bow, um, I had that bow for like three years and I didn't put new strings on it until I got rid of it. And those strings, they were stock strings. They stayed in time. They didn't lose any poundage. I was honestly impressed with them. Yeah, so I didn't have to use that deadlock cam technology, but except the first time, I set it up right.

Bryan Gay:

So so, and that's that's. Another big thing is, I mean, how often do you mess with? You know, moving a cam?

JR Gettler:

moving, I mean set it up and shoot the bow man, really that's it yep, the only time you'd have to is like if you set it for a total archery and then you change to a heavier arrow or something like that, or change arrows completely.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah that's the biggest time then you're really not even once. You throw it through paper and do all that, but it shouldn't change a whole ton.

JR Gettler:

It just depends, like for my, for my bow I was at a 450 grain arrow and I've went up almost 100 grain, so I had to, I had to reshim for sure, but yeah, other than that yeah, I mean, if I wasn't making that drastic of a jump, it probably wouldn't have been as bad. Sure, sure Makes sense.

Zakk Plocica:

So back wall Interesting Um the PSE mock 33 was and the elite exalt 35. Have any of you guys shot the elite exalt?

JR Gettler:

Not the exalt. No, I've shot um the Omnia.

Bryan Gay:

Yep and the era yeah.

JR Gettler:

Interesting.

Zakk Plocica:

Those were the two highest scoring for back wall the Omnia and the Era. Yeah, interesting, those were the two highest scoring for Backwall. And then, you know, the Darden sequel was right there, the Decree was right there as far as Backwall goes, so I would agree.

Bryan Gay:

I think the form I thought had a really good Backwall, though though in my opinion it scored a little bit lower well, yeah, I mean I, I shot the form, the 34, and I was like, holy crap, if I was to shoot anything else it would be this. I just it's so much bow and that back wall was great. The after shot feel was phenomenal. With nothing on the bow, I mean mean no counterbalance, no weight no anything.

JR Gettler:

I think back wall would be like the hardest category to score, because they all feel really good in the hand.

Zakk Plocica:

I agree that's tough because that's like the expedition, Like I would like to have seen expedition in here, like we talked about probably the 32. Because the back wall on that thing is solid. It's super solid. Well, that's a good shooting bow, it's just a little bit slower it is.

Bryan Gay:

So most of these are string stops, right? So the Expedition has dual string stops, which makes it exponentially stiffer. The only way you're going to get a stiffer back wall is, if it was a true limb, stop Right, right, and then eventually those things wear out. And you're going to get a stiffer back wall is, if it was a true limb, stop right, right, um, and then eventually those things wear out. And you know you got to change the bushings, whatever. But I mean that's the only way you're going to get a dead back stiff wall. And how do you test it? Like you said, because your tension in the back wall is going to be a little bit more or less than either one of ours, right? But they see, I mean all three came together and said you know, this is what I feel, this is what I feel, and then they compiled the evidence. So I mean it's hard to argue. But, like you said, the post shot feel is going to all be subjective to the individual as well. So how do you test that?

JR Gettler:

I mean you get my opinion, your opinion, your opinion, right, and then we, yeah, the only way to really test that would be putting on like a draw board and then having a tape measure or micrometer or something to actually measure and see how much creep is in there? That'd be the ideal way to check that.

Zakk Plocica:

I think that's that's super technical there, yeah, so um, as far as where to go, draw cycle Matthews and Hoyt scored lowest.

JR Gettler:

I man draw cycle Matthews and Hoyt scored lowest man that.

Zakk Plocica:

RX-9 Ultra to me. I feel like the draw cycle's good on that.

JR Gettler:

I do too. I felt it was very smooth and it wasn't aggressive. I noticed on the shorter bows, the RX-9s and the AX-2, the 29 or the 30, I've noticed it's a little bit more aggressive on that, but the longer bows felt fine.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, dude, I think so too. It's a little bit stiffer. I mean just a touch, though, and these bows at 60 pounds ain't stiff. Yeah, that's going to be super easy you know I was, but that has been the biggest complaint with the Hoyt bows this year is the stiffer draw cycle and I guess everyone's stuck and the saying that are the ones going from rx8s to rx9s. So they're stuck on that bow from last year but you gain more speed, which everyone wanted, right.

Bryan Gay:

so there's there's your compromise. There's there.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, that's your compromise. Right there, you got to give up something to gain something. I still feel like the hoyt draw cycle with their can system is. I thought it was really good, it's very consistent.

