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

The wife and I shot these 2 Saturday night.
I can't sell hides when she's puttin holes in like this !

I will NEVER release one... No matter how bigga hole they cut in a hide..

Seems a little excessive.

Plus one there... a few bad experiences with mechanicals and never again. Congrats on teh kill though!

Yea ,
I'm not sure what's up with the mega hole. We've killed 10 deer or so with Rage 3 blade and never had anything like this.

Dead is dead !

Good for you.

What's your fav head ?

I tried some Slick Tricks this fall for the first time. Shot a doe ,they work good aswell.

Looks like something got to it before you did....you sure a critter did not eat a little deer before you got there.

We went back the next day to find the arrow. We walked the blood all the way to the end. Just blood and hair all the way ,lots on impact.
No sign of critters at the deer or on it.

Thanks

I shot a black bear broadside with one about 1 month ago. Wow what a hole and blood trail. He only made it 38 yards at a full run before he tipped over.He was a nice 311 lb chocolate.

Your pictures just came up. Something doesnt seem right about that hole. Could you pull it all the way together. Looks like a 5 inch+ hole and some stuff is missing not just cut.

Yes it will pull together. The deer laid less than one hour before found.

Nice job on the bear !

Slick Triks all the way...

I would also say that judging by the size of the hole, there might have been a lack of penetration????

Just seems excessive unless the head stopped right there and chewed a hole as he ran..

Could be totally off-base, but thats what it looks like..

They work when everything goes as planned. But how often is that? Hit that shoulder and you would have a totally different opinion. would you bet your life on a rage? I wouldn't thats why I shoot COC.

I still have to try STs... I have shot Muzzy without an issue, but what I do shoot without fail is Zwickey Deltas, and Rothaar Snuffer 200s.... No doubt with them. Game rarely goes far...

Mechanical... I've had failure to penetrate.... slap the side of the buck on an angle and shave hair..... I've had them open and almost cut a fox in half, but then I"ve had them fail to open twice.... once I screwed up and the doe ducked... and spined her with the blades shut.... the other was a double lung buck with the blades shut that bled almost nothing and took a multi hour... IE from noon to dark grid search to find... and that only by persistance...

Nope, no more for me. Just like ballistic tips.... got burned by them early on... don't want to ever try them again...

Arrow went through ribs and meat on the other shoulder stopped at the hide. Bow is 50# @ 26".

Every head works when the are put in the right spot.

Don't care what head the wife is shooting,if she gets shoulder ,she gets no deer.

There are better heads out there,but Yes I would trust my life to a Rage 3 blade. Then again I'm running 70# @ 30" so shoulders are no big deal. After a few more trial deer on STs ,I may switch over all the way.

Shoot what you will. Nothings perfect in the bow hunting world.

Good luck to all.
Thanks.

The 5 inches of broken carbon bow shaft and unopened Rage broadhead,which remained inside a recently rifle shot 305 scoring elk bull for two years,suggests that the K.I.S.S principle still remain my path.

I was leery this year switching to the 3 blade rage. I have shot two now with it and have no complaints. One nice 8pt and one doe. I think the key is to stay away from major bone and you will be good.

I think that massive hole is the result of the leg being forward and the muscle being in tension as the blade passed through. I could be wrong though.

Nice deer either way.

Ryan

I have hit shoulder with a 48lbs long bow with a slicktrick and that deer dropped after about a 90 yard run. I doubt highly the same would have happened if I were using a rage. 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.

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....

[/quote]

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.

I haven't used Montecs but one time. Worked fine then.

Deltas and Snuffers are usually what you'll find hanging on the end of my arrows if I need good penetration on a large hog etc....

My buddies are useing the rages, and I have seen there kills, but i will stick to my Slick Tricks! lost a buck one time useing a mech. head never again!

The simply fact that you have to rely on something mechanical to deploy blades is what gets me. Its mechanical... that means at some point it fails to work.

How do you go wrong with heads that already have the blades "deployed"? You don't.

Hmmmmm......

I am not sure i should even add to this, BUT......

I am on both sides of the fence. I shot 125 gr. muzzy for years and years. Shot MANY of deer with them. I lost 1 buck that was hit near perfect, and i cow elks that i shot just a lil low and fwd. But i didnt lose teh faith in 125g muzzy's....alot came into play. Maybe the blade was not scapel sharp or i was just that fraction of an inch out of a vital hit.

