Rage heartache

T

tyrajam

New member
I am really dissapointed right now. I just got back from one of the best hunting trips of my life, not only because of the great deer woods but because of the time spent with Robert and Dave. Dave put us in some of his honey holes and set us up on deer. It was a fantastic time, with one tragic flaw.
This year I switched to the 3 blade rage. Heard great things about them, and that they had worked out their deployment issues. But Ihad some. Thursday afternoon I shot a doe, it was about 40 yards and I hit her low right behind the shoulder. Whack! She ran about 20 yards and bedded down. Yes! I decided to stay in my stand until dark since I didn't want to get down and ruin Robert and Daves hunt, because they were near me. Finally came down, went to where she had been, and she was gone. Picked up the blood trail, followed her for about half a mile, and jumped her. Four hours after being shot, she jumped up and ran. We backed out and decided to give it the night. I came back the next day and found her not far away, and on dressing her, found that it was a perfect shot, blades just didn't open. Oh well, I got her.
Friday night didn't go quite so well. Dave put me in a good stand, and it wasn't long before a buck caught my eye. e knew something was wrong, but he was slowly coming. Few steps, stop, wait, few more steps. I couldn't believe he kept coming, I prayed that I would see a buck, and here I WAS ABOUT TO GET MY FIRST BUCK WITH A BOW! I can't tell you how excited I was! When he stepped behind a tree at 25 yards I drew. He stepped out from behind it broadside, froze, and stared straight at me. I let fly. WHACK! Right behind the shoulder and a little high, I watched my luminok dissapear into his chest. Knees were shaking, he wasn't a big buck, but he was my first bow buck!I gave him a half an hour and climbed down. When I went to where I last saw him, I was stunned. Three little drops of blood on a leaf, and no trail. No arrow. Nothing. Dave and Robert came and helped me search, but we never found any more blood. We finally gave up for the night, but I spent the next day scouring those woods and never found a sign of him. My excitement has turned to heartache, and what should have been a wonderfull chapter in my hunting book is spoiled. I of course second guess myself: should I have waited? Did I hit to high? Maybe, maybe not. But I do know I shot a rage through two deer's rib cages, and neither one should have made it 100 yards. The rage didn't open on my first deer, and it did nothing on my buck. I'll get over it I guess, and I hope my buck does too. But I won't carry rages into the field again, that is for sure.
 
Damn, really sorry to hear. "Experience is a harsh teacher...it gives the quiz first, and the lesson second."

You will have more chances...
 
If I were a bow man I would not go with the mechanical broad heads... Give me a 3 or 4 bladed fixed head everytime...
Design says it oughta work but physics and Murphy will pee in my coffee everytime...
Brent
 
Sorry to hear about the experience.

Oregon does not allow mechanical broadheads for big game. I thought that might be antiquated, given the improvements, but maybe not.

I am not a big fan of all the "advancements" in bow hunting. I don't use a release, don't use a drop-away rest, etc. To me, in the heat of the moment, I do not need any additional things to go wrong.
 
Gotta agree...

with Hogdogs, Tyrajam. A plain old Muzzy 4 blade has no moving parts to not work.
it oughta work but physics and Murphy will pee in my coffee everytime...
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Pul-eeeze! :D The mental image alone is agony!

Seriously--We owe it to our quarry to be as humanely lethal as possible. Gadgetry just gets in the way.
 
Fooled by the commercials!

Sorry to hear about your bad experience.

I think that the TV personalities that pimp these products haven't even used them.

You're not alone. I bought some of the Jim Shockey gold pellets last year. The stuff wasn't that bad, but it didn't live up to all that Shockey claimed. Very inconsistent in weight.
 
.284, I did too! I tried the Shockey gold in my ML and when I was test firing it over a chrono I got variations of over 500fps! Ridiculous how worthless the stuff is.
I had heard a lot of good things about the new rages, Chuck Adams pimped them for crying out loud. And Iof course want to make the most eithical shot on an animal, and if that meant using a $12 broadhead, Iwas willing to do it. They are probably the biggest name in expandables and they were supposed to be the best. Going back to the G5 montecs.
 
Never never never had a problem with 100 gr. Thunderheads. Yep, been using them for about 15 years now.
 
Sorry to hear about you losing your deer. It's always a gut wrenching feeling. I just don't know about those Rage's. My dad shoots them. The only problem he's had was the ferrul bending. He's always had great wound channels though.

I don't like them. Personally I perfer Grim Reaper Broadheads. Never had a failure to open, always great blood trails, dead deer. There are mixed reviews on everything in the world. I trust the mechanical broadhead that I use. Until it gives me a reason otherwise.

If you are looking for a great mechanical to try out, give the Grim Reapers a look.
 
I hate to blame the hunter but... Well, you obviously didn't hit the vitals on either shot. You can shoot a deer through the lungs with a field point and it won't go very far.


Secondarily, stick with the 2-blade. The 3 blade version is less reliable and no more deadly. However, like I said, hit them where you're supposed to and a field point will kill them VERY quickly.

