The Archery Project
Welcome to The Archery Project where we sit down and have raw, unfiltered conversations discussing archery and bowhunting adventures in depth through the perspectives of unique individuals from all different backgrounds.
If you enjoy the show be sure to subscribe to show your support!
The Archery Project
Best Mid-Price Compound Bows for 2026 (Prime, Hoyt, Bowtech, Bear)
Looking for flagship performance without the flagship price tag? We put five mid-price compound bows through their paces and found real standouts that deliver speed, tuning ease, and shootability for hunters and 3D shooters alike. From the steady Prime Ronin to the surprising Hoyt Enduro, the feature-packed Bowtech Ascend, and Bear’s Alaskan Pro and Adapt 2 HP, this guide helps you pick the right bow for your draw length, style, and budget.
We start with the market shift: rising flagship costs and better engineering have made sub-$1K bows compelling. Then we get specific. The Prime Ronin leverages the smooth Core cam and a proven shim system on a 34-inch ATA frame that doubles as a target crossover. The Hoyt Enduro brings a forgiving seven-inch brace height, HBX lineage, full inline accessory compatibility, and shop-friendly shimming—ideal for tree stands and ground blinds. Bowtech’s Ascend earns “best package” with DeadLock Light no-press tuning, FlipDisc comfort vs performance, IMS integration, Picatinny sight options, and accessories that need no immediate upgrades.
Bear Archery steps up with two winners. The Alaskan Pro pairs a fast, smooth EKO^2 cam with adjustable 80/85 percent let-off, a dead post-shot feel, and smart package options that keep costs down. The Adapt 2 HP adds the DHC hybrid cam system and a draw range up to 32 inches for long-draw shooters who want a mild, consistent cycle. Along the way we share chrono speeds, valley and back-wall impressions, and practical “best-of” picks: best value (Alaskan Pro), fastest on paper (Ascend), most forgiving (Enduro), target crossover (Ronin), and top turnkey package (Ascend).
If you’re weighing whitetail setups, western spot-and-stalk, or a bow you can take to 3D, this walkthrough breaks down specs, tuning systems, and accessory compatibility in plain language. Ready to shoot before the season? Try these bows at your local shop, or visit Extreme Outfitters for setups, tuning, and shipping. If you enjoyed this breakdown, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with a buddy who’s bow shopping this year.
🏹 Shop Extreme Outfitters for all of your archery & bowhunting needs: https://extremeoutfitters.com
Quick reads, pro tips, and the latest episodes—delivered straight to your inbox every week.
👉 Sign up here: https://thearcheryproject.com/
✅ Watch the video podcast here!
https://www.youtube.com/@thearcheryproject
JOIN OUR COMMUNITY:
► Facebook: http://bit.ly/44UD7Vo
► Instagram: http://bit.ly/40Q2jLf
All right, mid-price point bows. There's a lot of good ones this year, and I think it's a uh price point a lot of people can relate to. So that's what me and JR are covering today. So thanks and welcome back to the Archery Project, everybody. I'm your host, Zach Placeca, and I've got Mr. J.R. Gettler here. And we've done a lot of testing with some mid price point bows, and it seems like that price point, man, is uh pretty competitive at this point.
JR Gettler:Yeah, um, there's a lot of new offerings this year for 2026, and it's actually very exciting.
Zakk Plocica:I think so too, man. I mean, typically it's an o I would say for the most part over the years, that's a um an overlooked price point, right? So you look at most people are looking at like entry-level price, you know, four to five hundred dollars, and then from there they skip that mid price point, and a lot of people gravitate towards flagship. Yeah. Well, I think we've seen a big shift in that just with I maybe the economy, the price of all the flagship bows nowadays, how expensive they really are. I mean, a bare bow, flagship bow, $13.49.
JR Gettler:Yeah. Yeah, everything has gone up um a lot, especially since COVID really kicked off. That's where we've really noticed the the prices of bows have gone up uh drastically, in my opinion. Um, I mean, you know, look at five, six years ago, your flagship level bows were 800 bucks. Right. And now they're $1,300, $1,400 for an aluminum bow, two grand for a carbon bow. So, I mean, yeah, it's it's transitioned quite drastically.
Zakk Plocica:It has. And every year it's more and more expensive. And I think this mid-price point has kind of been neglected. There's been bows in that category, obviously, but they haven't been really as talked about or as prevalent as your flagship stuff.
Speaker 1:Right.
Zakk Plocica:Uh, and I think this year it's a super competitive price point. And the quality of bows in that price point, I mean, you're getting flagship features at a sub thousand dollar price point now. Yeah. So very impressive. And there's, I think so far for this year, for you know, that's this incorporates 2025 bows that are carried over to 2026 and a lot of new 2026 stuff is there's five bows in particular, I think, that really stand out and accommodate or are going to accommodate most people, and that just perform exceptionally well. And those are the prime ronin that's been in the lineup for a couple years now.
JR Gettler:Yeah, I think this is the second or third year on that now.
Zakk Plocica:Yep. So the new that just dropped the other day, the Hoyt Enduro, the Botec Ascend, which dropped this year as well. And then we've got Bear, who I really think just really crushes this category, the Alaskan Pro, and then their Adapt 2 HP. Dude, those bows are bangers.
JR Gettler:Yep. Uh they're selling really well, great price point, great features on them, great shooting bows, even. You know, it's it's really hard to beat that for the price.
Zakk Plocica:It is. I mean, the packages you get, I think, too. I mean, we were shooting, we were talking about like, dude, I would I would shoot this bow.
JR Gettler:100%. Like, I would run this.
Zakk Plocica:And the cool thing now, too, about the mid-price point option is the axle to axle lengths that are in that sec, that, that category, right? Because typically it's it's shorter bows. It's right, a 30 to a 31-inch bow for the most part that kind of fits that mold. Well, now you've got 30 all the way to 34-inch ATA bows that fit a wide variety of people, and you've got a lot of draw length options, right? Because there was typically a cap in that price point, too, right? Typically, if you're over like 30, 31 inches, there's not a bow for you in that category. You've got to go to long draw options for the most part. Obviously, there's some exceptions, but you've got to go to that flagship option with the long draw option uh that takes you into that more expensive category. And now they've you've you've got options in this price point.
JR Gettler:Yep. It's honestly a great way that the market's been transitioning. Kind of a good way to hopefully put it. I think so. Yeah.
Zakk Plocica:You know, and then two, you know, there's just with the mid-price point again, we look at like tech wise, it's it's always been behind the curve. Well, now they've introduced all these features that are flagship features, and the capability within these bows, even the the tuning side is the big thing, is what is really progressed in my eyes.
JR Gettler:Right. And then um, I think even just the shootability of the bows, you know, a lot of those mid price point bows, you're looking at 80% max let off that weren't adjustable. Well, now you're actually getting stuff that actually has adjustable let-off options too. So it's just make the bow even more, I think, shootable for everybody.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I I agree. And when we talk about shootability, the bow is just it, it just performs a little bit better. It's a more forgiving platform. Um, that is is great for a newer shooter, too, right? Somebody that's not perfected their technique, has not spent a lot of time behind a bow. There's a bunch of flaws within their shooting capability, and this allows for them to have those flaws and still perform pretty well.
JR Gettler:Right, right.
Zakk Plocica:So let's talk about the pro the prime Ronin, right? So, this is this was probably I would say like the best mid-price point bow. Was it last year? Or is it a yeah?
JR Gettler:It might have been two years ago now.
Zakk Plocica:We did a video on it for extremes YouTube stuff, and it just it's a stellar bow. The thing about it that's kind of unique is how long of an axle axle bow it is at that price point, right? Because we talked about you'd normally a little bit shorter bows. This is a 34-inch axle to axle bow that uses Prime's core cam, which is a phenomenal cam.
JR Gettler:Yep, it's just taking basically the the limbs, cams, and even the the shim system and putting it onto a different riser.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, uh, I mean, and that shim system works well. It does. It's it and that's the big thing, right? You a lot of these bows is the tuning side is a little bit more difficult in that price point. And this eliminated. I mean, you can shim the bow, shim the bow easy, just like prime's flagship models, which it makes me question and it makes me wonder. Does because we see a lot of these like branded, you know, it's it's not a a sub-brand, it's it's the flagship brand, the prime Ronin. It's in the prime category. It's it's they don't have a subcategory for that mid-price point. But like you've seen a lot of companies in the past, right? You know, Botech, Diamond, um, some of the other brands, it's in, it's it's a it's a prime bow. Right. But it makes me question is it take away from the flagship sales? And because it has the same essentially a lot almost all the same features.
