I ended up right back where I started 25 yrs ago, thunderheads. I was playing with mechanicals and started loosing arrows from not getting pass thrus. Id get pass thrus but only under 20 yds for the most part. I switched back to theads and havent lost an arrow since.

The POI isnt the same as field parts at least form any of my bows. I used muzzys for a while but I think Theads are better.

Tjkiller,
I blame part of this on the commercialization of the archery industry. Often bowhunters get carried away with the idea of larger holes in deer and it comes at the cost of the loss of penetration. Common sense dictates that 2 holes bleeding are better than 1. Bowhunters that are shooting a 1 1/8" cutting diameter fixed blade broadhead will switch to a 1 1/2" cutting diameter mechanical broadhead and 2 things happen...
1. There's a loss of penetration, because it takes more K.E. to push that larger cutting diameter through a deer. Plus, the deployment of the blades.
2. There's only one hole...an entrance hole with no exit wound for blood trailing. Very few bowhunters have the tracking skills necessary to find a deer, without a blood trail.

Such commercial ads as, "Bad to the Bone", leads bowhunters to believe that there's bone splitting capabilities with the use of their broadheads. A bow kills by way of hemmorage ie. blood, this is NOT a rifle, it's a bow...shoot the soft tissue areas that will bleed. Other ads like, "It's like throwing an ax through an animal", is hog wash. An ax is an ax and a wider cutting diameter mechanical broadhead...without increase K.E. is a loss of penetration and a lost animal.


Try shooting some short ferrule broadheads, of your brand of choice. You'll find that the same P.O.I. will become the same...assuming your bow is tuned properly. The shorter ferrule allows for less wind drag, which allows for less "steering" of the arrow and improved flight charactoristics.

When it's all said and done, each bowhunter has to use what works for them...and stay with it.
Archery is full of personal choices and that's what attracts so many to it.

Good hunting, Bowhunter57

I've been keeping an eye on this interesting post just to see what the different opinions are on broadheads. Here's mine.

I run a blood dog tracking service along with my other main business. I track well over 100 deer a year, & I charge the hunter regardless of whether we find the deer or not. Since I charge to track, almost all of the deer I put the dog on are good bucks that are hit bad (mechanicals are the exception to this rule). Many of the deer I track that have been shot with mechanicals are actually hit pretty good, but there is often times no exit wound making for a poor blood trail. We find or bay almost all of the deer we track, & often times a follow up shot is needed. We don't get them all, & I believe most of those deer make it unless infection gets em later on. I keep up with all of the deer I track & what they are shot with. I've found over the years that deer shot with mechanicals more often than not only have an entry hole & no exit (penetration problems) they are also a lot more likely to tear up than a fixed blade. Of the deer that we have not been able to recover the majority of them have been shot with mechanicals. Last year I tracked 106 deer, 49 of them were shot with bows, the rest were gun. Of the 49 bow shot deer 32 were shot with fixed blade heads, & 17 were shot with mechanicals. Of the 32 shot with fixed blades we found 27 of them, 84.4% recovery. Most of the deer recovered also had exit holes from the fixed blade heads. Of the 17 shot with mechanicals 11 were recovered, 65% recovery, & over half of the recovered deer did not have exit holes.

I personally have never tried mechanicals because of the reasons listed above. I have had extremely good luck with fixed blades. I shot Muzzy 115gr. 4 blades for years, then I switched to the shorter ferrule Muzzy mx4's. Since then I changed to the Grizz Trick 100gr. 4 blades because they are built on a similar design as the muzzy's just better in my opinion. The blades are sharper & thicker, they have a larger cutting diameter, the ferrule is short (flies great)& a one piece design. I don't see changing from them anytime in the near future, great heads! I've shot 7 bucks since switching to them & only one made it out of sight, I shot all seven with the same head & arrow, just changed the blades.

OFFICIAL DAMAGE: fixed blades do more damage because they penetrate & hold together a lot better than mechanicals.

