So do you have to spend premium bucks to get into a great-performing compound hunting bow? Well, that answer is absolutely not, and the latest mid-price-range bow to help us reinforce that belief, is the new Bear Alaskan compound.
Over the last several weeks we’ve shot this bow extensively. In addition, we used it as needed in the HuntStand 2022 Broadhead Field Test, and came away impressed with many aspects of the Alaskan and its performance.
Popular Specs
So lets talk specs. The Alaskan is a 32-inch axle-to-axle bow with 6 ¼-inch brace height. In addition, it features Bear’s new DHC hybrid cam system that offers 80 percent letoff. This modular cam system is adjustable and will fit most everybody, covering draw lengths from 25.5 all the way to 31 inches. The Alaskan also gives you the option of a cable stop or a limb stop, for that ultra-solid back wall that we prefer.
The Alaskan is available in peak weights of 60 and 70 pounds, and it should give you about 15 pounds of weight adjustment. That’s a bit more than the 10-pound or so weight range most compounds offer.
Light in Hand
Probably the stand-out attribute of this bow, to us, was its light weight in hand. It was nice and maneuverable, and holding this bow for long periods was near effortless. And while we didn’t actually weigh it, Bear says it comes in at just 3.9 pounds, which definitely is light. But where we really started to get excited was when we started shooting the Alaskan on the range. After a very brief sight-in process, we were holding steady and shooting some very impressive groups. And oh by way, we also found a very comfortably smooth draw, and lack of vibration at release.
Affordable Price
Of course, Those are all good things. But you have to know it takes a lot to impress us. Why? Well, we just got done with our annual premium bow test, shooting models that cost anywhere from 1,000 to $1,200 or more.
Which kind of brings us back to the real beauty of the Alaskan. A check of the Bear Archery website shows the Alaskan sports an MSRP of just $529.99, or less than half the price of most of today’s premium, top-of-the-line bows. Yeah, we were surprised as well.
