Broadhead choice

F

FirstFreedom

Moderator
Last evening, I studied every broadhead offering for sale in Bass Pro Shops, and to say that the choices are staggering or overwhelming is an understatement.

Do yours:

-Use a cutting diameter of 1.0", 1 and 1/16th", 1 and 1/8th, 1 and 3/16th, or bigger? The Rages have a 2" diameter, and the Hypershocks have a 2.75" diameter! :eek:

-Use fixed or mechanical?

-Use 2 blade, 3 blade, or 4 blade?

-75 gr, 85 gr, 100 gr, 125 gr, or heavier?

-Cut on contact or chisel point, or other?

-Steel, aluminum, titanium, combo construction?

-Straight or serrated blades? At least 2 had serrated blades.

-Do yours fly like field points or do you have to practice with them separately since the fly significantly different?

-Do any of your answers depend on game type, terrain, arrow choice, bow choice, or anything else? I'm thinking of using:

-125 hypershock chisel point mechanical 2.75 CD on deer/compound 65 lb bow & 340 easton carbon 10gpi 29" arrows, and
-100 Magnus stingers 4 blade fixed, with serrations, for deer/recurve 45 lb bow and carbon express thunderstorm se 30" arrows, and
-100 gr 4-blade Muzzy fixed for elk/compound bow (same 340 arrows), for penetration. But I dunno, maybe a cut-on-contact is a better idea for elk than a chisel point.....

The one deer I have killed with a bow was with a 100 gr Magnus stinger, non-serrated.

Oh, and get this. The "kid" (probably 19 or 20) working the pro shop - it would seem that he's killed many deer & elk. One elk he got last year, and it was an 85 yard shot. He also killed a turkey with a head shot with an arrow. And he also killed a running deer with a neck shot (intentionally) at 25 yards, yes with an arrow. He MAY be telling the truth - he may be that good - he sure had a lot of details in these stories. But he's probably yankin my chain - hard to say - in any event, amusing.
 
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These are what I use:
http://www.g5outdoors.com/#sec_montec

They do shoot differently than my field tips. I use the same "pre-season" broadheads to practice (basically the same, just not sharpened).

I'm really happy with the performance of the montecs on deer. I shot mechanical broadheads for years, but was never completely satisfied with the performance on game.
 
FF - almost as confusing as choice of ammo, isn't it?:)

I shoot Magnus Stingers 4 blades 125 on everything. The ones with resharpenable main and replaceable bleeder blades.

I know a lot of guys use mechanicals, but I have no experience with them. They are illegal here in Oregon, so aren't an option either way.

Once you get a set up for your bow, I would never change anything for elk or deer. Way too much effort involved getting everything re-set for different wieght broadheads. A razor sharp broadhead goes through elk hide just as well as deer hide.

I have killed deer with both cut on contact and chisel points. I currently am shooting cut on contact (see above).

I feel that broadheads are a lot like fishing lures - they are trying to sell the fisherman/hunter on style and looks. I would recommend trying a few brands to see which ones fly best for you and then sticking with that brand. Some of them make practice broadheads that are not sharp so you don't waste as much money, but I just plan on resharpening and replacing bleeder blades before I hunt - price of doing business.

I have heard guys swear their fixed blade broadheads hit just where thier field points do, but in my experience it just doesn't happen. I get everything dialed in with field points, then switch to broadheads a couple of weeks out to get them sighted in. Usually for me it will be a left/right adjustment, not a up/down.

Personally, I would never shoot less than 100 grain broadheads, but they obviously work for some. I stick with 125s for the mass.
 
FF,

I shoot Rocket Aeroheads, on my compound bow, and they will difinitley shoot with your field points. There is no difference in POI, which makes them great for me, because I don't want to be re-sighting my bow all the time,along with having to re-sharpen them before season, and I like to shoot every day for a month or so before season starts. With the cost of 3 broadheads now days, I just can't see practicing with my hunting heads if I don't have to.
They are a mechanical broadhead, and my bow shoots to fast for them out of the box, but my wife works for a dentist, and I have her bring me dental rubber bands, that I use to hold them closed until they impact.

I don't think that they would be a problem on a recurve though, because the speed would not be as great. They have superior penetration to anything else I have shot, and I have used them long enough to have confidence in them. You might give them a look.
 
FF - they are all effective on game, at least the "out of the box sharp" ones. I will not say the same about ones you have to sharpen, as that relies on the skill of the sharpener.

