I'm looking hard at the Hoyt Katera LT and the Bear Truth 2.

Anyone have either of these?  Thoughts, comments?

I like the Katera, but the X-Force is in a league of it's own.

I shoot the X-Force TS. It's the best bow I've ever owned. Fast, quiet, and light.

Thanks, I just looked at the X Force and like the Dream Season due to the larger brace height.

Something else to consider now...

Quoted: Thanks, I just looked at the X Force and like the Dream Season due to the larger brace height. Something else to consider now...

I think the Dream Season, and the TS both have 7" brace height.

All of the X-Force models are great. I would advise the longer ATA of the standard, or Dream Season, rather than the TS, or SS. The longer ATA will be more forgiving if you are a new shooter.

Most of the Major manufactures put out a great bow in their mid to upper lines. I would suggest going to a few different pro shops and shooting multiple bows. If you buy a lower line bow you will end up getting tired of it faster and have to upgrade sooner. It is sort of like not quite being able to afford that AR15 and buying a Mini-14 to hold you over. It is a nice gun but not in the same class for accuracy and shoot ability.


I myself like the Bowtech line a lot and own two, a Guardian and a Constitution. My Guardian is one smooth shooting hunting bow and my constitution in my comp. bow.

Hoyt has some of the best service in the industry, but most of the other have very good service also.

Some people prefer single cam bow for a more even draw cycle, some like myself prefer Binary cam for easy tuning (and generally more speed).

Quoted: Quoted: I would suggest going to a few different pro shops and shooting multiple bows. If you buy a lower line bow you will end up getting tired of it faster and have to upgrade sooner. It is sort of like not quite being able to afford that AR15 and buying a Mini-14 to hold you over. It is a nice gun but not in the same class for accuracy and shoot ability. I definetely agree with this. I just got into archery last December and I've already bought three bows. I upgraded each time. I wish I had just spent the money and bought the Hoyt right off the bat.

I have been bow shooting and hunting for about 21 years, I agree that a Pro-Shop is best when starting out.

My last bow purchase was 1994, a Hoyt Super-Star with "fast-flight" limbs.  With a 25" arrow (2213), 65 lb. pull,  and a 100 grain field tip, I'm getting 300+ FPS.  The bow is really fast but heavy and on the loud side.  But as you can see, she has served me VERY WELL for a long time.

I have taken many deer with the bow, just made the mistake of looking at the new bows and got that itch that needs to be scratched...

I won't get rid of my bow, just want to get another one, kind of like my AR additction I guess.

It's looking like the Hoyt Katera is going to be it.

Quoted: Quoted: My last bow purchase was 1994, a Hoyt Super-Star with "fast-flight" limbs.  With a 25" arrow (2213), 65 lb. pull,  and a 100 grain field tip, I'm getting 300+ FPS.  The bow is really fast but heavy and on the loud side.  But as you can see, she has served me VERY WELL for a long time. I have taken many deer with the bow, just made the mistake of looking at the new bows and got that itch that needs to be scratched... I won't get rid of my bow, just want to get another one, kind of like my AR addiction I guess. It's looking like the Hoyt Katera is going to be it. Did you buy one yet? My last bow purchase before this year was in 2000. Even in just 8 year's time, bows have changed phenomenally. I ended up buying a Bowtech 82nd Airborne, and should have it finally set up sometime in the next week or so, after it has sat new in its box 6 months now! I normally shoot 61#, but this bow will top 300 FPS at 28" draw and 50#. I'll probably set it up at 52# for ease of hunting, and use a 26" V-Force arrow with 100-grain 2-blade Rage broadhead. I've played around with it somewhat (even though the windage and elevation of the rest isn't set yet), and it is smoking fast.

After careful consideration, and after looking high and low, I still have not made a purchase....

Seems for every good review I find of either bow, I find a bad one.  I was VERY close to buying a used Katera until the seller told me the only reason he was selling it was it has a very mushy wall.  I hate a bow that does not have a shallow and defined wall.  My current Hoyt has a very defined wall with almost no over travel.

So days have turned into weeks and I am losing the excitement over picking one over the other.  At this point, and after looking at the numbers, I won't gain anything over my current Hoyt.

