Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Bowhunting Never been a huge fan of Mechanical broadheads

Rob

Thats some funny stuff.. slick trick doesnt advertise at all, their customers do, your buddies obviously didnt give the tricks enough of a test. Hands down the best head out there, accurate, tough, and dependable, plus they punch a big enough hole that Stevie Wonder could track

Speaking of reusing broadheads over and over, I had a G5 Montec that took 5 deer before it gave up the ghost, see the last one I shot it blew through (which they normally did) and hit a rock on the other side bending one of the blades....kinda ticked me off! now I gotta start over.

I've had the G5 on the list for some time now, but with such a reserve of Zwickey/Snuffer and Muzzy... no need to try them or slik triks... those are the 2 on the list though if it gets that far...

As for durable, I can't recall ever hitting and animal that ruined a solid fixed blade, its always what it hit on the way out... Muzzy... I"ve seen those snap a blade on a shoulder, but didn't fail... Wife had 2 muzzy burried to the hilt in oak trees after pass throughs... managed to get each out and reuse... more so than the boulder she smacked after a pass through....

Jeff

I haven't kept track of what broad heads I have reused I guess I should start. The G5 looks like it would hold up under that repeated use.

Magnus.

Sorry for being so crude before. Just got a little sideways after a cpl cocktails on a weekend.

The beautiful thing is the warranty. I don't know how they do it. I have used it three times now.

First time. Pass through into a rock. Knurled the tip so that I couldn't sharpen it straight. Sent them the blade, they sent me a complete BH back.

Second time. Shot at a ferrule cat and just missed. Burried it into a barn door and totally F'd it up gettin it out. Sent it back, new BH, no questions asked.

Third time. Shot my biggest bow kill buck ever. Bent the bleeder blade on the rib on the way out. Mind you there was nothing wrong with the BH. Killed a doe and that buck within about 2 mins that morning. Sent them some pics of the day with a recount of the hunt and the bent bleeder blade. Had a hat and two new BHs a week later. Mind you, all I needed was the bleeder blade.

I have not shot a field tip for four years now. I hunt with BHs and practice with them exclusively. And I practice a lot. Got a Sept 20 elk hunt coming up and have shot the exact same (I'm not talking the same brand, I mean litterally the same arrow BH) arrow/BH at least 1000 times that I plan to kill a bull with. In another few weeks, I will sharpen it without removing it from the shaft and put it in my hunting quiver.

Ya wanna talk about confidence. That shaft/BH has killed 8 WTs and drilled a rediculous amount of dots in the back yard. Once I run it over the stones, she's as good as new and will be the first arrow/BH in the quiver.

Couldn't imagine shooting a BH/arrow combo for the first time on a hunt. I don't care if they're all the same brand. Unless I have tested that match up before, forget about it...

WTs are easy to kill. If you're only killing a cpl a year, I suppose splasing out on these pricy mechs is NBD. When you start talking about killing 8-12 deer a year... I want to reuse my BHs.

My son is just starting out and shooting a 40 pound Browning Micro Adrenaline. I chose the Magnus Stinger 4 blade for him. I started looking at them close, and bought 2 packs for myself. Almost bought the Buzzcuts, but thought the Stingers were too perfect.

Nimrod, are you using something like a Lansky system to sharpen them, or just using a bench stone?

Sakoluvr, you're a man after my own heart. Got a sweet spot for Sakos, but that's another story.

When my sons can finally pull back a bow, they too will have the Stinger you speak of.

Forgo the buzzcut. Fred Bear disagreed, but with all due respect (and not enough can be conveyed), I have found nothing to substantiate the beney of a serrated edge. Quite the contrary.

Yes, I do like the Lansky. It allows me to put a "relief" on the head. Use the higher grit to create a working surface, then drop the angle and grit by 10 degree to creat a wicked razor edge. A leather belt works good as a strop to take off the curl.

Again, I have nothing against mechs. They will certainly kill deer deader than dead with today's rigs. Deer are light thin skinned animals.

MontanaCreekHunter I have a pack of the new slick trick magnum in 100 grain and I cant wait to try them on a deer. Do you happened to have any pictures of the wounds your slicks Inflected on deer.

My son has some pictures. They are film not digital. I don't have or think I have any of the hole just posing pictures really. I'll try to see what he has.

Here's the ENTRANCE HOLE made by a 100 gr. Rocky Mountain Snyper 2 blade Mech. on a small buck.

They don't get much better than this boys.........

To me, your pic shows the "best case" scenario for mechanical broadheads... no bone contact, thin skinned critter. "While it don't get better than this" with regard to your shot location and result, even deer "do get much bigger than that" in certain parts of the country and even arrows shot with the best intentions, form, and settings can stray from your picture of ideal. From this reasoning, I don't see an evident advantage offered by a mechanical versus those of the fixed variety.

Also, having put larger and thicker skinned game in the freezer with stick and string, my observations of the strain placed on the broadhead from the anatomical makeup of these critters have convinced me that a robust, fixed blade construction is the best design in harvesting bigger/thicker critters. No doubt this is why fixed blade broadheads are often required by outfitters for certain types of game. YMMV.

I am a big fan of Rocket Steelheads, but this year I am gearing up with Magnus Stingers with the bleeder blade. I originally bought them for my son's low poundage bow, but after messing with them, I decided to try them. They are very well made, reasonably priced, come with a replacement guarantee and can be touched up to a wicked sharp edge. Oh yeah, they fly like darts out of both of our bows.

I was a little put off because they look like the old Bear Razorheads (always had a tough time making them fly). These are nothing like the Bear heads, and the blades are removable.

I am convinced they will split a shoulder blade on a Whitetail with ease, and still penetrate to where it counts.