Bryan Gay:

I didn't notice there was. I mean it was stiff for me in the beginning, but it was. I mean it was all. There was no humps, there was no valleys, until the actual, um, you know, back wall or whatever you want to call it um and when it really dropped off, and then it was like, oh okay, holding weight seems about the same as everyone else, but I mean it was just no crazy humps, no crazy valleys. No mean it was very consistent. But I mean that's where the speed comes from.

JR Gettler:

Right, and from all of our testing that we've done, I feel like Hoyt always had the lowest holding weight or was one of the top in holding weight.

Zakk Plocica:

You are correct, yeah, cause we, we measured some of them. It's like you're you're holding like four pounds, four pounds 4.8 pounds, and that's not 85%.

Bryan Gay:

No.

Zakk Plocica:

People would harp on us, though, like your math is wrong. I'm like I'm not doing the math. I'm telling you that this is set up at 85% and we're only holding 4 pounds, and you double-check the scale. I get it. The math ain't mathing, but it's out of my hands. Yeah, this is what the scale says.

Bryan Gay:

Yep, be mad at me, bro yeah, the one test you did, you were like this isn't right, just tested and it was oh crap, I guess it was right.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, I think one time we even had one that was like holding three pounds, like three point seven pounds.

Bryan Gay:

It was like holy crap yeah but a lot of that is, you know, and we've we've had this conversation a lot is, I like to feel, to hold a little bit more weight, like I set mine up at 80, just because I'll get lazy, inherently will just, and that's what scared me so much with the levitate and now the virtue and performance mode where if you let up just a little bit, that little bit of laziness comes in, she's going to run on you.

JR Gettler:

Yeah Well, and another thing that too is. I mean, the more holding what you have, it's going to have more tension on your mainstream, so that can actually help you be a little bit more accurate as well. Sure, so that's why you know all the target stuff is all 60 to 80% let off, normally.

Zakk Plocica:

I'm trying to find. I'm trying to get to Outdoor Life's page right now to look up comments. I want to see if there's any comments.

Bryan Gay:

Oh, I'm sure there's a time, if there's any negative comments about what they've they declared as the winner. Yes, guaranteed. Probably 70% of them are negative comments, but I mean and PJ Riley came out flat out and said it he goes. We did not want to pick this bow as unbiased as we were trying to be.

JR Gettler:

We did not want to come to this, yeah, but everything just stacked up and I mean it scored the best. I mean that's going to be the obvious choice, right there.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, some of these bows, these comments, are funny.

Bryan Gay:

They're all funny I try not to read them I haven't read any of those.

Zakk Plocica:

Yet you can buy a 15-year-old bow for $100 and be successful too. Yeah, you could. Yeah.

JR Gettler:

Go to your local pawn shop and buy one then let's see.

Zakk Plocica:

None of them I would err waste the money on. It's like all these manufacturers are pimping the latest and greatest 1600 to $2,000 bows and they still don't touch my five-year-old bow tech flagship bow I paid 800 for five years ago. They've priced themselves out of the average man's market, which I will. I will agree that for, like your blue collar guys, pricing and stuff is getting pretty pretty high, so I don't know how long we can sustain this until there has to be a change, right, um, but yeah, probably the last bow I ever buy in my lifetime, I'll pistol hunt rather than buy another bow. Psc the winner. Yeah, there's a lot of um, I mean, there's some good comments sure I mean, but there's, I mean as a whole.

Bryan Gay:

Everything, even just minimum wage, has gone up exponentially in eight years and that's, you know, just inflation. Call it what it is um, but that's.

Zakk Plocica:

Everything has to go up, otherwise you're not going to have a business, you're not going to have a brand, if you don't keep up yeah, yeah, the problem Because you still have to pay your people, right, that's the problem, though is like the pay hasn't kept up with the price of stuff. I mean, if you look at the cost of goods, now, I mean it's crazy. I mean I mean somebody that makes an honest living. Let's say you have a $40,000 or $50,000 salary just that one salary for your household to live on. I mean looking at buying a home and everything. The cost is insane.

Zakk Plocica:

Now you're looking at, we're looking at this bow hunting as a hobby, right, that's just, it's a pastime, it's not a necessity. Some people are priced out. When you guys spend $2,500 on a necessity, you know some people are priced out. You know, when you guys spend $2,500 on a bow, that's where that $800 to $1,000 price point is still, I think, reasonable for a lot of people. So I'm really curious to see the shift as this evolves, if there's going to be some new technology that allows the price point to ever come down. I mean, because, let's be real, your mid-price point bows are still good bows down.