JR Gettler:It's the same technology, just and honestly, just a different chassis.
Zakk Plocica:Right. Yeah, yeah. That's a great way to put it. It does. I mean, and you look at it, the thing about the Prime Ronin, though, that I think one of the drawbacks is it's a 34-inch axle to axle bow. So you would expect that bow to fit, you know, your longer draw guys, but it doesn't. It only goes 26 to 30 and a half inches, um, which is kind of a bummer because your long draw guys typically want that longer axle to axle bow just for string angle.
JR Gettler:Right. Um, that's one thing with prime, though. They've always kind of had shorter draw length options for all their bows. Um, but I mean that's kind of put in the same category as like the Alaskan Pro, for example, because that one maxes at 30 and a half, right? And that's a 33-inch axle, axle bow. So it's it's kind of similar right there, but I feel like doing that though, it's gonna make it a very comfortable bow for for that, even if you are maxing it out at 30 and a half. It's gonna be a very comfortable bow for the string angle, even at you know, the short 26-inch, it's gonna be a great, I think great feeling, great performing bow for that individual.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, that you can do just about anything with, right? Because it's you know, typically in that price point, somebody has one bow, and that's their primary bow, and they're gonna do everything with that bow. Uh, and with it being that little bit longer axle to axle, if they want to shoot tack, if they want to hunt, if they want to build it as a 3D target rig, it's it's a great option for it. Right. So, uh, and again, like I said, the features that come on that bow are are fantastic. I think one being the core cam, it's not a different cam than the flagship bows. So it puts up really good speeds. It does. The core cam, in my opinion, is one of the uh smoother, more consistent draw cycle, has one of the more consistent draw cycles. Um and again, you don't it doesn't skimp anywhere. The valley on it's nice on the core cam. Uh, and the back wall is is incredibly solid and it puts up good speeds. It's got an IBO of 336.
JR Gettler:Yeah, I mean, um, the core cam has been out now probably five years at this point, and it's been a great performing cam. It really has been. Yeah, there's just not a lot of talk about Prime, which it it it honestly, it's it sucks for them, but you know, it's just I don't know if it's just part of the marketing or just it's not as popular out here on the East Coast, but um I've I heard a lot of guys that really like the Prime bows a lot.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I mean, we've sold a handful of Ronins, um, and and you know, not so much the flagship bows this year, um, you know, talking about the form, it just didn't perform for us uh like I expected it to. Um and and I don't know exactly what that is, but we talked about that in a in an episode before when we talk about, you know, it takes the manufacturer side and the dealer side, uh, everybody working together in order to get these bows in front of people. It takes the media, it takes, you know, the hands-on approach with the dealers, and it takes, I think now at this point we're seeing manufacturers on the ground at tack events and stuff like that, getting these bows in people's hands and then opening it up, opening up new dealers for people to be able to go and test these bows. So yeah, I think Prime has done a really good job as far as technology goes. Um, and just performing, good performing bows. I just think they're kind of slept on. Yeah, um, from what we see where we're located, uh, that might not be so you know, so out west. Right, right. So, but yeah, Prime Ronan Man, I think it's fantastic. Um and I think so. That bow has it's got Picatini um sight mount option, right?
JR Gettler:Um I do believe so.
Zakk Plocica:Man, I think it's machined into the riser.
JR Gettler:I think so.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah. So let me pull it up real quick. But um I think Prime does a really good job when it comes to like their finishes and stuff too. And that that's one of the other cool things about these bows, is they look sharp. I mean, they look, yeah, it's got it's it's not machined in, it's actually uh attached to the front of the riser. So they got a pick mount option on there. Um and oh no, that's RDX, excuse me.
JR Gettler:Yeah, I'm looking at I don't think it has the pick mount.
Zakk Plocica:No, it does not have the pick mount. So you it doesn't not have that feature on it. Okay, so you can only run the side mount of side on that. Sorry, guys.
JR Gettler:Yep. Yeah, I was just looking up too. Okay, yeah.
Zakk Plocica:No. It's it's and you know the thing about it too, it's 34 inches. The overall weight on that bow is only four and a half pounds.
JR Gettler:Yep, it's I think it's a good price point, or uh not price point, it's a good mid midway midweight, I guess you could say four.
Zakk Plocica:Well, I yeah, I agree because you know some of the other bows are a little bit even heavier than that at a shorter ATA. So interesting enough, because Hoyt just dropped the Enduro, what, yesterday or the day before?
JR Gettler:Yeah, two days ago now.
Zakk Plocica:Two days ago. Um, which again that's that's replacing the Torx.
JR Gettler:And that one is almost five pounds.
Zakk Plocica:Dude, uh so I put it on scale 4.95 pounds. Yeah. With a whisker biscuit on it.
JR Gettler:But that's not gonna drop a third of a pound with that.
Zakk Plocica:So no, it's saying overall weight's 4.65 pounds, but it came in a little bit heavier. Yeah, it was definitely a heavier bow. It feels a little clunkier to me. Um, but it replaces the Torex, which the Torex was a fantastic bow. I mean, we sold a ton of those. I think this is gonna be a really great upgrade, right? It's it's a 30-inch axle to axle bow, so it's gonna be great for the the you know, the tree stand hunter, the um anybody hunting out of a blind. And the interesting thing about it is the brace height. Yeah, it's got a super long brace height. Seven inch. Seven-inch brace height. That's gonna be incredibly forgiving, which is great for, you know, honestly, a lot of people getting into it. Right. More forgiving, easier shooting bow for a lot of people who just have not got their technique dialed in. Um, same thing, drum draw lengths are pretty similar. It does go down to 24 inches.
JR Gettler:Yeah, that's super low or super short.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah.
JR Gettler:So that's great, but it it is a 30-inch axle bow. So I would imagine that should go a little bit shorter, which is awesome in my opinion.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, so 24 to 30 inches. Um, and the draw weight, it comes in at um, they have what, 35 to 70 pounds.
JR Gettler:Yeah, there's three three options for it.
Zakk Plocica:Which is cool that they do that because you can maximize the efficiency out of each of those, right? So if you have that 35 to like 45 or whatever it is, and then next and you want to shoot it at, you know, a true 55 pounds, you can get it maxed out at 55 pounds instead of taking the 70 pound option and dialing it all the way down to 55 pounds. So you're not changing the specs on the bow at all.
JR Gettler:Yep, keeping that more um under that optimal performance range.
Zakk Plocica:Right. It it does have a slower IBO than the other bows, but when we shot it, that bow was fast.
JR Gettler:Yep. So I didn't um I didn't do any speed tests on it yet. I haven't I haven't had time. Um, but it's I've shot it a few times and it it feels fast.
Zakk Plocica:That's exactly what I said. And I because I did a video on it, and uh let me see if I can find it. I we I did an article too. Um and I want to see what the speed because it was it was honestly very, very impressive for um yeah.
JR Gettler:I want to see you said you shot it at 29 inches.
Zakk Plocica:So yeah, 29 inches, 70 pounds, 412 grain arrow, 287 feet per second. That's booking dude. That's screaming fast, especially for that price point. Yeah, I think uh yeah, they nailed it with that. I I almost curious if it overperforms what they say for IBO.
JR Gettler:It might, yeah. Um, we might have to do a test on that. I'll see if I can do some testing on that. Yeah. Um, yeah, I mean, with that seven-inch brace height, that's pretty darn fast for that.
Zakk Plocica:Super impressive, right? Seven-inch brace height, and it's that fast. That's honestly you really surprised me. But I will say that HBX cam is a fantastic cam, but it is on the stiffer side when it comes to I think some of these bows. It is a little bit more stout where I think you get that speed from.
JR Gettler:Yeah, um, it did feel like it stacked a little bit more kind of at the beginning of the draw cycle. Um, but then it felt very smooth after that. It kind of smoothed out. So it wasn't a super harsh curve, but it did have that little bit right at the beginning, like you're talking about.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I feel like and that bow does not have let-off options, I don't think.
JR Gettler:Um, yeah, I believe that's a fixed let off at 85%.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, that sounds right. Uh, but the valley on it is actually really nice too. You're right. It's it's it's I would say fairly forgiving. Right. So you can relax on a little bit because we know from past experience, like this price point and some of the more entry-level price point, the valley on those bows is terrible.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Zakk Plocica:Like it's so short, and which is, in my opinion, not good for somebody that's getting into this. When you have a valley that's so short and you got to stay on that back wall really hard, it's hard to be consistent with it and keep the same amount of pressure. And if you relax whatsoever, that bow wants to run away from you, right? Which presents, you know, a handful of challenges. Obviously, not somebody that's got that's skilled, shoots target archery, wants more that holding weight. Um, but the valley on this bow is I would say pretty nice.