I agree with the KISS theory!! BUT......i did get bite by the RAGE MARKETING.

And so i have tired them, and wow. They do what they say and even a couple friends have tried them and are impress with penetration and would channel. A mature buck i shot last yr was POOOOORLY hit (my fault), and it only went 35 yds with an increadle wound channel with a 2-blade Rage. WOW. I was thankful for alllll the diameter on THAT hit.

There is a place for both. Common sense will prevail. I love the muzzy, kinda sold on the Montec's as well....and well, if i am shooting a mechanical, it is a 2-blade Rage. Have expereience and seen enuf shots on anmials (even poor hits) and the animals just dont travel far.
WORD TO THE WISE:......since they are mechanical, things do move. EVREYTIME you nock a Rage check the head and make sure the baldes are SET!!!! Bad things happen if not and this was advised to me and am thankful for it.

Rages are NOT a "stalk and hunt" broadhead in my opinion, cuz the baldes can shake loose of the o-ring. But they are great tree stand blades.
On spot and stalk hunts..i will have a fixed head.

There is my 2 cents.....feel free to give me change back!

Thats a fair assement actually. And there is always the issue of a wider head making up for an error.... thats actually why I shot Deltas instead of Eskimos..... but it only goes so far.

I don't THINK I'd have an issue with the rage on deer... but due to other bad tastes and the fact that if I put a normal head in the right area, its done.... worked for years and continues( or is that worked for decades, centuries even....)

Buddy shot a big whitetail yesterday evening with a Rage 2 blade. Caught him in the shoulder at about 25 yards and didn't get much penatration. Backed out and are leaving him for in the morning, keep you posted as more develops, it's been a long night.

Got a friend that has killed two this year with the Rage-3 blade. I've been using Sonic's. They are cut on contact a lot like a Slick Trick. Every deer I've shot has only gone a short distance and the arrow was a complete pass through.

Funny how big a hole can get if the deer is moving... Those razors will leave a gaping hole if the arrow is moving slow and the deer is attempting to escape as the arrow goes through. Shot one with the Sonic 1" cut and the exit hole was about 1-1/2" wide and 4" inches long. She ran straight down. LOL

I have had really good results with the 2 blade rage in my crossbow. I plan to get a new bow next year and will most likely shoot the 1.5" 40KE head. Yeah...they work as good as any Muzzy I have used, and I was a BIG muzzy fan for years.

I used them last year...every kill was a bloodbath. I put a hole in a 300lb boar that went a whopping 25 yds before he piled up. Also, shot a spike that was poorly hit (jumped the string). He made it a grand total of 15 yds before he bled out. I'm shooting Slick Tricks this year for the sake of simplicity, but I would gladly shoot the Rage 2-blade again.

I have shot 2 deer in the past week with Rage 2 blade. You might as well have had dumped a 5 gallon bucket of blood on the trail. I also shot 2 last year.. same story.. I think the whole broadhead thing is overblown.. It is shot placement that counts!! If you poke a hole in their lungs they are dead! All these stories about lost deer are 99.9% the shooters fault. I am not saying that Rage broadheads are the best.. I doubt they are.. but for deer they are more than fine. If I was shooting brown bears, it would not be my first choice.

I am now shooting the 2 blade Rage after not being able to find 90 grain 4 blade muzzy locally.
I have had Votex heads fail on a trophy coues which I was never able to find. I swore I would never use a Vortex again or a mechanical for that matter. A mech. needs to be able to lock so they don't slip out of you don't get full penetration.
However and a big however. The rage open differently. They also have made people that swore to never use a mech again start using Rage. The broadhead is just lethal and the blood trails and wound holes are just huge. They may not be a fixed blade, but they are no ordinary mechanical either.
I have read reviews from hunters so I gave them a try so did a buddy of mine.
I am a believer in how they do, and until I find my favorite 4 balde muzzy in 90 grain I will stick to them.
They may be a Mechanical, but they work and work well.

Just my two cents.

