By Christian Schauf
I shot Hoyt’s Ventum Pro 33 all summer. Three Total Archery Challenge events, two Texas axis deer hunts, a week-long safari in Hawaii, and dozens of range days. By the end of summer I had 10 kills with it.
Dialed.
Yet every single time I walked into an archery shop, I’d find myself in the new bow aisle, checking for Hoyt’s new RX-7 in my size. I lusted after that carbon riser in a nonsensical way. I poured over reviews, looking for a reason worthy of an upgrade that I just couldn’t find. Still, the draw wouldn’t go away.
I finally shot a RX-7 Ultra and it fucked me up. I couldn’t really put my finger on one specific thing, but I knew it would be my next bow. No question.
Then my truck was broken into a week before bow season, and my Ventum Pro fell into the hands of whoever needed their next hit more than they thought I needed my bow.
While I was not excited about replacing a bow I loved and shot well, I quickly sourced a left-handed buckskin RX-7 Ultra with an 80 lb. draw weight.
I’ve now put 1,000 arrows through the bow and I have a few impressions:
Weight: At 3.9 lbs., it’s extremely light. While accessories quickly up its weight, it remains lighter than most, and that’s good for backcountry mountain hunts. But let’s face, 5 ounces will hardly make or break a hunt.
Temperature: Aluminum definitely gets colder than carbon-fiber. Cold bows creak more, and you better wear gloves if you’re somewhere that’s really cold, and you better practice with the bow while wearing those gloves. Advantage: RX-7, but only if you’re hunting a ton in colder temps. If not, it’s also a non-issue.
Riser Length: Despite the lies your wife tells you, an inch makes a difference. There are definite arrow speed advantages and disadvantages to each riser, based on your draw length. The Ventum comes in 30 and 33; the RX-7 in 30 and 34 (Ultra). That said, I wasn’t given enough words to explain in this article, so ask your local pro before you buy. This is an important consideration and one that is largely personal.
Feel: While the differences may appear subtle and the costs are not, there is an unmistakable difference between carbon and aluminum.
Carbon flexes differently; it smooths things out. It’s somehow forgiving in a way aluminum is not. And there’s a reason carbon-fiber is the material of choice in hyper-cars, high-end race bikes, and Skunk Works’ stealth fighters. It’s the pinnacle of innovation and not only functions differently, it says something. Hell, I paid a few thousand bucks for the carbon trim package in my Raptor, so I may be biased, but I’ve never regretted it for a second.
The RX-7 gets all of these perks. I draw 80 lbs. and it never crosses my mind that it’s 10 lbs. more than my last bow. The backwall is firm yet not abrupt. It is lighter. There is zero hand shock. The lines are sexy. It’s just … carbon, man.
In the words of Ferris Bueller, one of the greatest thinkers of our generation: “It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up.”
Around $1850
PROS:
Firm back wall without being abrupt, hyper-dead in hand, smooth draw cycle, Picatinny sight attachment, side stabilizer attachment
CONS: expensive as hell
