Broadhead types used

For you bowhunters : What type of broadhead do you use ?

  • Mechanical

    Votes: 12 34.3%
  • Fixed blades

    Votes: 21 60.0%
  • Combination fixed blades with mechanical opening blades attached

    Votes: 2 5.7%

  • Total voters
    35
  • Poll closed .

JJWise

Twelve Pointer
The short of it is that a well placed shot is going to give you she best blood and the shortest track job no matter what the head. With that being said mechanicals can over come a poorly tuned bow and their cut diameter gives you a larger margin of error. A mechanical will eventually fail, it happened to me. It all comes down to what suits your preferences and what level of risk/reward you are willing to accept.
I agree completely, just that even comparing say, shots that went in the center of the lungs, rage has given me better blood trails compared to the fixed blades I shot for several years. I also think a lot of it has to do with the individual deer, I’ve seen deer die within 50 yards of being shot through the lungs and others make it 300+ with a similar shot using the same broad heads, which kinda lead me to believe that the competition for the “best” broad heads was a lot of hype as there are just too many variables.
 
I agree completely, just that even comparing say, shots that went in the center of the lungs, rage has given me better blood trails compared to the fixed blades I shot for several years. I also think a lot of it has to do with the individual deer, I’ve seen deer die within 50 yards of being shot through the lungs and others make it 300+ with a similar shot using the same broad heads, which kinda lead me to believe that the competition for the “best” broad heads was a lot of hype as there are just too many variables.
You can take one variable out of the equation though. A fixed blade can never fail to open.
 

Tipmoose

Administrator
Staff member
Contributor
Currently shooting 100gn G5 Montecs. May try to follow the cool kids and make them more 'adult' by going to 125s and poo pooing those 'non-adult/kiddie' broadheads the unwashed masses are still shooting. ;)
 

mjbrady

Twelve Pointer
You can take one variable out of the equation though. A fixed blade can never fail to open.

Very good point👍

I’m willing to take that chance though, I see it the same way as I’m willing to rely on a mechanical bow I’m drawing back not failing in that moment. To me and in my experience they are likely to happen with the same frequency.
 

Loganwayne

Ten Pointer
I’ve shot some of everything and haven’t noticed much difference on the kill. The shortest blood trail I’ve ever followed was from an Allen Haymaker ($15 for a 3 pack at Walmart). Used a lot of Muzzy’s, NAP spitfire and bloodrunner, G5 Montec and some others. But I’ve settled on rage because they consistently leave the easiest blood trails to follow, and I don’t have to resight in my bow after practicing with field tips.

Do you knock tune your arrows? Or anything like that besides putting a point on the arrow and start shooting?
I build some arrows and went through the whole process and was given some fixed blade broad heads that are almost 2” wide and a little over 2.75” long and vented honestly they are stupid huge. But I didn’t see a difference that would effect arrow placement in a hunting situation, maybe 1/4” difference at 30 yards


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I'll be running 300gr tuffheads this year. Hope to have some pictures of what they'll do come second Saturday in September.

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appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
I'll be running 300gr tuffheads this year. Hope to have some pictures of what they'll do come second Saturday in September.

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Jonfishun, I’ll give you credit.
You’ve been on every board on the forum lately.
better than the dudes that just ask for leases gameland spots
What’s your deal?
 
Jonfishun, I’ll give you credit.
You’ve been on every board on the forum lately.
better than the dudes that just ask for leases gameland spots
What’s your deal?
My deal is pretty simple. I'm just a die hard public bow hunter that is bored with Facebook.
Typical year I put in 60-70 sits a season on public in NC.
Just here to find fellow public land hunters and talk to other hunters.

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appmtnhntr

Twelve Pointer
My deal is pretty simple. I'm just a die hard public bow hunter that is bored with Facebook.
Typical year I put in 60-70 sits a season on public in NC.
Just here to find fellow public land hunters and talk to other hunters.

Sent from my Pixel 3 XL using Tapatalk
That’s what I was hoping.
Where do you sit your sits on public?
 
That’s what I was hoping.
Where do you sit your sits on public?
The last six years I've mainly hunted game lands in the Piedmont.
I will possibly be moving to Wilkes county this fall so I'm going to have to relearn mountain hunting lol.

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careyhamil

Eight Pointer
When I started hunting, I started with thunderheads, then muzzy, Magnus, and then changed over to mechanicals all rage 2 blades and currently shooting schwackers. I do have some Magnus black hornets that I set up on a 490 grain arrow at at 14% FOC. I don’t know about you guys and gals but I don’t do a lot of sits, but I probably hunt about 30 days a season.


