Vern Evans
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Back in the 70s, if you wanted to see a good heavyweight fight, you salivated for Ali vs. Frazier.
When it comes to bow releases each fall, the most-anticipated heavyweight match is Mathews vs. Hoyt. These brands have the biggest followings and their releases are highly anticipated by hunters and target archers. For 2025, both released bows with similar specs that are ideal for hardcore, Eastern whitetail hunters.
The 2025 Mathews Lift X 29.5 and the Hoyt Alpha AX-2 29 are both light, 29.5-inches long, and both bows can launch arrows at blazing speeds. But which one wins when they square off in the tree saddle?
Before we get to the title fight, let’s meet our contenders.
Mathews
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- Length: 29.5 inches
- Weight: 4.0 pounds (weighed bare)
- Draw Lengths: 24.5-30 inches
- Peak Draw Weights Available: 55, 60, 65, 70, 75 and 80 pounds
- Speed: 303 fps (440-grain arrow, 30-inch draw length, and 70-pounds draw weight)
- MSRP: $1,359
The Lift X 29.5 is nearly identical to the 2024 Lift 29.5. Same riser, same limbs, same cams, same strings. What’s different is the axle and the grip options.
Read Next: Mathews Lift Review (2024)
Cam
Powered by the SWX cam, the Lift X allows the archer to change draw length, draw weight, and let-off simply by changing cam modules. This is a Mathews-unique system, and it’s pure genius. With other brands, if you want to change a bow’s peak draw weight from 70 pounds to 80 or 60 pounds, you have to get new limbs. For the Lift X, all you need are different modules, which are much simpler to swap out.
Riser and Accessory Mounting
The riser is huge. It’s just a tick under the 29.5-inch axle-to-axle measurement, which makes the bow aim like one that’s much larger. In that riser are Mathews Bridgelock cutouts for a sight and stabilizer. Bridgelock allows the sight to be mounted into the center of the riser, rather than bolting it to the outside, and ditto for a front stabilizer. Both make the connections of those accessories stronger, and makes the bow more streamlined.
Also machined into the riser is a dovetail to allow for mounting any IMS-compatible rest. Colloquially, these are called “integrate rests,” and they also streamline the bow by removing the side arm of traditional arrow rests that are bolted to the backside of the riser.
New Grip Options
New this year, Mathews offers a modular grip system called “Bond.” There are three removable grip options that promote different hand positions, depending on your preference, plus the old side plates, which allow for simply shooting with your hand on the riser. In the past, Mathews only offered one grip and the side plates.
New Tuning System
The biggest change from the Lift to the Lift X is the addition of Limb Shift Technology. In its simplest form, it’s just a new axle. But it’s what that axle can do that makes it special.
Limb Shift allows the archer to move one limb tip left and right by turning an Allen key inserted into the end of the axle during the tuning process. The effect of the limb tip movement is similar to shifting the cam left and right to ensure straight arrow flight out of the bow.
In the past, you physically moved the cam left or right by pressing the bow and removing the axle to change spacers called Tophats that sat between the cam and the limb tips. With Limb Shift, no bow press is needed, making the tuning process much simpler.
It worked precisely as advertised for me. I cleaned up a horizontal tear simply by adjusting the limb tip, according to the Limb Shift guidelines. Not only did I not need a bow press, but I made my adjustments right on the shooting line.
Read Next: Hoyt vs Mathews: What’s the Real Difference Between These Top Bow Makers?
Hoyt
See It
- Length: 29.5 inches
- Weight: 4.3 pounds (weighed bare)
- Draw Lengths: 25-30 inches
- Peak Draw Weights Available: 50, 60, 70 and 80 pounds
- Speed: 305 fps (440-grain arrow, 30-inch draw length, and 70-pound draw weight)
- MSRP: $1,449
As little as the Mathews flagship hunting bows changed from 2024 to 2025, the Hoyts are just the opposite. The Alpha AX-2 29 includes a complete engine overhaul from 2024 — new cams and new limbs. And this 29.5-inch bow is one of the shortest Hoyt has ever built. Rarely has the company offered a flagship hunting bow shorter than 30 inches over the past two decades. Still, Hoyt officials said they wanted to add something in their line aimed specifically at bowhunters who like shorter bows. Namely, Eastern whitetail hunters.
New Limbs and Cams
The limbs are shorter than they were on the 2024 Alpha X, which reduces the profile of the bow. More notable in the redesign is the all-new HBX Gen 4 cam. This is a four-track cam, meaning there are separate tracks on the cam for the string, the cable, and each of the two yoke ends. We’re seeing more of these four-track systems because they tend to do a better job of keeping the cam vertical.
Tuning System
Hoyt uses a spacer system for tuning, that requires removing the axle to make changes. But with the four-track cam, they’re betting fewer people will need to adjust the spacers. Indeed, I was able to get a bullet hole while paper tuning with just two minor rest adjustments.
Riser and Accessory Mounting
The riser of the Alpha AX-2 looks very much like the 2024 Alpha X series and includes a Picatinny rail on the front for mounting a sight and a dovetail machined above the grip for mounting IMS-compatible rests. Included with the bow is a Short Stop 2.0, which is an updated version of the miniature stabilizer/dampener that comes from the factory mounted in the lower of two, front stabilizer bushings. In that position, the Short Stop 2.0 acts like an 8-inch stabilizer mounted in the higher bushing just under the handle, which is the standard position on all compound bows. And it soaks up some vibration right at the limb pocket.
