There are many different companies and brands that produce archery equipment, with many of them producing modern compound bows. With all of these choices, it can be a little difficult to decide on the best compound bow brands for your next purchase.
Whether you are looking for your very first beginner compound bow or are a seasoned shooter, you will want to stick with a good bow brand to ensure you get the proper quality, service, and designs. Let’s go over what makes a good compound bow brand, and a few of the best brands out on the market today!
Table of Contents
Elements Of Good Compound Bow Brands
Bow Quality
One of the most important aspects of a bow is the quality. Some brands are known to produce higher quality products than others, so you must choose carefully in order to ensure you are purchasing a bow and other archery equipment that will perform properly and last you for years to come.
Customer Service
Customer service is often overlooked when deciding between brands, but it can be an extremely important factor should you ever need it. From getting your bow serviced to fixing potential problems, customer service can make or break your experience with a particular brand.
Warranty/Guarantee
The best bow brands believe in their products and are proud to support people who buy them. Because of this, they generally offer some type of warranty or guarantee for their equipment just in case you run into any issues or potential defects.
Bow Features
Good bow brands continually innovate and improve upon their designs. In turn, their bows have a wide variety of features including cam designs, grips, materials, and other tech that turns a simple bow into a great one.
Bow Design
Speaking of designs, great bow brands provide a wide variety of different designs and models of bows for different applications. From hunting to competition bows, they offer plenty of different options to choose from.
Top Compound Bow Brands To Consider
Bowtech
Bowtech is a brand that was founded in 1999 and known for its quality. Based out of Eugene, Oregon, they have continued to grow their reach and share of the archery industry.
Bowtech does all of their manufacturing in-house for all of their products and strives to maintain a standard of quality that their customers have come to expect. Besides their excellent quality, Bowtech is also very well known for their customer service. With their motto being “Refuse to Follow”, they offer a lifetime warranty on their products and are always willing to go the extra mile in order to help their customers however they can.
Elite Archery
Elite Archery is a little newer to the archery game than others here on our list but has still been around since 2005. They started in Washington, but are now based out of Rochester, New York. Elite also produces all of its products here in the United States and prides itself on selling “the World’s Most Shootable Bows.”
Elite Archery rose to popularity thanks to its bow designs that give the lowest levels of hand shock and vibrations. With their unique designs of cams and risers, you can instantly recognize a bow that is made by Elite. They also offer a lifetime warranty on all of their products.
PSE Archery
PSE Archery is one of the oldest bow brands here on our list and was founded in 1970 by an engineer named Pete Shepley. Although first established in Illinois, the company is now based out of Arizona and produces everything it makes here in the US. Since its creation, it is now the largest privately owned bow manufacturer in the US, and one of the largest bow companies in the entire world.
PSE also owns over 20 different archery design patents, allowing them to be a leader in design and innovation every year. With many different models of bows available and a great warranty on their products, it is easy to see why so many people shoot a PSE bow!
Hoyt
Among names like PSE and Bowtech, you are sure to hear Hoyt thrown into the mix. Hoyt is also one of the oldest and most established bow brands in the world, tracing its start all the way back to 1931. Although it started off as a knife company, they have since grown to be a leader in design and innovation in the archery world and is one of the most recognized brands out there.
Hoyt is now based out of Utah, and while extremely popular in the bowhunting world they also specialize in competition shooting. In fact, Hoyt bows have won more gold medals at Olympic events than all other bow manufacturers combined. They offer great quality, design, features, and warranties on all of their bows. It is no surprise why Hoyt is as popular as they are.
Bear Archery
Bear Archery, like Hoyt, is another very old company that started off in a different industry. Founded in 1933 as a marketing company, its founder is the legendary archer Fred Bear that quickly changed the company’s focus to archery. While focusing on traditional archery bows and equipment, they eventually got into compound bows as well.
These days, Bear Archery is well known for producing a wide variety of different bow models and being much more on the affordable end when compared to other bow manufacturers. While still producing their recurve bows, their compound bows are designed and engineered to be easy to shoot and reliable.
