yoderjac
Well-Known Member
As some of you know, I finally gave up on vertical bowhunting because of my shoulder and arthritis and got rid of my Switchback: Passing it on
I've been introducing new folks into hunting for quite a while and last year, I gave my Parker Hurricane cross bow to a buddy that I've got started hunting. In fact, he is supposed to come down to the farm on Friday to hunt.
I've been using a Mission Sub One Lite with a Burris Oracle X for several years now: Pics on this thread
Well, now for the story:
Saturday was our opener in VA. I did not hunt in the morning, but prepared for an evening hunt. I headed out on my e-bike with my Sub One Lite. I hunted from an elevated box blind. I was in the stand for about 40 minutes when 6 gobblers entered the small field and began to feed. I realized that I had forgotten to cock my crossbow. Fortunately, I was able to get it cocked in the blind without them spooking.
I raised the bow and ranged it with the Oracle X at 22 yards. I put the dot on the wing-butt of the broadside bird and gently squeezed off a shot. There was a very strange sound at the release and the arrow skipped off the window ledge flying well over the birds. They stopped, looked around for a minute, and then went back to feeding.
I had no idea why the arrow would have hit the shelf as I should have had plenty of clearance, but in the excitement, I began to cock my crossbow again for a second shot. Something seemed off, so I didn't finish cocking it. I took a look at it and the left limb was cracked. It had not hit anything in the blind, so I was befuddled.
Well, that ended my season for now since I don't have a backup. This puzzled me because Mission is known for high quality and quiet crossbows. I kept going back over everything and couldn't figure it out.
On Sunday, I took it to a Mission dealer about 30 minutes away. We examined the bow in more detail and noticed that the left cam was buggered up some as well. Now that means that I somehow banged it up. The bow shop owner said that sometimes Mission will forgive one owner screwup and do a warranty repair, but it depends on who he gets on the phone. He also said that if he buys parts they are shipped from a different system than warranty repairs. They don't generally do overnight shipping with the warranty repair parts, but if they won't do a warranty repair, he is sure he can get overnight shipping. Mission is closed on Mondays, so I won't know anything till Tuesday. He is going to try to get them to do a warranty repair and overnight the parts with me paying for shipping. I'll know more on Tuesday.
I scratched my aging brain on the drive home trying to figure out what happened....Then it hit me...or I hit it:
Last year I got an e-bike for hunting. I put a rack on the front for carrying a rifle, but with the crossbow limbs going horizontal, I couldn't use it because the limb would hit the steering. So, I put a gun holder on the rack over the rear wheel. The bow sits behind me on the bike at a slight angle. I now remember at the end of the season last year, when I was returning from a hunt, the bow fell off the rack. I putter along at about 5 mph on that e-bike and it was only a 2" or so drop on to a logging road. I remember checking the bow out and the limb wasn't cracked or anything, but I easily could have missed the damage to the cam. Perhaps it hit a rock or something on the logging road.
So, I'm guessing that is where the initial damage occurred. I took a couple practice shots before the season and the bow was dead-on. I'm guessing that the initial fall had caused non-visible damage to the limb which was under stress and it was just coincidence that it finally gave way and cracked at my shot at the turkey which is what caused the arrow to glance of the window seal.
So, I'm out of commission for now. This serves as a warning to me to double and triple check my equipment. Had I noticed the cam damage last season, the repair would be in my rear view mirror now and I'd be out hunting.
I've been introducing new folks into hunting for quite a while and last year, I gave my Parker Hurricane cross bow to a buddy that I've got started hunting. In fact, he is supposed to come down to the farm on Friday to hunt.
I've been using a Mission Sub One Lite with a Burris Oracle X for several years now: Pics on this thread
Well, now for the story:
Saturday was our opener in VA. I did not hunt in the morning, but prepared for an evening hunt. I headed out on my e-bike with my Sub One Lite. I hunted from an elevated box blind. I was in the stand for about 40 minutes when 6 gobblers entered the small field and began to feed. I realized that I had forgotten to cock my crossbow. Fortunately, I was able to get it cocked in the blind without them spooking.
I raised the bow and ranged it with the Oracle X at 22 yards. I put the dot on the wing-butt of the broadside bird and gently squeezed off a shot. There was a very strange sound at the release and the arrow skipped off the window ledge flying well over the birds. They stopped, looked around for a minute, and then went back to feeding.
I had no idea why the arrow would have hit the shelf as I should have had plenty of clearance, but in the excitement, I began to cock my crossbow again for a second shot. Something seemed off, so I didn't finish cocking it. I took a look at it and the left limb was cracked. It had not hit anything in the blind, so I was befuddled.
Well, that ended my season for now since I don't have a backup. This puzzled me because Mission is known for high quality and quiet crossbows. I kept going back over everything and couldn't figure it out.
On Sunday, I took it to a Mission dealer about 30 minutes away. We examined the bow in more detail and noticed that the left cam was buggered up some as well. Now that means that I somehow banged it up. The bow shop owner said that sometimes Mission will forgive one owner screwup and do a warranty repair, but it depends on who he gets on the phone. He also said that if he buys parts they are shipped from a different system than warranty repairs. They don't generally do overnight shipping with the warranty repair parts, but if they won't do a warranty repair, he is sure he can get overnight shipping. Mission is closed on Mondays, so I won't know anything till Tuesday. He is going to try to get them to do a warranty repair and overnight the parts with me paying for shipping. I'll know more on Tuesday.
I scratched my aging brain on the drive home trying to figure out what happened....Then it hit me...or I hit it:
Last year I got an e-bike for hunting. I put a rack on the front for carrying a rifle, but with the crossbow limbs going horizontal, I couldn't use it because the limb would hit the steering. So, I put a gun holder on the rack over the rear wheel. The bow sits behind me on the bike at a slight angle. I now remember at the end of the season last year, when I was returning from a hunt, the bow fell off the rack. I putter along at about 5 mph on that e-bike and it was only a 2" or so drop on to a logging road. I remember checking the bow out and the limb wasn't cracked or anything, but I easily could have missed the damage to the cam. Perhaps it hit a rock or something on the logging road.
So, I'm guessing that is where the initial damage occurred. I took a couple practice shots before the season and the bow was dead-on. I'm guessing that the initial fall had caused non-visible damage to the limb which was under stress and it was just coincidence that it finally gave way and cracked at my shot at the turkey which is what caused the arrow to glance of the window seal.
So, I'm out of commission for now. This serves as a warning to me to double and triple check my equipment. Had I noticed the cam damage last season, the repair would be in my rear view mirror now and I'd be out hunting.
