I have been shooting a bow for 12 years. I have owned bows from Diamond, Matthews, Elite, and Hoyt. I have also demo shot every bow I could get my hands on over the past few years. Last fall as I contemplated changing arrows for Sika and whitetail deer, I decided to buy a second bow so I could have one bow for smaller game and another for larger big game such as elk. As the 2018 models started to filter in, I shot as many as I could. While I currently shoot left handed after my eye dominance switched after LASIK last year, I shot right handed for my other 11 years of being an archer. This is beneficial for me as I can try most bows right handed and know what feels right. My preference in bows is a smooth draw and I look for speed when I can get it. I know these two don’t typically go hand in hand but a girl can wish. After trying all these bows, I settled on the Hoyt Carbon RX-1.
I went with the standard RX-1 for the extra speed, typically I would choose the longer axle to axle bow but being of smaller stature, I don’t “need” the longer length to be more forgiving.
I also chose the shorter bow because I hike all over the place when hunting, maybe I’ll catch this shorter bow on less branches. As you can see, the grip on this bow is lowered giving it a lower center of gravity, this is great for carrying your bow everywhere. This grip symmetry in relation to the rest of the bow also makes it one of the most solid holding bows I have ever shot. My sight picture has improved so much with this bow, I have decided to go to using two different sights for hunting instead of two different bows. The only thing I don’t like about this bow is the slimmer profile grip and I have noticed more hand sweat when shooting indoors with the composite vs. wood grips. I am a little worried about sweaty days in blinds with this. I see myself buying an aftermarket grip.
With the RX-1, Hoyt introduced the Zero-Torque (ZT) Hyper Cam system that is designed to eliminate cam lean, making tuning more efficient. My first arrow out of this bow was a bullet hole. The draw is smooth, I find it a little harder to start the draw cycle than my ProDefiant34 but that is worth the difference in speed and Kinetic energy. I did a comparison of a few different arrows between my two bows and the RX-1 was approximately 5 FPS faster for each arrow weight, this translates into about 2 foot pounds of kinetic energy with each arrow type. What does this mean in the real world? I’ve had to invest in arrow lube for target archery. I’m not sure why because I shoot with guys with way more kinetic energy but with the flat trajectory of these arrows, my penetration, measured incidentally on 3D targets, makes my arrows pretty near the hardest to pull out of the target.
After hunting whitetail deer in Pennsylvania the last week of December last year and the agony of holding a frozen bow, I wanted to check out the difference using a carbon bow makes. Carbon exhibits less heat transfer than aluminum. I honestly never thought it mattered that much before until I actually used it. The morning after I got my bow, I drove up to Wyoming with some friends to go to a shoot, normally after the 2 hour drive in the bed of the truck, I’d have to wait while my bow warmed up when we got to the shoot, but it was already warm. I mentioned it but didn’t really think about the difference totally until I went to a snowshoe shoot with one of my friends. I was snowshoeing around with my gloves off in the 30-degree Colorado weather, never thinking about my bow until my friend handed me her aluminum riser bow, I couldn’t believe how cold it was. That was when I knew. I just want to apologize to everyone I ever told it doesn’t make that much of a difference, because it does. That being said, if you just day hunt or hunt in the early fall, it might not make that much difference to you. I can’t wait to try it out backcountry hunting this year.
The RX-1 also comes with a soft bow case:
This is just a bonus with all the great features of this bow. Overall, I am pleased with this bow and am looking forward to hunting with it.
Here is my overall impression.
Pros:
- Smooth draw with speed
- Lowered grip geometry leading to excellent holding and carrying ease
- Easy to tune
- Carbon riser with low heat transfer
Cons:
- Slimmer Grip
And my video review:
