# Ladies bows



## Reelrydor (Jan 5, 2010)

Starting out? Try a chaos.


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## Stubby'smom (Mar 20, 2010)

40lb heartbreaker


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## bow up (Sep 2, 2010)

Mission Craze , lots of adjustability .


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## Alpha Burnt (Sep 12, 2005)

IF you guys would happen to know the IBO listed or real world speeds, that would be great. Need a blend of speed and forgiveness for unknown yardages and such. Thanks in advance.


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## Alpha Burnt (Sep 12, 2005)

Bump to the top! C'mon ladies, give me some opinions- I know we have a lot of female shooters out there.


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## XForce Girl (Feb 14, 2008)

Stubby'smom said:


> 40lb heartbreaker


Yes, the Heartbreaker, best short draw ladies bow there is.


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## bonecollector66 (Mar 2, 2011)

x3 heartbreaker


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## asorensen10 (Jan 8, 2012)

I just got a Diamond razors edge for Christmas and I love it!! Used it for the first time today, from 30 yards my cluster was only 6 inches apart. (This is my very first day ever shooting a bow I'm totally new to archery) my dl is 25 and I was only pulling back 35 pounds. (I also got flo pink strings from vaportrail and love them)


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## Onewldcat (Dec 25, 2008)

If you want performance, go with a Strother Allure or Hope, both faster than the Heartbreak at 40 lbs 24" draw and speed is the name of the game for 3-D and hunting when it comes to low poundage and draw lengths. Ask my wife at 5' 110 lbs, Melissa Wilson of Open Season TV.


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## JimmyP (Feb 11, 2006)

prestige


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## colo_dually (Oct 11, 2011)

My wife shot and passed on the Mathews Jewel, Diamond Razor Edge, Mission Craze, and Bear Apprentice. Each really didn't appeal to her, either in looks, weight, or how they shot.

She ended up with a Bear Homewrecker, with 50# limbs. Which has proven to her to be a great bow to get her into the sport. Its forgiving, and shoots well for her 24.5" DL (scored a 214/320 in her first indoor 3D league last week). The only complaint she has, is she will be peaking that 50# draw by summer, and is required to shoot a heavier bow for big game (Elk, Moose, in her home state), so we'll be looking at the Bear Siren when she's ready to upgrade. The Bears are worth the time to at least check out, we both feel they are the smoother/quieter bows on the market right now.


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## misshuntressKT3 (Jan 30, 2012)

IF you love matthew, Go with the MISSION CRAZE for a starter women no women first starting out should start with the jewel or heartbreaker she needs to get her form and just a feel for the bow first and the CRAZE is perfect its small and light and super ajustable it was my first bow i know have the jewel and love it. My craze is now my bowfishing bow :grin:


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## spankustang (Sep 2, 2010)

You should really check into the PSE Stiletto. Incredible bow. My wife loves it, and groups arrows like crazy.
She shoots it at 25.5 draw length, 32# draw weight. It shoots her 240 grain arrow 251fps. That equals around a 350+ ibo speed. Its a nice bow.


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## spotshot (Jan 18, 2005)

anyone try the Quest Torch?


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## alpinehottie (Jul 5, 2009)

I started out with the Diamon Edge now I have a Bowtech Heartbreaker and I will never shoot anything else! The homewrecker is nice also!


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## cgarn4276 (Sep 10, 2011)

my daughter started with a Quest Torch, it is a very good bow, her draw was 26", and 40 lbs. Worked great for her, Check them out!


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## Kimberley (Jan 29, 2011)

The New Breed Archery line up is fantastic for the Shorter Draw individual being one myself.
www.newbreedarchery.com


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## Cuteincamo (Feb 2, 2012)

I’m currently shooting a Parker sidekick extreme. It’s a nice bow with good adjustability. A couple of the gals I shoot with at the range shoot the Matthews Jewel and absolutely love them. I suggest if you have a pro shop to try some bows out. Its hard to know what you will like without trying out a couple of different bows.


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## Alpha Burnt (Sep 12, 2005)

After much debate- I went with the Bear Apprentice 2. I am hoping I made the right decision. Price had a lot to do with it. That is usually not a good thing but they looked like a sound bow with good features.


