With the many different kinds and styles of bows it is hard to know what to buy. This article discusses the differences and will help you decide what bow is right for you. First let me talk about the modern Two-Cam Bow with Aggressive Cams. The definite advantage here is speed. These bows range from $250-$1500. The difference in price just depends on the quality of the materials used in the bow. Most two-cam bows with aggressive cams are made for speed. What you give up here could be accuracy. Two-cam bows that shoot over 240 feet per second may be hard to tune with broadheads. You may find your broadhead arrows fly all over the place. Another problem that can happen is that your cams may come out of tune. "If your cams don't roll over at the same time you will lose speed and may have a wobbly arrow". Golden Eagle has helped with this. Instead of having yokes, which may brake or come out of tune, Golden Eagle has Xact timing. With this you just take an Allen wrench on each cam and adjust the setting the same as the other cam. If your cams are in tune you will get the maximum speed from your bow and flat arrow trajectory. I have heard good things about Xact timing. Still, with an aggressive two-cam bow you get speed. If you buy a bow like this make sure you have plenty of time to work with it. Also buy a quality brand name and have someone at a store help you or someone that knows a lot about bows. The leaders in speed bows are Hoyt, Browning, Jennings, High Country, PSE, and XI and Darton with the new Maverick XT. One-Cam Bows are fairly new and are very popular. Once thought as being just a fad, one-cam bows have caught on and are now made by most bow manufacturers. A one-cam bow has one big cam on the bottom limb and an idler wheel on the top. It is usually moderately priced. Price range is about $300-$1000 and maybe more. It is known to be quieter and more forgiving than a two-cam bow. With a one-cam bow you do not have to tune the cam or the wheel. The cam gives it the power and the wheel goes along with it, kind of like a bicycle. It use to be that one-cams were slower than two-cam bows, but not anymore. The new one-cams are just as fast as two-cam bows if not faster. Most of the one-cam bows shoot 240 feet per second or more. One-cam bows are good bows for a serious hunter or 3D shooter. Mathews started the one-cam bow, but now every bow company seems to have a one-cam. The leaders in one-cam bows are Mathews, Hoyt, and Bear/Jennings and Darton with the new C/P/S system. Bows with Two Energy Wheels are the easiest bows to pick up and shoot. These are the slowest bows though. These bows have two small wheels. This is probably the best bow to start out with. Two energy wheel bows are pretty much problem free. They are very easy for the new bowhunter to shoot. These bows are the slowest though, but remember that shot placement is more important than speed. I highly recommend this bow for the beginning bowhunter. These bows are usually not too much money, which is another positive. Price range would be about $120-$300. There are some that are probably more, but most are in this range. Almost every bow company makes a bow like this. Looking at one of the brand names I have listed with the other kinds of bows would be good, and the XI Silverhawk, and the Hoyt Mystic are two good beginning two wheel bows. Split Limbs are fairly new with bows. Advantages are that they make the bow a little bit lighter and usually quiet the bow. A disadvantage is that they are more expensive. If you like the looks of the split limb and you have the extra money buy them. Hoyt and High Country Archery started the split limbs. Now most bow companies have them on their bows also. There are a lot of choices when choosing a bow. You are sure to find a bow that is for you. Feel free to email me if you have any questions at dinger@bowhunting.net Paul Thedinga
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Differences In Modern Bows