The Satori is THE hunting recurve from Hoyt right now under their Fred Eichler signature series. Fred Eichler is one of the most famous bow hunters in the US. The Satori is the latest in Hoyt’s line of hunting recurves which include the Buffalo and Game Master which was made famous by Hawkeye in Avengers: Age of Ultron and by Katniss in the Hunger Games movies.
The Satori comes in 17, 19 and 21 inch flavors and in a number of color variations. The finish feels like powder coating instead of anodizing. You can tell the bow can take a beating. I was able to test the 21 inch model with medium limbs. Aesthetically the bow looks timeless at the same time clearly modern. Looking at the riser, you know a lot of research and technology went into its design. It kinda reminds me of the Formula Excel but with more aggressive styling. Its narrow font and side profiles makes the bow look sleek and stealthy. When I look at the limb pockets, what comes to mind is thunder, thunder, THUNDERCATS HO!
The thing I love about this bow the most is the way it feels in your hands. It’s light but not too light that it would be unstable. Much like the overall profile of the bow, the grip is narrow. So much so that it almost feels like a compound bow grip specially around the throat. Out of the box, the Satori comes with a plastic grip. Medium height. Wooden grips are sold separately. I honestly forgot to test whether the spare grip from my Hoyt Xceed would fit. The grip is shaped in a way that you have to hold it the “right way” for it to be comfortable. It forces your hand to have that 45 degrees angle on the knuckles. I love the grip on this bow. Probably the second most comfortable bow grip I’ve tried. I still think the Titan Ex’s grip is the best. Like most recurve bows these days, without any weights added, the top of the bow tends to tip back after shooting. I can imagine this bow being a joy to shoot moving targets with. It feels so nimble and natural in the hand.
Although the Satori is very light and slim, it is stiff. Very stiff. You can fill how strong the bow is by just holding it. Drawing back the string, it does not feel mushy at all. You immediately get the sensation that the bow just wants to be shot. Word of advice, you NEED a sling when using this bow. Unlike most of the hunting bows I’ve shot; the Satori feels so aggressive that I could feel it jump out of my hand on release. This is a characteristic more commonly seen in high end Olympic Recurves. The Satori is definitely not dead in the hand post shot but considering how light the bow is, I’d say the vibrations on this bow are phenomenal. It gives just the right amount of feedback so as not to mask any mistakes you may have made in the process. On release, the bow feels like it wants to jump exactly where you were aiming. Quite an amazing feeling for a hunting bow.
The Satori is an ILF riser allowing for a wider range of choices for limbs. I managed to shoot the bow with a set of Hoyt Satori Wood limbs as well as with my trusty Uukha limbs. I have to say, the Uukhas are the way to go! With the Hoyt limbs, drawing back the bow is smooth, and the draw weight felt even until very close to my full draw. I started to feel stacking then but it was nowhere near as harsh as the stacking I’ve felt drawing other bows as short as this. There was a reassuring evenness to how the bow stacked. It felt like the bow was telling me “shoot, shoot, shoot”. The vibrations after the shot felt controlled. Not excessive at all. There was a distinct twang that rang after the shot. Fortunately, the limbs themselves come with string silencers. Paired with Uukha limbs, the bow still felt stiff and very aggressive but drawing and anchoring felt worlds different. With the Satori wood limbs, the start of the draw cycle felt light and gradually and evenly added up in weight the farther I drew back. With the Uukha limbs however, drawing the bow back felt quite the opposite. The start felt solid and stiff. The draw weight felt even and smooth until full draw. This is when the unique trademark Uukha feel kicked in. At full draw, a distinct drop in resistance/weight can be felt. Kinda like let off on a compound bow but obviously not as severe. It felt like the bow was telling me to take my time. Aim. Then shoot. Instead of the twang the sounded off post shot with the Hoyt limbs, the bow with the Uukha limbs sounded more like a dropped D string on a bass guitar. No silencers needed there. Regardless of the limbs, this bow is aggressive and wants to shoot.
For a traditional bow, the Satori comes with features that allow for some pretty comprehensive tuning. By far, it is the most tunable traditional bow I’ve shot. Being an ILF bow, it comes with the standard tiller adjustments on the limb bolts themselves. The riser also has lateral limb adjustments with opposing screws. Although I wish the set screws were bigger, it’s still a whole lot better that shim systems for limb alignment.
One key feature I love on the Satori is the all new adjustable shelf module. It allows for center shot alignment. Something rarely seen in traditional bows. This means you won’t need to take away from the traditional look of the bow b y having to add an elevated arrow rest and plunger button. This also means you won’t need to fiddle with inserting toothpicks under the wool or rug just to get the center shot right.
The Satori also features your standard 5/16 threaded hole for the front stabilizer. There are also mounts for sights or a bow quiver.
There are 2 things about the Satori that I am not a fan of. These aren’t even purely flaws in the riser but more on the limbs that you pair it with. First is the noise. The Hoyt Satori limbs are not loud by any means. It very well may be because I am so used to my Uukha limbs that others might seem loud to me. But comparing the Satori with wood limbs with something like the Touchwood Taipan, you will notice the difference. It very well may be the string but like I said earlier, they do come with silencers so problem solved. The second thing about the riser is that if you use traditionally designed limbs with flat pivot points like most of the limbs out there, you will find that the tiller adjustment on the Satori are quite limited. A whopping 3.5 turns out using the Satori limbs. With limbs however that have raised and rounded pivot points, you can do more turns.
There are quite a few things in life where expectations and reality actually meet. The Hoyt Satori is one such thing. A full featured traditional ILF bow. 6 words you don’t really get to hear used on one sentence often. Out of the box and without added accessories, you can tune the Satori almost as much as you would an Olympic recurve. The premiere traditional bow from Hoyt. The Satori is fast, nimble, and aggressive. It looks awesome too. It is every bit a top of the line bow. The culmination of years of research and development to produce a modern classic.
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