mechanical broadheads success and failures

[CaptainObvious]

Note to self...if you gut shoot everything expandables are the ticket

[ThomC]

I think that the manufactures spend more time picking a name than engineering the blade. A lot of expandables look like a axe or are so big that penetration obviously would be less especially if it hits bone. If they would make an expandable with a slicing blade rather than a chopping blade then they would penetrate the same as fixed. A simple little 1 to 1 1/8" expandable will work. All of these expensive sexy sounding broadheads are for suckers.

[idgaf]

Note to self...if you gut shoot everything expandables are the ticket

With all of the pictures I posted the broadhead went through the vitals with the exception of the elk.

[GotBowAz]

I am now exclusively shooting NAP Killzones. I would not hesitate to shoot an elk with a 550 plus grain arrow tipped with a Killzone head on the business end of it. I've tested a LOT of Mechanical's and IMO this head out performs all other mechanical's all the way around in design and operation. It is a rear deploying head, fully opened on entry with excellent penetration for a 2" plus head with no worries in mid flight deployment. The only thing I would like better is if the ferrule was made out of steel, then I could drop the brass 100 grain HIT insert from my FMJ's and screw on a head with great FOC and create the weight that is needed to complete a passthrough on a big elk.

 

GBA

[208muley]

Just one guys opinion, as bow hunters we work our butts off to ge a shot at an animal. Buy the best gear we can, practice as much as we can etc. I have had failures with mechanicals in the past and if you read the 1000s of threads on the net about this very thing it seems it's close to 50/50 on guys that love them vs those that dont and had failures. Therefore why chance all that hard work being perfect to get the shot on a piece of equipment that you can absolutly control. The tuning arguement , IMO, is bunk as the technology in the new bows is far superior and tuning is easy. I, as well as all my friends, shoot fixed and practice out to a 100yds. Well tuned bow= perfect flight with fixed broad heads. If we don't get a dead animal after the shot, which is rare, it is our fault not a piece of equipment, period.

 

Ever notice how all the most advertised broad heads out there are mechanicals? I wonder why that is?

[Alpinebullwinkle]

My kids and I had some mechanical failures early on in our archery experiences so we gave up on mechanical broad heads almost 20 years ago. One issue I have not seen comments on is "how forgiving" are mechanicals if you do not make the perfect shot (for many reasons including posture for the shot) and therefore less penetration with any broad head. Also, if you hit a twig on the shot are you toast with a mechanical? I have friends that strongly recommend mechanicals but I remain unconvinced based on my former experiences?

[bojangles]

i've had tuning issues with mechanicals my whole hunting career, and since i've switched to the ulmer edge all my dreams have come true.

[GotBowAz]

I will preface this by saying in no way am I trying to get someone to change what they are confident in hunting with. This is just my opinion from the testing I have done and why I shoot what I do. I do not mean any offence to anyone, these are my real life observations only.

 

IMO mechanicals got a bad rap mostly because just like anything that comes out new it has issues. Just as the compound bow did and look at them now. The failure most speak of are self induced because they cant comprehend how an mechanical works and this includes poor penetration do to wide cutting blades with light fast arrows and weak spine. I cant stress enough that if you use a mechanical head you should be shooting minimum of 550 grain arrow or better when hunting an animal as large as elk. However you got the I gotta have speed guys put on a mechanical and wonder why they get poor penetration. Epek failure occurs and then the heads get a bad rap all because the shooter didn’t know what he was doing with his equipment.

 

Then there are the guys who understand mechanicals even less and shove that BH into their foam quiver and wonder why it came open. They cant figure out that’s the way it works? I just shake my head. You never hear of the guys who’s fixed head came unscrewed and the blades fell out in their quiver because their too embarrassed by their mistake. But don’t kid yourself, it still happens. Then you have inferior design issues such as Rage that wont stay closed in flight due to a crappy design with the head. However that can be overcome by taking a dermal and notching the outside leading edge of the blades and using a dental rubber band or a strand of copper wire and wrapping it around the notches so it can’t open until impact. These ideas work and work well combined with a very heavy arrow. But who wants to doctor up heads? However, if your mechanically inclined you can figure out pretty quick why these and other heads fail and if your inclined to do so, what you can do to keep them from failing.