There are two sections, one above and in front and the other above and behind the lungs, that are "no mans land". Deer will run forever and hardly bleed if hit there. Also, if you hut the shoulder bone and penetration is limited to one lung then the deer will likewise run forever.
 
That is a shame. And, I am surprised to hear it.
I just started bow hunting and hunted this year with Rage two blade broadheads. I never got a shot, so no first hand experience. However, prior to buying them, I spent some time reading the various archery forums. It seemed like the Rages were the most frequently discussed broadhead out there and this is the first negative thing I have read about them from somebody that has actually used them.
I don't know about the three blade vs. two blade. I believe everything I read was the two blade.
 
I've been wanting to try the 2 blade rage broadheads but have hesitated because of things like this I hear about mechanicals in general, not just the rage broadheads. I've been usin the G5 Strikers and they have worked good. I have the same POI with the G5's as I do my field points. I haven't used them on deer yet, just hogs and neither one ran more than 20 yds. I bought some thunderheads also and they hit nearly identical to the G5's. I'm going to start using the thunderheads on hogs instead of the G5's since there a little cheaper. I don't mean to hijack this, but does anyone know where you can buy the replacement blades for the strikers? I bought those over the Montecs so I could just replace the blades, but I can't find the replacements anywhere.
 
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Pizza makes a good point here. IMHO, broadheads get the blood flowing for tracking purposes....heck, a well placed 22 round will take down a deer, why wouldn't a field tip? I would take stock in his opinion, with a handle "Pizza Killer" he's not going walk too far to track a deer. I doubt he's often mistaken for Brad Pitt.....sorry Pizza.
 
Wow, I'm really sorry to hear about your hunt! I personally shoot mechanicals, but i refuse to shoot 3-bladed ones - just takes too much energy to deploy, wont penetrate. I shoot the predecessor to the Rage - the 2-bladed Snyper broadhead (Rocky MTn. co.)- discontinued in 2007. Bought as many as I could from Cabela's before they quit. Anyway, I've heard bad things about the 2-bladed Rage as well - they are a copy of the Snyper but use an O-ring instead of a rubber band. IMHO O-rings are unreliable - have heard unsatisfactory results despite their "guarantee". So much for all the hype. Hope this helps.
 
rage

I started using the rage this year after seeing first hand what my buddies did to a deer we had to stick twice due to my poor shot the first time.i bought some of the rage two blade and they have proven to be AMAZING 3 does this year none went past 75 yards all looked like they had been stabbed with a butcher knife just a STUPID big cut all 3 passed thru and all three left a trail ray charles could follow. im not saying stuff dont happen. i wouldnt advise them for still hunting cause they are prone to snagging and having a blade pulled loose. but from a stand i wont ever hunt with anything else. now i dont speak for the 3 blade cause ive never used one. but the two blades are DEVISTATING!!!!!!!!!!
 
Hmmmm I've been leery of the mechanical heads since they came out. Nice concept, sure they work for some people, but I like knowing that the blades are already out. Just getting back into bows myself, picking up everything now with plans to go out next year. But, the ones I picked up are the Muzzy MX-4's. Muzzy's got a great rep, they make solid heads and should do quite well. Only other ones I would contemplate are the Montec's.
 
Many years ago, I shot an antelope with a Thunderhead broadhead (fixed blade). It wasn't a perfect hit, but it died after about a 100 yard sprint.

The next year, someone talked me into using a Vortex mechanical head. They were supposed to be more accurate, and very effective. I shot an antelope with one, and while it was a classic hit in the lower chest, the arrow didn't penetrate well. The antelope ran 100 yards or so, and laid down. So, I waited for an hour or so, but it wouldn't die. Finally, I tried to sneak up on it, but when I got about 40 yards from it, it got back up and ran another 50=70 yards before laying down again. So, I waited some more. Finally I stalked up on it and got another arrow in it...and it was already dead. The first arrow didn't penetrate very deeply, so it took a while to bleed out.

And I've been using fixed blade broadheads successfully ever since.

;)

Daryl
 
I gave him a half hour and climbed down...
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Unless I can physically watch the deer expire from my stand, I don`t come out of stand for a good hour. Thats on a shot I know I put 'in the boiler room'. On a questionable shot, I wouldn`t start a trail for a good 3-4 hrs. I`ve never used Rage broadheads but have/do use Rocky Mountain 'Gators'. They`re two bladed, scissor style operated broadheads. Used to use Snuffers and Muzzies and I`ll say the wound channel/blood trail with these Gators is better than the fixed bladed broadheads. Couple of things you may want to do. Make sure your blades operate freely from the package and oil them with a bit of vegetable oil. Second, don`t know what kind of bow your using or weight/fps your shooting but is it possible your bows to fast and not giving the Rage`s a chance to open. Just thinking of some possibilies:confused: P.S. I think all bow hunter`s that have been at the game very long have had the experience of shooting a deer and not being able to find it. Thats a very bad feeling and if you ever get to the point it doesn`t bother you, please quit hunting. Sorry for your lose.
 
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