Personal views on the Oneida bows.
Okay, take this for whatever its worth – just the thoughts of an Oneida guy on some of the different bows that they have produced over the years. This will either show I’m a fan of their bows or I have too much free time on my hands (probably a combination of the two). Just a few notes on my observations for anyone thinking about jumping into Oneida bow ownership.
CP Oneida Eagle Bows and their affiliates accept no responsibility for my twisted viewpoints and/or distorted comments.
Aero-force:
The Aeroforce I used for years was a medium draw 50-70#, set at 30” draw. I normally shot this bow between 61 and 65#, using XX78 2314 arrows, with the 65% modules, because I lost too much speed when I switched to the 80% modules, plus 65% doesn’t feel too bad to me on these bows. This bow was never incredibly fast (most of the time it peaked near 240 fps with a fairly heavy arrow – full length 2314 with a 125 grain broadhead). However, it was a very consistent shooter. Draw was smooth, and this bow was very quiet (this could be in part due to the heavy arrows). The main drawback I had on my Aeroforce, however, was that it was heavy. This was very evident when hunting for extended periods of time without a bow hanger. I always loved the reliability of the oneida oneida af, and harvested three of my four largest bucks with one (around a dozen whitetails all together were harvested with that bow), and I used it consistently up through the 2001 season before buying a Black Eagle.
Another thing that I loved was that maintenance was minimal – a simple tune-up every spring (Matt at CPO always went over it for me) held me throughout the year. I feel this is a great bow for someone getting into Oneidas, as spare parts are still pretty easy to find, as many hunters still shoot and love this bow. I’ve seen quite a few Aeroforces sell for pretty cheap in the last year or so, especially on Ebay.
LFM:
I’ve owned several LFMs– an anodized one, several Michigan Autumn, and one predator dipped. This bow had all of the nice features of the Aeroforce, but was lightweight in comparison, and had very good speed (bow was much faster than I expected). The draw curve on these bows is very smooth, with a large valley. I was never able to comfortably shoot these bows with the standard grip, but with smaller grips available, this is no longer an issue. I still have my predator dipped LFM, and it should see some action this summer and this fall. These can be tougher to find than Aeroforces, and the cost is typically higher. LFMs can be fitted with the ESC limbs without any difficulty, and finishes them off nicely. These bows are still no slouch in performance.
Stealth:
The Stealth is very intimidating when you take your first look. The larger cams along with the non-adjustable timing system (this is where it really differs from other Oneidas) have turned a few people I know away from them. However, they are not nearly as difficult as they look, and the physics behind these bows is not too difficult to follow. The Stealth still has a smooth draw, but the draw cycle “ramps up” quicker in my opinion – it seems you have to engage the full weight almost immediately, and continues longer through the cycle than other Oneida bows. The valley seems short and is against the wall, but you can easily draw against it. Once set up properly, these bows are very nice and very fast, but seem less forgiving.
The second Stealth I owned had the “ESC conversion”, and maxed out at 61# draw weight. However, this bow was even smoother, and had the extremely high letoff (approaching 92%), as I only held 5# at full draw (bow would hang – even without sights or rest). Be very careful with these bows however, I know of two of them that have been dry-fired while people were playing with them – the rollover in letting the bow back down can jerk the string out of your hands if you don’t have a firm grip on it.
If you have some experience with the Oneida line (owned at least one or two other bows and know how to maintenance them), I would recommend a Stealth without reservation, but I don’t think this is the best choice for an Oneida “newbie”.
Black Eagle/Black Eagle II:
Certainly the most popular of the Oneidas right now, the Black Eagle is light, smooth, fast, and forgiving. This bow has an adjustable timing system that makes it easier for those that aren’t familiar with Oneidas to tune it and to keep in tune. My wooden limbed BE was set at 66# with a 30” draw, with the F modules installed. I’m guessing the letoff was in the neighborhood of 70% (not quite squeaking out 80%). For two years, I hunted with it set at 74# with 50% letoff, and you could hear the arrow sizzle through the air – never did have it chronographed, but it was extremely fast. Thought this was overkill (you can only kill a deer so dead), so I backed off the weight and letoff and still had great results with it. Very smooth draw on the Black Eagle, and smoother yet with the ESC limbs (in my opinion). I’ve owned a number of Black Eagle ESC bows (camo and red/white/blue), and I’ve never been disappointed.
Overall, this is most well rounded of the Oneida line, and can very easily be tailored to individual tastes and desires. This bow would be my recommendation for a first time Oneida buyer if they really want performance immediately. I think if I had to choose one Oneida bow and one only, this would certainly be my choice – a great bow overall that is very versatile.
Pro Eagle ESC:
Very smooth bow. It eases back with a gradual letoff with a very long valley. Hand shock is non-existent (interesting side note: I had a trap door fall away arrow rest on this bow, but could NOT get it to paper tune no matter what I tried. Discussing with others, we discovered the shock of the bow was not tripping the rest no matter how sensitive it was set, rather the vanes were setting it off when they scrubbed against it – causing erratic flight making it impossible to paper tune). The Pro is one of the funnest bows to shoot in my opinion, but it also comes with the tradeoff of weight, as it adds a little less than a pound to the system as a whole. This bow will group arrows incredibly tight. Brace height is slightly higher and the overall length is slightly longer than the BE – which might factor into its stability and forgiveness. An Ultracam string on my Pro sped it up slightly.
Talon/Osprey:
These bows have an incredibly smooth draw, and feels like there’s nothing there at full draw with the 80% modules. Consistent shooter with very little hand shock, this bow is a featherweight. This is a great bow for those that don’t wish to shoot a large amount of weight or those recovering from injuries and getting back into the sport. The sight window on this bow is not cut out as large as with the Black Eagle.
There are two models for this bow, a 25# - 45#, and a 35# - 55#. I would recommend anyone wishing to shoot more than 55# or anyone that really wants to shoot heavier arrows to look at the other Oneida bows. Definitely a fun bow to shoot, though, and very popular in the bowfishing market.
Extreme Eagle:
The Extreme Eagle is the first bow in the Oneida line to relocate the timing cable outside of the riser. Using a small cable guard, the Extreme re-aligns the timing system, and pushes the cams further back in line with the power limbs. This leads to the smoothest draw of all of the Oneida line. I’ve used my Extreme Eagle for 3-D, and my father has also used his for hunting, taking an Elk at 17 yards, and getting a complete pass-through at 53# draw weight. These bows shoot very well, and are very, very sturdy. Shooting at close to 70# on my Extreme, I’ve had speeds in the upper 280s with arrow weights of close to 400 grains. I haven’t shot it through the chronograph in quite some time, however. This will be my 3-D bow for this year.
Falcon:
My understanding is that the Falcon is the replacement for the Extreme Eagle, and it, too has the timing cable system located outside of the riser. In visiting the factory in Marion, I played with one for a few minutes, but did not have time to shoot one, or go into detail into it. I look forward to shooting one this summer and perhaps purchasing one. From my few minutes with it, however, it seemed to be a VERY nice bow with a smooth, even draw curve.
So there it is, take it for what it’s worth – just the ramblings of an Oneida fan. I didn’t include older models (H250, H500, Screaming Eagle, Tomcat, etc.) because the majority of shooters seem to shoot the newer models. Also hope I didn’t offend anyone – again, these are simply my opinions based on my experiences shooting these bows over the last 18 years or so.
Rathbuck
__________________
Staff Shooter
CP Oneida Eagle BowsStatistics: Posted by JOneida — Tue Mar 24, 2009 11:07 am
]]>