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## jonell (Feb 14, 2012)

My first new bow was the Mathews Passion. It was a great bow for hunting and 3-d. I sold it to fund the purchase of a Helim. While waiting my local shop loaned me a Mission Craze. The Craze is a good bow, especially if you are target shooting and don't want the expense of a Passion or Jewel. The Passion and Jewel are light weight and both shoot extremely well. I went with the Helim for 3-d shooting. 

Now shooting a left-handed Helim 26" draw 45 lb.


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## lblades (Sep 26, 2011)

Passion, Shot a few bows before I bought mine, Owned a Diamond Razor Edge before this one and that felt like a Child's Toy Compared to this bow. Tried a Parker, craze, bear apprentice all of them, nothing stood out until I bought my Passion. It's Fast, Hits Hard, and Very Accurate! Feels Good in the Draw and Release. My Razor Edge would wear my arm out, constantly lost alignment, 40# on my Razor edge feels like 50# on my Passion. Much Smoother Draw, Bigger Price Tag but Worth Every Penny! For me it was very frustrating having a cheaper bow as my first bow, I could not pattern well with the Razor Edge, I knew it wasnt me, every time we took it in we had to have it adjusted because its out of time. I just about gave up on bow hunting because of it, but once I tried the Passion I was in love. I feel like I have a big girl Bow now. =) Really enjoy shooting this bow, Very light weight I havent checked the specs but much lighter than My Razor Edge For sure!


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## Reelrydor (Jan 5, 2010)

Same with the chaos, sidekick, ice, then go shoot a stiletto,jewel, or heartbreaker, they are big girl bows! I would look at the bowmadness too, alot of adustability. The jewel, and I think the heartbreaker are draw length specific bows, no adjustability. The stiletto has alot.


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## bow up (Sep 2, 2010)

The Heartbreaker is an awesome bow with a draw length adjustability of 22 1/2 - 27.


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## BowSexy (Feb 26, 2012)

I just got a Diamond Edge and so far so good... I think it is a great starter bow for women....


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## kevoswifey (Feb 14, 2012)

I would not suggest a HeartBreaker. It has extra hard cams. I was able to pull 48 pounds on my bow, but with the Heartbreaker I could only pull 41. It has a super rough draw cycle, and a very shallow valley. I ordered an Athens Accomplice 34. It is super smooth, has a great back wall and is a pleasure to shoot.


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## kevoswifey (Feb 14, 2012)

By the way, all Athens bows other than the Protege are draw specific cams. The Heartbreaker is adjustable draw length. But I still don't suggest the Heartbreaker as a first bow.


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## Diamondgirl27 (Mar 26, 2009)

I also shoot a Athens I pull 48 lbs and get 271 I have a 25.5 dl
I also have a razors edge not as fast but a good starter bow.


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## bowtech2006 (Apr 1, 2006)

My wife shoots a 2010 bowtech admiral flex, with 30-40lbs limbs, 24-30" draw length.
Its a great shooting bow! !


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## Reelrydor (Jan 5, 2010)

Stiletto is smooth/fast! It continues to impress me everytime I shoot it! Pse hit the mark for ladies on this one, and like $300 cheaper than the jewel, and the warranty stays! I wanted to try the heartbreaker, but my shoulders are too shot for the harsher draw cycle. I have always been happy with my PSE's.


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## Rod Savini (Nov 23, 2011)

If a couple are youth then go with the craze, razor edge or chaos is a great bow. Now for someone who is older the stiletto gets awesome speed if that is the bow. Really IMO the razor edge is a great bow. Really the best would be to go and have a bunch of short draw length bows and have them try if you want that way. If you want to go in blind, go with the razor edge.


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## kwood (Oct 4, 2011)

I started out with an Alpine Micro (Older Dual-Cam, Youth Bow)
For the $150 I paid for it all Ready to Hunt off of a kid on CL, I really can't complain. 

But if you have the cash to spend --- a quality women's bow is well worth it. Particularly if she's strong for her size. 

Unfortunately, the design of the draw modules made the DL progressive - so that in order to get more DW, I had to increase my DL. This feature, although fine for a growing 12 yr old, was very limiting for me. I was able to pull >50#, but at 24" I maxed out at 42#, at 24.5 max = 45#, etc. 

Point being, check the max DW for the bow AT HER DL if you go with one of those super-adjustable bows. Some brochures come w/ a chart for this.

