Excitement? You could almost taste it in the air. The scene was the 2011 ATA Trade Show, held in Indianapolis this past January, and I was huddled in with literally hundreds of eager retailers at the BowTech booth, waiting for the clock to tick down to the formal “unveiling” of the company’s previously “top secret” new flagship bow.

As you might expect with the turnout, and subsequent lines at BowTech’s test-shooting lanes, orders for the aptly named new Invasion CPX compound—a bow loaded with BowTech’s trademark Industry Changing Technologies [ICT]—have been strong ever since, every bit as strong as BowTech’s much-heralded Destroyer bow in 2010.

“We saw a lot of successes in the Destroyer, and we took those new technologies and the other major technology we had developed—which was the Center Pivot limb—and meshed the two in the Invasion,” said Craig Yehle, BowTech’s senior design engineer. “The takeaway that we want people to get from this bow, is that it’s flat-out accurate—and we’re starting to get that feedback now.”

Just how and why is the Invasion CPX a standout-accurate bow? It really comes down to a few key design elements, Yehle explained.

“With [most all other bows], if you happen to move your grip one way or the other, you’ll get ‘left’ and ‘right’ arrow impacts—they will make you pay for even small grip and form issues. But with our Center-Pivot limb system, when you move that pivot point back, essentially what you have is a forgiving deflex riser geometry. You combine that with our FLX-Guard cableguard and our OverDrive Binary cam system—which combine to deliver [virtually zero] nock travel—and this bow doesn’t make you pay for grip and form issues. Even if you make a ‘mistake,’ you can still be shooting in the kill zone. And when you’re talking about bowhunting, when it’s likely you’re twisting and turning to make the shot, that kind of forgiveness is important.

“When you start to shoot the Invasion, and you consider the bow’s specs—it’s shooting over 340 feet per second, it weighs only 3.9 pounds, and is just 31 inches long—the immediate reaction has been, ‘This bow should not be shooting [this accurately],’ but it does,” Yehle continued. “It also tips back instead of forward at the shot—which is the preferred balance for target bow accuracy.”

So how does the split-limb Invasion otherwise compare to the 2010 Destroyer, a solid-limb bow that remains in the line?

“When you compare the Destroyer 340 to the Invasion—both with 7-inch brace heights—the Invasion is about 3 feet per second faster,” Yehle said. “But remember, the end goal of the Invasion was accuracy. With the Destroyer we were responding to people who wanted us to make a ‘conventional’ bow again. But even during the development of the Destroyer, I think everyone knew that, at some point, we were going to put [those new technologies] on a Center-Pivot. So the Invasion was the logical next step.

“Again, the takeaway on the Invasion CPX, is what it does for your group size. It’s a shooter. I think anymore, you can assume most bows are pretty fast, but I think the consumer believes, as far as accuracy, that all bows are pretty much the same. It’s just not true. I would challenge somebody to take an Invasion—after they’ve got it tuned and sighted in—to see what happens when they make a ‘mistake’ on the practice range—and see if that shot doesn’t still land [very near their group]. If bowhunters can buy a measure of forgiveness, that’s worth something. The Invasion gives you that. ”

More New-For-2011 Innovation

For consumers not ready to swallow the Invasion’s $949 price tag, the company has an answer: the new-for-2011 Assassin, a value-packed $649 bow that comes R.A.K equipped and draws heavily on the success of the Destroyer.

“We wanted to take the success of the Destroyer and hit the midrange price point, by offering a tremendous bow for not a lot of money,” Yehle said. “We took our patented Binary cam system and designed a new version of it, with better performance, and optimized the cam grooves virtually eliminating cam lean. And the rotating [cam] module means retailers don’t have to buy separate modules to [fit multiple draw lengths]. It’s light, and R.A.K [Ready Aim Kill] equipped with factory pre-set accessories, including the peep and string loop. It also includes our Apex 4-pin sight, 1-Pc Ultra-light Quiver, Hostage rest, a Light Stabilizer, Comfort Wrist Sling and Dura-Flx string dampening components.

“Our new HeartBreaker [$649] is basically like the Assassin, in a ‘short-draw’ engineered specifically for the female archer.

“And the new Specialist [$999], we took the Destroyer, and all that technology, and stretched it out into a bow geared toward the competitive shooter; it’s a 37.5-inch axle-to-axle bow, with 7.5-inch brace height. It has the patent pending OverDrive Binary cam, FLX-Guard, and HardCore limbs. People were asking for this bow; the Specialist is a direct response to a lot of consumer demand, and it’s been our best-selling competition bow ever.”

For more information, go to www.BowTechArchery.com