$600 Bow VS $2,500 Bow 

Fun video to make! Just for notes the bear was tuned too.. Back wall was soft and harder to be consistent with.. get out and chase it wherever you’re at! Also, slap them greasy little mits on the subscribe button!

Hi Tim. I find it's the lump of meat behind the bow that makes the difference between bows. A good archer with a cheap bow will always be better than a crap archer with an expensive bow.

I can promise you that there’s not a bow on the market that’s going to make you more successful harvesting an Animal.

Glad to see I’m not the only guy on RU-vid who sucks shooting my bow 😂 Thanks for keeping it real.

I've bow hunted over 40 years, started with wooden arrows and a Bear recurve. I've had several Hoyt bows and PSE bows. Last new Hoyt i bought was a Defiant turbo , it shot 316 thru the chrono, then the PSE Evo came out. I heard all the hype so shot one. Fell in love ❤️ i immediately bought the Evo and sold my Hoyt. Evo shot 333 thru chronograph with 400 gr arrows that is the same as I always shoot. I buy bare bows and set them up how i want with QAD rest and HHA sights. You don't need an expensive bow to shoot any game in North America. I had a Bear RTH bow and it shot as good as any bow out there. Accuracy is in the shooter. Upgrade your rest and sights and any bow will kill and most newer bows mad will shoot plenty fast enough and you don't need 500 gr arrows for a deer. Biggest thing is practice practice practice!!! Every day if you only shoot 5 arrows a day shoot your bow !!!

There was something peaceful of watching this. I don't know why, but there's something satisfying about listening to different types and learning their strengths/weaknesses. Cheers for the video!

Great presentation. Casual, informative and moves along without the usual filler.

I have a Bear Whitetail Legend that I bought just over two years ago as I was getting back into archery after a 20 plus year break, and have now upgraded to the Hoyt Ventum a few months ago. Although the Hoyt is more consistent, there is not a significant difference in the accuracy or consistency to justify the enormous difference in cost. If you’re curious about bow hunting, do like Tim suggested, go buy a Bear RTH, then get out there and start shooting/hunting. However, I would encourage everyone to first learn proper technique, then you’ll have a great time without having to break the bank.

Awesome video!! We need more archers for sure. Especially with the NASP program in jeopardy.

Timmy, dude! Love the vids. It's really cool making videos like this. Keep em coming. From Indiana

This is a great video and it is honestly the most honest test I have seen.

Love to see you fully rig out the adapt with land slide and long bars and qad rest.

Really liked this video. Got me to subscribe. I'm not the best long range either but your honest and I really respect that Tim.

I gotta challenge for you. Upgrade the bear with everything you have on the Hoyt and see what happens

Owned a more budget friendly bow when I was getting started. Focused on upgrading the components on it which made it a great shooting bow. Then moved those components over to my current bow. Was much more enjoyable shooting than going out & buying a flagship but putting low quality components on it.

Let’s see a review of the Hoyt Tim! Loved this video. It gives other people a perspective that you don’t need to buy a bare bow at $1000 or more just to get into Archery. Keep it up man!

I love my adapt. I've got it set up...weird. Old school whisker biscuit, no peep, ezv sight, no string dampers. 630 grain arrow going 240 fps. It will shoot through two moose and keep on going. I love how set and forget it is. No mechanical things to fail in the field.

Absolutely love this video! 🔥 I bought a Bear Legit RTH last year for $450 then bought a Bear Alaskan this year for $599 and spent that much again in a sight and rest for it. I would love to buy a flagship from Matthews, PSE, or Hoyt but this mid-priced bow with higher quality accessories has been the jackpot for me. You’re absolutely right, Tim, about getting out in the field and shooting. That’s what will really get you to the point where you can be accurate and successful with any bow you pick up. Great content! 👏🏼

Get to 100k! 😂 I need an excuse to take my first trip to the CDA/Spokane area. Loving the content and style.

Definitely would love a full review of the VTM!

You are gaining quite the collection my guy!! 😎 love how you highlighted the “made in USA”… it’s so special to me to look down and see that in the woods, gets me going!! ❤️🇺🇸

Definitely a good video to put it in perspective on what you get at different price points. The bear is definitely a great starter bow to get in the field. Well it’s actually a pretty good bow period.

