Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Bear 26, in the freezer

Well, bow killed bear #26 is in the freezer! I nice big jet black Male bear. A rare black color here. I've only seen a few all black in the last decade hunting this ranch.

The bow Harlon dialed in was of course silent to draw and deadly as always. This is the first bear I've ever shot that seemed to jump the string. Fortunately they don't have the spring in their step a whitetail deer has, but nevertheless, on the video you can see him bolt as the arrow is enroute. My Blue Nocturnal streaking through the air and the Rage Hypodermic made a hella big hole.

I'm 18 yards from the trail to the tree stand, the bear fell dead 70 feet from the base of the tree stand. It was only 20 feet from where the bear fell dead last year at the same stand. Same bow, arrows and broadhead. Amazing consistency huh!



If there is better performance or functionality from a broadhead to be used on bears I've never seen it. This is like the 5th one now and none have gone more then 40-50 yards on their feet. A couple have died on a hill side and rolled a fair distance after death. If I recall correctly all have died in sight of the tree stand. Zero Tracking. Although as you can see, the blood trail would be rather heavy and easy to follow.



we used a new Millennium Double tree stand because my wife and I hunt together every time out. The stand is as stout and comfortable as is possible for something that can be portable. One odd thing I did not figure out straight away was the stand has a shooting rail. It's a kind of mental comfort to have that rail in front of you when 16 plus feet off the ground. However I had to lift my bow up over the rail to shoot. That was a weird way to shoot for me. I think we either fold that rail up out of the way and forgo the comfort of seeing that rail there while sitting for hours, or I deal with it and shoot over it. It worked fine so I think I'll just stay with the rail down. Just keep in mind the the first time you shoot from a stand that has this rail it's gonna surprise you.

Great bear JJ !

Wow what a hole the rage put in that big dude .

Great way to spend family time !!

I thought you preferred the slick trick heads?

Nothing is forever, well maybe...... With s rage hypodermic through the chest death is forever!

I love the slick tricks and for some species or draw weight bows they are the best game in town.

If your shooting 65lb plus and a have a reasonably heavy arrow the hypo's are astonishing

That hole speaks for itself.

VERY cool beans Jim!

NICE bear! Great company!

I still can't make myself risk an expandable on game. I saw to many failures in the early years. Still just scared of a mechanical failure some way.

With all the old reliables likely to be that way till I die, and heck they work.

But that is a nice hole too! 3 blade 200 rothaar snuffer wouldn't even be quite that big.

Nice work Jim , got any pics of that huge lion you killed years ago?

I switched to rage hypodermics two years ago, as of now I have zero plans to go back to fixed blades.

Damn that's nice...

Nice kill, my favorite broadhead is similar to the ones you are using. I use the swhacker

There is quite a difference. Shwacker opens after entry, rage opens before entry.

If no exit occurs the advantage to a huge blood trail is non existent with the shwacker.

In looking at the photo I have in the thread with the bear. That is the entry. Imagine that hole only being shaft diameter rather then 2" wide.

The results are massively different. I have heard tons of guys say the shwacker is the same as the rage. Look close and you can tell there nothing alike with blade deployment. If I could not get a 2" entry I would not bother with mechanicals.

I re-read my post, and I don't want it to seem argumentative. This is just my opinion. In Africa quite a few guys came with swackers. It was then I fully recognised the difference between what visually looks the same as the Rage. Then I could see the results in the blood tracking.

Not to say they don't work or are somehow bad. Just not for me. Givin the option of a 2" entry or "bore" diameter entry, I'll take the two inch entry gash every time.

From my perspective there are two reasons for Mechanicals. A bow that does not shoot fixed blades due to a tuning or compatibility issue.
OR
A hunter that wants the biggest hole possible through the animal.

With some skill, or effort, or even better yet.... a proper pro shop. Tuning should be a non issue with any bow made in the last decade. That leaves me with the only benefit being the size of the holes to provide the blood and chunks to find the animal.

Mechanicals are notorious for under penetration issues because of the width of the blades. I shoot 65lbs now, but have shot weights from 62 to 74lbs in the recent past. I think a mechanical needs at least 65lbs with a decent weight arrow( >400 grains) to provide the performance that these mechanicals need to really show what they can do.

Shooting a Broadhead that does not exit from an animal larger then a rather flimsy constructed whitetail deer or Impala, is not going to help. Speaking just for me on my experience seeing quite a selection of hunters in Africa. Hunters using all sorts of gear, that huge entry is the difference between the short easy tracking effort, or the longer sometimes questionable performance of mechanicals that open only after the blades are inside the body.

This is especially important when animals are shot from above as in a tree stand or elevated blind. I shaft size hole in the top of the body, without an exit in the bottom reduces blood flow to an unusable level. Although the animal may die from a lethal hit, the ability to locate an animal shot this way is really a challenge. We have managed this with the use of a tracking dog too many times to count.

The Hypodermic which opens before entry to the body leaves such an enormous path of blood to follow that we usually see the animal fall in sight of the blind or tree stand.

JJHack ,

What's the biggest/toughest animal you've shot with these heads ?

Anything with really tough hide -heavy bone ?

No, I would use a slick trick for anything like a big hog. I've shot about a dozen medium to smaller wild boar and another 15ish warthogs with hypodermics. Warthogs are soft and easy to penetrate. Male Wild boar are really thick skinned and tough. I would choose a slick trick. Same for moose, bison, etc

Deer and elk with proper power and arrow weight could go with either. I can speak most accurately from my experience. I would use a slick trick if I was expecting to shoot elk over 25 yards. My archery power level does not meet the amount I would like to see with a hypodermic.

I would shoot the biggest black bear alive with my bow and the hypodermic at 35-40 yards. Bears are really soft but need a huge hole to get blood flow to the ground.

There are a number of criteria I use to determine which broad head I would choose. It's not one for all.

Nice bear Jim, and nicely executed.

Nice bear, congratulations!Nice holes those Rage heads make.
I have been to Africa with my bow three times, and the PH there has always discouraged any mechanicals.
I have used STs with great success. My opinion is I'd rather have a very deep hole than a wider but shallower hole. Most times a Rage I believe will fully penetrate, but in some cases it won't and in those cases a ST will.

Want great penetration...even with mech heads? Shoot a stiff enough arrow and weight up the front. FOC is where its at. I have some arrows at 14.8% And im going tp play with more.

Looks great, congrats on the kill

Very interesting to hear about the differences between the Rage and Slick Trick with different via setups.

I currently am using the Slick Tricks with great results, but have buddy's packing the Rage. Both leave one heck of a blood trail with proper placement on both deer, elk, and antelope, but that's the extent of persued game for us here.

i used to be the biggest rage hater on earth, i used some of the 1st ones out and didn't care for their performance. I gave the hypodermics a whirl last year, and heart shot a big western wisconsin buck. the blood trail even for a heart shot was out of this world, the head was in perfect condition as well. my set up is a PSE dream season DNA @ 28.5" 58lbs. Shooting a 390gr arrow @ 303fps. Id have zero problems shooting an elk with this set up @ 40 yards. its penetrates like crazy