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A few weeks back, we wrote how Lancaster Archery was practically giving away Bowtech’s Carbon One and Carbon One X compound hunting bows with a half-off deal. Well, that deal is back on the table, as you can currently save $800 on both bows, giving you one of the best flagship carbon hunting bows for a fraction of the competition just in time to get it ready for hunting season. All you need to do is pick which one you fancy more.
Here’s what we had to say about the Bowtech Carbon One when Outdoor Life tested it in the real world.
“We were critical of the 2022 Bowtech SR350 at last year’s test because on the “performance setting” the draw cycle was no fun to shoot. But redemption has never felt so smooth.
Most bows feel like rolling a boulder down a hill. It’s hard to get them started, but then it gets easier once things are moving. The Bowtech Carbon One is like rolling a marble across a glass table. It’s just insanely smooth and easy to draw the whole way back. It was the smoothest-drawing bow of our test.
The Carbon One is also one of the most feature-rich compound bows in this year’s test. The signature Bowtech feature is the DeadLock cam, which allows you to adjust the cam left and right with nothing more than an Allen wrench.
It also has a modular grip, so if you like a higher wrist grip, you can add on a different grip module for a higher angle. The FlipDisc on the cam allows you to choose a “performance” or “comfort” setting for either a faster bow or an easier to draw bow. It also has a flexible cable guard, dovetail rest mounting, vibration dampeners, and well-designed limb pockets. Of course it’s a carbon bow too.
Fellow archery nerds will appreciate the ease of tuning you get with the DeadLock system. And Bowtech includes nice touches like hardened stainless steel mod screws. It’s so easy to strip standard, non-hardened screws; the fact that Bowtech thought about that detail and includes stainless screws tells us Bowtech is in touch with the needs of bow mechanics.
The Carbon One tied the Mathews Phase 4 in the accuracy testing with a 3.5-inch group average, the second smallest group average in the field. The wide limb stance, smooth draw, and really nice wall made the bow easy to shoot well. On the release, the bow had a little thump to it, but it wasn’t bad compared to carbon bows we’ve shot in the past. But we felt it was more than the Mach 34 and Era. Again the objective accelerometer data confirmed what we noticed while shooting. The Carbon One had a 28.9 m/s2 impulse which was double that of the Era and little more than the Mach 34’s 24.7 m/s2 impulse.
The grip, however, was not our favorite. We found it too slick and too thin, and the rounded edges make it hard to feel exactly where you’re putting pressure. If we were to buy a Carbon One, we’d wrap the grip with hockey tape for traction.
Bowtech did a great job building a smooth drawing bow, but it’s a carbon bow that weighs the same as the CP30, an aluminum bow of equal length. So, you’re not getting the weight benefit that a carbon bow should offer.
But, if you bowhunt from a treestand in frigid temperatures or have to draw while being stared down by an elk, an easy-drawing bow like the Carbon One is a good option. It’s also one of the best bows for the home bow mechanic.
Read the full article here