JR Gettler:Yeah, and the back wall felt really phenomenal too. It felt just like a flagship bow, in my opinion.
Zakk Plocica:I so that's the big takeaway from all of these, is they don't feel like what they're priced at, in my opinion. I mean, they feel like comparable to a lot of flagship bows as far as quality goes and overall feel. There is more vibration on this bow than I would say the other was.
JR Gettler:So yes, uh 100% agree. It had, I mean, it might have just been that one bow we shot, but it did have, like you said, almost like a tuning fork effect to it.
Zakk Plocica:It was like it was weird because it um it's like you shoot it and then the vibration kind of comes on and you know, and then fades out. It's it was honestly kind of odd.
JR Gettler:Yeah. Um, I haven't shot any other bows, it's just that one that we set up. So I want to shoot another one just to make sure maybe it might just be that bow. It could be.
Zakk Plocica:Um, it was also a bear bow, so no accessories on it whatsoever. And it does feel a little bit more clunkier, in my opinion, than the other ones, but it also feels like I could beat that bow to death and it would perform. Oh, yeah, which Hoit is known for.
JR Gettler:Right. Yeah. Um, another nice feature of that bow is the tuning system on it. So it's running the shim systems from the HBX. So it's uh a different version of the HBX cam. And that's been a great performing cam over the last couple of years, and now you you can actually shim it. Whereas on the Torx, you um, I don't believe you could shim that, but you could yoke tune that.
Zakk Plocica:Yoke tune it, which I like the uh the capability to tune the bow. They've done away with e-clips too on the axles.
JR Gettler:Oh, yes, yep, that's right, too. That was a big upgrade.
Zakk Plocica:So they're screws now, they're star bits, so you can pull them out, you can bust the axles out, um, and change the shim system on them. Uh, and and you know, Hoyt's just known for durability, and I think this bow is not gonna have any issues whatsoever. It feels like I said, it's a little bit heavier, but I think it's gonna hold really well for a lot of people on target with that little bit extra weight. Um, and it just feels like just robust and incredibly durable, in my opinion.
JR Gettler:Yeah, yeah. And for you know, for it to be a 30-inch axox bow when I shot it, um, I think I left it at 29. It felt honestly very stable. Yes. You know, I wasn't set up with anything, it was just a bare bow, but it actually felt honestly very stable. Right.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, there's no sponge. And and and too, when we look at these, again, going we talk about the price point. You look at the back walls on uh typically in the past with some of these bows, the back wall's just not consistent. It's not good, it's kind of spongy. Uh, there's some play in it almost too. And I would say all of these bows, there's not that in them. I mean, I I'll give you a prime example, the legit max, right? It's a great entry-level bow. And my and I would call that entry level. Uh it's an entry-level bow, in my opinion. Um it's it's it has a very, it's hard to want to keep it in time, consistently in time, right? Timing on that thing is an issue. You put it on a drawboard, it always looks like it's out of time. You kind of almost have to time it by somebody drawing it back and doing it that way. Uh, and the back wall just never feels rock solid. Well, I would say these bows and these five in particular, all the back walls on these bows are are pretty comparable and they feel quality.
JR Gettler:Right. Yep.
Zakk Plocica:So very, very nice. Um, so from there, uh that that bow, again, like we talked about, has an IBO of 328 feet per second, a little bit heavier. It does have your Picatini mount integrated option for your site. Um, a nice feature too. All these bows are kind of moving towards that integration for rest. So you can run all your nice low profile high-end accessories on these platforms. And the thing that that's sets this bow apart from the Torx too, right? Aside from the couple other changes, is it accepts all of their inline accessories now, right? So you can run the ghost sticks. That was a big question on the Torex. I can't run the ghost sticks on this. Well, with this new Ascend, you absolutely can. So all of your flagship accessories you can run on this mid-price point bow. And honestly, I mean, you get this bow. This bow lasts you're probably a lifetime, the quality that you get out of it.
JR Gettler:Yep. It's uh, I think you said an Ascend. This is the sorry, the Enduro.
Zakk Plocica:I'm yeah, I'm already jumping ahead. Yeah, the Enduro, the Hoyt Enduro. That's what we're talking about. Yeah, ghost sticks do fit on those. All their Hoyt's inline integration accessories work uh within the new Hoyt Enduro.
JR Gettler:Yep, that's one thing I actually really love a lot because those ghost sticks are really nice. So dude, it's a killer feature. Yeah, it's nice that they actually included that on that bow and then the tuning system. That's like my my biggest thing that I love the most.
Zakk Plocica:And I would say as a shop, like that is that makes a huge difference for any of your shops, right? Because when it comes to setting, you want to do everything you can to get your customers set up correctly and uh efficiently and not have to take forever to do it because some of these more affordable price point bows, it's just very difficult. Um, but with this price point and these bows, I mean, we can get them set up and tuned, and it's it's not an absolute nightmare to do. And and and makes the bow, the customer shoots the bow a little bit better. I think also Hoyt has a killer grip.
JR Gettler:Yes.
Zakk Plocica:That vital point grip.
JR Gettler:Yep, it's been an awesome grip. I love it too.
Zakk Plocica:Dude, super repeatable. It's nice and low profile, it's got that rubber coating on it. I think it's a one of the better grips out of any of these bows.
JR Gettler:Oh, yeah, 100% that we've seen. Yep.
Zakk Plocica:Uh, from there, we're moving down to the Botec Ascend. This came out earlier this year. Dude, as far as feature-rich technology, this one takes the cake.
JR Gettler:Yep, I couldn't agree more.
Zakk Plocica:Dude, so everyone's familiar if you're not, BoTech has their deadlock um cam technology, right? In order to move the cam on the bow, you loosen a set screw, you take and turn an Allen key, and you can move that cam left and right to accommodate or fix paper tears within um your the tuning process. It's super fast, it's super efficient, there's no press needed. Well, they've introduced that into their mid-price point bow, the bow tech ascend, which uh I think that bow is right around uh it's like $8.99 to $9.99 for that bow, bare bow. Um, but they've re-kind of engineered the deadlock cam technology and they've turned it into the deadlock light cam technology, which that technology sits on top of the limbs now. There's a set screw on both the left and right side, but your adjustments are still made with the Allen key on the right side.
JR Gettler:Yep.
Zakk Plocica:Have you noticed any issues with it?
JR Gettler:So far, no. Um, yeah, we've sold a lot of those already, and it's been super easy to tune. So I know what Botek was saying with that new dead to deadlock light system is um you basically, I think it's like a quarter of the time to tune it. So, like if you had to do a half turn on the original deadlock, it don't it should only take about a quarter turn to make that adjustment to fix your tears.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, so I noticed I set one up the other day for a customer, and it was I put too much of a turn into it. I put a quarter turn, I only needed an eighth of a turn, probably realistically, and it overcorrected that tear. But I was reading some comments on some um YouTube videos and stuff about people saying there's not enough adjustment in that deadlock light cam for the ascend, and I have not seen that issue.
JR Gettler:That must be, I mean, I'm I'm only speculating, but it sounds like they they had them set up wrong, either wrong arrow.
Zakk Plocica:Well, it's somebody doing it themselves.
JR Gettler:Yeah, it could be that too.
Zakk Plocica:I have a feeling there's a host of issues that are undiagnosed and you know that they are not able to work through. But you know, whether like you're talking about arrow selection, timing issues, technique issues. I mean, those all are major factors that go into tuning a bow, right? The grip of the bow. I think the bowtech ascent has a good grip as well. I like the bowtech grips personally. Um, and again, this is a 31-inch axle to axle bow, so it's kind of a sweet spot.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Zakk Plocica:Uh, and then it fits the same thing. It's 24 and a half inches to 30 inches of draw length, and it's got two draw weight options, a 45 to 60 and a 55 to 70 pound option, which I like that. Yep. I think I uh for us, majority of them that we see through our shop is gonna be a 55 to 70 pound bow. But somebody that wants that lighter poundage option, you don't have to take so many turns out of the limbs to dial it down to 45 pounds. So I like the two options. Um, and again, brace height six and a half inches, which honestly sweet spot. It's gonna be a very forgiving shooting bow. That bow shoots really well, and I felt like that bow was fairly quiet.
JR Gettler:It was, and surprisingly, very quick too. Very fast. Yeah, because the IBO we have listed as 340 feet per second.
Zakk Plocica:So it is the fastest out of any of these mid-price point bows, um, as far as what the IBO rating is. And so, quick note about this if you really want to hit that IBO speed or you want that faster, you they they introduced they've got the flip disc technology that you can run on these cams, right? Which is another cool feature that they've introduced in the mid-price point. So it's feature rich. Deadlock light cam, flip disc technology, Picatini mounted side options, integration, uh, rest. They've got this new in the they've got and these actually have metal in pockets.
JR Gettler:Yes, yep.
Zakk Plocica:Which is a massive step up for some of these other bows that don't have the metal in pockets, which I think is important. Those little features are what make the difference in the bow. But do you notice? And we talked about it in those metal limb pockets, there's three little holes for that. Look like hopefully, maybe, we don't know. Um, but Botec could be releasing their own stand or own pod for bow jack, bow stand.
JR Gettler:Yep, limb legs or whatever you want to call them. Yep.
Zakk Plocica:So it looks like they're gonna have that. I don't know. Will they? Maybe, hopefully. Um, it would make a nice, and again, all that in in this this uh package is is fantastic.
JR Gettler:Yeah, or it'd be cool if they could do like um a pull cord like what Bear did on their Alaskan Pro on the top, they could just mount it on there, and then you could have that little loop for the material.
Zakk Plocica:I feel like they they owe you uh royalties for that.
JR Gettler:Oh well, I actually got that from somebody else. I got that from uh it was actually Justin.
Zakk Plocica:Justin Morris.
JR Gettler:Yeah, interesting. Yeah, he's the one that showed me that. Yeah, I'm like, oh, I love it, dude. It was a great idea. And he got it from somebody else too, I think.
Zakk Plocica:But yeah, and that bow, uh again, it's it's kind of on the lighter side too, 4.2 pounds, which is not far off of this super lightweight flagship bow, aluminum bows, you know, 29 and a half coming in at 3.9 pounds from Matthews. So the weight is there. Um, but back to the flip disc technology. We shot the bow on you have comfort and performance. We thought we were shooting it on comfort initially.
JR Gettler:Or no, we thought it was on performance.
Zakk Plocica:We shot with we thought it was on performance. That's right. Yeah, it was on comfort. That has this bow has a much shorter valley than some of the other bows.
JR Gettler:It does on performance, yeah.
Zakk Plocica:Performance uh to me is out of the question. Yeah, for most people. I'm not even gonna let them shoot it on performance at 70 pounds. Yeah, it's too aggressive, and there is no valley whatsoever on that.
JR Gettler:Yes. Um, so I don't think the draw cycle was super aggressive, but the back wall and the valley, there's it's nothing there. It's it's like you're holding like 70%. You let off a little bit, that sucker is going on you, so you better hold on.
Zakk Plocica:Right, which isn't bad for somebody who has experience, right? But it is bad for somebody who's new to drawing a bow back, and they go and they draw that bow and they hit the back wall, and then it runs away forward, and then it's just a whole fiat of events.
JR Gettler:Yeah, they're gonna they're gonna go back, they're gonna hit that back wall, and they're just gonna go right back down. And they're gonna be like, what the hell?
Zakk Plocica:And then that you have a hurt shoulder, it's it's not good. It's not good. So if you're new to Archery and you're interested in these bows and you want to shoot the ascend, which again is a fantastic bow, I would recommend running it on comfort. It's still the valley shorter than any of these other boats. It's a little bit less forgiving, but it is much better than it is on performance, and you still get fantastic speeds.
JR Gettler:Very good. Um, I was very surprised by the speeds we got out of that bow.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah. And when we see uh with a common trend with BoTe, whenever you go from performance or comfort to performance, you typically gain about 10 feet per second, which is kind of the standard. And I would assume it's probably I think we tested it.
JR Gettler:Um you might have. I I haven't.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, we've tested so many bows, I don't recall. But typically you gain about 10 feet per second when you go from comfort to performance. And some of the bows, the juice is worth the squeeze, right? Some of them, the core SS, um, some of the older bows, the Realm SS. Um, but this bow in particular, I do not think the juice is worth the squeeze as far as a bow hunter goes. You just sacrifice too much. It's the holding weight is so much greater, it feels like, uh, on that performance setting. And the valley is just non-existent. Right. So I would run it on comfort all day long. Um, and again, with this bow, the tuning that you get from this, it's doesn't require a press or anything. I think it's it's gotta be one of my favorite features on these mid-price point bows. And again, I'll I'll say it, I feel like some of these brands they almost shoot themselves in the foot. Because, like, honestly, if I was coming at it and I was looking at we don't know what they have coming for 2026, which I can only imagine is gonna be fantastic. But like looking at it now, like, man, you you can get in for under a thousand dollars and you can get all that technology. It's a 31-inch axle-to-axle bow, 24 and a half to 30 inches, you can get it in 70 pounds, it's got all of your different options that you could ever want. That's a hard, it's hard not to, you know, set that aside, the flagship bows, and say, I want to shoot it alongside them, because you just get so much um in that package, right?
JR Gettler:And even uh you can get it as a bear boat or a package, right? Yeah, and that package, honestly, for the money, it's I think it's retailing like $13.49 or something around there, $14.49. Yep. It is a great package. It's coming with the center mass stabilizer.
Zakk Plocica:The stabilizer is fantastic.
JR Gettler:Yep, I love the stabilizers. Uh the it's a tight spot quiver, which is really nice. It's coming with the rush, yeah. The rush um site. Three pin or is it a four-pin?
Zakk Plocica:Uh it's I don't remember. It's either a three or four pin big.
JR Gettler:It's coming with a black gold site, basically, um, and a drop away rest from uh Ripcord, which um I think it's not the ratchet one, but it's um it's very similar to it. And it's a it's a great package for what you get.
Zakk Plocica:It is the best package out of any of the bows that we're talking about here, as far as quality accessories that come along with it. They're I mean, they're there, they are, I think, leap uh leaps ahead of any of the other ones, uh in my opinion. Just quality. I mean, you're working with high quality companies, right? So tight spot, which builds quivers. That's what they do. You know, and then you've got um black gold, they build sites, so you're getting a really good site, a really good quiver. The the the um Botec stabilizers are and I they're some of my favorite stabilizers. One look, and then how they actually function, I think they're fantastic for a bow hunter.
JR Gettler:Yep. If I wasn't so strict or stipulated about mixing brands on bows, I would honestly probably run it to be honest. Same on any bow. Yeah, I mean, I if you don't care about that stuff, if you don't care, you know, if you're shooting a Hoy with a Botech stabilizer, you know, don't care, get it 100%. It's a great stabilizer.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I agree. Absolutely. All right, so Botech again, another banger of a bow. From there, we move into Bear. I think Bear kind of dominates this category as a whole. I mean, what they just have more options, um, a couple more, you know, uh, in my opinion. And um, the price point on theirs is like it the lowest.
JR Gettler:Yep, it is the best price point.
Zakk Plocica:By far the best price point. And bear's a household name, right? Bear's been around since the beginning. Everybody knows who Bear Archery is, and they've they've really done a good job these last couple years, the last two years, I think, coming back, coming back up from what I've seen, right? Because Bear was always, in my opinion, like over the last decade, a Walmart brand.
JR Gettler:Right.
Zakk Plocica:Like an Academy sports brand. You go, you get it from there. Just honestly, kind of junky, in my opinion. Like, especially their their entry and mid price point bows. We're not talking about flagship bows, uh, we're talking about this particular price point. Well, with the changes that they've made in the bows that they've introduced, I think they really dominate this price point. Um, and they've done a fantastic job with their 2026 bows. So the Bear Alaskan Pro and the Abear adapt to the HP version. Right. Performance-wise, fantastic. The feel of these bows, incredible. Uh, and then the looks and the camo patterns that they've got are, dude, awesome.
JR Gettler:Yep. Yeah, you can't go wrong with so the Monster Bottom Lands. I really like the new one, the Emerge 2.0. That's my favorite pattern that they've got. I I love it too. It's uh it's a great looking pattern. So if um any if if you've never seen before, honestly, it's kind of familiar to the Marine Corps pattern, the Marpad that we have. The Digi. Yep, yeah. Yeah, the Digi pattern. It looks very similar to that, but just a little bit more blockier and splotchier. But great pattern in my opinion.
Zakk Plocica:I think it looks awesome for eastern North Carolina, like East Coast Greens, like it's killer.
JR Gettler:Yeah, it's a phenomenal pattern.