Bryan Gay:

I mean cause, let's be real.

JR Gettler:

Your mid price point bows are still good bows. Sure, yeah, I mean I think you can go onto the wall and pick up a bear and do just fine with it.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, Ready to shoot, I mean that's. I mean, look at the hunting public guys. That's all they shoot is the bear, Um?

Zakk Plocica:

and yeah, john Dill killed. Uh, he killed a deer the other year with an adapt.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

I mean, they're very capable piece of equipment. I will not deny that because we do videos and stuff right. High-dollar bow versus entry-level or cheap bow there is a difference. I don't care what you like. There is a difference between your flagship bow and your mid-price point bow. Do they both have the same capability as far as lethality? Is that the right word? Yeah, yes, they do. Right, they're both designed to kill animals. Sure, right, they're both designed to kill animals. Sure, but your flagship does come with premium features accessories and uh performance, just ability, tunability I mean yeah, I mean, you can still tune these mid price point bows, but you can do.

Zakk Plocica:

You can do it a lot more efficiently and easier on on a flagship bill and accurately on that, like when we look at some of these bear bows not a dig on bear, but like they're mid price point bows. Tuning those bows is an absolute nightmare it is. The strings that come on them right out of the gate aren't fantastic. That's the first thing I would replace. But it's still a very capable piece of equipment and if it's in your budget, that's in your budget. That's fantastic. Get into it and shoot it. You can get the job done. You'd kill elk. I mean, I had a dude that went to Alaska and killed a caribou with a diamond infinite edge.

JR Gettler:

Yep, yeah, the guy that moved from Alaska, right? Yes, yeah, that was a couple years ago, unreal. Yeah he killed all sorts of stuff with that bow.

Zakk Plocica:

Didn't matter. At the end of the day it comes down to the individual behind the equipment. As long as the bow's set up correctly and as well as it can be right and you get good aero flight out of it, the bows you can, you can get the job done. But if you're into it like you're, you're true archery enthusiast I mean you're, you're chasing that top.

Bryan Gay:

That perfect. That perfect, I mean and I'd relate it to like golf, if you buy a set of golf clubs from walmart. Are you going to outplay those eventually? You could, I think so.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, 100, which depends on how much you're into it. And golf clubs from Walmart are you going to outplay those eventually? You could, I think so. Yeah, 100%. It just depends on how much you're into it and how much you get.

Bryan Gay:

That's what it is you. Do you boo-boo?

JR Gettler:

That's what it all is.

Bryan Gay:

I mean stay within your budget Absolutely. Invest in yourself first Invest in your family, and then hobbies and all that stuff comes.

Zakk Plocica:

I'm a firm believer in if you have a hobby, there's, no, no, nothing wrong with investing heavily in it. I mean, everyone needs something that they enjoy, and whatever that is whether it's fishing, it's bow hunting, it's golf, it's I don't know whatever um vehicles, um, there's nothing wrong with uh, I don't think um splurging a little bit in your hobby 100% agreed.

JR Gettler:

If you can't be happy with what you do, then you're not gonna be happy in life. To begin with, that's right dang.

Bryan Gay:

Look at him. That's a power quote.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, son I'm a guru, you're something.

Zakk Plocica:

I like it. So as far as post shot feel the worst performing was the matthews. Oh nope, excuse me, it was the prime form really that's interesting.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that's very interesting because out of all the bows that I've shot that we have that one felt the best post shot with zero on it, dude.

Zakk Plocica:

The number one was the elite exalt and the psc mach 33, which the I don't know man, I feel like all. I didn't feel like any of the bows that we shot, really like the post shot feel was bad, I mean, even the, the hoyt it was down there with a 3.6 yeah, that's weird, because the matthews was low on the list too.

JR Gettler:

Really, yeah, that's surprising yeah, anytime I shot matthews, they're always super dead quiet, that's like the quietest yeah the video that I did the other day super quiet.

Zakk Plocica:

Yep, it's like a suppressed bow. It's so good.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, Hoyt's normally really good.

Bryan Gay:

I feel like I did not like the grip on the Matthews. I changed that was. I changed out immediately. Yeah, that.

