Home

Need help here guys. I've been practicing and practicing, but because my local range doesn't allow broadheads, I was not using them.

Welp, since hunting season is at hand, I waited until close to dark last night, no one around, and my itty-bitty, perfectly centered groups with practice points turned into random acts of frustration with broadheads.

Arrows everywhere, mostly low and to the right. Where to begin?

PSE Baby G
Easton Epic 300 carbon arrows with regular old Cabelas broadheads.

Pins are dead on at 20, 30 and 45 yards with field points. With the broadheads, even 20 yards is a stretch right now. I'm going back tonight for more, but I need help/advice. I need to get this ironed out.

Rick

Buy a package of 125 grain slick trick Broad heads and have them over night to you. Don't waste another minute of this frustration with other broadheads.

SlickTrick broadheads will help you more than you would think. I shoot both ST's and Muzzy's, either will do the job for you. Muzzy's are a lot easier to get your hands on and I think both are great. As to the weight of the broad head I would refer you to the FOC method. I use 100gr 3 blade broad heads

FOC

I found a set of Thunderheads--per Flinch's suggestion. While they do impact low and left of my field points, they seem to be consistent.

Rick,

When are you heading down to Charlie Sisk's again? My bow shop in Dayton, Texas is up and running and I'm betting I can have your bow shooting fixed blade broadheads in the same hole as your field tips within an hour.

Also, now that you are into archery I'll send you one of my hats. I'm having a local girl in Dayton do them for me and she has been doing a great job if you are still looking for a hat maker.

What draw weight are you shooting? What is your arrow length and field tip weight? A 300 spine in an Easton Epic shaft is stiff for most setups around here. I sell mostly 400s and 340s are my next biggest seller.

Take care,
Sam

Sam:

You're the first person I thought of!!

OK, it's a PSE Baby G with a 30" draw length. The pull weight is factory set at 70 pounds.

I just weighed everything. The field point weigh 100 grains. The broadheads 125 grains.

The minimum arrow weight for he bow is 435 grains. With field points, my arrows weigh 441 grains. With broadheads, 466.

Shot some more today.

With field tips, I can pretty much use the top pin anywhere from 20 to 35 yards. Groups are real tight and right on. As I moved back to 40 and then 45 yards, the arrows started dropping, but in a very straight line from the bull. Things look real good with field tips.

With broadheads, I can see the arrow's flight is not straight. The back end is squirly. The arrows stick in the targets at weird and different angles � cocked left or right. The the field tips, they're straight in, all of the shafts at the same angle.

Also, braodheads are shooting well to the left mostly from 30 to 45 yards, and groups are NOT tight enough to discern a pattern beyond that.

I think I'll try some 100-grain broadheads unless I hear otherwise.

Muzzy or Slick Tricks?? Which ones?

Thanks for all the help.

Rick

Here's the cure for your ill's paper tuning

Just did FOC:

7.25% and 10.48%.

Will read up on paper tuning.

Rick

Rick,

Maybe you should try 125 grain points and 100 grain broadheads?
I have a buddy who shoots 100 grain points for practice, and then shoots 90 grain 4 blade muzzy's when he hunts, and theat works great for him. So maybe the 125/100 will work for you? I don't know, just a guess.

Another solution, since you will be deer hunting, is buy a pack of Mechanicals. I would not reccommend them for anything bigger than a deer, but for deer, they do just fine. plus, they fly just like field points. If you do go that route, make sure they don't open too much or they will lose penetration power.

Hope this helps somewhat,
Enrique

I'm new to the bowhunting world, but if your field-points are 100grns I'd suspect that the only way you will get broadheads to group to the same spot is to use 100grn broads. 125grn broads should hit lower than your 100grn fieldpoints. As for scatter gun groups, put your feild-points back on and see how they group. If they scatter gun then maybe it's just your form. Make sure that your looking at your target and not your pin. I'm having the same problem, but I just switched to using blazer vanes. I don't know if that's the problem or not. I have to wait until I get a day off. Also make sure that all your bolts are tight. Good luck and please let us know how it goes. The more I practice the worse I shoot. I think I start to develope bad habits. Or my bad habits get worse. My golf game is the same way. The more I play the worse I get. In other words if you have been practicing alot lately, put the bow down for 3-4 days and try it again. That seems to work for me. Good luck CD

Something is out of tune. Changing broadhead brands may help but it may be a bandaid, not a cure. Paper tuning should help greatly. 25gr difference out of a centershot compound shouldn't matter except for roughly 5fps and a lower impact point. Look for fletching clearance issues. Are any of your vanes/feathers showing wear more than the others? Any point on the riser around the rest that shows contact? You could put a light coat of corn starch around the rest, shoot an arrow and look for contact. I've used corn starch because baby/foot powder stinks. Just some thoughts.

