Field&Stream Bow Review

[TXhunter77]

http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2013/08/fs-crowns-best-flagship-compound-bow-2013

Glad to an Elite in there

[Vermin93]

Interesting rankings. Not surprised to see that there's some industry drama associated with it. Check out this post from the comments regarding Mathews.

"from Keith Kuhnsman wrote 23 hours 5 min ago

Seems Mathews had a hissy fit and cut Mr. Hinton out of their supply chain.

'Posted on archerytalk:

My archery shop, Hinton Archery, was recently asked to participate in objective bow comparison testing involving the flagship bows for several different manufacturers. The results of those tests were featured on page 77 of the September 2013 issue of Field & Stream magazine in an article entitled “Flagship Bow Shootout”.
I was one of four shooters on the panel asked to shoot and evaluate each bow. In addition, Hinton Archery performed all of the tuning and setup work for the bows being tested, and we hosted some of the speed ranking tests on our indoor range.
At the time I agreed to participate, Hinton Archery was an authorized dealer for Bowtech and Mathews bows, which are certainly 2 premier names in the field of archery, along with several others. My primary objective was to provide honest reviews based on objective information. I was determined to give accurate appraisals based on performance, and not simply because Hinton Archery carried a particular brand.
Each bow we tested was ranked according to the aggregate scores of the four individual testers. The scores were all fairly close, which is a testament to the number of good bows available in today’s archery market. More importantly, none of the 4 testers knew how the bow rankings would fare and/or which bow would “win”.
After the testing was completed and results formulated, it turned out that the Bowtech Experience took top honors in the review. The Mathew’s Creed, however, came in seventh, and Mathews’ Monster Chill also finished near the bottom of the list, behind Elite, Hoyt, Strother and a few other brands.
Yesterday, within days of the September Field and Stream issue hitting the newsstands, I received this letter from Patrick Burke, Director of Sales for Mathews, and Jon Dumars, Director of Sales for Mission:
“Dear Danny,
We regret to inform you that Mathews, Inc. and Mission Archery will no longer be able to supply your company with product. We have determined that other avenues of distribution are more consistent with the sales and marketing objectives of Mathews.”
It certainly appears that Matthews/Mission terminated my dealership because I participated in an independent test. So, going forward, Hinton Archery will no longer sell Mathews or Mission products.
Although we’ve enjoyed a good relationship with Mathews in the past, we will not be intimidated by them or any other manufacturer. We’re a small-town shop, and our first priority is to our customers. We won’t sacrifice our principles or attempt to “throw” the results of an independent gear review because of brand loyalty or a company’s marketing objectives. There is too much self-serving, agenda-driven promotion in this business already. We believe that the sportsmen deserve to hear the results of honest, independent tests like the one we performed. They just deserve better. Our staff personally shoots and evaluates every bow we sell, and the recommendations we provide to our customers are truthful.
Buying a bow is a personal decision, and if you shoot a Mathews, we will continue to service it. But future warranty work will have to be done by an authorized Mathews dealer. I apologize for the inconvenience, but I assume our customers will understand.'

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That's one less brand from which I will need to choose."

[Landrover]

The reviews are always a point of discussion and debate. The one from Outdoor Life was interesting also. Personal preference is by far the greatest decision maker!

[JP Weld]

Wow. Shame on you Mathews! I love my Mathews bow but suck it up already ladies. Makes me want to sell it and buy a Hoyt!!

[Roscoe]

He ought to put in an order with Matthews and see if they honor it. If they don't, a good lawyer might have a field day with it.

[El Coyote]

Read the article in F&S and wasn't really surprised. I was gonna get a Creed when they came out but it just wasn't an upgraded from my Z7x. Wasn't faster or much lighter.

[Daniel75]

Wow.....that really hacks me. Mathews needs to answer that but I expect to hear nothing back from them. That's absolute BS......"catch us if you can"....they get caught and lapped and then get a case of the sore ***.

[Tarleton Jake]

Wow, talk about being a sore loser! Dang shame that they would lower themselves like that over a review.

Jake

[DoubleGArchery]

I'm sorry to hear this for mr Hinton. But I admire him for standing his ground, and that goes to show you sometimes things aren't the way they seem.

[Peacock]

Looks like Mathews is trying to "make an example" out of Mr. Hinton. I hope he is able to stay afloat without selling Mathews.

[Daniel75]

Make me want to buy a bow from them to show support.

[focushunter]

Wow thats a bunch of crap. I will shoot what feels right to me.

[Kirby86]

I'm not gonna bash Matthew's product, but having shot the 2013 models, they just weren't for me. It really chaps my buns that if I were in a position where my opinion carried any weight, that they would try to punish me for that opinion.
If you don't like what someone says about your product, change it next year, or ignore it.


But as to the original topic, I thought the reviews were pretty spot on. The only one I haven't shot personally was the Spyder Turbo. I did get to shoot the Spyder which I liked. I even owned a DNA for a while, but like the review said, I couldn't get used to the valley. Although I am not a huge fan of Strothers, it was nice to see a smaller company get mentioned in the test. Maybe we'll get to see Athens, New Breed and Obsession in their head to head test one day. Maybe... Lol

[popup_menace]

Wow. Shame on you Mathews! I love my Mathews bow but suck it up already ladies. Makes me want to sell it and buy a Hoyt!!

That would just be a logical thing to do regardless of mathews actions.
Sorry, I had to poke fun.

I honestly agree with most of the review f&s did. I haven't shot an elite though, so I am not sure if it deserves to be over the spyder. I shot the experience and loved it, but it didn't quite feel right like my vector does. Just goes to show that everybody has their own preference

[txfireguy2003]

A well known, but not necessarily well liked, archery shop owner (in the past, he's retired now) told me that he refused to sell Matthews bows several years ago because they wanted to tell him how to run his business. Not sure what aspect they were trying to control, or what it was that irked him, but he was a dealer and dropped them for it. So, this doesn't really surprise me that much.
On the other hand, if you were manufacturing a product, and one of your dealers was recommending a competitor's product over yours, would you want him representing your product? Think about it, "This guy sells this brand and he doesn't even like them"....speaks volumes about the product to a potential new archer. Not sure I would want my marketing guy telling potential catering customers that my bbq okay, but that other bbq place across the street is better. Put another way, that would be like going into the Ford house and having the sales guy tell you that the Dodge trucks are a better value, you should go down the road to the Dodge dealer. You think that salesman is going to be working for Ford much longer?