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...

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.