About Broadheads

[102]

Here is some friendly advice on broadheads from a guy who has killed a WHOLE bunch of deer with an arrow.

This is my opinion after hunting for nearly 30 years with ALL kinds of hunters, young, old, in between, and trailing LITERALLY HUNDREDS of arrow shot deer.

The BEST broadhead for ANYONE is the widest cut, sharpest, and most accurate broadhead you can afford to put on your arrow. (a given in this description is LEGAL and DEPENDABLE)

While it may be argued that wide cut and not all that sharp means NOTHING without ACCURACY I would like to stress that ALL THREE are EXTREMELY important to consistent success. In other words, take away ONE and you odds deminish dramatically.

I have come to realize after MANY years and kills that no matter who you are, how GREAT a shot you are, and how many deer you've killed, THINGS HAPPEN. And "marginal" hits are just a part of bowhunting. We, as responsible bowhunters try to minimize these "marginal" hits but still, they happen.

So the sharper, and wider, the better.

Broadheads kill by cutting veins and arteries and causing blood loss. Dull heads tend to "push" veins out of the way and not cut. Allowing the arrow and head to pass through tissue doing little or no cutting, consequently less blood loss.

Razor sharp means more blood loss.

More later!

 

[102]

So which broadhead do you chose?

That depends on what deer you are hunting, and how much experience you have.

I recommend that the hunter with very few, if any, bow kills under their belt shoot a VERY large, expandable. Bass Pro Shops Gator XP and Rage 2 blade come to mind immediately. THese fly well out of almost any set-up, are well made, legal, and have LARGE cutting diameters. I have used, or been close to hunters who use these heads with VERY good success. These heads with their large cutting diameter give the hunter a little advantage on marginal hits. Since the holes are so big, there is generally a better chance to cause more tissue damage and blood loss.

The biggest "con" to these heads may simply be a matter of price. As with many of todays broadheads, about 10.00 per head is "normal".

THere are also MANY fixed heads that perform well and are about the same price. Thunderheads, Muzzy, Magnus Stinger, Steelforce, Titanium (by Rocky Mountain) are ALL GREAT heads as are the NAP Spitfire and several Rocket heads.

THe important thing is to find a head that you have confidence with and learn how to shoot it well.

If you are like me, and several others on here, then you hunt on a budget. My budget needs to take me as far as possible EVERY season so every penney is scrutinized. I enjoy hunting and killing BIG deer, bucks OR does. But if there aren't many running around then I will take what doe I can when I get the opportunity. I don't want to spend too much money on an arrow and a head so for me to kill 10 deer in a season with a miss or second shot thrown in here andthere would be EXPENSIVE with some heads. I am not prepared to spend 13.00 per broadhead PER SHOT. And with all the dragging, gutting, HELPING other hunters drag/gut, and stand checking that I am usually doing between kills, the LAST thing I want to do is replace blades on a broadhead ferrule.

This is why I always head to the woods each season with a couple dozen heads. All spin tested and all VERY sharp.

After one gets several kills under their belt, say a couple dozen with a bow, the may desire to make a swithch to a more economical head. THere are MANY out there that are more cost effective than 10.00 each. Again, check for accuracy, SHARPNESS, and cutting diameter.

Some of my fondest memories in the field were testing different head and arrow set-ups. ANd then trying them on deer. As long as I had VERY sharp heads that were tuned to my bow, I have NEVER been disappointed, at least not by any fixed heads.

 

[102]

While this post was started concerning primarily broadheads, I'd like to make mention of what I think is the MOST important aspect of an archers knowledge...DEER ANATOMY. It never ceases to amaze me how little most archers I talk to have such a small grasp of deer anatomy. Bone structure (especially leg bones and spine location) artery location, and organ location in general generally escape the attention and therefore importance of many new deer hunters I speak with each year. And this information can often make the difference between taking a killing shot, at any angle, and waiting for the "right" shot, only to be disappointed as this once in a lifetime deer walks away out of range.

