I have been shooting bows since I was a kid. Bought my first bow in 1984......a Bear Whitetail Hunter (still have the old girl). Got out of it for a while, and bought a new bow in 2007. I was at first overwhelmed with how far the sport had come, but gradually caught up a bit. I have noticed in the last couple years that we seem to have hit a ceiling as far as arrow speed and bow design advancement (or it seems to me). I am satisfied with my bow from 2007 and don't see much reason to upgrade. Have we hit a plateau until there is a "next great advancement" in bows? Am I totally wrong? I know there is always the latest and greatest that some guys have to buy, but for me, the average shooter/hunter, I am having trouble justifying a new 600 dollar and up bow for another 20+ FPS.

Just spit balling. Any thoughts?

Doc

The bow industry gained about 70 FPS or so from around 2000 to 2008, going from a then astounding 300 FPS to the current 370 or so. While the speeds have leveled off somewhat over the last few years, manufacturers have been able to make productive changes to their bows while still maintaining their peak speeds. Take BowTech for example. Their low brace height 2008 82nd Airborne had a rating of 350 FPS, while their center-pivot bows were slower. Today, the have managed to get the same speed out of the superior center-pivot design and increased brace height. We may not break 400 FPS for some time, but we will see more efficient, quiet bows catching up with the current top speeds.

I guess I was thinking that also. Maybe they are concentrating more on weight reduction and other areas than just speed.

Doc

mid 50's to mid 60's are the 80-90 pound range twenty years ago. Poundage is going down while still retaining speed. Now we just laugh at people with 80+ limbs unless there is a reason shooting it.

If you're shooting at 5 grains of arrow weight per pound of draw weight, it won't matter if you're shooting 60, 70, 80, etc.

300 grain arrow at 60 pounds = 350 grains at 70 pounds = 400 grains at 80 pounds.

The speed and energy delivered by modern cams makes those heavy draw weights obsolete.

Nope, and its highly unlikely we ever will. Sound travels through air at approx 1100 fps

Why? When does it stop

just thinking that maybe that iphone holder on the bow could be for video or camera?

I think we have trouble thinking about where technology is headed. I remember in the early-mid 90s saying to a friend "do you think we will ever be able to make cds like we do tapes?" his response was "nooooooo way" not more then 5 years later everyone had a cdr in their home computer. where bow technology is going is somewhere great and itll be awesome to see. we may never hit that 400fps level (I think we will eventually) but we might have bows so quite the deer or targets never hear it coming.

That's as outdated as your trad. equipment. This is the Iphone mount you really want.
http://www.firenock.com/main.php?page=iBowSight
Seriously though, You should just enjoy what you have and not try to keep up with the Jones. I shoot a 5 year old bow, I bought it then lost my hunting ground. I am just now getting back into it and shoot a lot. I don't need to match others stuff.

In order for that to happen, the arrow would have to be traveling at close to the speed of sound. That simply isn't going to happen, as physics will limit that. The other thing to keep in mind is that the heavier your arrow, the quieter your bow will be. That will help mitigate jumping the string more than higher speed will. What the heavier draw weight will enable you to do is shoot a heavier arrow, but the heavier draw weight also means more energy transmitted as sound. A 70# bow of today will kill any animal on this continent. Unless you're hunting dangerous game in Africa, 80# is just extra wear & tear on your shoulders.

That RKT cam better be miles beyond whatever is on their CRX32 and Rampage XT, because those bow about tore my shoulder ... at 60#. The cams on my Maitland Retribution are smoother than any other hybrid or binary cam system I've tried (and they've been out since 2011). So far my bow has an IBO of 335fps and meets it (chrono'd a 416gr arrow at 284fps, 70#, 27.5" DL with peep & loop). I see no need to leave my already smoooooooth cams for other smooth cams that are slower. Hoyt doesn't have the corner on smooth "speed" cams –– in fact they're latecomers, and still the majority of bows sold are 60# bows which kill everything in North America.