Question on arrow heads

Y

yankytrash

New member
I just bought a used compound bow at the last gunshow. Being a lefty, I never got to borrow a friend's bow and try it out, and thus never got into the sport. Actually, the guy that was selling the bow at his table of, well, junk didn't even know it was a lefty. After much flipping, turning and twirling we figured out it was a lefty. $60 with 8 arrows, Whitetail Hunter 50-60lb bow that only needed sights and an arrow holder.

A friend of mine helped me put the sights, arrow holder, and nock points on. Luckily, with bow season coming in only 2 short weeks, it seems I'm a natural behind a bow. Hitting pie plates at 40yd from a mock-up deer stand, which I'm told is sufficient.

Now that you know where I'm coming from, I've got a question on broadhead selection...

I'm told I'll have to re-sightin the bow if I change weights of arrowheads. Makes sense to me. With deer season fast approaching, I decided I better weigh these broadheads that came on the arrows, so I could buy me some cool-lookin expanding tips for the season.

My broadheads weigh 150gr. Does that sound right? I ask because the Cabella's catalog, which although I realize doesn't have EVERYTHING under the sun for every sport, only lists heads up to 125gr. Wal-Mart and my two local gun shops only have up to 125gr in stock too, and this is a big bow-hunting area.

Is the 150gr too much? Should I continue my search for 150gr heads, or ditch the idea and go for the typical 125's? Any suggestions on specific brands/type of heads I should use for goat-sized Virginia whitetail and blackies through open woods?

Maybe I messed up when I measured the heads? I just unscrewed them and weighed them individually. Should I subtract some amount for the screw-in part?
 
One hundred and twenty-five grain tips is bread and butter. So is 100 grains.

You are going to have to sight-in again anyway. Broadheads many times fly different than field points. The lighter the setup, the flatter the arrow fly's and the more accurate in the field you will be. Lots of good brands out there, Muzzy and Thunder heads seem to be the most popular.
 
I would get the Muzzy's and stick to a fixed blade broadhead. Expandables in slower shooting bows are no match and may not perform right with an earlier model compound bow shooting slow speeds.

The Muzzy's have a practice blades included in each pack. You can shoot the practice blades without having to dull the razor sharp blades used for hunting.

Broadheads do shoot different than field tips in some cases and I highly recommend that you shoot your broadheads prior to hunting to see where the point of impact is.

Shooting a heavier broadhead isn't that bad and neither is a heavier arrow, especially with a slower bow setup. I shoot a 700 grain wood arrow with a 145 grain cut on impact broadhead out of my longbow for hunting and have no problem passing through deer with good blood trails.

Ron
 
I'm practicing with Bear Broadheads right now. Might order me some Muzzy 145gr 4-blades so I can replace the blades easier, and so my sightin will be close. Don't wanna make too many waves with me being a newbie a couple weeks before the season opens.

That Muzzy broadhead "tip" just screws off, doesn't it, to replace the blades?

EDIT: Just realized I was looking in the Bass Pro catalog originally. Cabela online has plenty of 145gr heads. Actually even lists my current broadheads: Bear Super Razorhead Broadheads. Might just stick with them, just get new blades.
 
FWIW, the BHs I used with my last couple hunting bows were 200-210 gr, counting screwin adapters. Yup, they worked well, I never had to track a deer hit with oen more than 100 yards, and they usually went down within sight.

Head weight can be adjusted to tune the flight of the arrow by effectively raising or lowering the arrow spine.
 
That “arrow holder” is typically called a quiver. ;)


Personally, with the bow weight you have I would try dropping to a 125gr. Broadhead (although you have a good point about not wanting to make waves right before bow season). YMMV however, and if you shoot the heavier head accurately and at the distances you want, then you’re probably just fine. You also need to buy whatever broadheads you are going hunt with and then go shoot them, a lot. They all fly different. I used to do some competition archery and even the same factory broadheads (actually we didn’t use broadheads in competition, but even the same field points) would impact different sometimes, and shafts can vary greatly in how the fly. When I am shooting factory shafts I always spend some range time and “group” the different shafts and heads. For instance the ones with a blue marker line (that I add at the range) might impact at POA while the ones with the red might group low, or whatever. My point is that you need to set up your shafts and tips as you are going to hunt with them and then shoot and see where they impact and adjust accordingly.

One last thing, make sure your broadheads are sharp. I mean really sharp.
 
Those Bear blades'll work just fine. Ditto sharp.

Too, place your arrow, point down, on a hard flat surface & spin the arrow. Any out of alignment will be obvious as the point will spin off-axis from the arrow shaft - kinda like a bullet concentricity check. Correct this before using these arrows as they can cause a flyer.

Points (used to anyway) are glued on with a heat expoxy & can be heated & realigned (usually) with just some time spent.
 
Ditto ahenry. Make sure you shoot every arrow you plan to hunt with. I buy arrows by the dozen, use eight for practice, and four to hunt. You'll find that among a dozen arrows with identical flield points, you might find one (or more) that just doesn't hit same point of aim as the others. This will be particulary true with broadheads. They fly differently, and can plane, due to the wind resistance from the blades. My objective is to set up four arrows with broadheads out of the dozen that fly true to the same point of aim. I practice technique with field points, but expect that I'll have to tweak my sights a bit when I switch to the broadheads. Practice exclusively with the broadheads last week or so before (and during) the season.

I shoot Thunderhead 100s, but 125s are great as well. I like the fact that they have replaceable blades. Keep 'em sharp, and when you can't any longer, replace them. But then check to see that they still hit same point of impact!
 
Under y'all's (and a close friend's) advice, I went ahead and picked up the 3-blade 125gr Muzzy's yesterday and have been practicing with them incessently.

POI was suprisingly close to the 150gr Bears, but these suckers are way sharper - more sharp than I could've done to the Bears. I'm very pleased. Thanks for the heads-up on shooting ALL the arrows; my friend said to lay a few aside and not touch them until hunting season, but this same guy has a $900 Buckmaster G2 75lb 300+fps setup, so the issue of true arrows is a bit moot to him at ranges of 40yd or less. Mine, however, definitely have issues. I've got 2 out of 6 that don't seem to hit the same point; arrows are straight, but both hit low. Must be the broadheads.

You should see that that sob shoot - both the bow and him. Arrows fly flatter than a 223Rem. I wish my rifles grouped as well. He's broken 2 carbon fiber arrows in the past 4 days of practice - by hitting them with another arrow! :eek: Hope by next year me and my Bear do as good or better.;)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top