Purchasing new bow. Please help!
 

After hunting for the last eleven years with the same bow, I am making the decision to finally breakdown and upgrade. I am however still trying to remain budget minded, (bows eleven years ago costed nothing like today). With so many advancements now I have no idea which one to buy. I am considering the new Mission Ballistic claiming 330 fps, very short bow with great brace height. It retails for 500 bare bow. Any other suggestions to look at around this price range? I am ready to go buy one now so that I can shoot plenty before season.

Not sure what your price range is but I just did the exact same thing that your about to do. I purchased the new Mathews Creed and absolutely love it. The draw is so smooth and when you release the arrow, there is very little noise and the bow doesn't feel like it wants to jump out of your hand. It just sits in the notch of your hand like it was never fired. The bow retails for $899 but where I bought mine, if you payed cash it was $799 and the shop gave me $275 trade in for my 10 year old Mathews Legacy. I saved money by staying with my old site and my drop away rest. plan on purchasing new stuff eventually but I spent enough for that trip. Good luck and please post what you decide to purchase. Just curious what you decide to do.

Sorry, just read the part in your post that said around $500. With my trade in I had to pay $525 for the new bow and then I purchased 6 arrows, a quiver and stabilizer, which brought it $716. I will be looking at another $300 when I buy the new site and arrow rest

Look into the Martin Bengal 500 retail and 330 fps as well. Has a very nice grip and looks really sweet. It's gonna be my next bow for sure.

eBay! Has tons of bows that are good deals

just remember the actual FPS is lower than actually advertised...just go to a shop and find what you like to shoot...and go to ebay to find a good deal...

You have some hard work
 

It's easy to find a Taj Mahal bow, but hard to find a bow in a lower price range.
Some archers only buy one of the Taj Mahal bows, meaning an expensive one.
It's tough to reject the expensive bow and find a suitable one in an intermediate price level.
You have one advantage. You only have to find a bow better than your old bow. And that can be easier after ten years, as I found once.

Ballistic is a great bow. I personally have always bought used Mathews for around that price a Z7 or Switchback XT can be had for that price and would make an awesome hunting bow as well.

I have the Mission "Craze" ($300.00-$329.00 range) and it is a very nice Bow plus You get a good warranty with them.The Mission "Ballistic" seems to be a very nice Bow that is affordable and made by Matthews!

I shoot a Diamond Fugitive. It cost $600. It's a great shooting bow. The Outlaw runs about $500. Both are made by Bow tech. The Outlaw is a nice shooting bow also. Just remember as already stated, you are not going to get the rated speeds given these bows. The Fugitive is rated for 330. I'm shooting 298 fps, which is more than fast enough. They both come RAK. The sight is okay, but I replaced the arrow rest, peep sight and stabilizer.

Consider used. I bought my last bow about 5 years ago. It was a 2 or 3 years old Hoyt Trykon which I still use and plan to for a while. Paid about $300, bow only, on ebay.

I always liked Hoyts, very quiet bows. I am selling my AlphaMax which has brand new strings and cables for $450. But if you want a new bow, I would suggest going to the store and shooting a few, to get an idea for how they shoot, weight, feel, etc. And as mentioned previously, some places will take trade-ins as well.

The only thing that makes me nervous about ebay is the fact that you never know how the bow was treated. One small hairline crack that is unseen can turn out pretty nasty. Hoping I can find something I like that's new. At least I know I will have fun testing plenty of them out.

is 500 your budget for a bare bow or a loaded bow? Bare, you can find some decent bows, loaded and you will not find much unless you go used.
If I was on a budget I would stay away from Martin and Hoyt...great bows and i own a hoyt but there are better bows for the money. Look into PSE and Bowtech, they use to have a bad name...kind of like how Hyundai cars were crap back in the day, but now a Hyundai sonata is as good as a toyota camry but cost much less. PSE and Bowtech have come a long way...just my opinion

The Martin Hunter or Bear Super Grizzly are right around 500, "fully loaded" even.

As mentioned above go to a couple different shops and shoot some bows. You should also try to find a shop that is an elite bow dealer. Try the elite challenge! These bows are very nice shooting bows. I pers

I personally shoot an Elite Answer and I have owned, high country, Mathews, bear, PSE and browning and in my opinion the elite is a very good shooting bow. This is the only bow that I have put accessories on and the bow has tuned perfectly....literally! I operate a small pro shop in my area and Mathews, Hoyt, bowtech and strother are pretty popular and I have customers come try the elites and they love them more than their current bow. I wouldn't own a martin bow. I got a customer that has a Bengal pro that has blown up on him twice since October 2012. They also have to much cam lean. Buy new if you can help it this way you know nothing has been damaged before you got it. In my opinion Elite so has the best warranty in the industry. It is a lifetime transferable warranty(which means if you sell the bow the warranty goes with it) this makes it easy to resell. Also if you damage your bow in any way and you need it fixed ASAP Elite will send you a loaner bow so you are not with out a bow to finish your once lifetime hunting trip or 3d tournament etc. their customer is awesome too. That's my two cents on it. Also don't buy based on FPS you will never achieved what they advertise it at.

New Bow Under $500
 

I would recommend waiting until the new 2014 bows come out. At the beginning of 2013 after the new bows came out, I purchased a new 2012 PSE Dreamseason EVO. Listed for $899. The owner (archery shop located in Arkansas) on Ebay was asking $750. I offered $625 and they accepted the offer. Perfect bow, brand new, never shot, still new in the box. I would pick a bow just above your budget and wait just after the new bows come out. You will have the upper hand when everyone else will be looking for the new model bows. Shops/dealers don't want to hold onto last year's new bows and are normally very willing to deal. It worked well for me. Good luck!!!