I HIGHLY recommend every bowhunter take anatomy very seriously and try to gain at least a minimal understanding of arrow placement, ARROW BLOOD COLOR, and organs affected. THis will lead to correct blood trailing wait times AND more recovered deer.

102

 

[102]

I don't remember where this came from, I think someone here on Tndeer, but it is a pretty good pic.

 

[102]

I guess it was the other bow web-site.

Note how large the stomach is compared to lungs. Also the ball sockets in the humerus. These are about the size of a golf ball and WILL stop an arrow without killing or recovering your deer. And they have a tendency to get in the path of the arrow causing a LOUD whack if the arrow hits this ball joint. This ball joint rises as the animal squats. (Muzzy nor nothing else is bad to that bone, even with 70 pounds Kinetic Energy).

Looking at this pic it is easy to understand how an arrow can hit BOTH lungs and still get stomach contents on the arrow.

Also...note how high up in the chest the heart is at rest. It is entirely possible to hit a deer TOO low and get lots of blood, but lose the deer because you just missed the heart. These deer bleed like crazy for a long ways, then start dripping, then may quit altogether leaving you thinking you've LOST this animal when indeed it may have recovered.

THe lungs are not THAT big a target on 90 pound deer. Practice IS important.

102

 

[GOODWIN]

Here is some friendly advice on broadheads from a guy who has killed a WHOLE bunch of deer with an arrow.

This is my opinion after hunting for nearly 30 years with ALL kinds of hunters, young, old, in between, and trailing LITERALLY HUNDREDS of arrow shot deer.

The BEST broadhead for ANYONE is the widest cut, sharpest, and most accurate broadhead you can afford to put on your arrow. (a given in this description is LEGAL and DEPENDABLE)

Agree! All this hype and debate every year whether on this site or others gets old. Just shoot whatever sharp head you can that shoots well out of your setup. Shot placement is the most important factor.

While it may be argued that wide cut and not all that sharp means NOTHING without ACCURACY I would like to stress that ALL THREE are EXTREMELY important to consistent success. In other words, take away ONE and you odds deminish dramatically.

I have come to realize after MANY years and kills that no matter who you are, how GREAT a shot you are, and how many deer you've killed, THINGS HAPPEN. And "marginal" hits are just a part of bowhunting. We, as responsible bowhunters try to minimize these "marginal" hits but still, they happen.

So the sharper, and wider, the better.

Broadheads kill by cutting veins and arteries and causing blood loss. Dull heads tend to "push" veins out of the way and not cut. Allowing the arrow and head to pass through tissue doing little or no cutting, consequently less blood loss.

Razor sharp means more blood loss.

More later!

 

[GOODWIN]

Agree! All this hype and debate every year whether on this site or others gets old. Just shoot whatever sharp head you can that shoots well out of your setup. Shot placement is the most important factor.

 

[Pursuit Hunter]

Nice post. Well said.

 

[280longshot]

That is one post I enjoyed reading. Very well said!!!!!

 

[Hoss]

Good Post 102!
We can debate our different philosophies all we want. But, the two things that are not opinion are Sharp broadheads kill faster, cleaner and put more blood on the ground to follow than a less than sharp one. SO.... the sharper the better.

Next is shot placement. Study the photo carefully. I hear all the time how "I shot him behind the shoulder" If you look closely a shot more than 5 or 6 inches "behind the shoulder" may be too far back! I have seen more than my fair share of those "perfect" shots that got all stomach or if lucky got the Pyloric artery. Another misconception concerns the spine and the shoulder blade. The Spinal cord actually drops down and is a lot lower than most think. An arrow in the vertebrae may not be lethal. Often times a Spine shot deer is really a vertebrae shot deer and not always fatal.






Diagrams from the International Bowhunter Education Program.

 

[Red Rider 450]

Good post 102!

 

[102]

Bowhunting is NOT for everyone. To do it RIGHT demands dedication, commitment, and determination. And by "RIGHT" I mean to become a responsible bowman who consistently works on the GOAL of improving in an effort to make QUICK, CLEAN kills with a bow and arrow.