Stevie Wonder could follow the blood trail of a 2 blade rage:)

i already put my 2 cents on this earlier......BUT.... TWO buddies switched this yr to the 2-blade Rage. One just shot a buck AND doe with it. Could NOT believe the devestating he got from them, one iwth a qtr away hit and one iwth a broadside gut shot. Both died under 100 yds.

Other body shot a doe to far back, only went 15 yds and fell over.

Rage does NASTY NASTY things to any body parts within 2 inches of the hozzle/shaft. If u like BLOOOOOD trails...these are a great head.

Couldn't agree more. If people would spend the time to tune their bow there wouldn't be a need for a mechanical head. I honestly can't see any situation where a mechanical is better than a fixed head, none!

I've shot a wide variety of broadheads over the years. The last 2 years I've shot the G5 Striker. They are very impressive, tough and sharp. I did shoot a deer with the 2 blade rage recently and was not impressed with the blood trail. I got a complete pass through quartering away, Dbl lung. Cut 2 ribs on the near side and 1 on the far. Enough blood to follow, but not like the ads lead you to believe. They worked fine, but I'll stick with the Strikers for now. Rages will work as plan B for me.

Joseph

JUST PLAIN DEADLY!!!!
My buddies and I have killed 6 buck 6doe and 1 bear in the last 4 years with them...NO ISSUES!! all deer dead as hell with some of the best blood trails we have ever seen.. Even on the poor shots the deer died after short tracking jobs..

I shot two Corsican rams today with the G5 strykers, Both 35 yards and both pass throughs. Anyone that has shot these with an arrow knows they have incredible thick winter fur now and have a strong will to stay with the herd. I've seen them in the past with less then perfect shots ( one lung or liver hit) run and stay alive for 30 minutes.

The two shot today for the smoker fell within 30 feet of being hit behind the "elbow" Nothing wrong the the strykers! The blood flow through that thick fur is substantial. The 125grain slick tricks are the same. I would guess I shoot 20 corsicans out of my pasture every year with a bow. Mostly young rams, but the occasional "trophy" size too. They weigh between 100 and 160lbs much like a normal whitetail but with much greater desire to keep up with the herd.

Never used a rage on one but if I had one I would use it no problem. Just that the short steep broadheads like the Stryker, the slicktrick, and the wac'em are simply deadly and fly like a field point.

I love these stories about the lack of blood trail..

I just wonder this... at what point in the deers death did the rage fail??

I don't think its ever that it failed in the death of the deer, but that the performance leads one to surmise that in a not perfect situation it would fail.

Thats why I wrote of ALL mechanicals years ago as a gimmick I don't need to risk game on.

Much the same as why I wrote off Partitions due to not complete penetration... yep the animals were dead, but a what if shot may not produce a death so... you find out that you want to swap.

As for me... IF I do my part right, there is no need for a rage. Not even with a gutshot. And IF I tune my bow correctly, the non mechanical heads fly super.

No need to take a risk.

Harleyguy,
I couldn't agree with you more on the broadhead talk about being overblown. Bottom line: They are all sharp, and they all cut. I've shot lots of different broadheads over the years, starting way back in the 60's with the Bear razor insert, then the 4 blade Satellite, Thunder Heads, Spitfires, and now I'm shooting the two blade Rage. I love the Rage and have had great success and fantastic results from the kills. Lot of my friends now shoot the Rage and have had great results as well. One double lunged a deer at 51 yards last year, another drilled a turkey at 38 yards this year. Can tell you tale after tale of Rage success stories. Could someone of done the same with lots of other broadheads?? Sure. So to each his own. In a nutshell, I don't think any of the broadheads out on the market today are 2 cents worth better than the other. Lots depend on shot placement more than anything. We can listen to story after story, till the cows come home, of great successes and some failures as well, of all the different broadheads. Just like using different calibers of rifles. It isn't what you hit them with, its WHERE you hit them. A bit different with an arrow going 300 fps, compared to a rifle bullet going 2000fps or more however. No matter what broadhead you use, you can't/won't crush through bone like a rifle bullet. You may pop through one or both ribs with an arrow, but you're not going to smash through a shoulder of an elk or even a deer with any arrow and broadhead. Even thinking about taking a deer, elk, etc. through the shoulder is a poor idea. Hit em right with any of today's well made broadheads, and you'll get your game. So shoot what you like, good luck with your success, and have a great time doing. Hunt safe. Just love the sport of bow hunting.

well I dunno about elk.. .never got lucky enough to shoot yet..

