everything was taken

Im shopping around for a compound bow, so I can begin practicing before next season. I have only shot a few compounds and stick bows in my life...but im ready to make the commitment. Im a college student, so money is tight. I believe I have narrowed it down to a few bows based on price, and where i can buy them etc. Here they are:

PSE Fire Flite 33 CF Package in Seclusion 3D®
$349.99

PSE Thunderbolt™ CF Bow Package
$399.99

Fred Bear Element Bow and Bow Kit
$359.99

Parker Buck Hunter Outfitter Bow Package
$359.99

Does anyone know anything about these bows and can reccomend one over the other? Or anything else at a comparable price? Its hard finding reviews and information on compound bows. I want to get a bow that is 45-55 lb draw and im thinking of using magnus 4 blade broadheads. Any advice will be greatly appreciated!

Germ

For the money you can not beat this one
PSE Fire Flite 33 CF Package in Seclusion 3D®
$349.99


It was one nice bow, when I worked for Cabela's they sold a pile of those.

davidmil

Of those you've listed, I would choose one of the two PSEs. You should find a shop that has them both and will let you shoot them. You'll know which is better for you when you shoot them. I say the PSE for a couple reasons. One, I shot PSE bows since the early 70s. They are well made and will do the job, no question about it. Two, PSE is recognized by ALL the industry as having the very best customer service... PERIOD. They've done it that way from day one(long before a lot of these companies we have todaywere in business) They've maintained that level of customer service for 35 years or however long they've been around. You won't be disappointed. I can shoot or afford any bow I want. For the past 5 or 6 years my main bow is a Darton. I shot it and just liked the way it fit my little hands and felt. There was NO reason for me to switch from PSE, but I guess I was antsy for a change after all those years. My back up bow when I go on trips... an old PSE SR1000 that I've had for probably 15 years. It's always tuned with it's own arrows and ready to go. I have every faith if something were to happen to my Darton on a trip to Texas, Ohio, Indiana, Georgia, New York or Maryland this fall..... my PSE would save the day. I've thought of buying something more new and modern, but when I think of it I always ask... WHY??? I have a PSE for back up that's killed dozens of deer.

Pass_Thru

In my experiance in the shop the PSEs seemed to be a better bow than the others you mentioned. We sold the Fred Bears and the PSE. I not sure about the Parkers since Ive not had any experiance with them. I had quite a few PSEs in the past and everyone was a performer and in all the years I worked at the shop we never had problems with PSE customer service.

Jason

Mike Hill

I own a PSE thunderbolt and I can tell you it is a good bow for the money I have owned it for 8 years and I have shot 11 deer with it. I think this bow would be a perfect choice for a first bow. I can tell you it sure did me well.

everything was taken

Thank you very much guys, that is a huge help. It sounds like PSE has quite a reputation, Im probably heading to basspro shop and a few other archery shops in the next few days to try some out.

hardcorehunter

Take your choices and go to a pro shop and shoot them. It is as simple as that. Get the one that feels the best and shoots the best.

burniegoeasily

PSE makes a good setup. Have you considered a Reflex? Im a Hoyt guy, so i tend to like the Reflex.

everything was taken

I have looked at some of the Reflex bows, and they look like fine pieces of work...however I havent seen many within my price range (350-400$ package deal). I really want to try out some of the bows and actually hold them because im told this is very important. I have 2 archery shops where I live in Tallahassee FL, and one of them doesnt carry anything under 400$ and the other one has horrible service. Im thinking of driving to a few pro shops within a few hours drive to hold some bows and compare..then make a purchase based on what feels best.

idahoelkinstructor

David, what about theMMMmmmmmmmmm, well MMMmmmmmmmmm bows, or as I call them MATHEWS!Have you shot one of these, if so whats your opinion. Don't worry I am a big boy and you can say that they don't even make a good paper weight and I'll still like you and we can be friends.[8D][8D][8D]

everything was taken, I agree with the above advice that you should go to a good bow shop and shoot as many of these are you can. Then select the one that feels the best to you.