As with ANY weapon,there will always be misses, wounds, and lost deer. But this is hunting. Our goal, as responsible hunters is to make as humane a kill as possible. Therefore it is always a good idea to learn by asking questions and paying attention.

Successful bowhunters all have AT LEAST one thing in common. THey know that their success or failures can be measured in INCHES. THere have been MANY years when I only needed a few inches to not only increse my overall kill total, but increase my overall inches of antler on the wall. Some years it was the fault of the deer, other years it was faulty equipment, but ALL years it was ultimately MY FAULT for not "crossing T's and dotting I's". I used to take short cuts and leave things to chance or trusted that they were "O-K" when in reality they were NOT!

One example of this would have to be years ago when I would buy a BRAND NEW pack of broadheads and ASSUME they were ALL razor sharp right out of the box. A LONG recovery on a double lung shot deer proved me WRONG on that assumption after going back home and closely inspection ALL new blades. Turns out SOME new blades, right out of the package, ARE DULL!!! I made that mistake once, not again. Rubber bands DO NOT LIE!. If you can push that stretched band more than about 1/2 inch without popping it, the blade is too dull.

Another mistake is not shooting ALL my NEW arrows and fine tuning them WITH A PRACTICE BROADHEAD before putting on a SUPER sharp head. I commonly get 1 or 2 out of a dozen NEW arrows that don't "make the cut". They look identical but for whatever reason just don't fly well with a broadhead.

DETAILS, DETAILS, DETAILS...so important.

Stand squeaks

Bow squeaks

Arrows being accidentally tapped on the (non-mole skinned) bow shelf (ouch, I still remember that deer looking right at me as I finished my draw cycle and just before it dropped out of the path of my arrow as it turned to run off and start BLOWING)

My heavy breathing (audible) on a VERY quiet afternoon with a P/Y at 22 yards. (he did hear it, at least I got the video of him as he walked away)

My visible breath on a 20 degree morning and some alert does looking at me.

My NOT paying proper attention and VERY MUCH due respect at a squirrel on a nearby limb as I (all too quickly) stood to prep for a shot at an incoming deer. (I really think deer and squirrels have this "thing" going on) Deer LISTEN to the warning of a barking squirrel.

Perfect
Practice
Prevents
Poor
Performance

Practice form, then accuracy. You should be able to stand alone, NO PRESSURE, in your practice range, and hit your target RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT THE ARROW to hit. It is VERY difficult to practice under the same kind of pressure that a live deer puts you under. ESPECIALLY a live 150 inch buck. So one needs to learn to be able to hit what they are aiming at when there is NO pressure. THerefore the hunter knows that it is then possible to make the shot when the pressure of having a live target presents itself.

I like to be able to say to myself by the time the season starts, " I have checked all my equipment, and I can consistently hit the target I am aiming at at INSIDE my effective range. THerefore I AM READY". I do not want to look back after a hit, or miss and say to myself that I was NOT prepared or that I have question as to wether or not I should have taken that particular shot.

The learning process is ENDLESS and guess what? After 30 years, I am still at it.

In bowhunting, and ANY hunting, the enjoyment IS in the journey!

102

 

[UTGrad]

Awesome Post 102!! I like how you broke it up into several seperate postings...I honestly never read long post on here. For some reason since you continued the story by reposting you kept my attention. Thank you.

 

[Winchester]

Good and accurate posts as usual,! I agree the most with the fact that Bowhunting is definitely not for everyone! It takes an added layer of determination to acquire the skills needed to be consistently succesful with a Bow! But once you learn to be consistently succesful with a bow, firearm hunting becomes much easier and your success here will skyrocket, from all you have learned while being the student of Archery hunting!

 

[easlo]

Gotta say great Post here guys. I've been a bowhunter only since about 1992. From back then untill now I've seen a ton of changes with archery epuipment, so much so it sometmes boggles the mind..at least mine anyway.. but there are a few things that will never change when it comes to bowhunting.

