PY Antlers

What is better, a bow with a 9" brace height with an arrow speed of around 300 fps or a bow with a 7" brace height with an arrow speed around 330 fps? My guess is the 9" brace height because the arrow would be on the string for a shorter time than the faster bow, thus less likely to be influenced by bow torque or other form mistakes. Even thou the differances are mere fractions of a second. Just trying to decide between a Z7 or Z9. Thanks for your input

huntingkidPA

do you want speed or accuracy? a shorter brace height is usually fast but less forgiving. i think for anyone 300 is fast enough, people still kill people with recurves and they are no where near as fast. You are right with the z7, the arrow will be on the string for a longer time. it really depends what you have previously shot and what your preferences are. My youth bow had a 5" brace height, i'll tell ya that thing was very hard to group well past 20. Now i have a bear charge with a 7.5 inch brace height, and making that switch made all the difference in the world. If you have shot something with a brace height close to the z7 and you are hitting well, i think i would go for the extra fps.

PY Antlers

In Bowhunting the best accuracy possible should be the goal irregardless of bow type. What I'm asking, is there really an advandage one way or the other.

huntingkidPA

go with the z9. when buck fever sets in a lot of things can happen like flinching etc. i think there would be a lot more advantage of having a more forgiving bow.

nodog

When I was a kid, the age of real muscle cars, they screamed a 1/4 mile. Problem was suspension wasn't king and the cars had a hard time handling the speed. You maybe able to shoot the faster bow just fine, but can the arrow getting kicked in the butt handle it?

I'd make sure everything could handle the speed including the noise it would produce. Wouldn't want to shoot a bow that sounds like a gun going off.

stapher1

7" brace is the unoffical standard lenght. Guys at my local pro shop said once they got under 7" they noticed that any flaws in their forms showed themselves.

bigbulls

There's more to it that just brace height. Riser design plays a huge roll in how accurate or inaccurate a bow can be. The two biggest factors are reflex/deflex styled risers and size and style of the grip.

The more reflex built into the riser the more unforgiving it becomes. Most of the Z bows have about 4 inches of reflex built into the riser. A bow with a 6" BH that has a nice straight or nearly straight riser can be a very accurate bow because it isn't easily torqued at full draw. An example would be the PSE bowmadness XL. It has a 6" BH but a very straight and stable riser design.

Personally I can't stand shooting the Z7, Z7 extreme, EZ7 or Z magnum... Especially the EZ7 and Z magnum. They have such a highly reflexed riser that it is impossible not to grossly torque the bow at full draw. Are they quiet and do they have a nice smooth draw cycle??? Sure they do but they are unstable bows at full draw and are extremely forward heavy with out any accessories installed.

The Z9 is definitely a better shooting, inherently more accurate bow because it is nothing more than a standard z7 with a straight riser. Because of this it also balances much better and isn't to dang forward heavy. But that's why it's also 20fps slower. Same cam but with a shorter power stroke because of the straight riser design. However when they claim 312 fps that is going to be with a 30" draw length so you can subtract 10fps right off the top for every inch your DL is shorter than that. Then figure a few more FPS off the top due to the fact that Mathews cams are typically a good half inch longer than advertised so if you are a 29" Draw you're really going to want a 28.5" Mathews bow.

Mathews best overall shooting bow is the MR7 and quite honestly is the only one in the current line up worth owning. It has all of the good attributes of the Z9 but none of the speed robbing attributes. Smooth draw, nearly straight riser like the Z9, beyond parallel limbs, 7" brace height, good speed. I'd pick a MR7 over any other hunting bow they offer.



I know you didn't ask but I'd take looks at a whole lot of other bows out there also.

The G5 Prime bows (shift and centroid) are incredible shooters. These bows seem to do everything that G5 claims.

Another fantastic shooting and super tuneable bow is the Bowtech invasion. Easiest to tune and shoot accurately bow I have messed with.

These three bows are leaps and bounds better shooting bows than any of the Z bows.

PY Antlers

Thank you bigbulls, thats the answer I was looking for. Maybe not so much the one I wanted to hear but needed to hear. For now, I think I'll stick with my Drenelin. After all, like they say....if it ain't broke don't fix it.

bigbulls

You sure wouldn't be gaining anything going from a drenalin to a z bow IMO.