Zakk Plocica:

So the Matthews grip score the lowest, the Darden sequel did it actually scored middle of the road. So the Hoyt, the Elite Artist, the Lift, the Form, all scored a 3.3 on the grip. The best, the one that they said had the best grip, was the Mach 33.

Bryan Gay:

Which is no grip, it's just the riser, it's just the riser.

Zakk Plocica:

But it doesn't so funny enough, right? The biggest complaint with the Matthews grip is it's just the riser. But yeah, it doesn't so funny enough, right? The biggest complaint with the matthews grip is it's rounded. It rolls in your hand. Yep, that's the number one complaint across the board, the mach 33. The grip is kind of rounded, very similar, but it does not, uh, roll in your hand. It doesn't induce that hand torque, it's, it's weird.

Bryan Gay:

I didn't feel the roundness of it. I mean it. It felt, if you look at it.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, I did like it's.

Zakk Plocica:

It's there, but it's not as it's not as drastic as the matthews which matthews did a good job to counter that with all their grip options so you have the new bond system there's literally no excuse now for you know, say I don't want to shoot matthews because the grip I just slapped a b-roll grip on it right away, because I like that squared off.

JR Gettler:

I like the extra um ledge that it has on the outside to protect my knuckle and finger yeah, I like the first gen grip better, to be honest, but I do like the changes that they made on the second gen yeah, yeah, interesting stuff and this is all subject to the individual doing it right so that's that has to be taken into account.

Bryan Gay:

So that's why we always say get to your shop, shoot everything you can before you make your decision, because ultimately, it's down to these three guys, I mean, and they're all wildly different than any one of us.

Zakk Plocica:

That's what makes this sport so unique is that it's just 100% subjective especially with a lot of those categories back wall feel, post shot, feel vibration yeah, those are all definitely. But when it comes to like when you look at an average of you know you can look at things that are kind of non-negotiables, like your speed um the features they offer sure um, and then the accuracy, which across the board. It's not one.

Zakk Plocica:

It's not one guy, they did an average. Um, the bows that shine. I mean you can see the bows, that kind of stand out. But at the same time I mean, like back to what you're saying, it's it's based off the individual and what feels best for them. I mean, when we look at accuracy, hoyt scored the worst. They got a one out of five.

Bryan Gay:

Really yes.

Zakk Plocica:

Wow Interesting. I'd be curious to the second worst was the elite artists. Did they go back through?

Bryan Gay:

In the prime form? Did they go back through at the end and paper tune them again to see if any one of them had shifted?

JR Gettler:

I wonder no, I don't think so. So I mean, they haven't shot that many shots through them by that point. They shot a ton, but they did shoot a lot. There was like 300 something arrows per bow, I think, throughout this whole testing.

Zakk Plocica:

So yeah, I mean there's, there's quite a bit of arrows through it yeah, accuracy number one was um the decree and then the mach 33, and then the Matthews lift.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that's 29 and a half, yep, and that bow holds phenomenal. That's 29 and a half, I mean it shoots like a 33 inch bow.

Zakk Plocica:

It's got such a long riser.

Bryan Gay:

It does.

Zakk Plocica:

That's the thing about the Matthews bow. Like that 29 and a half looks way bigger than like a mock 30 or a, especially the prime 30, because the riser is so much longer.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, it's like I remember when it was, I think the Phase 4 or something like that came out. It was almost as long as the TRX-36, the riser it was just as long as that. So I mean it was sitting there at target bow length.

Zakk Plocica:

Yep, yep, good stuff, I mean so they did a fantastic job. But this just I mean, this is again. This is just testing, that's done. Um, to kind of give you an idea of you know how these guys recommend the bow. But you can only take that. Take it with a grain of salt. Go in, go to your local shop and shoot bows for yourself. You know that's like us at Extreme Outfitters we carry all the brands except Elite, I think and Darton.

Zakk Plocica:

But all the other brands we carry, so you could go in, shoot, test all of them for yourself, form an opinion and then buy based off what feels best to you, and I highly recommend. Like when I first got into the archery world, like I was introduced wrong, I never tested a bow. They were like, hey, here's a bow, for it wasn't even fitted. It was a half inch short. I didn't realize. You know, it was never tuned, it was, here's some arrows for it. I was shooting a 350 spine and a 400 spine.

