Hoyt Gamemaster II

[Huntsman1]

Anyone have one of these?  Just about every episode of Bow Hunter Magazine TV, Larry D. Jones is hunting with one.
They look fast & quiet as well as a modern look to them. But pricing them out and they were almost $700 bucks. I mean I'll buy one but only if its worth it, Anyone care to share their thoughts?


Huntsman

[Jacko]

I have mates that own / have owned Gamemasters and know of a few more scattered about the place and without fail the blokes with drawlengths under 28" love them and those that draw over 28" report they stack . Every Gamemaster I have shot I thought they where a nicely made and balanced bow , shoot fast and pointed well but I draw over 28" and was disappointed they stacked .

Have a look at http://www.tradtecharchery.com/Content.aspx?src=products.htm I have a Pinnacle 2 with wood core deflex reflex limbs and love the thing , the Titan is a lot more bow than the Gamemaster in my veiw and better value . For a little extra the Titan is available in a film dipped camo finish .

regards Jacko

[Huntsman1]

What do you mean "stacked"?
I got a chance to shoot one yesterday, #45, it made alot of racket each shot,kinda a like a rubber band??
Maybe a heavier lbs pull would've made a difference?

[Jacko]

A traditional bow should increase it's draw weight smoothly and evenly over the archers drawlength . Imagine a smooth upward curving line on a graph of approx 26" in length with no abrupt upward curves - add a near vertical curve in the last 2" to a 28" draw increasing how steep its curve is beyond 28" and this illustrates what stack is . This graph pictures the force draw curve of the bow . You want a bow with the smoothest force draw curve you can find . Generally a recurve of over 64" overall length should be stack free for archers with a draw of around 28" . I shoot a 64" and 66" recurve and my longbows are all over 66" in length .

Stacking is a result of string angles reaching 90 degree's this is a hint the bow is either badly tillered or too short for the drawlength of the archer . I've been shooting bows for over 30 years and I believe short bows have an appeal but I'm 5ft 10" and have no drama's bending through thick scrub out hunting . In my experience a bow of near my height is be just as easy to get in and around bush . I have never felt handicapped by shooting any of my longbows in hunting situations .

The Gamemaster you shot was likely noisy because it was not tuned to suit you not because of the drawweight though it's possible the lesser string tension of a lighter bow will make for a quiter shot . More likely brace height was either to high or more likely to low , a thin layer like felt or the self adhesive plastic kids cover their school books with would need to be stuck to the riser under the limbs to isolate vibration between them and even incorrectly spined arrows will make a bow noisy . String silencers and a pair of limb savers struck to the limbs at the end of the fade outs help a lot also .

Gamemasters are notoriously noisy from the factory a lot of takedown bows are , add the few tricks I have mentioned above and it will go a long way to a quite shot .

Best advice as it seems you are new to the sport may be to find a local club , track down the resident traditional bow shooters and pick their brains . Trad folks are usually stand up people and would love to help you

regards Jacko

[mjh]

Good info there.  Try a heavier arrow that may also add in helping to reduce noise.

[dwalk]

i have the GameMaster and find it to be very acceptable even with the factory limbs. (as i recall, the GameMaster II has upgraded limbs as the primary difference)

as Jacko said...there are 'tricks' to aid in quieting the bow; you just have to find the right combination for your needs.

IMO, probably the one most important factor in having a quiet GameMaster is shooting the CORRECT arrow for you and it. i, personally, shoot 3555 gold tips from it as it's a 40#'er and it's difficult to get much range using a 500 grain+ arrow

i even replaced the factory limb pins to aid in secure limb to handle connection to in vibration/noise reduction.

even with bow quiver in place with five broadhead tipped arrows in place and stabilizer, it's still lighter than most of my all wood recurves...