Zakk Plocica:Killer. So let's talk about the Alaskan Pro first. So cam system, the EKO squared to the second. To the second. To the second cam. Um so quick note make sure you pay attention to where you put your it's a little deceiving, dude. So you need to pay attention with this cam when you change draw length because I screwed it up yesterday. I'm glad there was three people, all three of us here, because I so I drew I changed this bow from 30 and I thought it, I didn't realize it was a 30 and a half inch draw length to 25 and a half inch draw length.
JR Gettler:Yep, and I thought I said that, but maybe I didn't.
Zakk Plocica:No, I just mean probably not paying attention. It was set at 30, so I thought it was maxed out. You told me it was set at 30. I was like, okay, cool. And I just counted um for the draw stop, and I moved the actual mod to the right 20 and a half inches that I wanted to shoot it at. But I left the draw stop at 29 inches. And I drew the bow back and buddy, it locked out. And uh luckily I had JR and Ed there. I was like, guys, we got a problem. They're like, no, man, you're good. And I was like, watch. I went to down. The string is just limp. So we had to take and um do some emergency um maneuvering to get in the press. Dude, we did. So what we it's funny how how we did, because this this happens, right? And it's always terrifying. The first thing you want to do is throw it down and jump, in my opinion. Like just get the cams to roll over and throw the bow. Um, but what we did is we we kept the bow locked out, obviously, pulled the arrow out. And I was holding it. I changed it over to JR. JR after we took the arrow out, holding the string, holding the bow, and then we kind of maneuver and we get the press set up real quick so we can hold the bow, get on a stepsil, put the bow in the press, and then me and Ed adjust the press, tighten the press on it so that we can press the limbs and roll the cams back over and then slowly let the bow back out to avoid blowing the bow up. Uh it's a fiasco. Um, so yeah, just pay attention. But back to that cam. The draw cycle on that bow is incredible. Those bigger cams are just really, really smooth. Um, they put up that bow's fast.
JR Gettler:It is, it's um very fast. I don't remember.
Zakk Plocica:It doesn't have 339, it has an IBO 339, which is slower than than the ascend. But I shot the bow yesterday at two or 28 and a half inches with the 420-grain arrows at 70 pounds, and it shot 297.
JR Gettler:Yeah.
Zakk Plocica:Dumb. That's crazy fast. Yeah.
JR Gettler:I haven't chroniced it yet at 30, but it feels fast. So um I bet it is, dude, it's got to be close to the fastest. I would have to kind of agree, especially with it being a 33-inch axle axle bow.
Zakk Plocica:Six and a quarter inch brace height.
JR Gettler:So it's great, honestly, great specs right there for everything. It's gonna be very forgiving for anybody to shoot it, but it's still a great axle axle length and a great brace height. So I think very forgiving. Um, yeah, I I did shoot it at 30. Um, it does feel like the draw cycle stacks a little bit more. I don't know if it felt like that at all at 28 and a half.
Zakk Plocica:Um, no, not really.
JR Gettler:But it wasn't bad, you know, just a slight, a slight curve is what I've kind of felt like. But it was still a great feeling bow. Right. Super, honestly, super dead feeling after Poe shot. It felt like nothing there almost.
Zakk Plocica:I would agree. It feels fantastic, post shot. And you know, that's not important to everybody, but that is important to some people. Um, and obviously we had it. It was these are packages. Um, so it had accessories on it, but it just after the bow shoots, it's just it's dead. There's nothing, there's no feet, there's not really any feedback, any vibration. It's fantastic. But the cam to on it, the cool thing about it, you can adjust the let off on this bow. You can shoot it at 80 or 85 percent, which is again looking at the technology that they're bringing over into this price point is incredible because you used to not have that.
unknown:Yep.
JR Gettler:So the biggest thing with that is you know, you got to kind of kind of pay attention to when you're setting up the your let off, your draw stop. Very much so. Sorry, string stop. Um, it's it's got an arrow on it. So it and then the cams labeled 80 or 85. So you just have to point it towards whichever one you want, um, that arrow. So just keep that in mind. So it's yeah, it's basically just making the the string stop a little bit more oblong. So that's where you're getting that 80 to 85% let off from. Right.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, it's just a cool feature because you again, you're able to really fine-tune these bows to you know to shoot like you want them to. Yep. Um, these bows you can shim. Yes. Right. And was it a split yoke on that? It is not, it's not. It's just control cables, it's just the control take cables, and you can go ahead and it is a little bit confusing with the shim system, though.
JR Gettler:Right.
Zakk Plocica:So, because it's not like it's like, hey, these are these are your three options. You gotta, it's always gotta equal three, or it's always got to equal four, or or whatever it is, or 220, like a PSE. It's um you just have a bunch of spacers in there, right? Which, you know, if you're I don't know.
JR Gettler:If you're new to that, definitely don't take it on or or try to get with Bear or your local dealer. Hopefully they can help you out with that. But yeah, it's it can be a little bit more daunting to shim this if you need to. Um, but from what I've seen so far, the little bit of shooting I've done on that bow, I even had a little bit overspine error, and it actually seemed like it shot pretty darn good. You know, I haven't shot it through paper, but it looked pretty pretty good. So pretty easy to tune, I think.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, okay, which is good. My my concern is because it's not like easily identified, if you were to drop one of those shims and not realize it, that could be an issue.
JR Gettler:Yep. So that's why I always take a picture or try to annotate or make a drawing or something so you can reference back to what it was. Yes.
Zakk Plocica:Um, and then so this bow is we we sell it at Extreme Outfitters in a ready-to-hunt package. So we we carry all these bows at our shop. Um, and uh we can actually sell these bows online, which is kind of cool. So we can build these out for you, set them up, tune them, build arrows out to you, and ship them directly to your door. And um, the price point on this one is is pretty fantastic for the package. $7.59. And you get, I would say, pretty decent quality accessories. So you're not this has the these have whisker biscuits on them, right? But they shoot and tune really well with those. And it's the new um IMS style integrated whisker biscuits. Uh, so they integrate into the rest. So everything again, very nice, low profile. You've got Picatini mounted side option that it comes with.
JR Gettler:Um comes with the I think it's the cloak uh five arrow quiver, yep, which is pretty nice. The oh um, I forget the stabilizer, but it's a six-inch stabilizer from Trippy Reach. Yeah, that's right. The shortstop. Um, and it comes with the wrist uh wristling and everything. Um, one of the nicest features though, and it's not even super big, but it's it's got that built-in rope puller on the very front of the pocket. I I love that for whatever reason, I just I love it.
Zakk Plocica:It's so to pull your bow up the tree, it's got this little so you don't gotta hook it to the cam or what so it's quiet because it's rubber coated and you just hook your your pull cord up to that and pull it straight up the tree. It's actually is a really nice feature.
JR Gettler:That's pretty cool. I was I was super happy when I saw that.
Zakk Plocica:I'm like, man, that's cool. That's crazy. Out of all the features we've got, that's that's the highlight for JR. Yeah, which I don't blame you, dude. It is a nice feature.
JR Gettler:Yeah, um, and it also has um upgraded roller guard system too instead of a friction slide. So yeah, so actually nice little upgrade.
Zakk Plocica:Had a question on that. Uh, as far as noise, I would I mean, I I actually read a comment yesterday about it. Um, less noise with that. I would right. I mean, it's it's a definitely an upgrade from the friction slide.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think.
Zakk Plocica:And it's a big upgrade. Um, and there's and it doesn't increase the noise of the bow at all. And it, if anything, it makes it less noisy.
JR Gettler:Right. And it's gonna put less wear and tear on your strings and cables. Yep. Well, your cables.
Zakk Plocica:So long term. So it's a great upgrade, I personally think. That bow, it's a 33-inch bow, but it only goes at 30 and a half inches again, which is kind of odd. These longer ATA bows top out at less than 31 inches of draw lanes, which is kind of a bummer for some people. Right. Um, but you move into the adapt 2 HP, that's a 31-inch bow that goes all the way to 32 inches. So that accommodates your longer draw guys. Um, but the bow's a little bit shorter. So Right.
JR Gettler:Um, I think part of that reason why P is because Bear does have the Elastic Pro. I believe it's called the XT. And that one I think goes to 32 or 33 inch for the draw length. Uh there is a basically a long draw version of that bow, if I remember right.
Zakk Plocica:Of which one?
JR Gettler:The Elastic Pro.
Zakk Plocica:Oh, so they do have a long draw.
JR Gettler:I believe there should be a long draw option for that.
Zakk Plocica:Oh, good. Because they also have the Paradigm, which is a long draw bow, um, which goes, I think, they're like 33 inches or something like that. It was pretty long.
