The Hoyt Z1S has to be the most underrated or under appreciated compound bow right now. Or maybe the best kept secret? Also not near the top end of price either. I don’t know how to call it. But that is what the owner of our local pro shop shoots and he can shoot anything he wants. I have shot his bow, it is something special. It is set at 70 pounds, 29.5” and is only about 25 fps behind my 80 pound Xpedite set at 30”. And you know what a speed demon the PSE Xpedite NXT is.

But his bow is whisper quiet. Mine had that tuning fork sound after the shot, until I put tightspot quiver on there dampened it somehow. But that Z1S is a whisper quiet speed demon.

It has it’s own cam, too. Most other speed bows just have the flagship cam and a shorter brace height, but the Z1S was engineered from scratch a speed bow. And it still has a 6” brace height, too.

It’s the best you can get.

Age will change your preferences. I used to love the challenge of putting the smack down on a muley with a 55 lb. Ben Pearson recurve; 48 years ago. When cams & let off came into play, it allowed for less skill quite honestly. It extended my range, and allowed me to hold that draw if target angle changed due to movement.
Now I’m all about silence and let off. Skill and knowledge to be inside 30 yards remains to be the factor to success.
The day I go hunting elephants, I’ll look for something more.

I would love to one day get a mule deer with my recurve. That is gonna be some feat I reckon.

I’m not skilled enough yet to take a 30 yard shot with a recurve. Honestly I’m comfortable at about half that….I’ve passed shots on deer at 20 yards.

The compound bow certainly extends your range, and it does take less familiarity than a traditional bow ( call it skill if you like, I’ll say there is a much less of a learning curve) but archery by nature is a shorter range game. It’s just that trad bows are very short range game.

I agree that we've hit the apex for now. Limb material will likely be the next advancement. It's interesting to look back at trends over the years. When I got started in archery in the late 80's, the only way to get close to 300 fps was with an overdraw and shorter, lighter arrows. Once the IBO speeds started getting to 300, the single cam bows became popular for the smoother draw cycle and not worrying about the cams getting out of tune. At some point, speed became the primary factor again and single cam bows pretty much disappeared. I think someone is going to have to find a limb material that creates more speed without increasing draw weight to move forward anymore with speed.

Txtrophy, which elite do you shoot? I have heard good things about the omnia and era and the new one for 2024 the ethos.

They are touted as the smoothest shooting bows

I shoot the Enkore. There is a new one “Kairos” looks to be about what an updated Enkore would be.

Single cam smooth and the speed is there.

Best shooting bow I’ve shot

been a good read folks. Enjoyed the information presented as I have 12 year old Mathews Z7 and was thinking about upgrading after the season was over. Been shooting 60# max limbs sine 1997. Next bow will be 60# or maybe 55#. Smooth draw and quietness are key for me.