Zakk Plocica:

Oh, yeah had no idea what spine was, that arrows were different, um, you know, but that's that's where it's important. Go to a good pro shop, go to a good archery shop, talk to the techs behind the counter and spend time with them to learn the ins and out and test the bows for yourself. If you're new, yes, you're not going to know exactly what you're looking for, but being able to shoot different bows is going to give you an idea what they all feel like. So you can kind of say, oh, I kind of like the feel of this one over, that one right, versus just, you know, walk in and say I'll buy it, I'll give me that.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, oh, yeah, and, and. But there are those people that are so brand loyal that they are not going to try anything else.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, there's a bunch of them.

Bryan Gay:

Oh yeah, and then I think we we shifted a lot of them, at least in Pennsylvania. You know, go shoot that PSE, just I mean just try it.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, yeah, no, there's a lot of good options, man. I mean, the Hoyt has done a fantastic job. I think I like their bows this year. I really like the AX2, the 32. I think, that's a fantastic aluminum bow. I like their aluminum bows a lot. And then the Core SS from Bowtech I'm a fan of as well.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, that's a great bow. I really like the Core SR last year most, in line up this year. I think the Decree is probably one of the most underrated bows on the market at this point. What else do we have?

Bryan Gay:

Well, you shot the Decree last year at TAC didn't you?

JR Gettler:

Yeah, at the 33.

Zakk Plocica:

No, I shot the Evolve.

JR Gettler:

Oh, the Evolve. Oh, that's right, I shot the Evolve.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, the the decree is new. It's that 31 and a half inch bow and as far as like an aluminum bow overall axle to axle length. The specs that that bow has. It is a phenomenal do-all bow. If you're just getting one, especially if you're a sub 30 inch guy, I think it is a perfect bow. It's got an incredible draw cycle with the ec2 cam that we talked about. The grip on that bow is fantastic, I think. Um easy 220 shim system. It shoots good. Clearly, full draw stability in any of your pse bows. It's a shooter, no question yep, yeah and that axle axle is perfect

JR Gettler:

yes, yeah it's great for tree hunting, uh, or tree tree hunting hunting trees, yeah, going out for them trees, yeah, uh, for tree stand hunting I think anything.

Bryan Gay:

I mean that 31 and a half. I mean it's just that sweet for me, anyways at, anyways that 28 1⁄2-inch draw, 29 1⁄2, 30-inch bows. It's pushing it, but I get that 31 1⁄2, 32-inch. I mean that's money, I can hold that all day long.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, I love it. That's one of my favorite axle lengths is probably my favorite on the market Besides the Bowtech. That's really good and I actually really like that Expedition grip too, even though it's not in the Outdoor Life testing Outdoor.

Zakk Plocica:

Life. Extreme Outfitters needs to do their own test. I said it the other day.

Zakk Plocica:

You've got to be careful about it, though I don't want to sway anybody, oh yeah, because I want everyone to make their own decision. That was the big thing with this shop man. It's just important that you get hands-on and test for yourself. But it's funny. I'm reading one of the quotes from the article. It says if you're stuck on brand loyalty, I'm looking at you, matthews fans. You're missing out on a lot of cool new bows. So as you're trying out new bows this year, give one of the little guys a chance alongside your favorite big names, which is it's important, man, these smaller brands need to stay in the game. Right? We saw Athens go away. The more bow brands that go away, the less options you have in the archery community. So Expedition Prime, all the other smaller Obsession, obsession.

JR Gettler:

They're a very small brand.

Zakk Plocica:

now it feels like yeah, I mean it's important we keep them around, so give them the opportunity. If you go and find a shop that carries them I mean we carry Expedition and the Prime bows and I know a lot of you guys go out and we talk about it brand loyalty you want to just shoot that Hoyt bow or that Matthews bow? Go, give the other brands an opportunity, man, you won't be unimpressed.

Bryan Gay:

Disappointed, disappointed. Good Lord, you just smash, bang, fusion those two words together.

Zakk Plocica:

Yeah, but you know, that's what I'm saying Like, give these bows an opportunity, because there's some really great technology and features out there that you'll probably be surprisingly impressed with.

Bryan Gay:

So that's, you know, we had the Expedition guys next to us in Tennessee, and that I mean mean competition breeds innovation, that's right. So if these guys go away, there goes your midpoint, mid price point bows. It's just you're stuck with the two, three big names, so try them all out. I mean, that was what really drew me in here. Uh, initially what? Four or five years ago now?

JR Gettler:

yep was.

Bryan Gay:

I came in, talked to cody. I wanted to put a matthews in my hand. He goes I, I get it bud, everybody does, but I want you to shoot everything. Let's spend it, and I spent the whole day here.