I have the original adapt and love it. It got me to dive into the rabbit hole of bow hunting

My 2005 Bowtech Allegiance allowed me some of the best groupings I have ever had, but I fell into the "Newer is better" trap and bought a newer one only to find out that I couldn't get the same groupings with it as I did my old one. Downfall is I sold the Allegiance and it is long gone. I would have went back to it in a heartbeat

Very informative thank you.

If I had a bear adapt and I was going to upgrade one thing on the bow to shoot longer distances, I would probably upgrade the rest. Good comparisons Tim, and I think you provided some good consumer advice in this video.

wouldn't mind more of these comparison vids

That Bear Adapt is a great bow for the money , I've set up quite a few of them in my shop and everyone loves them. Great little hunting rig

I almost bought an Adapt, but I shot a PSE Evo EVL. I was pre approved with the boss (wife) . Get what I wanted so I decided to spend some money lol. That Evo is the fastest thing I have ever shot and it makes it very forgiving for my quirks. I can't say how the Adapt was because I couldn't put the PSE down . Great video Tim! If I need a backup bow. I would go Adapt for the bang for your buck. 270 with 450 grain is smoking in my opinion.

Some fine shooting at 55 yards. Myself I can't shoot that many without fatigue affecting my shots. Bravo!!

Definitely make a hoyt vtm review! Especially with that battleworn finish!

good no noncence revue great work 👍

I love a Bear bow. Never had an issue with any of them. I started low price point for all the reasons suggested, as my archery improved, so my did my equipment. I still shot a Fred Bear, I'm still the limiting factor 😅

I got a bear adapt and it really is a great bow for the price. I shot 2.5 inch groups at 40 yards. I upgraded the peep and got a kiss on it and with 350 grain it shoots great. I used to shoot 400 but i wanted some more weight when hunting but either are more then fire.

Interesting video. I've been bowhunting for for 44 yrs, and I've NEVER paid more than $350.00 for a bow. I've taken over 100 deer with what U guys call cheap bows. The difference is that I rarely ever shoot a deer over 15 yards. I've always gotten extremely close. I'm now interested in elk hunting, so I need to increase my distance shooting drastically. I'm grateful for Ur information here about the 2 bows and Ur confidence of the distance of both. Most deer that I've taken were point blank to 15 yds. Only shot a few beyond 25 yds.

@timConnor13 I’ve just recently purchased my first bow and went the used flagship route (Mathews Monster 7.0). It’s too late to change up my setup now but would there be more benefit to go with a rth package like the one on this video? Or will the older bow I purchased last me longer with this newfound journey? I’d like to see a future video where you buy a used flagship and compare it to the Bear Archery. Maybe a Mathews switchback or monster or a Hoyt. Thanks for the great video.

I liked this. I want to see a build where you take a "good bones" bow, and accessorize it till its competing with the Hoyt. So, relatively budget bow, then upgrade accessories to where it gets much more accurate and whatnot, maybe to the point it even competes woth that Hoyt.

Not finished with the video yet Tim but the camera work looks beautiful in the first few minutes 👏 👏

Awesome video bro your editing skills are insane let’s fish soon !

Great content as always.

It’d be way closer if you had the same sight, rest, and stabilizer on the Bear that you have on the Hoyt. Accessories make a big difference.

Keep Hammering!!! 😆 love the videos

It’s the rubber tubing on the peep for me. I just can’t get over it. And there’s no logical reason for it 😂

Great video. I’d like to see you compare that Hoyt to the elite era

I'm 3:00 min into this video right now. I literally tried both of these bows back in April '23 and went with the VTM 34. Please don't make me regret it by the end of the video. Lol! And now 13:00 min into the video, I definitely don't regret it! As you said the Bear is a great introductory bow. Asked my local pro shop guys if more expensive bows are worth it. They didn't try to upsell me; just said they see a lot of guys come in and get an introductory bow and quickly "outgrow" it once they get some good experience in and they end up buying the next bow up the price line. I didn't want to have to buy a second time and upsold myself. It's been fun the last few months shooting targets and tournaments with my boy who has been at it for 3+ yrs already, but we need to get out hunting. Its funny, when I tried the Bear the tube kept pulling free too.

