Thoughts on Martin Cougar FC with Nitro Cams

[Lab Rat]

Does anyone have any thoughts on the Cougar FC Pro with the nitro hybrid cams? The specs look pretty good for a tree stand bow -- shortish, light, and fast. I gave up my Onza to my son for hunting and it looks like the Cougar would be a good replacement for hunting.

[hawkdriver55]

I shot the Silencer pro with Nitro cams at BassPro shop and loved it. Light, fast and the bow just felt GOOD in my hand. I had been looking for one in BONZ for a long time when I stumbled on a Cougar FC pro with Nitro cams on ebay for $420!!!!! The Cougar is just a dressed up PRO version of the silencer and I am not sure where Martin digs up the extra 5 fps out of it. The bow should arrive wensday but I have to wait until Christmas to get it out and start dressing it up with sight , rest etc etc. Merry Christmas to me. The specs on the bow are GREAT! I am not sure why Martin discontinued it and the silencer.

[Rootsy]

My Cougar FC arrived today and I finished setting it up this afternoon. Mine has 60# limbs topping out at about 60.6 on my scale with 2.5 lbs per rev for adjustment. With Nitro 1.5 cams in the #7 holes (28 inches I think) at the moment and cranked down she is putting 340 grain Maxima Hunters through my chronograph at 283 to 285 fps with just a D loop and kisser on the string and the stock string and cable dampers.

The FC with the 1.5 cams is a very smooth draw, smoother than my Alien Z with Hybrix 2 cams IMO. Superb back wall on both. The FC is quiet too. Nothing added for dampening and it just has a bit of string vibration resonating.

I cannot wait to get her in a tree.

[Lab Rat]

I have been looking at the bows on Ebay as well, and am thinking about either getting an Alien X or a Cougar. The weight of both of the bows are listed at 3.5 lbs. They both seem to have similar specs, but I really like the fact that the Cougar doesn't have a roller guard on it. Congrats on your new bows. I am wondering if the Alien would be more quite than the Cougar. My Alien Z is much more quite than my Onza.

[Rootsy]

I would venture to say out of the box my Cougar is quieter than my Z. Not a lot of difference but a slightly noticeable amount.

The biggest noise maker on the Z was the string from the limb driver pro v whacking the CCS.

I ended up putting some limb saver buttons on the limbs and the STS as well as some whiskers on the string on the Z. some mole skin on the CCS took care of the rest line vibration.

[Lab Rat]

Rootsy,

Are the Alien and the Cougar very similar to shoot? They have very similar specs, so I imagine that they are very similar in respect to the shot. Are they both dead in the hand on the shot?

[Rootsy]

Cougar, for me, has a superior grip, but I have small hands. The one thing I don't care for on the Z is the pierced grip but that is subjective and you aren't contacting the side surfaces when you are shooting anyway. The Z had some grip vibration out of the box and the Cougar has a touch but not much. Neither jump around or impart enough vibration to move the bow around, etc. If the Z had the saddleback grip I am not sure if I could love one more than the other.

The Cougar has phenomenal balance IMO, at least for me. I can open my hand and it sits there, rock solid. For me it is very easy to shoot. Not that the Z isn't or anything. I honestly need some time with each to get a really solid feel for them.

Both have a smooth draw and solid back wall.

Thus far I've been paper tuning in the basement at short range and with the speed of these bows it is difficult to discern noise from the bow as the arrow is hitting the block pretty quickly. Speeds are really neck and neck with same DL, weight and arrow. Cougar may be a touch slower (just a couple FPS) but it has 1.5 Nitro cams and the Z has Hybrix 2.0 cams.

[deserthuntr]

Bought an Onza 3 and then the Cougar FC. The Cougar is a much better bow in many cases, quiter, faster and, well I just like the Cougar better. Also have the 1.5 cam and it is smooth and fast.