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bowhuntingrook

Old Mossy Horns
I use slick trick magnum broadheads and will go to 125 grain. Only deer I've shot that have got away without use of dog were due to decreased penetration of mechanicals. So many variables but I prefer 2 holes over one and fixed work best for my setup. I also track deer for other people with dogs and in the tracking community, mechanical broadhead hunters call the most. It may be due to their popularity, poor bow setup or just the lack of understanding of the broadheads limits, I don't know.

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ScLowCountry

Six Pointer
I use grim reaper mechanicals. I have been very happy with them. They have the same poi as the practice head that comes in the package when you purchase them. The biggest advantage is they can’t fail to open as they are forward deploying. I doubt I’ll be switching anytime soon
 

EMB

Ten Pointer
Can't beat Slick Tricks for nice blood trails and openings. Flies like a field point with a 1 1/4 opening 4 blade design all fixed. Great non-mechanical. Really needs to be the shooters choice in his confidence in the broadhead he/she chooses. I've used both and just prefer the Slick Tricks.
 

Matty

Six Pointer
Contributor
I am personally not a fan of mechanicals on deer, but I am fanatical about tuning my bows and have never had a fixed BH not hit with my FPs as long as it spun true. I had a rage deflect on a relatively steep shot angle. Hit where I aimed and the BH deflected and followed the ribs down just under the skin exiting in armpit...non lethal. Killed it later in the season and was able to see what actually happened. That's on me for not understanding the limitations of the equipment I was shooting, but with a fixed BH, that deer would have been dead. The other thing I hated about the Rages was how they loved to come unclipped in the quiver and rattle around. I know there are many other designs where this is not a problem and if I were going to shoot a mech for deer I would likely shoot one of the smaller grim reaper heads like the mini carni four or similar.

That being said, I think a mechanical shines on turkey.

If you are shooting a mechanical for deer and larger game: tune your bow, shoot a heavy arrow recipe, make sure you have enough KE, & know their limitations and where they shine.

Deer (compound):
FIXED - Carnivore .300 w/ 100gr brass insert / 125gr Slick Trick Magnum (510gr total)

Deer (Recurve):
FIXED - GT Traditional Classic XT .340 w 93gr insert/collar combo / 175gr VPA 3 Blade (683gr total)

Turkey (compound):
MECHANICAL - Victory VAP TKO .350 no insert / 120gr Thorn Glue In Rift 2.2" (396gr total)
I like this setup because this is the exact same setup/tune as my 3D arrows minus the BH, I have glue in 120gr target points on my 3d arrows. This allows me to hunt turkey and shoot 3D without retuning. Come AUG I retune for my heavier deer setup and that stays until JAN when I retune for 3D.

Bows:
PSE EVO NXT 35 LD w/ fast mods 67# 29.5" DL
White Feather Lark ILF Riser / Trad Tech Black Max Limbs 48#OTF 29.75" DL
 

Dan Apple

Old Mossy Horns
Any of them will kill a deer if they're sharp and placed well....

I could personally never keep muzzy's sharp,, they seemed to be dull out of the pack, and got worse in the quiver. I've shot mechanicals and had good results except on big bodied bucks,,, penetration seemed to be an issue, I lost a couple and still blame it on the BH,,, could be shot placement on my part-- too much in the shoulder, but for whatever reason I lost confidence in them. I havent bowhunted in a few years and may this year, but there will be some sort of fixed head in the mix if I do... likely a Thunderhead.
 

porkchopsando

Button Buck
Shot 100gr severs last year and they did well. They fly great and are built really well. But I had one fail to deploy, so I'm on the single bevel fixed blade train.
Jumped up to 125gn and am testing out Grizzly Samurai's and Cutthroats. I always have one arrow in the quiver with a tried and true Muzzy Trocar...
 

NCbowjunkie

Ten Pointer
Will be using these this year had these around for a long time. As you can see in 1977 these where $16.95 a dozen Will be shot from one of the bows I build
 

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Buxndiverdux

Old Mossy Horns
Broad heads only require a few things to do their job. They have to be sharp, and they have to hit vitals to kill. I personally require 2 holes for blood tracking ease.

The rest is up to the Indian. I've shot deer with 150 fps self bows and wooden arrows all the way up to 80lb compound bows shooting 450 grain arrows at 320fps.

Personally, I like the blood trails that mechanical heads produce. They are consistently far superior to any fixed blade head blood trails I've followed over the last 20 years since I started shooting mechanical heads.

If I ever draw an elk tag, I will be using some kind of fixed blade cut on contact broad head simply because I believe they penetrate better and there is a lot more hide, bone and flesh to penetrate for 2 holes.

One other exception.... I would not prefer an expandable over a COC head in low poundage bows. To get maximum benefit from expandable heads, you need at least 60lbs of draw weight and 400 grain arrows and I would stick to cutting diameters of 2" or less with that minimum. To run those 2 1/2" mechanical heads, you need 70lbs and 450+ weight arrows for 2 holes.
 
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