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New Diamond bow - Deadeye or Fugitive?

5K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  N7XW 
#1 ·
I'm new here and new to bowhunting again after not doing it for 15 years. I just ordered a Diamond Fugitive but now wondering if I should have gone with the Deadeye. I've read that the Deadeye has a lot of hand shock and is top heavy. I haven't read anything particularly bad on the Fugitive though. Anyone have an opinion on the comparison? The 6-1/8" brace height of the Deadeye concerned me. I'm shooting 70# at 26.5" drawlength. Thanks.
 
#2 ·
Honestly, I'd stick with the fugitive, I could tell ya bout the dead eye I had but to summarize the dead eye is a single cam destroyer 340 but not as good IMO


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#6 ·
I've shot both a ton because I work for a big name outdoors store, and my buddy had a Dead Eye. I would actually go with the Outlaw. We've chronoed the Outlaw and Fugitive with the same specs a bunch of times, and you may get 2-4 fps difference. Not worth the extra $100 IMO. It is such a smoother draw than the Dead Eye too, 10x more solid back wall, and less $. The Dead Eye wasn't near as fast as rated, had a super short valley and wanted to jump on you if you weren't focused on holding it back. It was top heavy and wanted to torque (in my experience with it). Save a few hundred bucks and get some better accessories!
 
#7 ·
I was going to get the Outlaw at first but decided on the Fugitive because it would go down an extra 0.5" in drawlength. Just not sure if 26 or 26.5 would fit better so wanted to leave this option open. My first bow was an impulse buy of a department store Bear single cam in the 90's. I didn't even know what my dl was at that time. 30" dl was way way too long for me.
 
#8 ·
Save money and go with the Outlaw if you want a new one. Otherwise, try a Diamond Iceman or BlackIce. I have had and loved both.
 
#9 ·
You will hear a lot of negative on here about the Deadeye. Test fire them both, 10 shots with the Fugitive, take a break, then test fire the Deadeye for 10 shots. That's what I did..
 
#13 · (Edited)
They Dead Eye is not top heavy on the shot. i have an Octane stab on mine and it balances well. I have no problems getting 310fps at 29/70 setup with 410gn ST Epics. I have large hands and have no issue with torque or the 6 1/8 BH. The bow is properly tuned. To those who complain about it creeping if not staying focused on the shot, well they are over bowed. The Dead Eye is not a beginner bow. I like the "short valley". I shot all three (Fugitive, Outlaw & Dead Eye), I prefer the FLX Guard over a cable slide. The bow is easy to tune with no cam lean problems.
 
