Hoyt Tiburon

*A video review of the Hoyt Tiburon takedown recurve bow on my YouTube channel

A bow for the serious trad shooter...

The Hoyt Tiburon was Hoyt's fourth hunting recurve bow constructed with high-tech components while maintaining a traditional "feel".
It came after the Buffalo, Game Master II and Dorado and was discontinued this year to make way for the new Hoyt Satori.
I was lucky enough to procure it last year from Mr Tan Peng Loon who was then attached to Elite Sports Archery (technically, Lion Archery Sports).
The bow has a 21" riser which can be configured to be shot off a hunting arrow rest or off the shelf.
It was sold as a complete kit. You decide if you want to shoot it at 60" AMO (extra short), 62" (short) or 64" (medium).
In the box, you'll get the bow packed neatly in a rollaway carrying case, a set of hexagon wrench for tiller adjustment, a flemish twist string, a shelf rug and a leather side plate. And as an appreciation token for the serious Hoyt customer, a car sticker and a landyard was also thrown in the package.

The lowdown...

Similarly, like the Game Master and Game Master II, the Tiburon is built with a bridged riser. There isn't much hunting recurve bows with such a configuration with the exception of the economical Martin Panther. Basically, bridged risers are "stiff" and some archers say it feels "dead" on the hand. Well, that's other people's opinion. Having shot a Martin Panther, the next progression would be a similar bow with the same setup. Bridged risers are generally "heavy" and "clunkier" than normal takedown recurve risers. Compared to the Game Master and Game Master II, the Tiburon is the only bridged riser that is allowed at Barebow tournaments. It's the only hunting recurve bow that is able to pass through the 12.2cm calliper during bow inspections.

The Tiburon draws pretty smooth

It's an excellent bow for hunting, field and 3D shoots

There's literally no bow shock after releasing a shot from this riser

Stiffness aside, the Tiburon is a very attractive bow. It has an International Limb Fitting (ILF) system which allows you to switch length and poundage but since Hoyt utilises its own Formula limb system, choices are few from other limb manufacturers. Even the limbs are available in a few finish ranging from camouflage, maple wood and complete blackout. My choice was the nicely finished blacked limbs. When it was first introduced, the Tiburon limbs can be identified by its model decal. Later, this was standardised with the words "Hoyt Traditional" embossed on the limbs.

The original Tiburon with a silver riser and blackout limbs

The bow is pretty easy to set up and thanks to the ILF system, it's very flexible. You can rig the bow for a hunt with the lowest poundage at #35 right up to #60 with a 5-pound increment. 
I chose #35 as it is pretty forgiving and accurate at distances up to 20 feet. With a draw length of 29", I set up the bow's brace height at 7.5", which is ideal. But looks itself can be deceiving. Seems that most people would think that my brace height is screwed-up. Now, what also sets the bow apart from the rest, is the adjustable tillers. You can rig it up with a slightly higher poundage on the top or lower tiller to suit your desired shooting style. My setting is "neutral" based on my split-finger shooting preference.
Hoyt's Formula limbs are proven in the field and I really don't have much to complain about it. For fun, I would swap the Tiburon's #35lb limbs with my heavier Buffalo (#50lbs) for some fun shoot at the range.
With an arrow nocked on a full draw, the Tiburon is smooth. There's hardly any hand shock after release.
My shooting preference, is, of course, the traditional style. With a rug on the rest, the Tiburon shoots rather accurately.
But such a shooting style would require some experience, so, if you are new to instinctive shooting, I wouldn't recommend it.
With over a year of use, I have nothing but good things to say about this bow. It actually gave me some good results at local barebow tournaments as well as training gigs at the range.
Sadly, the Tiburon has been discontinued by Hoyt. It has been replaced by the Hoyt Satori which is the present hunting recurve bow in Hoyt's 2017 line-up...