Over the years I have found that although fixed bladed broadheads are very effective killers, they don't always produce a sufficient amount of blood to ensure a rapid recovery of the game animal.

My experience with high speed compound bows and fixed bladed broadheads is that they often pass through the animal so quickly that the wound channel they produce does not begin to bleed very rapidly.

Although the animal may be mortally wounded and only travel a hundred yards or less before expiring, unless the shooter can get a good visual fix on the animal, he may be in for a time consuming search before a recovery is made.

I hunt in very thick cover where visibility is often 30 yards or less.

Consequently, I must use a broadhead that consistently produces the largest wound channel and/or blood trail possible.

I have shot quite a few deer with fixed bladed broadheads (i.e. Thunderheads, Muzzey's etc.) and on occasion I have gotten massive blood trails with them.

But as a general rule, I haven't been able to rely on them to consistently produce a blood trail that is sufficient to ensure the rapid recovery of a downed animal in thick cover.

Fixed bladed broadheads have a proven track record (especially on the "bigger/thicker critters" that you referred to) and because of their superior penetrating capability they may also allow a bowhunter to achieve a higher recovery rate on marginally hit game animals.

However (by design) fixed blades will not produce wound channels as large as some mechanicals and if that is an important criteria for the hunter, he should probably avoid using them.

JMHO

Good luck to all this year......

nemesis- I disagree with you 100%. I have been bowhunting for over 40 years. I have seen fads come and go. I tried open on impacts. I have shot Muzzy's for many years, and now shoot slick tricks. I hunt in very thick woods and rainforest. Fixed blades make very good holes, and pass thru shoots bleed animals very well. I have had four animals that were hard to find. 3 killed with open on impact heads. 1 with a fixed blade. No matter the brands you choose fixed blades are head and shoulders above open on impact heads. That is in a perfect world were the open on impacts work as designed to. With a perfect shot placement. Once bone is added into it the open on impacts are at best a weak field point. I don't think anyone is saying they won't kill because they will. They just don't kill as well as fixed heads do. Also you say that fixed blades with high speeds cause pass thru's actually there is less resisitance with open on impacts because there is less surface area. Your say that a fixed head can not by design have the cutting diameter that an open on impact can proves my point even more that they are junk. Cutting diameter is the largest space between the two farthest blades. So lets assume we are shooting a 1-1/8" fixed blade and a 1-1/8" open on impact. By design the open on impacts are supposed to deploy the blades instantly so at best the entery will be a little bigger for the first 1/2" to 1" from there to exit it will be the same size hole. Wound channel will be the same. Bleeding will be the same. I don't buy your theory for one second. Again this is provided that no bone is hit. Once bone is added to the picture your open on impacts really take a dive and fast. I have shot many different fix blade heads over the years and bleeding an animal was never an issue with a single one of them. The issue I have with open on impacts are they are by design weak. When they hit bone they are done. Yes you may get lucky and still get the kill. I try to eliminate luck from my hunting by using skill, good products, and sound hunting tactics. The only luck I like is that big buck coming by when I am in my stand.

Razkul99 I agree with you 100%.

Sorry my friend we're just gonna have to disagree on this one.

As far as wound channel size goes, Rocky Mt. Snypers and NAP Spitfires will consistently outperform fixed blades.

Although I prefer the slide action design of the Rocky Mt. Snyper and Rage mechs., Grim Reaper produced a video recently that kinda highlights what I'm trying to say:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ugZoXpCf28




On several occasions I have had Snypers pass completely throgh the scapula of a whitetail.




Not my theory at all:

http://www.rockymtbroadheads.com/broadhead_snyper.html


Hey, I'm just offering an different opinion here.

Everyone has different experiences in the woods that they use to form their opinions with.

I have killed about 30 whitetails and a whole bunch of wild boar and turkeys with Rocky Mt. Snyper 2 bladed mechs. and found that they perform exactly as advertised.

Rarely, if ever, will an animal make it beyond sight of my treestand and when they do, they leave a blood trail that is easy to follow.

JMHO

If you want to try a really crappy broadhead try the Pucketts Bloodtrailers, they are the reason alone why I dont trust mechanicals!
See back then they also were the "rage", oh we heard how great they shot, just like a field tips and what awesome blood trails they leave but after several of us using them, and admittantly hitting bone on occasion we found they performed miserably.
I went back to the fixed blades and havent had an issue since.

Hey Tom,

Puckett Bloodtrailers were notoriously bad mechs and have been replaced with new designs that are a vast improvement.

Perhaps you should take another look.........

Nooooooo thank you! I would much rather stick with a sure thing than experiment with something that "might" work.
I already went down the mechanical isle and surely wont do it again.....even if they are supposed to be all that.

Tom the difference here is you and I can admit that not every shot is smack thru the heart/lungs. I am with you there is no reason at all for me to use a mechanical head. To many things that can go wrong and to many weak points for them to break. I think after 40+ years bowhunting I have found what works. Nemesis you have killed 30 deer. I have taken 30 deer in the past two years. I have harvested 13 black bears, 7 Elk, 5 speed goats, 2 sheep, 5 mtn goats, 1 mtn lion, and I have lost count of coyotes in my 40+ years bowhunting. All taken by fixed heads. All have bleed very well and if you couldn't find them then you don't need to be out hunting. One of the archery shops I shop at has a 2X10 with holes drilled in it. They then place all the mechanical heads on it that have failed or been destroyed after hitting bone. I maybe wrong but I do believe they have at least one of every brand on that board. I don't know how old you are but there was once this mechanical head "Punch Cutters" they were supposed to be the perfect head. I had one fail on a fox. Just imagine had I used it on a deer. If mechanicals work for you and you are happy that is great. Myself I find no need for them at all. My slick Tricks have never failed me and I have 100% confidence in them.