First Impressions: Strother Rush XT and Wrath SHO Compound Bows

After talking with local Strother Archery rep, Dave Diekmann, about the new compound bows, I just had to get out and shoot them. Up until this point I had never shot a Strother bow, even though I had been hearing good things about them for years. One of the main reasons is that we had no dealers down here willing to carry them. That kinda puts a damper on things! So we set a date and met up at Field Time Sports and Guns in Westminster, CA. I had been to FTSG once before when they first opened and were preparing to put in an archery range. Now that the range was up and running, I wanted to check it out.

First off, the folks at Field Time are good people. I had met the owner, Bob Wickes, a couple years ago and love hearing his hunting stories. I met Chris for the first time Tuesday night and really dug his personality. Asked all the right questions about my interest in archery and if I had been shooting long. When I mentioned 30 years of experience, he said he’d stop talking and let me shoot, but I insisted on hearing more. You see, I don’t know everything and will never claim to. Chris sees these bows often and hearing his enthusiasm and impressions of the bows was great! Thanks for the guidance and enthusiasm, Chris! 

When Dave showed up on Tuesday evening, the range was packed! I wasn’t sure we’d get a chance to shoot. He brought out the Rush XT and the Wrath SHO, both in Realtree Black. The bows looked pretty sick if you ask me. At first look, I thought the cable slide looked a bit odd and constricting. I even felt it might interfere with the shot a bit. The ZT Loc-N-Cradle limbs looked awesome and locked in secure, which I had never seen before. The Badger cams looked great and even had a stop on them to keep you from overdrawing the bow. Pretty nifty design.

First up to shoot was the Strother Rush XT set at 60#. The range is set up at 15 yards and the target in my lane was a pie plate. (I guess they know how much I love pie.) The weight of the bow is great and the grip fit into my hand very well.

The draw on the Rush XT is very smooth, has very little change in feel at the valley, and not much of a back wall. Overall, it drew smooth and steady, and I was able to anchor very comfortably. As a challenge, I opted to shoot for the very bottom of the pie plate to see how close I could get. The shots were very flat, fast, and there was no vibration in the bow. One cool thing I like about the Strother line is there isn’t any limb vibration dampening, and there was no stabilizer on this bow. As you can see, the bow was not only set up properly, but with the HHA Optimizer single pin sight, I was able to nail the bottom of the pie plate.

Next, I shot the Strother Wrath SHO set at 70#. The bow grip felt a bit heftier than the Rush, but it wasn’t an issue. I used the same arrows and shot at the same spot on the pie plate. I drilled the bottom of the pie plate with this bow, too. This bow has a tougher draw at 70#, but when it hits the valley it eases a bit into a hard back wall. You really feel it, but I didn’t mind it. I noticed a little vibration in the riser when shooting, but the ATA is 30 3/16″ and figured I might feel some. It’s the shortest ATA bow I have ever shot. Overall, it performed well for a bow that short!

After shooting both bows, I was very happy with both. I REALLY like the Rush XT. The Rush has a shorter brace height, which I tend to be fond of, than the Wrath SHO. I plan on shooting both of them again and shooting the new bow that is rumored to be coming out soon. I want to really take some time with each bow. Have any of you shot the Strother line? Are any of you interested in shooting Strother? I am interested in what everyone thinks after shooting them.