Scott is right, something is out of tune.

try dropping your draw weight 5 lbs.

Rick, I don't shoot carbons or compound bows, but arrows are arrows.:)
What is occurring is with the heavier b-head( and it's longer also) you have changed the balance point of the arrow and effectively weakened the spine(stiffness) coefficient, causing low right hits or erratic hits.

Balance point needs to be the same and all else being equal, a slightly lighter b-head( as one poste above suggests) should correct the POI so b-head & field points impact the same.
That's where I'd start anyhow..
You also may adjust the brace and nocking point a tad but don't change more than one component at a time.
Get a b-head target..
I make mine useing burlap bags stuffed tight with used shrink wrap..jim

I might suggest that you go to Easton's webb sight. They have a tuning guide that is a PDF file that you can down load.
There is a section on tuning broadheads. I tune my bow this way and my field tips and broadheads hit the same spot.

I would use thunder head broad heads, I have never found a bad one the whole time I have been shooting, I would get the 100 grain heads, and put a one and a half or two degree right heelackle turn on them, if that is not what you have already done.If that is what you shoot and have on your arrow then I do not know what to tell you. Oh I might also try to switch to ICS 300 or 400 grain carbon arrows, with a 100 grain thunder head broad head. Does you local bow shop have a target range set up in the back, if so then you might ask them if you could practice tuning your bow there. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Rick, I shot the Cabellas brand heads for a couple of years (both 3 and 4 blade designs) with absolute frustration. You simply can't tune them, nobody can. They are an inexpensive head, durable and they get the job done, but shoot HORRIBLE! I killed several critters with them, but my "comfort zone" was reduced to about 35 yards with them, when normally it is 60 yards with Thunderheads. I let my braudhead group size dictate my comfort zone. Like you, no matter how I turned the heads, weighed the blades, changed the fletching or tried to tune the arrows, they stuck in the targets goofy and flew strange. I went to the Thunderheads and never looked back. I have shot them for many years. Now I am shooting the Slick Tricks and they are the meow. Cheap heads are like cheap bullets. In the end, they aren't so cheap <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif" alt="" /> Flinch

I've never shot the Slick Tricks so I can't comment on them. If you can't find them quick enough I'd give the nod too the 3 blade Muzzy's over the Thunderheads. The blade retentionsystem of the Muzzys is heads and shoulders above the T.h. To my ear the Muzzys fly quieter and also easier for me too tune with a fast bow.

Dave.

Your bow is not tuned..meaning your rest and/or nock point is off.

The only way to fix it is shooting through paper. Take a large cardboard box. Cut a window on the front of the box, and the back of the box. Cover the front window with tight paper (butcher wrap works well). Set the box level with your bow, get back 10 feet or so and shoot your arrow tipped witha field point, through the paper . Read the tear. A properly aligned arrow will leave a nice Y through the paper. If it is not leaving a nice Y then you need to adjust your rest and/or nock until it does. If the point is to the left of the tear, you need to move your rest right, if the point of the tear is up, then you need to move your nock up, or your rest down. SIMPLE. Once you can shoot a Y then your bow WILL shoot broadheads the same as field points.

Gonna try 100-grain Muzzys tomorrow simply because the local shop has them in stock. Hoping that will do the trick, as a bow tune may not be in the cards before next weekend.

Maybe mechanicals are a good plan B.

All advice considered here.

Paper tuning is an intermediate step. The best way to get a bow tuned and shooting centerflight is by getting a properly spined arrow and shooting the bow at 2 distances 5 to 10 yards apart. If your point of impact changes, you know that the rest and/or knock points need to be corrected. It can be time consuming, especially if the arrow rest is one that does not adjust very easily but I've seen arrows cut clean holes through paper that are still not quite center flight. Bare-shaft paper tuning is much more precise that trying to read tears with fletch arrows.

Also, I find it much easier to tune most modern bows that it is working up hunting loads for most rifles.


Here is a good utility from easton for selecting the proper shaft.

http://www.eastonarchery.com/downloads/

As for broadheads. With a carbon arrow I like an 85-100 grain fixed 3 blade head that is about 1 1/8 - 1 3/16 cutting diameter. I've been using the Rocky Titanium for about 5 years and they fly great. Some other tried and true heads are the Thunderhead, (Newer) Muzzy and Rocky Advantage. Some newer heads that are worth taking a look at are the Montec, Crossfire, Nitro, Turbo, Rocket Ultimate Steel and Wacem. I've heard great things about Slick Tricks but have always preferred 3 blades over 4. Crimson Talons under 125 grains will fly but not any better than the other ones.