Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Crossbow Recs 2.1 and Done -- Broadheads

The most damage to the chest contents of a deer that I have seen so far with a crossbow was done by a Rage X-treme. It looked like a rifle bullet went through the chest. One lung completey deflated and tore up. The other 1/3 deflated. The arrow went through the heart top to bottom and then exited Bambi. The deer was down and dead in <4 seconds. The blood trail was 4 feet wide but for the last 10 feet or so where it appeared to be out of blood. I think I posted pictures of the heart and chest here somewhere.

Any idea what the crossbow speed ?

Between 320 and 330 FPS, but speed has almost nothing to do with damage when it comes to cutting.

I was told that above 400 the broadhead has to be a little more stout. That was hearsay from someone I spoke to.

I seriously doubt that speed has as much to do with it as momentum.

I pinned a fresh boned out deer front leg to a block target and then proceeded to shoot it at 20 yards with my crossbow. I found that even with aluminum ferrule broad heads (like Rages) I could shoot through a shoulder blade every time if I didn't shoot the ridge of the blade. If I shot the ridge of the blade the tip may or may not fold up and the arrow would deflect some almost every time. If I shot the flat part of the shoulder blade it would go through in a straight line and I had no instances of folding the tip up. Steel ferrule heads with sharp points pretty much just went through. If I shot the leg bones Humerus/Tib/fib/ball joint of the humerus to scapula only the steel ferrule heads with sharp points went through without a lot of deflection and damage to the head. The Rage heads in particular fared quite poorly.

One deer I shot was broadside and I double lunged it. The deer jumped the string a little and the head centered the ball joint of the off side shoulder and cut it into three almost equal sized pieces and proceeded 8 inches out then stopped. The entrance cut a couple ribs on that side. This was a 100 grain NAP Thunderhead on a very heavy FMJ arrow with a total head and arrow weight of 490 grains.

That kind of weight behind the tip places a lot of stress on the tip and depending on what they have to cut, maybe the blades as well. I have bent blades beyond usable in deer and in my testing.

My conclusions from a bunch of testing and a bunch of deer are that since deer can jump the string at 20 yards with a 330 FPS bow a heavy arrow with a lot of momentum is about all the insurance you can get against that eventuality. Sturdy broadheads with steel ferrules are better than those with aluminum ferrules. Because all of the blood in a deer has to make the trip through the lungs, and the lungs are extremely vascular, a double lung shot is pretty effective. But, the lungs are protected by ribs and ribs are hard and springy. I have seen ribs deflect bullets enough times to wish that I didn't have to contend with them. My setup where I shoot deer presents me with very close dead on facing me shots pretty often. With relaxed deer at such short range a shot placed below the neck and above the sternum is very safe and it has always thus far hit the heart and at least one lung. Not a shot I would advise for most people, but if you have a crossbow with a rest and the requisite accuracy it is a very good one. I have killed 8-10 deer with that shot and had 100% exits. I do not do that beyond 15 yards.

I have wrecked blades on ribs a lot more than any other bone but I rarely hit other bone. >039 blades are not sturdy enough. Given a choice I would like to see a head with 2 sets of 2 inch blades of .050 thickness or better for a crossbow. Most crossbows have the power to drive them through at 15-20 yards. A Rage Hypodermic with a total of 4 inches of cut would come pretty close to my desires. The extra weight will help, not hurt.

Thanks for that information. The bow I am interested in is a Mission Sub-1 , I think it shoots 350 with a 400 grain arrow.

For mech heads, they have to be able to take the shock of the launch, and not pop a blade(s) open in flight - there's less shaft flex in the short bolt to absorb the energy.

Over 350 FPS, this "generally" starts to show up - Miles has it right - steel ferrules, and thicker blades will hold up better at the higher speeds and heavier bolt weights.

Most of the expandable vendors now have a "crossbow" labeled broadhead package now.

Been looking at these. sevr broadheads

I have shot about 3/4s of the deer I kill with arrows using mechanical heads. I have never seen evidence of any of them opening at launch, nor of any blade being open when it hit. But...That does not mean it did not happen. The heads I use the most, Rages and NAP Spitfire Doublecross are designed to open when hitting the hide and if they work as designed they should show open blades on the hide, entrance side. 100% of mine have shown that. Unless the opening of a blade(s) showed an obvious change in arrow flight, it is doubtful I would notice it. It is also doubtful anyone else could notice it either. I can see the possibility of the Rages with their shock collar opening if the shooter didn't have them properly aligned and tightened. Being as I shoot an Excalibut Matrix 330, when I pull the trigger the arrow is subject to the maximum acceleration at that time. I would assume if I were going to see it that I should have had a decent chance of doing so with all the testing I do. So, either it doesn't happen very often, it is not of much consequence or it takes a much heavier recurve bow to begin to make it happen.

I think that the weakness of aluminum ferrules is a much bigger problem.

