I had been a Trad guy for 30 years... Long story short, I got me a wheelie bow so I could be a slacker on just practicing... Had actually shot custom Viking wheelie bows in my past too... Got a Switchback, and it was a very good bow... Upgraded to a Drenalin LD a few years later. Sold the switchback, and it is still in service. I still had my Drenalin, but wanted to try the BowTech Destroyer 350 because they were capable of a longer draw length. I had a 2" "D" loop on my switchback 
and a 1" loop on my LD. Within the first season of using that Destroyer, it literally "came unmanufactured" right in my hands upon release (using a Carter Chocolate Lite 4 finger). First time it happened, new limbs, cams/strings, etc. Second time it happened same thing except no new cams... Third failure was after a hunt. I had shot a doe, and killed her, but hit her way low... bow made a funny racket... carrying it back to the truck after the hunt, with a Primos bow strap covering the cams/strings, I hear a loud "POP", and something slapped my leg... Heck, I jumped about 3 feet straight up. thought I'd been snake bit (was out west). After my heart slowed a bit, I took off the Primos strap, and the string/cables had snapped... That was enough. I loved how the bow shot, when it didn't blow up, but I had come to the point of zero confidence in it. Went to the Bow Zone and bought me a Z9... still shooting it today with no problems just as I had had no problems with any of the other Mathews bows I've owned...
What I think caused my issues is the inherent design flaw for these BowTech bows having such a shallow cam groove... the string I think would roll out of the cam slot on release. In my third failure, I think it was because it partially derailed when I shot that doe, but the string did not fail right away....
To also supply more data, my arras are full length Axis N-Fused 300's with a 125 grain head, either field tip, Snuffer or Razor Trick... total weight is over 450 grains... over 500 with the snuffers, which is what I was shooting the first time it blew up.. Was a 70# bow but had it backed off to about 62#... set up by Richard or Joey at The Bow Zone...
Yea, Mathews may be good at marketing, but they're dang good at manufacturing a quality bow too, otherwise failures of their equipment would not let them continue to be the leader they are... Marketing will not make up for poor quality and bad customer service. I'm not a Mathews fan boy. I've tried 'em all. That's why I got that Destroyer... I wanted to try something different.
That Destroyer was one of the sweetest shooting, light, quiet bows I've ever shot, but my experience has pretty much sealed the deal for me to never own another BowTech product again.
and a 1" loop on my LD. Within the first season of using that Destroyer, it literally "came unmanufactured" right in my hands upon release (using a Carter Chocolate Lite 4 finger). First time it happened, new limbs, cams/strings, etc. Second time it happened same thing except no new cams... Third failure was after a hunt. I had shot a doe, and killed her, but hit her way low... bow made a funny racket... carrying it back to the truck after the hunt, with a Primos bow strap covering the cams/strings, I hear a loud "POP", and something slapped my leg... Heck, I jumped about 3 feet straight up. thought I'd been snake bit (was out west). After my heart slowed a bit, I took off the Primos strap, and the string/cables had snapped... That was enough. I loved how the bow shot, when it didn't blow up, but I had come to the point of zero confidence in it. Went to the Bow Zone and bought me a Z9... still shooting it today with no problems just as I had had no problems with any of the other Mathews bows I've owned...What I think caused my issues is the inherent design flaw for these BowTech bows having such a shallow cam groove... the string I think would roll out of the cam slot on release. In my third failure, I think it was because it partially derailed when I shot that doe, but the string did not fail right away....
To also supply more data, my arras are full length Axis N-Fused 300's with a 125 grain head, either field tip, Snuffer or Razor Trick... total weight is over 450 grains... over 500 with the snuffers, which is what I was shooting the first time it blew up.. Was a 70# bow but had it backed off to about 62#... set up by Richard or Joey at The Bow Zone...
Yea, Mathews may be good at marketing, but they're dang good at manufacturing a quality bow too, otherwise failures of their equipment would not let them continue to be the leader they are... Marketing will not make up for poor quality and bad customer service. I'm not a Mathews fan boy. I've tried 'em all. That's why I got that Destroyer... I wanted to try something different.
That Destroyer was one of the sweetest shooting, light, quiet bows I've ever shot, but my experience has pretty much sealed the deal for me to never own another BowTech product again.
Comment