But deer, there is no problem breaking through both shoulders. You simply can't choose a POS head, and run a light arrow. We've punched through deer shoulders AND hog shoulders with the right head and a heavy enough arrow. BTW the shoulders were not the chosen target but the animals move sometimes and sometimes you just don't hit where you want regardless.

Too much is placed these days on distant shots with a bow. From the accuracy standpoint its not hard at all to hit a deer at 100 yards for a practiced shooter. Problem is time of flight, distance judgement, and then if you run a light fast setup you get much less penetration.

The only thing mechanical thats proven itself in archery is the compound. Funny that the more I shot deer with one, the more I ended up going back to a good recurve for the pleasure.

I'm not sure what bow/arrow setup you're shooting, but you'd need to have some kind of cannon to shoot through one shoulder let alone two shoulders of our Ohio deer. I've hit one shoulder several times from the inside out on a quartering away shot with 125 Thunderheads at over 300 fps, it didn't even begin to punch through the shoulder. Granted it had penetrated through the chest cavity taking away some of the arrow's steam, but it stuck in the shoulder from the inside. I actually was able to life the entire deer (about 150 adult doe) off the ground trying to pull the arrow out with NO success. Had to unscrew the arrow from the broadhead. Had to be very careful field dressing that deer. And yes, I understand we'd never intentionally try to take a deer, elk, etc. through the shoulder. I once made a bad hit on a buck at 15 yards. I hit him right on the corner of the shoulder. It sounded like a rifle going off and only penetrated about 2 inches from the looks of things. No blood, and never found the deer. That's huntin. And I'm not shooting 40/45 pound equipment either by the way. I've never known or heard of anyone around here punching through a deer's shoulder with a broadhead. Sorry, just sharing my experiences and those of others around here in Ohio.. By the way::::; GO BUCKS, beat michigan....lower case no accident....

I have hunted Licking county and Medina county OH whitetails and no I personally have not shot thru one or both shoulders. I have seen two shots go thru one shoulder, first one was a 240lb dressed 9 point and the other a 200lb dressed doe. Both shots made, killed the deer. First shot was with a Mathews Drenlin with a Easton FMJ and Slicktrick. I am not sure of the draw weight I can find out in a week once he is back. The second was with a hand made long bow 79lb @ 29" with a Easton FMJ and a Muzzy 125gr. I have shot thru a shoulder on a 170lb dressed 8 point in VT. I was at that time shooting a Reflex Caribou @ 73lb with a Easton FMJ and Slicktrick. A shoulder can be shot thru using a quality broadhead with a decent weight arrow. Does it destroy a shoulder like a bullet? Absolutely not. But it will break thru. I don't think any archer purposely shoots for the shoulder. It is hunting and sometimes the ideal doesn't happen.

I am having a hard time letting this go. I have read all 7 pages of this post twice, because I have been thinking about using Rage broadheads. I love the way one post asked the OP if he would trust his life to the Rage head? WTF is all I have to say about that? And the guy was actually serious. . . For one the OP wife was hunting whitetails. Successfully with her Rage head. Anyone who would trust their life with archery tackle when it comes to a Brown Bear is a dumbass. I have a 375 H&H for that task, if archery hunting then most smart people carry a handgun appropriate for self defense. As far as mechanical broadheads go I killed a 327 P&Y bull elk with 100 grain spitfires in Wyoming,(with glock 10mm in tow for bears, again WTF). I have killed many whitetails with Thunderhead 125's when I got back into archery hunting I used the head that gave me the best accuracy and at the time that was the spitfire, why would I take the time to tune the damn thing if I don't have too? My opinion here, but if you have to open a brand new package of broadheads and start tuning then perhaps they aren't best engineered piece of equipment on the shelf.