JR Gettler:If I remember it is something like that, 32 to 33.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, super long. So they they've got, and those again falls in that mid price point. Um, but these are the two highlights, I think, out of like shh, like just really feel tunability and stuff. So the Bear Adapt 2 HP, um, it's so everyone's familiar with the Adapt 2. It was a single cam bow. The Adapt 2 HP is has their DHC hybrid cams, uh, which I personally think is a massive upgrade as far as just feel. Um the Adapt 2 is an awesome bow, but this you get more performance, more speed out of it, and the draw cycle on it is equally, if not better, than the Alaskan Pro, in my opinion.
JR Gettler:Um Yeah, I mean, that's a good comparison. They're I think they're very equal to each other. Very similar.
Zakk Plocica:Uh it's a little bit slower, uh, but it's a little bit longer brace height, too. So it's a six and a half inch brace height versus six and a quarter that's on the bear Alaskan. Um, but the again, the big talking point is the draw length. This gang, this is doesn't fit your short draw people. So this goes from 27 to 32 inches of draw length. So if which most people are in, especially most males that come through a shop, um, but female-wise, the adapt2 HP might not accommodate a lot of them. Um, so might have to look at some different options. Yeah. Um, but like I said, so Bear really nails it though as far as fitting all the different draw lengths within that price point. So you got from 25 and a half all the way to 32 just between those two bows right there. And then same thing, draw weight options, 45 to 60 pounds, and then a 55 to 70 pound option on both of them.
JR Gettler:Yep, so really good brandes for across the board. Um once again, you can get it um, or this one you can only get as a package. The adapt to HP, I believe it's only a package bow. I think.
unknown:I don't know.
JR Gettler:We sell it in a package.
Zakk Plocica:Um I I maybe it's they don't sell the left-handed. Remember we ran into that?
JR Gettler:Yeah, that might have been what it was.
Zakk Plocica:They didn't have the left-handed bare bow option in something.
JR Gettler:But the package is you can buy a bare bow.
Zakk Plocica:You can buy a bare bow, yeah. But there was a color option that they didn't offer in left-handed or something like that. We ran into that. But so this package is a $6.99 price point package, so a little bit cheaper than the Alaskan Pro. Um, and again, this is a uh the hunting public collaboration bow. I think you see a lot in their stuff. Um just a good feeling bow. I'm not as big of a fan of a grip on these bows, though.
JR Gettler:Yeah, so that's what they call the um bear paw grip. Yep. So you can actually interchange that to different grip systems, or you can you can just take the grip off and shoot it right off the the bear riser.
Zakk Plocica:Well, that's cool. So they give you options then too. Yeah, I like that. I don't, I'm not particularly a huge fan of the the factory gip that comes on it. Um, I honestly probably would pull it off and just shoot off the riser.
JR Gettler:Um if it was me, I'd probably leave it on there, but I might wrap it just a little bit.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I don't know, it just doesn't feel fantastic to me. Um, but yeah.
JR Gettler:But there are options for that if you don't like it.
Zakk Plocica:Which again, crazy to think that there, the amount of options that you get in this category, because that was always limiting, right? It would your color options were limited, your axle to axle lengths were limited, um, the tuning capability that you had, your accessory options, it was always bottom of the barrel stuff. You couldn't integrate what you had in the flagship stuff, and they've eliminated that. Man, yeah, you can pretty much any of these bows, you can run flagship feature or flagship accessory options on it. Your Picatinium mount, your IMS rest systems, just about any of it. Yep. Your stands, all of that now.
JR Gettler:Yep, it's almost endless in what you can do to these bows. And you know, the Adapt 2, like I said, it was a great bow, but not with the the Adapt 2 HP. Honestly, leaps and bounds, much better feeling bow, better draw cycle, better back wall, better valley, better performance. And honestly, I feel like it's a little bit quieter too.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, yeah. No, I agree. And that that that's another good point, too, is the sound of these bows. Um, they're they're quiet. You don't have a lot of feedback vibration on these bows. The post shot feels really good, and they're they're they're quiet bows. I mean, a great bow for a bow hunter. I think you can't go wrong with any of these options. Um when we talk about like performance breakdown. Um do you have like a a per like as far as value goes? Is there one that you think is is for the value, for the money is the best value?
JR Gettler:Um yeah, I'd have to say probably the Alaskan Pro. That's what I've got listening to.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I would agree. I think the Alaskan Pro, I mean, we were messing with it more yesterday, and I really think it it it takes the cake for is as far as value goes. Right. The price point on it's good because it's a $6.59.
JR Gettler:$749.
Zakk Plocica:$7.49 price point.
JR Gettler:I literally just have yeah, I'm I think it's $749 or $7.99 somewhere on there. $7.59. We were close. Samsonite.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, that's right. Um yeah, I think it's for the for the money. That's a dude, that's a hard bow to beat. Um fastest bow.
JR Gettler:Fastest is probably gonna be the ascend on paper. That's what I was gonna say. The ascend, especially on performance, that's gonna be probably the fastest one.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, but the Alaskan Pro was fast too, dude.
JR Gettler:Yeah, it was.
Zakk Plocica:I mean, I 28 and a half inches, 70 pounds, 297 with 420 12 grain arrow. Yeah, I'd be curious to run those side by sides. We're gonna have to do some uh some some care comparisons on that because the ascend is fast, but I think the Alaskan Pro is gonna be close. I might be wrong, but it feels like it.
JR Gettler:Yeah, I mean, even the Adapt 2 uh HP, that was actually pretty fast. Yeah, if I remember right.
Zakk Plocica:So yeah. The Enduro looks like it's gonna be the slowest out of them. But it dude, it didn't feel like it. It didn't feel like it at all. I mean, it even put up good speeds whenever I shot it. Uh 287 and 28.5 inches, 70 pounds. That's really good. Yeah. So not bad at all. Um when we talk about the most forgiving bow, I would I would say most forgiving.
JR Gettler:I would say probably the last one pro.
Zakk Plocica:You think so? I would say it's it's up in the air.
JR Gettler:Um yeah, I feel like the last one progiving, especially you got let-off adjustment options. Um 33 inch a laxle bow, six and a quarter brace height. I think that one's gonna be probably one of the most honestly forgiving. Yeah, and I'm uh probably the easiest to shoot.
Zakk Plocica:You think? Yeah, I mean I don't know. I'm torn between potentially the Ahoy Enduro Enduro, uh, just because it's got such a long brace height. Um, it's a little bit slower too.
JR Gettler:But it's also a shorter axle axle.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, yeah.
JR Gettler:But it it did feel like I said, shooting bare but bare bow, it felt very stable. Right. Just that little bit of shooting I did, it didn't feel like it was wanting to drift on me. I didn't really feel any hand torque. Yeah, I didn't either. It did feel really good, but I just feel like the Alaskan Pro, I think, in my opinion, would be probably the the one that takes the cake for me. The Alaskan Pro.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah.
JR Gettler:But the I mean the Ronin, that was another great performing bow.
Zakk Plocica:They're so close, man. It's really, really hard to say. Um, yeah, the Alaskan, I mean, the Alaskan Pro, man, is is a is a killer bow.
JR Gettler:Yeah, it's kind of checking all the boxes.
Zakk Plocica:It really is. Uh they've done a dude. I mean, it's they've done a fantastic job with it.
JR Gettler:Yeah, between price point, performance, features, tunability. I mean, it's it's pretty much checking all the boxes. Yeah.
Zakk Plocica:Uh, and then as far as like best accessory compatibility.
JR Gettler:Hmm. That's a good one. Dude, I that's gonna be probably the enduro of the thing. That's what I have.
Zakk Plocica:That's what I think too. I mean, you can use all of Hoyt's high-end accessories. I mean, they did they did a killer job with that. Um, but you know, so is the Ascend as well. Yeah, yep.
JR Gettler:I mean, that's what I was just looking at too. The Ascend that has another great feature rich option. Um, even the Ronin, I mean, that has a bunch of different features that you can add on there too. It's got the integrated option. It's just you don't have the pick mount, which is that a deal breaker? I don't think so.
Zakk Plocica:But that's what a lot of things are gravitating towards now is pick mount and I would say it's important now because there's a lot of uh, like you said, there's a lot of people that have gravitated towards that, and almost every bow now offers that option. So you can carry that site over no matter what option you go with. Um so yeah, I would say that's the probably the biggest drawback, which it's not a deal breaker by any means, but when you talk about future rich options, it's kind of neglecting that, which honestly would be an easy fix for them if they just have the riser.
