A few months back I was flipping through one of my favorite archery magazines and seen an ad for bows the picture was the first thing that caught my eye. This thing was the most different design I had seen in a long time and much to my surprise it was a BowTech. The first thing I thought was I have got to shoot one of these. It was called the Guardian, a center pivot riser design with extreme parallel limbs. So we contacted BowTech and ask for one of these bows to review.

When the bow arrived a few weeks later I couldn’t wait to get it set up and start shooting this thing to see what all the fuss was about. When I got the bow out of the box the first thing I noticed was the craftsmanship and the fine detail of the bow. The machining and finish on the bow was flawless. Picking up the bow for the first time you will notice a difference in the handle and shelf placement; they designed this bow to make your hand very close to shelf which to me is a big plus. The closer you can get your hand to the arrow the better. It just feels more natural in fact the first 50 rounds or so I didn’t even use a sight and shot the bow very accurately, instinctively.

The rest I decided to use was a Rip Cord fall away which proved to be easily set up on the Guardian. I shoot a floating rear peep this also was an easy setup being that you don’t need a bow press for the Guardian; that’s right no bow press, you just back the limbs out to a certain point and it totally relaxes the string and harness system. A very nice feature that proved to be simple whether changing strings and cables or putting in peep sights. This is a huge plus especially if you need to do some work on the bow on a long hunting trip in the middle of nowhere.

The balance of the bow was perfect for me. It sets in my hand straight up no tilt back or forward which in part is due to the hand being so close to the shelf. While the cams on the bow are smooth, they have a great solid wall with a short valley. The binary cam system is the first I had ever shot and was impressive to say the least. The Guardian has a 7 1/8 brace height and let off is adjustable from 65% to 80%. You can get the Guardian in Mossyoak and Realtree camo patterns.

Now to the good stuff . . . How does it shoot? The bow sent to me was rated at 311 fps IBO @ # 60 lb., 29 inch draw from the factory. An attached card printed with the bow stats, they call it a birth certificate that they send out with every bow needless to say when I saw the bow would shoot a 350-grain arrow at 311 fps @ 60lb I was impressed but also thinking fast bow means hand shock, noise and less forgiving. This is where the real surprise came in with its extreme parallel limbs and center pivot riser this thing shoots unbelievable. No hand shock and almost no noise it is one smooth shooter and as far as torque goes there is none. What a design BowTech has found in this bow. Shot after shot the Guardian continued to stack the arrows up in the bulls eye! It’s definitely a forgiving bow even with its high speeds. The Guardian also is one of the most efficient bow on the market today with more energy going to the arrow and not your hand in which all this goes back to the new center pivot riser design which will probably be around for quite awhile with the way this thing shoots.

So if your looking for a new bow this year with speed forgiveness zero hand shock and bare minium shot noise try out the new Guardian from BowTech you won’t be disappointed.

Bow equipted with:

HHA UL5000 sight   www.hhasports.com

RipCord DropAway rest  www.ripcordarrowrest.com

BowTech quiver  www.bowtecharchery.com

GoldTip 5575 XT Hunter arrows  www.goldtip.com