 

I see no excuse for shooting a Mechanical because they can’t tune a fixed blade. I have Slick Tricks and VPA’s tuned with my field points thus my mechanical’s are as well. I shoot a mechanical for the forgiveness in cross winds but mostly because of the huge swath in a large animal such as elk. I get complete pass through with my set up. The disadvantage, loss of speed and flat trajectory. I will take that and keep my huge holes and bigger blood loss.

 

For the nay sayers out there mechanical heads have come a long way. I steer clear of any mechanical that has jack knifing forward deploying blades. Old school heads. They can and do have kick out issues specially on quartering away shots so I don’t have confidence in them. The Schwacker would be the exception to the rule but only because it opens inside the animal on impact. Exit holes are huge, but not always made. IMO Technology/design with rear deploying blades have paved the way for a superior mechanicals. Bottom line is most that bash mechanical’s either didn’t know what they were doing with them, how they functioned, what weights of arrows and spine to use, or haven’t even ever shot them. I have done extensive testing with mechanical’s of all kinds. Some are junk, some fixed blades are too.

 

Bottom line, shoot what your confident in. if your not confident in mechanical’s then don’t use them. On the other hand, if you don’t know anything about them, never shot them, and don’t know their function then maybe you should try testing a few as I did to understand their function and how they work. Then you can have a much better opinion on why you shouldn’t use them.

 

If anyone is interested in the testing I’ve done or why I go with the head I am using now PM me. Id be happy to pass it on.

 

GBA

[WHT_MTNMAN]

GBA- I've heard from many other forum members on this forum and other forums, (myself included) that have received PM's from you regarding the fixed, mechanical debate. In every PM that I've read or heard about, you definitely come across as trying to "persuade" others to your way of thinking. I just think it is funny that your first sentence states the opposite and then 5 paragraphs trying to persuade others to think the way you do.

 

In all fairness I think that is the great thing about this and other forums, is that any one can see differing view points and make their own decisions. I just find it contradictory and amusing. I and many others shoot what we shoot because we too have spend hours, days, weeks and months trying to make the best informed decision (practical and theoretical) and shooting the BH that absolutely shoots the best for us.

 

You are spot on in what you posted above. I completely agree 100%. The only thing I would add

 

To me: one of the major considerations in a BH is that I don't have to take it off the shaft of the arrow after practicing, to switch blades, screw in the "real" one or re-sharpen. I've seen too many times new blades in BH causing differences in flight.

For this reason I stick with COC fixed heads that can be re-sharpend while on the arrow. and mechanicals that can lock in practice mode. AGAIN IMO that is more important that 2 vs 3 blade1 1/4" cutting vs 2 1/2" etc.......

I want to shoot the exact same BH from practice to real life. It is that important.

[GotBowAz]

I see your point, it's still not how I mean to come across.

 

FYI, I shoot the same Mechanical head for practice and then hunt with it. I simply resharpen the blades. It does comes with a practice head but like you said it's not the same as shooting the one your going to use. Rhine hart BH blocks are the bomb for shooting real heads. Not trying to convince anyone of anything, just stating it like it is.

 

And yes, I will defend certain mechanical s when I hear statements such as why would you take the chance of something bad going to happen. Things have improved and come a long way. But if you noticed I will bash mechanical as much as I stand up for them.

 

GBA

[creed_az_88]

 

Here's the video you asked for. My cousin posted it. He left alot out that showed the arrow afterwards and about five inches worth of blood on the shaft and a very disappointed hunter haha. The other shot was a broadside shot that would have been a high lung shot. He left that out also. Iam not posting this to blame the broad head because a heavier setup could have been used but it is definitely an example of a broad head failing to do its job. I have killed a few deer with rage heads however.

[HuntHarder]

A shoulder hit on a bull is never going to be a good thing with a bow. The odds of finding a bull after shooting it in the shoulder with a bow are well below 50% with any broad head. Sucks he lost this bull, but a poor shot at close range is the reason, not the broad head.

[creed_az_88]

Definitely not a shoulder hit. I've watched the video many times on a large screen and I'm very familiar with the anatomy of an elk. Its not the broadheads fault like I said earlier, its the light arrow pushing the broad heads fault or more so the shooter fault for such a light setup but the broad head did fail to penetrate because of the setup.

.

[creed_az_88]

[GreyGhost85]

It looked to me like the shot was spot on. Not a shoulder shot. It doesn't matter where the hit was however, you should still get more than just a couple inches of penetration. Text book rage fail.