Zack that's true, but when a deer is hit bad is when broadhead damage is most important!! More penetration=More damage. The point I was making with the above pictures, is that both deer were shot in the gut, which should result in a pass through with most bow setups, as this is the softest area of the body. Both deer were shot broadside at close range. The reason they didn't get a pass through on either deer is because their bows don't have enough energy to push the big mechanical heads through the deer. The result is less damage due to poor penetration.

Do you know what heads they were using?

I have no experience with the rage broadheads, but all I have heard is how they fall apart. Usually before they are even used.

-Dave

That's what happened to me Dave and on the first shot with that particular head. Never again.

I bought some Rage, but haven't had a chance to use them. They'll be broken in this fall...

I bought some Rage, but haven't had a chance to use them. They'll be broken in this fall...

Good luck with that. Might want to save yourself some grief and buy a quality head.

I thought it would be cool to have hogs to hunt where I live, that is until I hunted them in S.C.. VERY destructive animal.

Rage just plain work !
I shoot 3 blade 1.5" cut. Haven't found a deer yet that will hold one. Man do they cut a hole !

My rig has a lot of KE.

Now my wife shoots the same broadhead with a lot less KE. I will say this a solid shoulder hit ,no matter fixed of mech ,She can't push either one through. We used to shoot a lot of 3-D targets. She got brain washed like many do,that you have to hug the shoulder,cause that where the points are. Well on a deer hugging the shoulder can spell disaster ! I now have her shoot them mid -rib and they always end up in the freezer. I would rather have her gut shoot one with a Rage than punch one in the shoulder with anything.

The broadhead always gets blamed when a animal is lost. Most of the time it's shot placement ! It's much easier to blame equipment.

I shot Thunderheads for years and killed many,many deer with them. In fact I've broken more blades off them than any mech I've used.

Yep use what you will,and have at it.

Talk about Hype ! How many guys shoot a Mathews just because all the TV people do ????

You never see me shooting one,unless I'm getting paid like all the ones on TV .

To bad the deer was lost. However a deer shot in vitals can be killed with no blades at all.

You must have gotten a first run Rage. I have heard alot of them were JUNK.

I did not try them until after a full year they were out.

I've killed a few deer myself an easy 30-40 min. 8 with Rage.

I will not live or die by them. Infact after about 4-5 years on a head ,I'll try something new. I like trying new stuff and I can tell before it ever draws blood,if it's worthy of trying.

I fixed my posts ..Hope you like them.

Done wasting my time.

I have actually tried to hunt with two different rage heads last year and both broke before i could ever draw back with them...

I honestly do not believe that statment. Im sorry, but I dont see it.

Max-1...I think it blends pretty well here during the summer months untile all the green dies off. I buy camo because I like the way it looks the deer cant tell a differnece.

hey tim

how far was the shot and how far did he go!?

thats just unreal!

First entry for this season...


1. Broadhead Type- Rage two and three blade
2. Bow- Mathews Drenalin
3. Draw weight and draw length- 70lbs 29" draw
4. How they fly compared to field tips- spot on
5. How far the shot was- 30 yards
6. How far the tracking job was- about ten yards of her rolling down hill


The hole high above her mid section is the two blade exit...the one in the shoulder is the three blade entrance.


You had to shoot her twice?

zack beam, awesum shot! are all yotes that small in Alabama?

Thanks!

For the most part yes...she was about the average size that we kill down here.

No I could have sat and watched her lay there and try to bite the arrow out untile she eventually bled out, but I wont watch an animal suffer if I can do anything about it.

But there are a few things the south does have that is better than the north and thats fishing, those sweet southern bells, and that fine southern cooking.

Maybe it's just the camera shot, but man does that yote look small. It has to be a pup, not? If that's you average size what does a small one look like, a kit fox? I'm not trying to put down your excellent predator kill, just making an observation about what must be the genetics of your yote population. I've seen a few coyotes in Mississippi, closer to the Louisiana side, that would dwarf that thing, and would rival most the yotes we have here in Minnesota in size. So there has to be more to it than just a North or South thing. But any coyote is a good coyote. Congrats!