I recently bought a new Glock 35 in OD and now my "itch" seems to be for a Glock 22 in OD... what a bitch .

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: My last bow purchase was 1994, a Hoyt Super-Star with "fast-flight" limbs.  With a 25" arrow (2213), 65 lb. pull,  and a 100 grain field tip, I'm getting 300+ FPS.  The bow is really fast but heavy and on the loud side.  But as you can see, she has served me VERY WELL for a long time. I have taken many deer with the bow, just made the mistake of looking at the new bows and got that itch that needs to be scratched... I won't get rid of my bow, just want to get another one, kind of like my AR addiction I guess. It's looking like the Hoyt Katera is going to be it. Did you buy one yet? My last bow purchase before this year was in 2000. Even in just 8 year's time, bows have changed phenomenally. I ended up buying a Bowtech 82nd Airborne, and should have it finally set up sometime in the next week or so, after it has sat new in its box 6 months now! I normally shoot 61#, but this bow will top 300 FPS at 28" draw and 50#. I'll probably set it up at 52# for ease of hunting, and use a 26" V-Force arrow with 100-grain 2-blade Rage broadhead. I've played around with it somewhat (even though the windage and elevation of the rest isn't set yet), and it is smoking fast. After careful consideration, and after looking high and low, I still have not made a purchase.... Seems for every good review I find of either bow, I find a bad one.  I was VERY close to buying a used Katera until the seller told me the only reason he was selling it was it has a very mushy wall.  I hate a bow that does not have a shallow and defined wall.  My current Hoyt has a very defined wall with almost no over travel. So days have turned into weeks and I am losing the excitement over picking one over the other.  At this point, and after looking at the numbers, I won't gain anything over my current Hoyt. I recently bought a new Glock 35 in OD and now my "itch" seems to be for a Glock 22 in OD... what a bitch .

I'm shooting a Katera for field archery.  Yep, it's got a 6" brace height...no problems with it yet.  I'm nailing the 80yd walkup and our 65yd fan targets.

As another poster mentioned, shoot as many bows from the various manufacturers as you can.

The Katera uses a cam peg for the draw stop.  At full draw it rests on the bus cable.  I think the wall is pretty damn solid, but there again much of picking out a bow is subjective.

My personal observations are:

Bowtech General--decently smooth, no handshock, not as fast compared to contemporary bows.  Quite a few reports about limb breakage (you'll see 2 different threads on arcehrytalk every week) at the cam axle hole.  Until Bowtech replaces their limbs or uses a metal limb cap I won't buy one.

Mathews DXT--smooth draw cycle, no handshock, decent speed, high dollar pricing.  I shot the DXT and Drenalin from Mathews and nearly walked away with one.  Due to the fact I would be shooting some 3D, I wanted a hair more speed.

Bear Truth2--draw loaded up early to smooth valley, some handshock, decent speed, decent pricing.  I was impressed with the Truth2, but the drawcycle, while smooth, wasn't comfortable to me.

PSE Dreamseason--harshest draw cycle of all bows I shot (60lbs pulled like 70lbs), very fast, very little handshock, little louder than the others (but it really wings 'em out there).  Didn't care for the draw cycle of this bow at all.  I liked the speed, but if I'm shooting 64/128 arrows per field round this bow wasn't gonna cut it.  

Hoyt Katera--smooth draw to valley, good speed, 6" brace height (wasn't sure about that at first), 4.5lb mass weight is heavier than some of the others, smooth shot with no handshock.  This is the bow I walked out the door with.  Hoyt's bombproof 5 layer laminated limbs and impeccable CS combined with performance sold me on the bow.

I wished I got a chance to shoot Elite's GT500 or High Country Archery's SpeedForce, but the dealer didn't carry either one.  The closes Elite dealer is 1.25 hours away.  Don't know where the HCA dealer is.  Elite's the new kid on the block and I don't know much about their CS (reports I've read are favorable).  HCA has been around a while and is well-established.

obligatory pic:


I'm using a longer/heavier old school stabilizer and getting rid of the Cobra DRM pin sights in favor of a movable single pin setup.  Other than that, everything's remained the same.