Shooting My New Mission Craze Bow

Over the summer, I made a decision that I’ve been putting off for some time. Since I was young, I’ve always wanted to try my hand at hunting. Last year I even got as far as taking the mandatory Hunter Safety Course offered through the Pennsylvania Game Commission. I easily passed the class but never made it out into the woods.

Much like my situation with competitive shooting, I couldn’t track down a friend that was into the hobby and willing to teach me. Just like competitive shooting, I decided that I was going to do it, even if it meant going at it alone. I began to set some money aside and sell off some older hobbies (if only I’d have known those sports cards from my childhood would be worth pennies on the dollar today) to raise money for equipment.

The big ticket item on my list was a bow, which would serve two purposes. The first would allow me to hit the woods in the much les crowded archery season. The second would allow me to get back into a hobby that I loved as a kid. The tough part would be finding a quality bow within my tight budget. I couldn’t afford to climb over the $500 mark, tax included.

My options were limited but several bow manufacturers make mid-priced bows that would suit me well. Based on availability, I decided to take a look at both the PSE Stinger and PSE Brute X (the latter carries an MSRP of $499 but I wanted to take a look at it anyway).

One day after work I drove out to a small pro shop in the area. When I say small, I mean it in every sense. It turns out that this particular shop was in the basement of the owners home. Apparently, the shop isn’t open normal business hours (I imagine he does it on the side) and I was weirded out standing behind the guys house, looking at a sign that pointed down to a set of locked bilco doors.

I hopped in my car and used my phone to find another shop in the area. Fortunately, there was another shop about ten minutes down the road. This shop had the look of an old hardware store about it. I walked through the door and was greeted by an older gentleman behind the counter. When I told him that I was in the market for a bow, he got who I assume is the owner to help.

After hearing my budget and getting a feel for what I planned to do with my bow (hunting and target shooting), he began putting bows in my hands. First we looked at used bows then moved on to new bows within my budget. Not once was I handed a bow that would have put me over my budget. It is odd to appreciate such a thing but it seems rare when the salesman actually listens and doesn’t try to push a more expensive model.

When we got to the Mission Bows, I was intrigued. I liked the look, feel, and adjustability of the Craze. I was told it was made by Mathews but since I hadn’t heard of the brand, I wanted to go home and do a little research. A few days later I returned to the store to test fire the bow. After several arrows, I liked it enough to make the purchase.