#14 ·
My issue with the dead eye was not
Necessarily speed, "top heaviness" or pulling on me.
I know Recon Ron has heard my complaints about the dead eye before but I'll reiterate my issues with the Dead eye.
1st I don't believe in top heavy bows unless it's just massively ridonkulous
2nd bowtech presented it as something it was NOT it's a single cam destroyer 340 just not as good IMO the grip, limbs, riser, string stop, FLX guard, draw mod even the cable dampners are off of left over 340 parts (since they killed off the 340) even the cam looks similar to the 340 bowtech should've been honest and called it the Destroyer 340-1, but they wouldn't have sold very many given the choice of single or dual cams ill take dual cams so would ALOT guys. 2nd the bow looks and feels cheap they ditched the 2010 in velvet finish for a 2011 in velvet that feels like cheap truck bed liner but no where near as tough if I looked at mine funny the finish scratched (exaggeration of course but it's weak) they didn't even prep the riser correctly! In the inside cut outs of the riser corners (all of em) there were White spots about the size of a pencil eraser all the way up the riser! 3rd they ditched hardwoods camo for Mossey oak marble oops I mean tree stand but it looks identical to marble and makes the bow look awful IMO it looks tons better in black ops BUT guess what ? It costs more-of course. 4th the draw stop has a cheap rubber cover that likes to slide off then it cuts your serving (do a search) I've HEARD issues of the dead eye locking up at full draw due to the draw stop design 5th the first guys to get dead eyes had to buy the RAK package cause no other accessory comp was producing MOTS til a lil while later and of course the RAK pack cost more naturally either that or run your mismatched accessories for awhile 6th the bow in MOTS had zero personality or character it was just plan boring to look at there was nothing that caught your eye or interesting on the bow. Now if you're gonna say "well, I don't care how a bow looks" then you're one of a small group cause most people tend to like their bows to appeal to their eye in some way. I handed my dead eye to 12 different guys and told em to close their eyes and then open em and point out as many interesting things or something on the bow that caught their eye within 5 secs but name at least 1 (counting like 1 one thousand, 2 one thousand etc) not one of the guys could pick a single thing after about 5 mins one guy said "hey the lil carbon stickers on the limb pockets are kinda cool, but ya can't really see em easily." so what's my point? The bow was half @$$ed and rushed out the door and made as cheap as possible with left over 340 parts. 6th and my biggest issue in 2010 they had the iceman FLX and it drew like butta, large valley, rock solid back wall, completely quiet and vibe free on draw and shot no hand shock and accurate as well as looking good but no, it was not fast or speedy they coulda tweaked the cam/riser and milked some more fps outta it without sacrificing EVERYTHING I just mentioned BUT nope they threw it ALL away to gain a few fps it's not worth it in my opinion
I'm in NO WAY trying to offend you dead eye guys, I had one and was completely disappointed and let down, the dead eye was the bow I WANTED to love and I didn't/wouldn't before you think I have a prob with speed bows or am a noob to archery think agsin and check my sig and that ain't the first one I also had a monster xlr8 as well and many others
If you guys love em that's all that matters FOR YOU but it's definatrly not a bow for everyone, there are alot of faster, smoother, less vibe, better looking, quality, attention to detail speed bows out there ie the destroyer 350 if ya HAVE to have bowtech this is just my 2 cents as I said I'm not trying to offend you offend you dead eye guys heck with my opinion and a dollar maybe ya can buy a can of pop
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#15 ·
Stoked Here is a $1.00, buy a pop. Just kidding, really. I take know offense to your comments at all. I agree the Dead Eye is not for all. I did ditch the Octane strings on mine for a set of WC custom flo purple/orange strings it helped a lot. The stock Octane stings that came on my bow were junk to begin with and that should not have happened in the 1st place. In addition I did not buy a RAK bow just the bare bow and put Code Red rest and Cobra Sight which were a major upgrade from the RAK items. Could the bow have been better? Yes of course it could have. As for being a Destroyer 340-1 well yeah that is a good description, nothing wrong with that at all. How much faster is a Destroyer 340 for the xtra cost? Well it is not, so for less money the Dead Eye/Destroyer 340-1 is actually faster. The Throttle Cam is not similar to the Overdrive Cam on the Destroyer's it is just a big dynamic cam. As far as the in-velvet finish you are correct they could have done a better job with it for sure as I had some wear around my grip. Watch out one of the new 2012 Bowtech's may come out with a Binary Throttle Cams system on it lol :cool: but who would be able to pull that bow back..
 
#18 ·
Can I put some rum in it?
Yeah I agree with ya I just hope for 2012 bowtech address' their issues (plural) we'll see I suppose


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#17 ·
Sorry about Hijacking your thread. I liked the Fugitive, it was a good shooter. Just had the twang in it from the string stop. I do not like the RAK version's of any of these 3 bows. As far as the draw well it has the same cam as the Dead Eye so it is going to ramp up on you. You really need to go shoot all 3. I felt there was now real difference between the Outlaw and the Fugitive. For the price they are hard to beat. Do a comparison with the PSE Brute HD and the Outlaw/Fugitive the Brute is a very nice mid priced bow but about 10-15fps slower because of it's greater BH. Brute may be a better bow for you to start out with.
 
#20 ·
No worries about hijacking, let the discussion go where it may. I'm new to the archery game after being out of it for a long time, so I'm glad to get the input! Would like to get a little more feedback on the Fugitive though.
 
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