Mathews
Mathews is a bow brand that is often seen leading the way in new designs and innovations. In fact, they are the ones that came up with the single-cam technology, which many other bow manufacturers soon replicated. Ever since their beginning in 1992, Mathews has continued its commitment to giving archers the designs and features that they ask for.
Mathews is also well known for its excellent customer service. Their company motto is “people first, business second”. With amazing products and a motto like that, you know that every time you shoot a Mathews bow you will have a great experience.
Diamond Archery
Diamond is actually a child company of Bowtech, so you already know that you can expect much of the same quality and commitment that Bowtech offers to its customers. But, unlike Bowtech, Diamond offers its bows at a much more affordable cost in order to target a different market of customers.
Even with lower prices, their affiliation with Bowtech ensures that quality stays the same. With many different models and designs to choose from, Diamond strives to provide a bow with everything a shooter could want without breaking their bank account.
Quest
Quest is a company that is under another company called G5 Outdoors. Very similar to how Diamond is under Bowtech and offers more affordable options to their line of bows, Quest takes the quality of Prime bows and offers them to a different segment of the market at a reduced cost. While you will not see the same designs and features on a Quest bow that you will on a flagship Prime bow, you can still expect similar quality and customer service.
Although Quest bows may not cost as much as a Prime bow, they are still super solid and reliable bows. Not only are they extremely comfortable to shoot, but they are a great blend between high-quality materials and the bare basics to get you an accurate bow that will get the job done regardless of your archery expertise.
G5 Prime
Just like Quest, Prime Archery is owned by G5 Outdoors. G5 Outdoors is a privately owned company based out of Michigan. They were originally not in the bow business, but in the 1980s after purchasing an engineering firm, they created a broadhead company. Finally, in 2009, they created Prime and Quest to better serve archers all around the world.
Prime stands apart from Quest in that its bows feature all of the company’s latest designs and innovations, leading to a higher price tag. A perfect example of this is their Parallel Cam system, which helps avoid cam leaning and provides a more secure shot. Prime continues to impress archers by creating new innovations just like this, allowing them to grow in popularity year after year.
Martin Archery
Martin Archery is another brand that has been around for some time, and during their years of business, they have grown their reputation and quality of products. For over 60 years, Martin has been known for building some quality bows out of the state of Washington and giving archers affordable options for purchasing new equipment.
In 2013, Martin went through a large effort to revitalize its brand and company, and the results can easily be seen today. Not only have they given new dedication to the design and quality of their bows, but their customer service and warranty have been given an update as well. If you are looking for a quality bow from a reputable company, Martin is always a good choice.
Darton Archery
Getting their start in 1950 by producing leather archery accessories, Darton Archery expanded its business after a few years to start making traditional recurve bows. After the introduction of the compound bows, they began production of their own and have since gone on to become a staple name in the archery industry.
Darton has just recently celebrated its 70th year anniversary and still remains committed to giving its customers what they need to be successful. While not as mainstream as other brands such as Hoyt or Bowtech, Darton has been around long enough to prove that it makes good archery equipment and that they will take care of their customers whatever the costs.
Choosing the Right Compound Bow Brand
As you can see there are many different options when it comes to a compound bow brand. How do you choose the right one for you? An easy way to narrow down the list is to consider your personal needs and wants, as well as your budget. If there is a specific feature or design that you need, some companies may offer it while others will not.
Budget can also play an important role in choosing a brand. Many brands are known for producing top-of-the-line, high-quality bows that will run up your price tag. Others are better known for middle-of-the-road, affordable compound bows.
Lastly, it is important to consider how much things like warranties and customer service matter to you. Some people don’t care at all about these things. Others, however, consider it to be a deal-breaker. If you want to be treated well should you run into issues with your bow, it is important to choose a brand that is known for taking care of its customers.
Final Thoughts
Although there are many different compound bow brands to choose from, there is sure to be one or two that fit you and your needs perfectly. Every company has certain things that they excel at, and they all produce bows that are very different from one another. With a little bit of research and thought, you can find the best compound bow brand for you! If you’re looking for compound bow recommendations, check out our recommendations page to see a few bows that we recommend to new archers.
