Bear Archery Legion Review

Compound Bow

Draw Weight

Draw Length

Brace Height

Speed

Let-off

AtA Length / Weight

Bear Archery Legion

Bear Archery Legion

See Today's Price on Cabelas

50, 60, 70 lbs.26" - 31"7"

How To Choose Arrows
318 FPS80%30.5" / 4 lbs.

Pros:
- Very compact
- Lots of power to harvest any game, assuming proper bow settings
- Lots of functional, vibration-reducing technologies
- Contraband string and cables
- Superb customer service
Cons:
- Allen keys not included
- No thermal padding on grip
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The Bear Archery Legion At a Glance

Welcome to our Bear Archery Legion review. Another excellent compound bow manufactured by Bear, who in recent years have become one most widely-respected archery manufacturers on the market. It’s one of those compounds you can say is priced FAIRLY – neither cheap nor expensive. Solid value for the money, great choice for everyone regardless of experience and especially for shooters with a longer draw length. Comes with a set of quality accessories that don’t need replacing.

Who Is It For?

The Bear Legion is perfect for any archer who doesn’t want to break a bank. Can be used to hunt, target practice or 3D shooting equally well. Due to its short length however, it’s particularly well-suited for hunters.

Package Contents

Bear Archery LegionThe following items were included in my package, which was ordered online:

  • Bear Archery Legion Compound Bow (riser, limbs, cams, cables, string)
  • Trophy Ridge Whisker Biscuit
  • Trophy Ridge wrist string and stabilizer
  • Trophy Ridge 3-pin bow sight
  • Trophy Ridge arrow quiver
  • Nock loop and peep sight
  • User and safety manual
  • Bear Archery Warranty card

The Bear Archery Legion Eccentric System (cams)

This compound bow comes with Bear’s E2-Cam – a single cam system. A key advantage of this design is its low-maintenance and ease of tuning. Due to the inherent lack of synchronization, nock travel can wobble up and down very slightly while shooting, though this does not negatively impact performance to any noticeable degree.

Draw length can be adjusted from 26″ to 31″ in 0.5″ increments, directly through the power cam on the bottom limb. You will need an Allen key to make the adjustments (as well as any other tuning on the Legion), so make sure to buy a set of these keys as they are not included with the package. Of course, no modules or bow press is required to change the draw length.

Shooting Speed

The advertised IBO shooting speed of the Bear Archery Legion is 318 FPS. It’s important you understand the settings used for determining an IBO rating:

  • 350 grain arrows
  • 70 lbs. draw weight
  • 30″ draw length

So if you use less than 70 lbs. of draw weight, less than 30 inches of draw length, and/or an arrow heavier than 350 grain, the actual speed of your bow will be lower than 318 FPS. Read our article on determining a bow’s real speed for more information.

Kinetic Energy Of The Bear Archery Legion Compound Bow

The kinetic energy of any compound bow depends on many different factors, including:

  • Draw weight
  • Draw length
  • Arrow weight
  • String accessories installed

Assuming you use the strongest possible settings on the Bear Legion (70 lbs., 31″ draw length), and shoot a 425 grain arrow, expect around 75-78 ft-lbs of kinetic energy.

The majority of beginner archers will go for 60 lbs. draw weight and 28″ draw length. In that case, a 425 grain arrow would deliver 54-58 ft-lbs of KE.

Expect KE to dwindle by roughly 1.5-2.0 ft-lbs for every 10 yards the arrow travels.

The Bow’s Draw Cycle

Bear Archery Legion2The draw cycle on the Bear Archery legion is ideal for beginners, and everyone who prefers a smooth draw. Aggressiveness is really low, transition to peak draw weight is smooth. Right before the valley there is a tiny “hump” (sudden spike in string resistance), though it’s far from being annoying. The valley itself is very wide and comfortable, allowing for maybe 0.6″ of creeping.