I have a Hoyt Ventum 33 and a PSE Stinger Max. Came to the same conclusion you did. The stinger max is a great bow to about 60 yards set up how I like it (new strings, rest and stabilizers) the Hoyt is just a better shooting experience overall

Good video man. So, I just got an Adapt 1.0 not the plus, this July. I had custom strings put on it, got rid of the tube peep, dumped the TR sight for a CBE Tactic Micro 5 pin, left the TR V biscuit rest on it, put a TR 8” hitman stabilizer on it, and installed the cam stop, so nothin crazy. All still budget friendly upgrades. I have been practicing a lot with it and I can really stack em in there with it. I have a video on my IG shooting at 50 yards getting really a decent group(s) at a target about the size of a playing card, and that was after a lot of shooting that day and it was hot as hell and I was pretty fatigued, I have gotten even better groups at that range with it, arrows touching. I would mot hesitate to go to 60, 70, 80 and beyond with this bow, I, just max out at 50 at home. Anyway, with practice and form you can drop dimes with this bow. Thanks for the vid ✌️🇺🇸

First thing on the Bear to replace is the peep setup.

Cool bow! But I've outshot archers with $1000+ bows with my $300 Parker bow in competition. It all comes down to the archer.

I think a different peep without the peep tube would increase the Bear's speed by a few fps!

As soon as I saw the blue monster, I was hooked.

Gday mate, I own the Bear paradox which is virtually the same as the adapt. I set it up with my target gear, sight, scope, stabilisers, I shot the same score with it as I do the PSE Supra out to 50 metres.

This was more about the shooter than the bow. I have a Bear Encounter either a drop away and a a truglo single pin and it shoots every bit as accurate as my hoyt carbon spyder. The only difference is the speed at 313fps vs. 350fps ibo. I've shot both of these bows in long range 3d courses out to 120 yards. The issue was the shooter in this video, 15" groups at 50 yards is something I've only seen with beginners. Furthermore, the draw cycle on a single cam bow is one of the smoothest cycles you can get, don't hesitate to buy a Bear bow and trick it out.

First timer here. Bought the Bear. A few months ago. Been practicing at least once a week. Had it set up right.. Learned proper technique . Been shooting 10 and 8's pretty consistently out to 40. Haven't shot passed that yet and I've never shot anything else. So i have nothing to compare it too. My rubber has broke twice. Bought my ten year old a Bear composite bow he's doing great out to 20

Great video! What type of quiver are you using?

I was going to get that and then I went wayyy down the rabbit hole and got a PSE Unite for my first compound a few months ago.

I started with an entry level bow, shooting 3-4 times a week.. It was only 1 year before I wanted to upgrade to a flagship bow.. Probably should've just spent more and got a better bow to begin with.. Love the VTM34

That music intro caught me off guard 😅🔥

With the Bear and any bow the longer you shoot it the better you will shoot better. They all have different grip, valley, and hold. To get in to archery they all are a machine that will get you in at all price points.

The 3 pin has a floater you are supposed to use a sight tape for longer range

Interesting comparison. My suspicion would be if that junky brush rest on the Bear went in the trash and a (decent) drop away were installed, it would have been a closer race out past 40.

Cool idea for a video. What are the specs on the bear? Brace? Ata?

Cool video ! Do the upgrades and make a video about it to see the difference from stock.

The bear bow consistently shot a little low to the right. In my opinion the sight adjustment wasn't spot on.

In leaning towards getting the adapt next year can't beat the price for the quality and brand new depending where u can pick up adapt anywhere from 450 to 600 good choice if your not made of money but want a respectable bow shooting an older hoyt now but will hang it up as back up after this year

Great video! Review the Scott Verge release!

Would it be better to be in the top end of one cam on the vtm 34 being a 28.5 DL or the bottom end of another mod on the vtm 31 with the 28.5?

Im a decent shot and was looking for a cheap hunting bow a few years back. Saw a $250 twin cam Diamond @ #65 with a 8"+ brace height amd 29" draw hanging on the used rack at the old bow shop one day. I put on an aluminum Octane rest, pops' old cobra sight and, well... it shoots. It even came with a slide on quiver. Needs new cables now though.