My mom's husband shoots the same bear 4 blades he has shoot since the 70's and still kills an elk with them when he gets a shot. If you think about the advances in technology since he started shooting them, it seems like he would have moved on, but he trusts them based on the 13 or so elk he has killed. You couldn't make me put those on my arrows, but it works for him - oh well.

Of course, he also swears having matched arrows, or even correctly spined arrows, is way over rated....Makes me nuts when he has me check over his bow because he is getting a flyer now and then. Well, duh, your spines don't match!!!!
 
I guess I am like your mom's husband.When they quit making RazorBack 5's I bought about 2 dozen and still use them.Since they free wheel in flight they don't have the lift that some broadheads do and shoot extremely close to field points.A lot of the problems getting things tuned has come from trying to shoot light broadheads.I just never felt like jumping through hoops to get another 20 or 30 FPS.
 
ZJ - I went through my "speed is king" phase, but that is what drove me to traditional for a long time. I realized I was spending more time tweaking, tuning, and fiddling around than actually shooting and having fun - so switched to "stick and string". Now I am back to a compound (although it is not a "normal" compound), but have tried to not get caught up in the speed game again.

But you are right, more speed equals more picky on broadhead tuning.
 
Just Remember that in OK they have to be 7/8ths diameter and 1.5inches long to be legal for deer. Most will fit this criteria but not all.

Evan
 
I had forgot this effect from last year. I got everything set-up with my field points. I put on new sights, so had to start from scratch anyway. When I started shooting broadheads, they are actually flying better from my bow than my field points.:eek:

I think I am ever so slightly over-spined for my field points, but with the added torque of the longer broadhead it is perfect.
 
I shoot 100 grain sonic pro's, they honestly fly like fieldpoints. I have gotten complete pass throughs on deer with my slower than slow old Browning #55 draw, so these broadheads are what I'm sticking with. I like the cut on contact way better than anything else. Check out the ABC (American Broadhead Company), I really like em.
 
FF,

Can't get it on here for you , but Type in " Rocket Aeroheads" and the site will tell you all you want to know.

Sorry about that, but I'm still to stupid at this computer to figure out everything I need to know yet.
 
I like the 100 gn Muzzy 3 blade broadhead. Like the others have stated, i also get dialed in with field points and fine tune with the broadheads later. The trocar tip on the Muzzy will give excellent bone penetration, even on the real big hogs. The Montech g-5 will also blow through heavy bone. One thing to remember though, If you choose to use a mech. broadhead make sure your bow is over 60lbs. Most mech. broadheads require that much weight as a minimum to gaurntee blade deployment. An exception to this rule is the new Rage SlipCam, and the Tekkan from g-5. There may be others but those are two that i know that don't require heavy poundage bows. Hope this helps.The season is just around the corner so GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!
 
Can anyone explain the popularity of mechanical broadheads to me? OK, first off, as I have mentioned, they are illegal in Oregon, so I don't shoot them or have experience with them.

OK, so you save a little time because you don't have to re-sight for hunting season (at least theoretically - but if that is true, why do targets indicate they are usable with mechanicals...). It just seems like one more link in the chain that could fail and cost you a clean kill. Same reason I don't shoot a release anymore - one more potential point of failure.

I am not against these things, I just don't understand them.

OK, I understand the releases because the entire archery industry is being driven by tree-stand whitetail hunters and they have made the bows too short axle-to-axle to use fingers anymore, so you have to use a release...

Sorry - just had to rant on that for a few minutes...:o
 
The manufacturers have to keep reinventing their product and selling it as the best thing since sliced bread to keep the sales volume.Just like titanium drivers and muzzleloaders.I used to upgrade about every two years starting in the mid 70's.Back in those days the technology was improving enough to justify it IMO.But'I haven't bought a bow now in about 10 years.I like a bow about 42 inches.You can still shoot fingers if you lose your release or it fails.The added value of mechanicals is questionable to me also.

I just looked at Darton and PSE.Looks like 35 inches is in style now.I think I'll keep mine.
 
I used to shoot Muzzy 100 gr. 3-blades. Although I could never get them to shoot right until I heated the insert glue and aligned the blades with my vanes. I shot a doe last year with them and 2 of the blades broke. She didn't go more than 70 yds. but I didn't like that. I bought some G5 Montec 100 gr. to try this year.
 
I am going nuts! Season opens this Saturday!! Bow hunting Roosevelt elk on the Oregon coast for 1 week.

I should have taken the day off today, since I am too jazzed to work:p
 
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