JR Gettler:Oh yeah, yeah, 100%. That's just something easy they could do. Yeah, which I wouldn't doubt if maybe they do get down the road. Yeah, yeah, no doubt. Or if they upgrade the running, you know, we can keep that in line up and make a new version. It'd be cool to see how a shorter 32 inch option.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I think 32 to 33. We'll keep a 34 and then run a 30, 31 or 32. That'll be good. There you go, Prime. Do that. Uh so which bow is for who? I mean, I don't think you can go wrong with honestly, anybody can shoot any of these bows. Obviously, you need to take into account uh draw length. Right. Um but dude, these like all the bows are good. Best under um under $750 bow, the the Bear Adapt 2 HP or the Alaskan Pro. I mean, again, those two bows I think are gonna dominate this price point.
JR Gettler:Yeah.
Zakk Plocica:Just because so one of the reasons availability, right? Bear is like you could get bear bows just about anywhere.
JR Gettler:Yeah, and um it's funny because I was I was actually thinking about this last night. You know, there there's a lot of almost conceptual thinking that bear is made overseas or a lot of stuff comes from overseas, but it it seems like we're actually wrong. A lot of stuff is actually manufactured and produced here in America, and um, I think most of the stuff's produced in Indiana, so really Indiana.
Zakk Plocica:I didn't realize that.
JR Gettler:Yeah, and that's where a lot of stuff ships uh shipping out of is from Indiana. Interesting. So um, you know, I'm sure somebody can correct me on that, but from what I've been researching, a lot of stuff is actually been produced here in America.
Zakk Plocica:U.S. made stuff. Hard to argue with that. Yep. Uh, what about best all-around bow for like Whitetail Hunter?
JR Gettler:I'm gonna say it Alaskan Pro. Really?
Zakk Plocica:Okay.
JR Gettler:That one's actually been gravitating. I've been gravitating more and more towards that bow, and it's been I'm I hate to beat a dead horse, but it's checking all the boxes, like I said.
Zakk Plocica:It does check all the boxes. I I really like the Botec Ascend, though, too, for that. I think the overall axle to axle length on it is good. It's a 31-inch axle to axle bow. The Alaskan Pro is a little bit longer, it's a 33, which could be it's it's not, but it could be a little bit more cumbersome or longer for some people. Um, the bowtek ascend, again, the draw length options, it fits 24 and a half to 30 inches is really good. It's fast. Yep. And the tuning capability that you get with it, I think for a white-tail bow, I think they did a really good job for it. Again, going back to that 31-inch axle axle to me is like 3132 is the sweet spot for what we do.
JR Gettler:Yeah, I mean, all these bows I think could be great for white tail, but jumping on to me would be the Alaskan Pro, even possibly the adaptive HP, because that's another great performing bow, 32-inch axle axle. It'll fit a wide variety of ranges for draw length, draw weight options, you know. That that's another good one. So those are definitely like the top three. I'd probably put honestly the the Ronin at the bottom of the barrel. I would it's such a long axle axle bow. That'd be, I think, better for somebody out west, more spot and stalk scenarios. Um, yeah, so the the endura will be a great one for ground blinds saddles. It's it's a very compact bow. So that'll be great for your everyday bow hunter. Um, but just jumping out feature-wise, price-wise, tunability. It's kind of bears, honestly, kind of taking the cake on everything. They are.
Zakk Plocica:I would throw the bow tech ascend in there. I really like that bow. I think it's sharp looking too. Uh, and then the feature rich and the actual axe length to me is spot on.
Speaker 1:Yep.
Zakk Plocica:Um, okay, smoothest draw cycle. Core cam is really good. Really good. I mean, it's a long bow, but it's a really great cam. Um, yeah, I would I think I would uh I think I would give that to the Ronin.
JR Gettler:I would say Ronin or the Adapt to HP. Yeah, the Adapt2's got a very, very that was fairly smooth. Um even the the Ascend, it didn't feel super harsh or aggressive. It felt very smooth.
Zakk Plocica:The draw cycle on all of them is good, I would say. None of them stack, none of them are like build and then dump. Right. Like that's the big takeaway from these bows. All the draw cycles are good, and I would say are pretty smooth, but there are some that shine a little bit more. And that longer ATA bow, the Ronin, the core cam is just notorious for being very, very consistent and smooth. Um, but yeah, I would agree. Some of the um the bear bows, man, too. Fantastic. Um best bow for like target crossover. Ronin. Ronin, hands down. Hands down. That's easy. Long axle to axle, very forgiving setup. It's gonna hold really, really well on target. I mean, you're venturing into target length category with that ATA, anyways. I don't think any of these bows are gonna hold a um the the Ronin when it comes to like for target crossover. I think that's gonna just dominate.
JR Gettler:Yep, and I think the grip is very repeatable. The riser's a good length for everything, too. So yeah, the runin, I think would be a great bow for doing like a hybrid setup. Yes, agreed.
Zakk Plocica:Okay, best out of the box beginner setup.
JR Gettler:Um, I'd go the adapt to HP.
Zakk Plocica:Adap to HP. Yeah. Well, unless draw line's an issue, issue, then we go the Alaskan Pro. Either the bare bows.
JR Gettler:Well, the the Adapt 2 HP is a longer drawing range. Oh no, yeah, shorter. Oh, yeah, shorter, yeah. I'm saying shorter.
Zakk Plocica:So that's where both of those kind of work together.
JR Gettler:But I mean, I I do love the Ascend package. That is uh the package on there is great. So I mean that'd be another really good one right there.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, you're not wrong. If you want to package a bow, you know that's if you want to go package, they have the best accessories that come with that bow. It's a higher price point now. You're getting in that $1,300 range, but you're getting, I mean, it's that bow is absolutely loaded, and there's no upgrades required from there on out. I mean, all these other these other packages I would in I would personally upgrade as I got into it more. My sight, my rest, even my quiver, something a little bit more low profile, lighter for some of these bows with the actual um ascend. I would not, I mean, that package is dude's solid. I mean, I run majority of that stuff on my bows, like tight spots, and I mean, yeah, the the black old sights, the rush site is some of the best fibers on the market as far as brightness, easy to see, and durability. That's a that's a killer package, man.
JR Gettler:Yes, it is. Um, I know we're I'm kind of regressing on this, but last year Bear had the Alaskan XT package. That was a phenomenal package. It came with the Swift uh, I think it was a Swift duo, so that was a slider site. It was coming with a cable-driven rest. Or no, I'm sorry, it was a limb-driven rest. Um, still the same quiver, the uh Cloak quiver if I remember right, and um, it came with a hitman stabilizer. But that was honestly a really great pack package. I know I'm like I said, they don't have it this year, which I'm kind of bummed about.
Zakk Plocica:No, but they do have their plus packages.
JR Gettler:Yep, those come with a little bit better stuff, but it's still running, I think, um whisker biscuits and then the cook quivers and stuff like that. So I didn't see anything that was coming with a slider site or a cable-driven rest or driven rest, which was kind of a bummer. But yeah, that was a nice package.
Zakk Plocica:But the great thing about a ready-to-hunt package, in my opinion, for somebody getting into it, is it eliminates the anxieties of having to pick out stuff you have no idea about, right? Because you talk to somebody that's never shot a bow and you're like drop away rest, limb-driven rest, cable-driven rest, you know, slider sight, fixed five pin sight, three pin, single pin. It's too much. They don't need all that. Right. This simplifies that. You can get them set up and they can just start shooting and they can start shooting something that's of quality, and then they can build on that once they get into the sport. That's the thing I like about these ready to hunt package bows in this price point, is because most people in this price point are not looking to do a full custom build. It's too much, right?
JR Gettler:Yep, it's um honestly like the acronym KISS. Just keep it simple. That's it. And that way you can upgrade as you want to go and you can get better quality products to upgrade. Yes, I agree.
Zakk Plocica:And finally, best tuning system.
JR Gettler:Uh bow tech, DSN.
Zakk Plocica:Easy, hands down. I mean, no press required, no shimming required. Literally, if you've got Allen keys and you know what you're you're doing, you set the center shot on your arrow on your rest, you the bow is in time, and you your arrow, we're assuming that it's set up correctly, you've got the right arrow for that bow, you can eliminate a paper tear and a bad flight out of that bow with a simple twist of an Allen key.
JR Gettler:It's fantastic. Super simple. And you know, even if you do going the wrong way, well, you'll see it on paper and just go back the other way. It's super easy. Super simple, super, super easy.
