Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Do Rage broadheads really work ?

That actually is not true, if the mechanicals fail to open, they don't do so well as I've noted. A few deer is not a true test.... IMHO either.

As to shoulder shots... I"ve seen more than a few mistakes that hit the shoulder blade and blows right through both sides to stick in the dirt.. I did the same on my last buck with a bow.... very dead very quickly. I try to stay off it because its too far forward and too high for me... but sometimes you miss, the animal moves, and or you have to thread a needle....

FWIW my wife shot Zwickey eskimos for years... and she has hit a few shoulders at low weight... IE 46 or 47 pounds draw and about a 26 inch arrow.... complete hit the dirt penetration, plus she went through a boar shield that was right at 3 inches thick plus the hide.. through the heart and half ways through the shield on the ohter side.....

Much ado about these mechanical heads. they aint' magic by far IMHO. Of course I have more than a few animals under my belt to end up with such strong convictions... anhd hunted bow only with 5-7 others for almost 22 years... where in almost all killed from 2-4 deer a year plus hogs.... so I've seen just a hair of results....

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I would never trust my life with a rage say hunting cape buffalo or even brownies. But if you feel comfortable with it then run with it. I am willing to bet you are in the very minority on that. [/quote]

LOL !
That's funny.
Trust my life ? as in survial in the bush for a few days Yes. Hunting Buff or brownies HELL NO ! Guys got have rocks for brains to try that one.
There is a 99.9% chance I will never be in the bush with either with a bow.

I myself have killed 50+ deer with a bow and 5 black bears and 1 speed goat.

1/3 of the deer have been shot with mech heads and 4 of the blackies have.(Spitfire & Rage )

I've seen some field too.

Could play this game all day.

Was just bragging up my hunting WIFE ,that's all.


I'll keep to myself from now on.
Carry on.

I would never trust my life with a rage say hunting cape buffalo or even brownies. But if you feel comfortable with it then run with it. I am willing to bet you are in the very minority on that. [/quote]

LOL !
That's funny.
Trust my life ? as in survial in the bush for a few days Yes. Hunting Buff or brownies HELL NO ! Guys got have rocks for brains to try that one.
There is a 99.9% chance I will never be in the bush with either with a bow.
[/quote]
So now your eating your words and don't trust you life on rage? I trust mine 100% with Slicktricks or Razortricks. I have a few White tail deer, Mule deer, Stika Blacktail deer, Prong Horn, Black bear, Elk, and many coyote and wolves under my belt with a bow. I have seen a lot in my years of bow hunting and archery shooting, I don't know it all but I have a pretty good foundation. You can keep your mechanicals.

LOL !

Didn't know I was going on Safari !

laffin !

still

laffin some more !

2 animals I'd love to take with my bow are a brownie..and that may still happen since my buddy is a guide... and a cape buffalo. One of the only reasons I'd want to ever go to Africa. Of course I do believe we are talknig different game, some of the heads I use on deer I wouldn't even think about using on big stuff... hell I even still disagree with the trend to light heads....penetration is a key.... and you don't get the most with light setups.... Having seen a buck shot in the ribs from higher in a tree and seeing the arrow exit out the TOP of the neck and fly up in the air....and many other strange things.... like an arrow that we have on old VHS camera somewhere maybe still... that was on line for the heart, and actualy the deer kicked it back as it entered and it ended up exiting the guts and so on... you tend to try to prepare for the worst.....

As to field experiences... it ain't tit for tat really, but my point is I personally have over 100 head of big game under my belt with a bow... and have been around appx 500 bowkills of all kinds through the years. Mechanicals will bite you eventually. You don't see things like that exposed to say 50 or 100 kills...not usually anyway.

Better do the buffalo sooner then later, the countries closing DG to archery is growing all the time. Tanzania has stopped Archery, Botswana has it under review as does zambia. RSA allows it with a minimum of 90lb draw and a 1000 grain arrow, Maybe it's 1200 grains now? Mechanical Broad heads are also not allowed for any game. What they have not outlawed in Archery they have regulated to make it difficult or nearly impossible. This was a proposed set of laws this past year. Not sure yet which they will adopt. We also need to remember that it was not long ago that no archery was allowed in RSA for big game. They changed those rules to allow it, and now they are pulling back the reigns a bit.

But Please bring fixed blade heads! I've seen way too many issues with mechanicals.

I would guess that in a decade the permits for archery hunting will be much like the permits for handgun hunting but for much different reasons. I love archery hunters in camp, I could not be happier to have a whole camp of archery hunters. So bring it on and lets go shoot some game.

I tried the two blade Rage broadheads for turkeys in the Spring and had success. I like the idea of a large cutting diameter for those small vitals. But I won't use them in the Fall when hunting whitetails and turkeys simultaneously. Still sticking to my Muzzy 100's for that.

Problem is, I'll never be able to afford a buff at all. And I wouldn't be picky at all about size... Weight and arrow weight mins would not be an issue, you'd be stupid not to be along those lines anyway.... and you'll never catch me with a mechanical POS ever again in my life. Wife and I ran them for about 3 years off and on trying... that was literally hundreds of dollars wasted. How many Zwickey or Snuffers could I have bought....

I've always shot thunderheads but seemed to always recommend muzzys......odd? Couple years ago I bought slick tricks and rage heads. Couldn't try the rage but have shot several deer with slick tricks. They worked great. Hear a couple weeks ago Stick made a statement he ain't never cussed something he ain't got or tried. Made since to me so I shot a doe with the rage and it worked fine. Soooo....... I guess they all work and it's up to us to see what we like best? I'll be chasin elk next September with bow and the rage will get the nod on that if'n I get a shot.

I'd damn sure trust a head to an elk, after driving from TN... after you shoot ONE doe deer with it. Some folks need to do a bit of thinking before they actually dive in with things.

I've many hogs with a 22 pistol... I don't suggest that a 22 pistol is the best....

All I'm saying is that I've seen more mechanicals fail over the years... why waste the time.. you said yourself that Slik tricks work fine.. use what has a track record of NOT failing...

Archery is a whole new ball game, and to be honest, sometimes I think the compound was the downfall of the sport, making folks think they can pick a bow up and become a bowhunter, a good one, just because.... its not nearly as easy as with a rifle.. for many reasons, range, movement, choice of not only heads but arrow weight, sharpness of heads, vitals are smaller than with a rifle and so on...

Off my soapbox.

Laffin...... My bad I didn't mean to say rage at all there. Slick trick will get the nod for sure. I'd shoot it with my thunder heads before rage just because I've killed deer for years with'em. I'm not as stupid as my last post suggest but you wouldn't have know that by my post. NO way would I shoot a elk with something I shot one 80 pound doe with. No way.

Sorry, feel better now... I read it that since it worked on the doe you were using it on elk next year. My bad.

No you read it right I just had a brain fart......grin

Cool. Personally on elk, I would use only a COC head... even a slick trick and muzzy are close to that but not... to many years of bows... too many head of game taken.... the COC just get in easier and penetrate better. Makes me rest easier...

Like a montec?

Never a bad choice.