The two best bloodtrails, start to finish, I have ever seen were from the Rage X-tremes this year. It is pretty normal for deer not to put blood on the ground for 10 to 30 yards after they have been hit. Both of these had blood from where they stood and one had a very respectable spray pattern on the off side. If a bow cannot launch a 500 grain arrow at close on 300 FPS I might be a little leery of using heads that big though. I always want two holes in Bambi. It takes an awful lot of bow to do that with a vertical bow though.

with respect about vertical bows ,i only hunt big whitetail bucks in Minnesota but here are my findings with hand sharpened fixed broadheads like a Zwickey Eskimo. when i have made the shot thru the rib cage my arrow goes right thru the buck and sticks in the frozen ground even at 50 lbs going around 230 fps. hand sharpened broadheads that have been correctly sharpened go deeper,cut animals very cleanly and do put alot of blood on the ground too. now that i use a new mechanical broadhead i resharpen them before i use them,new muzzy broadheads are one of the few broadheads that don`t need to be resharpened before you use them,but still should be checked for sharpness.

Never shot a mechanical, and have a concern with them. It's physics -- the wider the cut diameter, the less penetration, all things being equal. The force of delivery is a constant. I really don't care if I get an exit wound with a rifle. I really want one with a bow, if possible, as it is a blood-trail game (frequently). As I've never taken a shot past 32 yards, and the majority have been within 22 yards, accuracy in flight has never been a problem with fixed heads. However, since a crossbow is definitely in my future, everything is changing. It's dry here, so water hole hunting is an important resource. In the east, it was always a thicket proposition. I've never shot an archery animal in a field or meadow. It would be nice to get 50 yard confidence, which would have to come from experience. To me that's groups the size of a saucer.

Here's why I want two holes -- the biggest deer I ever killed, from a trophy perspective, was shot almost straight down between the shoulder blades. Matthews MQ32 with 100-grain Muzzy fixed. It ran like a bat out of hell. If the broached had not barely penetrated the brisket, there would not have been a blood trail. Distance about 13 yards. Of course a modern crossbow would have blown through him like the wind, but that didn't happen.

Looking forward to learning new things and making some meat this fall, as my AZ draws and AK draws are coming up ZERO (grrr).

Broadhead, you autocorrect basted.

Talus i agree a fixed blade broadhead works better but my x-bow with 125 gr. Mechanical broadheads goes 380 fps so i can`t get a fixed blade broadhead to be consistent out of my x-bow,plus sharp fixed blade broadheads are very hard for me to load and unload in my Ravin x-bow,i seem to cut my fingers with a sharp fixed blade with my old fingers.so i am stuck using a x-bow and mechanical broadheads now days at my age ,bad rebuilt shoulders,and beat up old fingers . i too want 2 holes thru the buck i shoot always !

I shot a nice doe in 2017 that was at a very steep down angle. I was aiming for a heart shot. When she moved just a little the shoulder blade moved enough that a blade from the broad head, a NAP Spitfire Double cross got about 1/4 inch of the shoulder blade and then the head got a couple ribs. The deer made it 50 yards and bled but a single drop before the end Where she went down everything was red within 10 feet of her. I mean everything and not just a little red either. That little slice through the shoulder blade made for no exit hole and until she went down and lashed around a bit there was no way for blood to get out. That can happen with any head.

I have only had one other deer with a single hole, but she did not matter because she went down inside of six feet from where she stood.

Even with the power available with a cross bow, even with the speed available with a crossbow even at 20 yards, Bambi can still move enough to cause you to hit bone other than rib. Better, always better, to have a sturdy enough head and enough arrow weight behind it to drive that arrow well because you do not always get to choose if Bambi will move or not. Beyond 30 yards there is ample time for a deer to turn a shot from ANY bow into a problem.

I have a koda bow with a Excalibur micro limbs front end. I shoot the short Excalibur bolts with the fixed 100 grain F 16 or was it F-16 broadheads. When they were being discontinued I bought every one I could find. I think trigger performance and how quiet the bow shoots are most important. How easy and quietly it cocks is important. Then how easy and or fun it is to pack around. Takedowns help when packing in or horseback. ( mules 4 me thank you)


I also have a Ravin R -9 that shoots Raven bolts and the same 100 grain F -15/16s.

I also shoot a Hoyt Rampage with the F 15/16

The performance has been impressive. I think the blade foreword design over the trochar tip really helps slice the hide open, and save energy for penetration. The double bleeders make a hole that won't seal as easily so marginal hits can be tracked.

I gut shot a buck in fresh snow this year, and was able to recover the animal. Tracked it over two miles I suspect. If it wasn't for my Nebo 600 lumen light, and the hole the F-16/15 broadhead removed from the deer. I don't think I would have found it.
This was not the first time the F 16/15 allowed me to harvest a marginal hit. IMO.