I keep seeing the UV sight on that Hoyt! Sticking with it for the season?👀

Ive been waiting for a video like this! I shoot a v3 and am interested in tbe adapt and how it will stack up!

I must know the intro song !! I’ll check this everyday until I do

Love the video! Let me ask you this, how much “experience” was used in the tests? I mean, I’ve only been shooting archery for 1yr. I don’t think either one of the bows would matter. :)

Great vid, need more of this. How much to make the Bear better? As carbon flagships reach almost $2000 for a bare bow, a Bear bow might be better at some point! Take a flagship carbon bow, add high end string at setup, do the QAD, Tightspot, Stingers with offsets and kick back mounts and an HHA, your over $3000 with a dozen arrows. What do you gain? Real question! $3000 vs $1000 build off. "The best" vs "good enough!"🤔

Shenanigans! Shenanigans! I see those holes appearing and disappearing

I’m a flagship guy. But it would be cool to see if that bow would improve with better accessories.

Bought a Bear Epic Extreme for $300 nearly 20 years ago that still shoots great even out to 60 with the limiting factor being me. With a whisker rest and no stabilizer I can touch arrows fairly consistently. Anything over $1000 feels more like ego flexing your pocketbook than anything else, particularly during a recession with super high inflation that might actually be a depression if the numbers weren’t being finessed.

I shoot 4-5” 50 yard groups with my halon 32. No stabilizers. I’ve had many bows since my 2001 SQ2. When you find the bow you love, I don’t think there’s any reason to switch. I do like to watch videos on the newest stuff though. 🍿

Do the Podium Stabs align flush with a shrewd Atlas vbar?

How well are each bow tuned?

Bought this as my first bow! Didn’t know jack shit about archery let alone hunting. I love it. Definitely can agree with getting a better peep sight. It’s a bang for buck bow.

I heard Tim can do 100 pushups in 20 minutes

I got the bear adapt and I have been accurate out to 50. I can hit at 60-70 but I’m not going to take that shot in the field. The rubber tubing broke on mine as well after about 200 shots but it was after the bow was in my truck in the heat for a while and I chalked it up to the rubber being hot and snapping when stretched. It reattached the tube and it was fine. That said when I got to camp and test fired it opening weekend I noticed that I had some peep twist. So an upgraded peep is definitely a solid upgrade recommendation.

Any idea on archery training cost? not looking to do tournaments, yet, as I have too much priorities to do way before that level. Wonder if there is a way to include a artificial air MPH resistance test? For the gauge you use. For indoor testing I mean.

We need a montage of just poppin' tops.

IBO 70 pound 350 grain arrow. The sight on the bear is good one.

Nice review. Obviously not apples to apples , but you make a great point about get a bow and go shoot it. It’s like golf… get some clubs and go hit them. I do have a question….how many bows have you set up this year? 3-4-5? A guy has to know!😊

I noticed the sound of the bows.. Very quiet, both bows. I think a arrow rest change on the Bear would help the accuracy as well. Very fair testing, IMO. I take it you were more familiar with the Hoyt though... Which would effect accuracy test. Again, my opinion.

A better comparison would have been to buy a bare Bear bow, instead of the package, so you can use the same accessories on it that you have on the Hoyt. That Trophy Ridge whisker biscuit is not nearly as accurate as a dropaway rest, especially if you have arrows with helical fletches. And, as we recently found out, Tim wasn't centering the pins (on the multi-pin sight) in the center of the peep, instead of maintaining peep-to-sight housing alignment. This causes a lot of variation in the shots, because you can never put the pin in the center of the peep perfectly the same way every time. I just got a Whitetail Maxx 8 days ago (MSRP is $600 bow-only). First thing I noticed out of the box was the top limb bolt Allen key hole was stripped at the surface. Luckily, the hole is pretty deep and I was able to back out the draw weight. Second thing was when I set it to my drawlength and drew it back, and heard/felt a click. The bottom cam was leaning away from the cable that the drawstop peg hits. Only half the diameter of the cable was contacting the stop, so the stop would slide past the cable making the click. I fixed the factory screw-up by moving some of the cam shims so that the bow actually tuned. Furthermore, the shims between the top and bottom cams weren't even the same. I ended up making the left side shim thickness at both cams 7/32", and moved the extra shims to the right side of the cams. This made the string plumb with the riser; perfectly set the arrow centershot exactly at 7/8" parallel to the riser, and corrected the bottom cam lean so the drawstop peg made full contact with the cable. The bow is tuned and shooting bullethioles! I cut off the 4 string grubs on my string and installed real brass speed nocks with shrink tubing. I copied the pattern from my Bowtech RPM 360. This resulted in 50% less felt vibration and noise. Also increased arrow speed by a few FPS, as the grubs were heavy and slowed down the string. The Whitetail Maxx is shooting 385 grain Easton Axis arrows at 27" and 64# at 278 FPS. The Whitetail Maxx is also faster than my Bowtech Solution SS that's shooting a 360 grain arrow at 27" and 71# at 271 FPS on the Comfort setting.

