Shot some new Mathews bows....

Lhedrick1

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Went to my local FFL to pick up a rifle. He is also our local bow shop and exclusively carries Mathews. I made the mistake of shooting a bunch of his new bows and thought I would share some comments.

Mathews Triax - New in 2018. Love the grip, love the feel in the hand. It's short length of 28" balances great. When I hold it all I can say is damn it feels like a hunting bow. Holds on target well for a short bow. Has the slightest jump when shooting that was almost eliminated with a Mathews stabilizer. Hand shock was minimal if any. The draw cycle is smooth until you hit the let off. It's pretty much pull pull pull and all at once the bow let's off. After a few shots I was able to control my draw to smooth that transition but it's a little suprising at first. It was the most comfortable feeling bow I've ever held and was torn between buying one.

Mathews Vertix- not in love with the newer style grip. It's not overwhelmingly different than the Triax but I prefer last year's grip better. Another short bow @ 30". Feels a little bulkier than Triax but still comfortable to hold. Draw cycle was the smoothest of any bow I've ever shot. I even shot one that was 78 lbs and it was such a smooth transition from draw to anchor point though I'll stick with the standard 70 lb draw weight. Holds on target pretty good though the draw length on both Vertix's were too short for me. There is virtually no jump to the bow when shooting. It is by far the smoothest shooting bow I've ever shot. Minimal to no hand shock. When I release, the bow hardly moved at all. With a stabilizer, there was almost nothing at all but the sound of the bow. Very very impressive. The new "Switchweight" cam system for this bow is great also. You can change your draw length, draw weight and let off just by taking 2 bolts off the cam and swapping a small piece of metal for one that matches your desired length, weight and let off. No bow press needed. And the modules are only $40. No more buying limbs or swapping out cams with this line. Very impressive bow. I think I might buy one.

Mathews Traverse- I'm not going to dive into this one too much simply because there isn't one thing about it I liked. It felt big and bulky, the draw was rough and though not a ton of hand shock, the top of the bow fell backwards towards my head after each shot. My bow guy has sold a bunch of them so don't take my word for it. It just did not jive with me for some reason.

Mathews Tactic- another short bow at 30". Its a bow, nothing more nothing less. Seems like a stipped down Mathews without the bells and whistles. Its design resembles that of the older bows prior to the parallel limbs. It feels light and compact. Not the most comfortable bow to shoot but none the less it shoots. Draw cycle was a tad rough and there is noticeable jump and hand shock comparable to the bows of 5-8 years ago. It actually reminds me of the old FX and FX2. Not a bad bow though. If you want a new Mathews without dropping $1000, it's not a bad choice though I think there are better older bows out there.

Was a great trip to the shop. I spent about an hour on Friday and 2 or 3 hours on Ssturdy shooting bows. I said I'd never buy a new bow again until I picked up the Triax and Vertix!
 
I shoot a Triax. Excellent bow for such a short axle-to-axle configuration. Everything you described about the draw cycle is accurate. If you are not ready for it, the let-off will come as a surprise and them boom...you're at the back wall immediately. Even without a stabilizer, there's really no perceptible hand shock. It's also a really quiet bow and even more so when you shoot heavy arrows and/or add a stabilizer.

Vertix - another amazing model in the Mathews line-up. I actually like the grip. It seems to just fall into my palm consistently from shot to shot making it very difficult to torque the bow in either direction (a very good thing). The bow I shot was set at 70lbs but it felt like 65. Very smooth

Never tried the other models
 
I live in Wisconsin and have been a Mathews guy most of my life. Last upgrade was to a Hyot Carbon Spyder Turbo which has been a great bow for my short 27 inch draw. Read about the Vertix and I'm afriad to shoot it because it may be time for another upgrade. I like to upgrade every 3-5 years when I feel the technology has made a meaningful jump. To date nothing has felt better the CST, but I have a feeling I may be going back to Mathews if I shoot the Vertix. I have really enjoy the carbon and its fun to talk with all my buddies who all have Mathews and tell them if they want to get serious they should get a Hyot. Shooting a Hyot in Wisconsin is like being a Bears Fan, no love from the locals. The Hyot has been deadly for me in the field and I shoot some recreational 3D and have shot really well with the CST so I'm going to have to feel really good to move on from her.
 

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