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2009 Mission Menace

By Bill Krenz

Bowhunting is a lifelong sport. That’s one of the core assertions in the bowhunting community’s message to new recruits. Six or sixty—you can shoot a bow and bowhunt.

And yet, to date we’ve not done a great job of making equipment selection easy for new bowhunters. We’ve tended to confuse them with too many arrow sizes and with bow configurations that limit rather than invite. In order to obtain the performance necessary for bowhunting, we’ve too often pushed new bowhunters––and particularly young hunters––into bows that they quickly outgrew. “Get a specific draw-length and draw-weight compound bow,” we told them, “and shoot it until your improving form or growing muscles and size dictate that you abandon that bow and buy another.” It was a pretty weak sales pitch, one that probably prompted more than a few parents to blanch at the thought of providing bowhunting gear for their growing son or daughter.

All of which is why so many bowhunters are now so excited about the 2009 Mission Menace.

The all-new Mission Menace is a brand-new kind of performance compound bow designed expressly for new bowhunters. It truly is a bow that can grow with a new bowhunter all the way from their very first season in the woods well into their adulthood. That’s a bold statement, but it’s true.

How does the Mission Menace do that? It begins with an ingenious universal cam system that is easily owner-adjustable all the way from 17 to 30 inches. That’s an unprecedented 14-inch, youth-to-adult draw-length range. Furthermore, making those draw-length adjustments requires no bow press, takes just seconds and the pivoting modules that are utilized are very clearly marked to avoid all confusion. A handy 12-year-old could make the adjustments.

Then there’s the matter of draw weight. The Mission Menace has been designed to gradually and automatically increase draw weight as the bow’s draw length is increased. For example, when set at the beginning draw length of just 20 inches, my sample Mission Menace showed a maximum pull weight of 38 pounds. When I adjusted the cam modules up to a draw length of 25 inches, the maximum draw weight automatically increased to 48 pounds. At a full 30 inches, maximum draw weight on my Menace was just a bit over a deer-stopping 52 pounds. In this way, as a new bowhunter’s arm increases in length and the draw length of the Mission Menace is adjusted upward to keep pace with that growth, the bow’s draw weight also automatically increases in tune with the archer’s growing muscle capacity.

The 2009 Mission Menace is a remarkable bow system that offers new, and particularly young and growing, bowhunters an inviting and versatile bow that can indeed grow with them from their very first days afield well into their adult bowhunting.

Now that’s a sales pitch that a parent, or any new bowhunter, can eagerly embrace.

How It Shoots

I had an archery dealer recently tell me that he was tired of so-called youth compounds that were nothing more than cut-down adult bows. “Such bows are often too heavy, noisy, full of handshock and very poor performers,” he explained.

The 2009 Mission Menace is none of those things. To begin with, the new Menace weighs just 2.9 pounds. That’s light. And it’s just 31 inches from axle to axle so it’s also compact.

In 1997, Mathews (the parent company of Mission Archery) introduced the concept of a perimeter-weighted cam to the archery world. What those inventive perimeter weights did in the company’s solo cams was noticeably decrease bow vibration and noise, while also somewhat boosting arrow speed. Up to this point, Mathews and Mission have only offered that patented perimeter-weight technology in solo-cam bow models. For 2009, though, Mission Archery is debuting two brand-new bows with perimeter-weighted two-cam systems. Those bows are the new Mission UX2 and the new-bowhunter-oriented Mission Menace.

Maybe never before has such a sweet-shooting, affordable, performance-minded bow been offered specifically for new bowhunters. The 2009 Mission Menace is astoundingly pleasant to shoot. There’s little to no hand shock, and the bow is quiet as a whisper. For a beginner bow, that’s spectacular.

The new Menace is also packed with performance, the type of performance that can bring big smiles in the backyard or down a trophy buck in the field. See accompanying Arrow Speed chart.

Key Features and Benefits

Light and Compact

A light and compact bow can be a big plus to a new bowhunter. The 2009 Mission Menace weighs a mere 2.9 pounds and measures just 31 from axle to axle. That means it’s easy to shoot, handle and get around.

Youth-to-Adult

Draw-Length Range

Versatility is the watchword for the Menace. With an astounding draw-length range of 17-30 inches, the 2009 Menace can fit new bowhunters of all sorts and easily grow with them from their early days well into their adulthood. Draw-length changes are a snap. Remove one locking screw on each cam and simply pivot the clearly marked modules to the desired draw-length setting. No bow press is required. It’s done in just seconds.

Incremental Draw-Weight Increases

As draw length is adjusted upward, the maximum draw weight of the Mission Menace ratchets automatically upward as well. See the accompanying Draw Length and Maximum Draw Weight chart. As a new bowhunter grows, he or she also gets stronger and the Menace grows with them.

Perimeter-Weighted Cam System

Integrated into the 2CPW Two-Cam System of the Mission Menace are strategically-placed perimeter weights. When the bow is shot, those weights rotate backward as the limbs of the bow rocket forward, effectively counteracting and canceling out shot vibration and noise. The result is one of the quietest and most shock-free new-bowhunter bows ever offered.

Surprisingly Affordable

Economy and value are important to most new bowhunters. The 2009 Mission Menace is a surprisingly affordable bow, with retail prices ranging from $249 to $269. Given the Menace’s versatility, good looks and performance, that’s an authentic value.

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