Read Next: Hoyt RX-9 Ultra Review: Testing the Most Expensive Hunting Bow on the Market
Hoyt vs Mathews Whitetail Bows
I initiated the face-off between these two heavy-hitting bows with a speed test, using the Garmin Xero C1 Pro Chronograph. Both bows were set to 30 inches of draw and 70 pounds of pull. And then each shot a 300-spine, Victory RIP TKO that weighed 440 grains. The Hoyt won the speed battle, producing a three-shot average of 304.6 feet per second. But the Mathews wasn’t far behind at 302.8 feet per second.
And let’s be honest here. Getting over 300 fps from a bow shooting an arrow that weighs 440 grains is pretty impressive. Both setups produce a ton of kinetic energy that whitetail hunters will love.
Next up was the main event – the saddle test. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, saddle hunting is the latest craze in the whitetail-hunting world right now – especially in the Eastern United States. And saddle hunters want lightweight, maneuverable bows like the Alpha AX-2 and Lift X.
For this test, I rigged my Hoyt with a pic-mounted Axcel Landslyde, QAD Ultrarest MX arrow rest, the Short Stop 2.0 and a set of Hoyt Go-Stix, which is a bipod that mounts to the lower stabilizer bushing. My Mathews carried a Bridgelock-mounted Axcel Landslyde, the QAD Ultrarest MX2 arrow rest, a 12-inch Bridgelock stabilizer with 4 ounces of weight and a set of Engage Limb Legs, which is Mathews’ bow stand that attaches so the bow can be shot without having to remove it. The Lift X weighed 11 pounds without the stabilizer, while the Alpha AX-2 weighed 8.5 pounds with everything attached. Needless to say, the Mathews bow was a couple pounds heavier than the Hoyt. Note that the Mathews Engage Limbs Legs weigh about 2 pounds, which is significantly more than the Go-Stix. I’d personally remove the Engage legs while hunting.
Using my Novix Double-Step Climbing Sticks to reach my Trophyline The Mission Platform, I secured myself in my Trophyline Covert Lite saddle about 18 feet above the ground. Forty yards out, I had planted a Delta McKenzie 3-D deer target. Now, here in the East, it’s long been held that the average shot at a whitetail from an elevated position is under 20 yards. But that’s a wimpy distance for testing a bow’s shooting capabilities. Forty yards requires at least a little focus.
To be honest, I didn’t really plan out the position of the target as it related to how I’d fasten my platform to the tree. As it turned out, the position required me to stand on the platform with my back to the tree, and with my tree tether strung over my shoulder, pulling me back against the tree. An awkward position to shoot from, but a great test of the bows’ forgiveness.
At 29.5 inches, both bows were easy to maneuver around my ropes. As mentioned, the Hoyt was a fair bit lighter, and although I shot both bows with their respective stands attached, I’m fairly certain I would remove the Mathews limb legs in a real hunting situation. On the Hoyt, the bipod was far less noticeable.
I took three shots with the Hoyt and three shots with the Mathews. The Hoyt felt a bit stiffer through the draw cycle, but the bow settled and aimed nicely and all three shots would have killed the deer. My three-shot group from the Hoyt measured 3.78 inches.
When I shot the Hoyt, I aimed behind the front shoulder, like I would when shooting at a real deer. Just to keep my arrow groups from each bow separate, I pretended the rear leg of the deer was the front shoulder if the deer was facing the other direction, and aimed there when shooting the Mathews. Again, all three shots would have killed the deer, but my arrow grouping was a bit tighter at 2.15 inches. Two of the arrows were basically touching one another.
Read Next: Best Tree Saddles
The Bow I’d Choose
So who’s the winner?
The Hoyt was faster, lighter as rigged, and had a nicer feel at full draw. The Mathews shot a tighter group and had a nicer draw cycle. Both bows are equally quiet at the shot and nimble in the stand.
If you were to tell me I had to carry either bow on my whitetail hunts next season, I’d be fine with that. Both were the right weight and the right length, produced enough arrow speed, and had sufficient accuracy to suit my whitetail bowhunting needs.
But if you told me I had to pick one, I’d go with the Mathews Lift X 29.5. And I have to qualify that up front by noting that I owned, hunted with and shot several deer with a Lift 29.5 for over a year. The Lift X 29.5 is basically the same bow, so I had a high level of familiarity with it that I didn’t have with the Hoyt. That’s not necessarily fair to the Hoyt, but it is what it is.
Within the constraints of a saddle, the string on the Lift X felt like it came back to full draw silky smooth. By comparison, I felt like I had to put a little more effort into the Alpha AX-2. And my grouping was slightly better with the Mathews than it was with the Hoyt, although I’m sure my comfort level with the Mathews is a big reason for that.
Taking my comfort level out of the equation, I think I’d still pick the Lift X because of the Limb Shift Technology. Even though the Hoyt was a snap to tune shooting field points, I know that if I had to move spacers to get an arrow with a big fixed-blade broadhead to fly straight, that’s not as simple as the new Mathews tuning system. It’s insanely user friendly.
For 2025, Mathews takes the belt in this bout.
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