Hoyt TD4

An old hoyt riser

The Hoyt TD4, introduced in the early 1990s, represents a significant evolution in the design of the Hoyt ‘Take-Down’ (TD) series, which revolutionized competitive recurve archery in the 1970s. As a successor to the iconic TD3, the TD4 was engineered to offer a more budget-friendly yet highly competitive option for archers moving up from entry-level equipment. Its cast aluminum construction allowed Hoyt to maintain the geometry and performance characteristics required for Olympic-style target archery while drastically reducing manufacturing costs compared to the machined-billet risers that were beginning to dominate the professional circuits at the time.

Throughout the 1990s, the TD4 became a staple at club and state-level competitions. While it lacked the damping technology and mass-weight adjustability of Hoyt’s premier ‘Avalon’ or ‘Radical’ risers, its reliability and consistent limb-pocket design kept it relevant for nearly a decade. The riser utilized the standard Hoyt Grand Prix dovetail limb fitting (originally known as the HL fitting), which cemented its legacy by ensuring that the TD4 was compatible with a massive ecosystem of limbs, allowing archers to upgrade their performance as their skills improved.