Hit any kind of bone with a rage and watch it go to pieces, bend or fail to open! I'm not talking wimpy white tail deer on broad side lung shots either. They are EASY to kill as are most deer. Step up to elk or moose ribs or anything of that size and penetration is a huge issue. They have a HARD time penetrating a big boars shield. I know the guy personally that machines them for Rage. He hates them and tells me all the time how weak they are. I have shot them into soft material and all kinds of stuff. They are complete junk...a throw away broad head at best. Sure they work for deer when all is well (broad side shots). Get a tough shot and good luck. But guys love to buy gimmicks and "crutches" for their poor shooting. I have shot several brands of mechanicals. When they work they work awesome. When they don't work, you lose an animal of a lifetime. Fixed blades work every time all the time. Flinch

Holy [bleep], I have never seen so many spelling errors in a single post. I wouldn't even mention it but when you type a reply and see a red squiggly line under it, it means you can't spell and you right click it and it fixes it for you. I feel stupider for reading your post.

I think you actually retarded me with that post.

First, thunderheads would not be my choice to break bones... and you quote speed, thats part of the problem these days... speed freaks... it doesn't take speed to break bones.. it takes weight... just like folks wanting to shoot light bullets at deer.

Anyway I can't say I've had the pleasure of shooting a deer over about 180 pounds... but I've yet to see a strong shoulder blade.... knuckle joint and lower bone yes, blades no.

We have driven Zwickeys through the shoulders of 300 plus pound hogs including their shields though. I doubt a northern deer would be any tougher.

I certainly wouldn't run a rage though anyhting like that.

I have a friend with some experience with Rage heads. He took up bow hunting this year. He bought a Bowtech Destroyer 350 and the works for accessories. I recommended Spitfire broadheads. He bought some Rage 2 blades as well.

He put a piece of cardboard in front of a piece of foam, and another behind it. He shot it 5 times with the Spitfire heads. He got 3 cuts in both pieces of cardboard. He did it again with the Rage heads and got 2 cuts twice and only one the third time. He figured one blade didn't open.

He put the blue foam block on it's side and shot it lengthwise. He cut it right down to the broadhead with a carpenter's saw and only one blade opened. He did it again, and found that only one blade opened. He went with the Spitfires. He got his first deer this past week. A nice 115 pound doe.

I killed 3 deer this year with 100 grain Spitfire heads.

I killed 4 last year, 3 the year before, and 3 the year before that. I can go back 25 years... I've used Spitfire heads since I was a teenager and won't use anything else.

anyone that trusts a mechanical will get burned eventually. Nuff said there.

I switched to 100 grn. Rage 2 blade this year. Zipped through this doe at 20 yards with no issues at all. Huge holes on both sides, when I butchered her it was obvious the heads did exactly what they were designed to do.

This was shooting 59#, 28" Beman ICS at 278ish fps. Not bad, but not screaming fast either.

Yep, unfortunately for me it was a giant of a Coues Whitetail buck in Tucson AZ.

Lets just say losing a 130+inch 5x5 Coues will get you sick to the point of NEVER ever wanting to use a mechanical again no matter the hype.

Absolutely concur.

For years I shot Muzzy's, and they drove me nuts. For some reason, perfect shots produced zero to no blood. Almost gave up on 4 different deer after shooting and finding no blood. Glad I kept up on them, because I found them 40-75 yards away from my stand. They do the trick, but I can not stand not having a blood trail. I hunt in thick, remote places people dont like to go. After I shoot an animal, 8-9 times out of ten I can not see the deer take off. If I have no blood, I many times have no chance.

Plus, mechanicals, for me anyways, fly straighter. I got good with muzzy's, but with more surface area, they have more of a chance of not flying straight, hitting limbs, etc. If I hit a deer in the shoulder with a mechanical, then I chalk it up that it was a bad shot. I would rather have a straight flying mechanical hit where it is suppose too, and do as much damage as it can, producing a trail where I can find the animal. There is nothing worse than knowing you hit that animal double lung, and not knowing where it went, and cant find a trail of blood to locate it.

I am sure I might get lynched for that, but that is the way I roll, and it works for me.

joe

"anyone that trusts a mechanical will get burned eventually. Nuff said there."

I have been burned too many times with fixed blades. That is why I went to mechanicals.

joe

I've plastered 6 deer with the Rage my hunting buddy has put down 3 others...No issues..
All excellent entry and exit holes with exceptional blood trails..
We'll stick with em..

here are a few of the pics we have taken of the holes

oops, I forgot Dans 300lb bear from this season

My wife and I have used RAGE 3 blade for for 3 years and have shot 15 deer, ranging from a 130lb. doe to 230lb bucks most deer in the 140 to 170lb range. All have been pass through shots none went more than 150yrds. Three were liver only hits, most went only 30-50yrd. I hunt in a thick cedar swamp with wolves and coyotes you cannot leave a deer lay, and come back later to track you need to follow in a few minutes or loose a hide quarter. The only thing better is a 7mm Mag and a 150gr bullet.