Dammit now Im curious and want to tinker! Is it actually the bow or the accessories? Would a drop away tighten up the groups? Stabs? Thanks for taking the time to do this. I feel like the VTM didnt get the love it deserves this year. it's fast as hell and is a shooter. I want one!

In the chrono you didn't see if the pull lb was set at the same poundage for both bows! You could see the second bow was heavier draw.

Is the hoyt shooting a factory or aftermarket string? Either way, 299fps with 455gr arrow and 29" draw is blazing compared to what it's rated at.

I think if that bear drop away rest and a tubeless peep you’d get some speed out of it, not as fast as the Hoyt but close. I’ve gone away from the yolk/ buds cable cam system to the newer binary cams. Most of the bear bows now have those, and that yolk constantly gets out of tune, that’s what keeps me away from some of the cheaper bows now. With binary cams, I’ve had bows hold perfect timing and tune for a year.

The wisker biscuit is no good you'll need to change it before you need to buy your second dozen arrows. I have QAD hunter. Also needed to change out the quiver for a more centered look on the bow and tighter fit for 5 and 4mm arrows. Oh, you'll also definitely need to change strings. The factory one ware out fast .After that, this thing is solid. You can see mine in my shorts.

Awesome content as always what was the draw poundage on Bear Adapt

The concept of getting people to get what they can afford to get out is great. I also read the bear was tuned but I’d admit I don’t think to the level the Hoyt is. I think a better video would be to have a 6 month in bear adapt owner and you go head to head. Just my humble opinion

I own a PSE StingerX and a Bowtech Fanatic set up for target. Each with their own arrows. The Bowtech is hardwork to get a decent score. A bad day with the Bowtech I might as well give up. The PSE just fits me better. I get decent scores even on a bad day. Ive also Robin Hooded loads of arrows with the PSE. Never managed it with the Bowtech. Ive learnt... Its not how much you spend its how comfortable you are.

Is that the Adapt + or standard Adapt? Looks like the upgraded +. Either way, I get that you were shooting the Bear as it comes. But, as you did mention that you would put a better stabilizer on it, and add a back bar, it would have been nice if you had swapped those parts from the Hoyt to the Bear so we were more closely comparing the bows rather than the added accessories. Just curious of how well a "dressed up" Adapt would do against a $$$$ premium bow setup.

The bow you shoot the best is the best bow. Have strings and cables that hold a tune and invest in a good rest I'd say are your two best purchases. Engineering is well enough caught up these days across the board of manufacturerers

My first bow was a BEAR Divergent EKO and its still a bow I hunt with to this day (and the bow Im teachinf my step-son to shoot on) if Im going to be in super tight brushy terrain up here in N.Idaho. I'd take a BEAR over anything Hoyt any day of the week and their newer flagship bows are even better. I love my V3X 33 but considering I'm into that bow over $5K and I believe Im in less then $1000 to the BEAR even with a Hamskea and a Dual-trac on it... there isnt $4K plus of performance difference.

😎ool vid! I guess the difference is like driving a hoopdy versus a well tuned sports car. They both get you where your headed but one just feels better all around! It’s kinda what you can afford. Whatever, just do it! Must be nice, to be able to shoot in decent weather! It’s still hot and miserable here in the Deep South! Next time, add the upgrades you spoke of as someone might do later after a budget purchase, tune it to Josh’s standards and then compare them again. Then someone with limited funds could decide from there! Maybe MFJJ (Bear) vs Timbo (Hoyt)?!?!