Zakk Plocica:The only thing, the my only gripe with it though, is I can never remember which way to turn it. Yeah, I have to reference the guide every time because it's clockwise is whatever way, and then counterclockwise. I do it wrong.
JR Gettler:Clockwise, we'll move it. I would move it to the right. Yeah, so clockwise should be moving if you're gonna knock left, it's gonna move it to the right.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, dude. I have to reference the paper every time because I forget. I mean, there's so many bows we deal with, but like, yeah, with that one, that's my biggest grip. I wish they would have an R and an L on there and tell me which way to go and make it easier.
JR Gettler:Yeah, and then the only other thing, too, is now you have four screws you have to loosen, whereas with the original deadlight, it was just the two. Right. Well, so technically, yeah, so it's eight screws versus four. Yeah, security though, but yeah, it should be a much more secure system, and you don't shouldn't have to worry about stripping out that's uh the lock screw or anything either. That happened a few times.
Zakk Plocica:Oh, okay, yeah.
JR Gettler:With customers, but very rare. I I'm not sure if they're just over-tightening it. Yeah, and then having it. It doesn't take a lot. It does not, yeah.
unknown:Yeah, I agree.
Zakk Plocica:Okay, so I'd say to me today's mid-price point bows, man. I mean, with the technology that's introduced to these, uh, and there's some other ones out there, right? But these are the five that we've really keyed in on that are just fantastic for the value. I just don't think it gets much better. Uh, I don't know who's going to introduce anything else within this price point this year. Um, these top five are just absolute bangers, man. They're winners all the way around. And I would honestly say, with the capability and the features and the tuning tech that comes along with them, I mean, dude, you're bait, you're you're pretty much in flagship territory.
JR Gettler:Yeah, and um I'm not sure the best way to say it, but yeah, you know, like I was saying at the beginning, is this is basically where we were at price point five, six years ago for a flagship bow. So it's almost like you know, the the new flagships now are almost like the supercars. And then now these are more like your your higher performing cars, um, just not as I don't know.
Zakk Plocica:And and don't get me wrong, the the flagship bows, man, I mean, they're still superior to these bows. Like, no, when it comes to capability and killing, no. Dudes are killing animals with sticks and strings, right? That's not what we're talking about. Right. With the increase in price points, you always gain something a little bit more. And these features are not requirements by any means. But like anything else, when you upgrade, there are things that get you from point A to point B, maybe a little bit more efficiently, right? Maybe a little bit more comfortably. Maybe you get a little bit more speed out of it. Um, there's a ho, or maybe you get more accessory options. That's what you gain when you go flagship. There is definitely an increase in value when you go flagship, but it is by no means a requirement. And there's a lot of people that I think look at this wrong and say, you know, I can't afford to get into archery. Well, you can, and you can do it at a reasonable price point now, sub $800 for a lot of these. Um, and you you don't have to shoot flagship. No one's saying you have to shoot flagship. Um, flagship uh is always gonna be my choice, uh just because you get the best.
JR Gettler:Right. And you know, that's honestly more, you know, honestly, it could be for more of the diehard guys. That's exactly what it is. Like us that are in the industry every day working on them. So, yes, I'm always gonna be shooting top of the line, everything that I can because I want something that's gonna perform, it's gonna last right and hold up really well. And I'm not I'm not saying anything bad about mid-price porn or or budget, budget bows. It's all gonna do the same exact thing, point A to point B, but I want something that's gonna, I know it's gonna last. It's gonna perform, and it's gonna be the best of the best.
Zakk Plocica:Yes. And yes, just so everybody knows, these bows do lose their value. As soon as they walk out of a store, it's like buying a car. As soon as it leaves the lot, you're not gonna get what you paid for it.
JR Gettler:Right.
Zakk Plocica:Just accept that. No, the flagship bow that you bought last year, you're not gonna sell it for the same price you bought at. It loses its value. That's how it happens. That's that's part of this industry. Yeah, we are all aware of that. So, yes, we I I get a lot of guys want to jump on and say, Oh, you can buy last year's flagship for yeah, yeah, you can. Go ahead. There's nothing wrong with that. Do the same thing with mid-price point bows. Once they they everything loses its value when it walks out the shop or walks out the door. Um but these mid-price point bows, I think, are fantastic. For the price point, you get just an unreal amount of features. The the the way they feel, the way they shoot now is incredible. Um and it's a great price point. And I think it's be a really great price point for a lot of people. Like you said, the guys who don't, who it's seasonal for them, right? Right? They come in, they bow hunt, maybe they shoot a little bit. They don't want to spend $2,000 on a bow. I get it. I don't blame you. This isn't gonna fit that bill. But if you are somebody that wants to step up and it's a massive part of your life like it is ours, we shoot daily, yearly. I mean, and we, you know, we hunt a lot, we shoot all these different events. I mean, it's what we do. Flagship's the route for you. But this mid price point, I think is gonna, we're gonna see more and more people gravitating towards this and really being happy with what they're getting and not feeling like they need to upgrade right away because that was always a thing in the past, right? You buy, you get you get into it, and you end up really enjoying this and you outgrow that bow right away. Right. You're not gonna do that with these bows.
JR Gettler:Yeah. Um, yeah, that's a great example. You know, I see it all the time. Guys coming in, they buy a mid-price point bow, and then it's six weeks to six months later, they're coming in and upgrading to a flagship bow. Right. But that's because they're they're enjoying it and they have the passion for it. Right. So if you don't have that, I mean, yeah, 100%. These bows will last you 10, 20 years. As long as you take care of it, it's gonna last you. So it's it's gonna be a great option still to be able to do everyday point A to point B still.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I'm a huge fan. This was always a price point that we kind of neglected at Extreme Outfitters over the years because it just there wasn't a lot of people in that price point. It was always more budget friendly, and then flagship, and now it seems like this price point has really kind of is really taken over.
JR Gettler:And and also to add that, you know, the quality has gone up. Yes, the quality of the craftsmanship, it's been a lot more consistent, more better performing systems. Yes. So I think that's also been helping the trend as well.
Zakk Plocica:Yeah, I agree. And they are the premium bows, right? So the Hoyt, it's a Hoyt bow, it's a prime bow, it's a bow techno bow. It's no longer, you know, a sub um a sister company brand. It's it's it's labeled as the premium brand. So you're you know, you get a really good quality product. The warranty that comes along with these is really good. And as a shop, um, it's easy to stock them because they just shoot and perform really well for just about anybody. Yeah. So I like it, man. I think these are um this category is gonna continue to uh grow. I I personally think.
JR Gettler:Oh, yeah, yeah. And especially as the way the economy is evolving. I mean, we never know what's gonna happen in the next couple of years, but the the way the economy's trending, it's just gonna honestly, I think, become worse. Yep. And it's it it sucks to say that. It really does.
Zakk Plocica:It is what it is, man. Though there'll always be bow hunters out there, and there'll always be people looking for bows. And if you are somebody that's looking at getting into it, or you just don't want to spend that kind of money, man. I would highly encourage you to check out the mid-price point bows. Um, some of these brands that we we've gone through, these bows that we named are just absolutely phenomenal. So, one thing when it comes to choosing a bow, you need to go, if you can, go shoot the bow, test the bows, um, get in a shop, see which one you prefer because they all have a different feel, they all have different look, they all have different features, and you need to really find what's important for you. Um, but you know, Extreme Outfitters, I think, does a pretty good job stocking all the different ones. So if you are in the Jacksonville, North Carolina area, you can always head over to Extreme Outfitters uh and test any of these bows. And then, like I said, a majority of these can be shipped directly to you. So if you need them tuned, set up, built, that can be done. You hit the website, extremeoutfitters.com. Uh, you know, the Archer Project's sponsor, of course. Uh, and and check them out. But like I said, if you can get to your local shop, test them, shoot them, see what you think, feel the draw cycle, feel the valley, feel the grip, um, check out the features, see what you think. Give us some feedback too, because I'm really curious what everyone thinks about this uh price point, and then what bow they kind of favor in this price point. And if we've missed any, right, um, you know, let us know. Is there something else that needs to be brought into Extreme Outfitters brand wise that we are neglected on? Um, drop some feedback, give us um some insight. What'd you think, JR? I think it's great. That's it. I think it's great too.
JR Gettler:So good times, good times. Good times.
Zakk Plocica:Well, that's it, guys. I appreciate everybody listening uh to another episode of the Archery Project. Like I said, if you haven't, hit the subscribe button, follow us, give us some feedback. Uh, we look forward to hearing from you guys, and we will see you all in the next episode of the Archery Project.