The first Rage I shot was into an armadillo at 30yds. The blades sheared off and stayed inside said critter. The Rage heads were then unscrewed and thrown in the Savannah river without delay. Zwickeys were then re-installed onto arrows and hunting was resumed. Lesson learned.

I personally did a lot of work looking into new broadheads for this year, and decided on the Blood Runner two blades.

I tested both rage, and the BR2's, and the blades on the rage showed "deflection" going through hard material...plywood,(and I know this isn't a realistic test according to the usual cutting surfaces/material-tissue/light bone)and a steel drum.

The BR2's managed to punch straigh through, as the true mechanicals had slight angles on entrance....The BR2's blades in all but one broad head (1 of 9) were still workable after penetration. The rage had 5 broken blades after the test.(All shot through my Alphamax at 65 lbs, 30" draw).

I also liked the thought in the back of my head, that even if my BR2's failed, I would still have a 1" cutting diamter through the boiler room--a more then adequate hole to create fatal damage and a decent blood trail.

As most say, and as most will agree- anything mechanical, can, and WILL fail some time or another.

With that said, I do believe the rage are decent broad heads, and on any given day if that's what I was given, I would use them without a hitch or any sort of complaint. I would just prefer, and suggest the BR2's or a like (hybrid mechanical)broad head incase of failure...strange things happen with stick and string in hand..conditions are not quite as controllable when you have a rifle, and if I ended up hitting heavy bone in the shoulder, I would bet 10 to 1 that a fixed/cut on contact will withstand the barrier better then a mechanical.

B8

B8

Does a Yugo work? Short answer yes to get from place to place. Is it the best car for all purpose? Hell no. Rage are the same as a Yugo they will work but not by far the best.

I'm no fan of mechanicals, I don't use them and I'm usually concerned with the hunters that bring them to hunt with me. I've seen them work well and also have very weird bad performance.

They very much remind me of the original Barnes X bullets. When they worked nothing was better, when they don't they are a nightmare. However, there is this constant statement that anything mechanical can fail. I'm not arguing that point one bit, but lets address this mechanical issue completely. Are we all so worried that our bow will fail? the truck/ATV/snow machine taking us to the hunting site? Our alarm clock in the morning to wake us up for the hunt? Our hunting trip is stacked with mechanical "stuff" the broadhead is just one of them.

I'm not lining up to buy mechanicals any time soon, but I'm also open to the idea that we are getting closer and closer to the time when these will be the norm, not the debate. Just like the X bullet was a disaster and not something I would have ever chosen. Now I'm shooting them 100% for my hunting with a firearm.

I'm not so stubborn to believe that mechanicals will be risky or unusable forever. I think we are going to see these in a dependable design very soon. Maybe even now one of them is 100%, or as reasonably close as possible. I'm not interested in being a guinea pig to use these for my hunting trophies, but I'm liking the folks who do want to be Guinea pigs and get the data to share with us.

Think back to 1975 or so when the compound bows came out. All the recurve boys were laughing and yelling silly fad, and how much junk............ now look at the bow hunting world! Compounds are the norm! There are expandable designs that show me some great merit, not proven with enough resolution to satisfy me yet but they are right there on the edge of success in my opinion.

I've had hunters use the Trufire switchbalde at my camo in Africa. Never failed, (fly perfectly from my bow too) and for all the hunters using them. They are as close to a perfect design as I can imagine. I saw 25 animals or more killed with them, everyone was flawless.

One big problem in many states with this design. Most states I'm aware of will not allow a "barbed" broadhead. This design meets the definition of Barbed because the back of the blades are not close to the shaft. These would be illegal in many states. Not because they are mechanical but because they meet the "barbed" definition.

Well said and my own experience with the 2 blade rage (the 2") model has us very close!! My next broad head to try will be the 1.5" two blade Rage (the 40KE model)
It might be the perfect broadhead for my whitetale hunting..