The back wall is very hard and easy to hold the draw against. There have been some reports of the cam making a slight “scratching” noise near the very end of the draw cycle, though only for the 31″ draw length setting. Upon release, there is a bit of noticeable recoil, though in no way a deal-breaker.

Noise Levels And Vibration

The Bear Legion Ready-To-Shoot package comes with a Trophy Ridge stabilizer. Comes with a wrist sling as well. Relatively light weight and attaches using stainles steel bushings.

A string vibration suppressor is built-in as well. Dampeners are installed at the end, and they eliminte string vibration as soon as you release. The suppressor is built-into the riser, and allows for micro adjustments of the dampeners location in relation to the string.

Bear’s Zero Tolerance Limb Pockets are another extra found on most Bear Archery bows made in 2012 and later. These pockets keep the limbs firmly in place, while being capable of moving independantly as well. As a result, vibration is reduced and hand-shock is greatly minimized.

Overall: this is a really quiet bow with almost no noticeable vibratio, riviling even the best Matthews and Hoyt bows in this category.

Using The Bear Archery Legion For Hunting

This compound bow is perfect fot hunting for a few reasons:

It’s very small. With an ATA length of 30.5″, it’s one of the smallest quality compound bows you can get. Very easy to maneuver and carry around in the field.

It’s super-quiet. Not only thanks to the accessories you get with the package, but also as a result of the smart design of the limbs and riser of the Bear Legion.

It shoots fast. Combine this with how quiet the bow is, and your prey won’t have any time to avoid or “duck” under the arrow.

It’s very well-balanced. Even with tons of accessories installed, it still holds and aims very easily and in perfect balance.

The type of game animals you can hunt with the Bear Legion will depend on the settings of your bow. Consult Easton’s field chart below:

Kinetic Energy:You Can Hunt:
< 25 ft-lbsSmall Game (groundhog, rabbit, wild turkey)
25-41 ft-lbsMedium Game (Antelope, Whitetail deer)
42-65 ft-lbsLarge Game (black bear, wild boar, elk)
> 65 ft-lbsLargest Game (Grizzly bear, Cape buffalo, Musk Ox, African elephant)

Whether you can take down an elk or grizzly will depend on how much kinetic energy your bow setup can deliver. Consult the section above on the bow’s Kinetic Energy for more information.

Value For The Money

The Bear Archer Legion delivers solid value for the money. Perhaps not as much as the PSE Brute X, but it’s still a bow well-worth the price, especially considering the epic quality of Bear’s customer service.

Limbs And Riser

This compound bow comes with split, parallel limbs. It weighs around 4 lbs. “naked,” and closer to 4.5 lbs. with accessories installed. As with all quality bows in today’s market, the Bear Legion riser and limbs are made from materials that will not break, splinter or delaminate, as long as you don’t abuse the tool. The limbs are attached to the riser using Zero Tolerance Limb Pockets, which reduce vibration generated upon shooting.

The riser is very solid with a glossy, though not-reflective finish. It comes with stainless steel bushings used to install the stabilizer that comes with the package from Bear. A string stopper is also built into the riser itself, but allows for a degree of adjustment. The riser both looks and feels very sturdy and given the low-vibration levels on this bow, will most likely last a lifetime.

The Grip On The Bear Legion

Bear incorporated a new grip design on the Legion, minimizing torque when compared to older models. The grip feels well-balanced in the hand and does not dig into the palm at full draw, no matter how long you hold. The shape of the grip makes it suitable for palms of all sizes. The only downside to this grip is that it doesn’t include any thermal padding, so a naked palm can feel a little cold when hunting in the winter.

Bear Archery Legion Compound Bow Review – Summary

Thanks for reading our Bear Archery Legion review. It’s compact size and great specs make it excellent for hunting. Noise/vibration-dampening technologies make it very quiet and easy on the muscles and joints. Smooth draw cycle with a barely noticeable bump. If you don’t mind the lack of thermal padding on the grip, get the Legion – it’s a solid value. See Cabela's current price and customer reviews on the for the Bear Legion.

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