Bryan Gay:

If you're here, you might as well spend some time uh, and he had me shoot literally everything set up, my draw line set up, you know everything from you know not to butt A to Z, and then it was like I settled on actually the Hoyt. I went with the Z1S and then now I've gotten to shoot a PSE, the Mach 30. All last year was amazing, matthew's Lift X this year. I mean it's just it's moving around, trying everything, see what feels best to you and then go from there. I mean the Expedition was definitely on the list this year.

Bryan Gay:

When we got those in, it was just like kid in a candy store. You know just, the innovation with that was just like, oh my gosh, that's what put you in it.

JR Gettler:

I love shooting that bow. It's my favorite bow.

Bryan Gay:

And you shoot crazy groups with it. Even out the distance.

Zakk Plocica:

it's ridiculous, it's still shooting fast for you too? Yeah, Because it was on the slower side of some of the bows. But when we say the slower side, it's literally a couple feet per second difference.

JR Gettler:

Yeah, it's nothing super drastic, you know, it's just a couple feet here and there. Yes, yeah, I mean I had it set up and I was shooting right at 300 feet per second with a 450-grain arrow or a 442-grain arrow. Yeah, so it's still plenty fast, screaming fast.

Bryan Gay:

I mean, that's what we talk about is on the slow end. We said the same thing about the Botex last year, right? But it's really, if you set it up, if you take the time and really dial that arrow weight, set up it for the game that you're going after, you're going to get what you want out of it. So take that for what it's worth agreed.

Zakk Plocica:

So final wrap on it psc mock 33 was your number one was your winner. Second was bow tech virtue. Third was the elite ex exalt 35. Fourth was your darton sequel 33. Fifth was the psc decree. Six was your prime form. Seventh was the Matthews lift X 29 and a half. Eighth was elite artists and ninth was the Hoyt RX nine ultra. All fantastic bows, all bows you should give or you should consider and, if you have the ability to go and test out for yourself.

JR Gettler:

Yep Agreed, as well as all the other bows that are not tested because there's a lot. There's a lot of bows.

Zakk Plocica:

Try them all if you can yeah, different ata lengths depending on you and what you're you're looking to do, whether you're hunting out west, you're hunting east coast. You have one bow to do it all um. There's a lot of different axle lengths to consider. Within those You've got a Lift X 29.5, lift X 33, rx-9, rx-9 Ultra. I mean PSE, mach 30, 33, 35.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah.

Zakk Plocica:

There's a ton of ATA options, a lot of different bows out there, a lot of great bows to consider, with an overwhelming amount of bow accessories to go along with those.

Bryan Gay:

That's what's cool about the Primeform. Yeah, the Primeform's pretty sick. The ability to change that ATA with literally the cut of a tube.

Zakk Plocica:

I wonder if they're going to end up doing like custom ATA lengths 31 1⁄2, 32 1⁄2.

JR Gettler:

I mean, that would be very daunting for them, hey man there's an upcharge for everything. Oh, yeah, absolutely.

Zakk Plocica:

Very cool, All right guys? Any final thoughts?

Bryan Gay:

PSC did it again.

Zakk Plocica:

I mean it's hard.

Bryan Gay:

Don't fix it if it ain't broke. Yeah, I mean, they PJ.

Zakk Plocica:

Riley said it man.

Bryan Gay:

Yeah, that EC2 cam. We've been saying it since last year, when it came out that it's just the EC2's been out for three years.

Zakk Plocica:

This is year three, yeah, yeah, three years.

JR Gettler:

So it's just a another addition to the eval cam. They're just redesigning that, so I wonder what's going to happen for 2026? Yes, the only thing I hope psc comes out with is a bow stand yes, and then some changes here and there to like their quiver system, which I actually really love, that two-piece quiver that mounts to the cable guard.

Zakk Plocica:

That's. It's a good system.

JR Gettler:

I thought that was pretty innovative right there, yep so, yeah, lots of good stuff, guys.

Zakk Plocica:

All right, guys. That's a wrap. Drop some comments, give some feedback. What's your thoughts on the 2025 bow of the year? What bow would you choose? And then also let us know what topics you guys want to hear us cover. You know there's lots of good things happening in the archery world right now. Um. So yeah, give us some feedback, as always. Appreciate you guys listening. This was another episode of the archery project with none other than brian and jr and myself, zach. We'll catch you guys in another episode. Thanks, guys.