Now on to the recommendations: 

First (or second) Women's & Short Draw Bows with BH of ~7" that come in pretty much any DW:

Current Models
Bowtech Heartbreaker/Assassin SD 
Hoyt anything Vicxen pkg
Hoyt Rampage
Hoyt Prohawk 
Bear Siren (BH=6.75")

Discontinued Models
Bowtech Equalizer
Mathews DXT
Mathews Hyperlite
Bowtech Tribute (I think came short enough?)
Bowtech Tech29 (min = 24")

"First" Bows:
For strictly a "First" bow I would go with something longer ATA, more traditional, more along the lines of the Mathews Ignition or Bowtech Stalker, or others. They are not that fast, but they are cheap, VERY smooth pulling and nice quality. IF you find a good used one that has been well taken care of it will be a nice introduction to the sport and then you can sell it w/o losing $$. 

I currently shoot a Bowtech Assassin SD 60# (same as Heartbreaker). Shop turned it all the way down to 45# when first got it and was recovering from surgery. So the 50# option probably goes close to 35#, etc and sizing it that way would be fine if you expect her DW to increase substantially in the near future.

Re: AssassinSD/Heartbreaker "Hard cams": 
True, well, sort of. This is what makes the bow as fast as it is for a SD bow with a forgiving 7" brace height (many SD/Women's bows have smoother but slower cams and achieve similar speeds by cutting the BH to 6" .

The "harshness" you are feeling is because the cam setting and draw cycle is factory set to the 'harshest' setting out of the box. There is a quick/easy adjustment any proshop can make to make it smoother and less jumpy. You will be surprised how smoothly it pulls!

The PSE stiletto is VERY fast, it looks nice but I have yet to shoot it. Because the extra FPS it produces comes at the expense of forgiveness in the Brace Height I went with the Bowtech. I was happy with the Assassin SD - it was quiet and fast and felt GREAT in my hand, so that's what I went with. 

Happy Shopping!


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## MAMA BigDog (Apr 27, 2011)

I just did a search from what others suggested:
Diamond Razor Edge 308fps 30-60#s and I'm a 24-25" DL and it suited me by being very flexible, looking to upgrade even though its not needed.
Matthews Jewel 22-29#DL 325fps and starts @ 40#
Matthews Conquest Apex 7 23-30.5" DL 320 fps 40#
PSE Stiletto 23-27 1/2" DL 318-310 fps starts @ 40#
Hoyt Carbon Element 24.5-26"DL 330 fps & starts @40#
Athens Accomplice 25-30" DL 330fps & 40-70#
Bowtech Equalizer 24-27.5" DL 300-308fps 40#
Some of those may have go lower in #s but I wrote down what I was looking for which is 4 beginning @ 40#s.
Hope this helps.


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## kevoswifey (Feb 14, 2012)

The Athens is a dual cam bow, just like the Heartbreaker. I have found the Accomplice to be much smoother and more forgiving, while still being just as fast as the Heartbreaker. I know tons of women that shoot the Heartbreaker and love it - it just wasn't the right bow for me.


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## athenslady35 (Aug 15, 2010)

I shoot a custom Bonehead Athens Ibex 24.5" DL at 42# & get 234 FPS with my target arrows. Guys at the shop were amazed becasue they said with my DL and weight I'd never get over 200. I had a Mission Menace before that and hated it. Could never get a good group or comfortable. 
There was no let off to it. I can still go 2 more turns on the Ibex and get it under 30# and turned all the way down its 54# on 40-50# limbs. I also have a Web Accomplice 34 I'm setting up for targets so my Ibex can be dedicated for hunting. Athens can and will do just about anything you can imagine as far as customization and there is a Lifetime warranty on the bows regardless if you are first or 15th owner. The cams are what makes it for me. So smooth & I can hold both my bows back all day long. Great valley. You are already ahead of the game because you know DL and Athens is true to DL. I have my 13 year old son shooting my orange fade 34 Accomplice and yes, it can be a pain to swap cams or limbs & get it right but you can always find someone to swap cams & usually limbs with and when you get it right, its SO worth it.


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## tpcowfish (Aug 11, 2008)

If you can try an Athen's , I think you will be sold, Have not met anyone who shot one, that wasn't impressed, There quality ,and customer service is awesome, Good luck,


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