1. Practice..practice practice. then practice some more.
If you hunt from a tree stand, then practice from a tree stand.
Are you gonna hunt in a short sleeve shirt this fall? No? Then practice as much as you can wearing what you might wear in October or November..yeah its hot..but do it!! there will be a dfference in form, hince your arrow could very well fly different with a heavy jacket on.
2.Like the others have said..The broadhead you choose should be so sharp, it should cut you just looking at it!! It has to be SHARP!!
3. Practice..Practice..oh yeah..more practice.
Read an article not long ago that said..run hard for at least 40 yards, turn around and run back..pick up your bow and shoot it as soon as you do this...You'll find that its tough..but this equals the excitement and heart race you might feel when pulling back on a big buck.Yeah it sounds crazy but worth trying.
3. Bowhuntng is the greatest adventure their is...but if your not prepared for it...mentally..yes I said MENTALLY.Here is a prime example..when the moment of truth comes and you think "I hope I'm gonna kill this deer"..you more than likely won't.You have to "KNOW" your going to make that kill before you actually do it. Believe me, I know this helps.With that said we all know like life, things don't always go as planned..but this leads to my last thought.
4.Be Prepared..and stay focused...it usually equals success!!

 

[khawk]

102 thats an awesome post! Im gonna print your posts off and give copies to my brother and his friend. They are getting pretty serious about bowhunting for the first time this year and there is a TON of information in there that can help someone out tremendously!

Thanks

 

[102]

Pretty much everything I have posted so far is PRE-SHOT information.

What to do AFTER the shot (and subsequent connection hopefully) is BEYOND COMPREHENSION as to HOW IMPORTANT that moment really is.

To wait, or not to wait. How long to wait?

And upon recovery of the arrow and subsequent inspection, what now?

THere are MANY clues to assist one in the recovery of hit deer. Where you last saw it. And not just WHERE it was seen, but MORE important, WHERE IT WAS SEEN that you can FIND once you get ON THE GROUND. Things look entirely different from the ground than from 15 or TWENTY feet up a tree.

GOTTA GO! More later

 

[hoytguy]

good post 102

 

[Radar]

I agree with 102 . Give me a good, accurate , and scary sharp broadhead , fixed or mechanical . Shot placement is everything . Learning the body language of deer , anatomy, and knowing when to time the shot for the angle that takes out both lungs comes with experience .
Very few broadheads will make up for a poor shot , but some are better than others in certain circumstances . Fixed blade heads may penetrate and hold up better than mechanicals when striking bone , but a wide cut broadhead has the potential to create a better wound channel through soft tissue . They key being the sharpness and strength of the blades . Dull blades will not make a clean cut through arteries and the blood will clot quicker .
Broadheads are often blamed for poor shots and Blood trailing skills . I have lost deer because of poor shots , but not the fault of the broadhead .

 

[102]

So TRUE Radar,
And you bring up a great point. How many times have we heard "the head did not do this or that, therefore it is the fault of the broadhead that I lost this deer".

I can certainly understand the frustration and "sick feelings" associated with losing a deer that you thought has died, but the truth is it is probably NOT the fault of your broadhead. But rather, YOUR fault for NOT accepting the responsibility of THOROUGHLY checking your equipment, PRYOR to your hunt.

We all get worn down from our busy schedules and hard hunting. This is why it is so important to leave NOTHING to chance. Check and RE-CHECK your gear WELL ahead of hunting time. ANd be ready to make a kill, and another kill, and another kill. If you can't use the meat consider donating your success to the local food bank. THEY LOVE GROUND VENISON!!! AND it (the process fee) is tax deductable. In other words, have SEVERAL well tuned arrows READY to go into your "number one" spot as soon as you use that first arrow.

I generally "catalogue" my arrows as I tune them with broadheads. Hopefully, each year, I have several "number one" arrows by seasons start.

Clothes are washed in baking soda and kept with a little soil, dried leaves, and a scattering of pine needles in a tight plastic container pryor to the opener. I have several sets of hunting overalls and tees.

102

 

[102]

There is NO doubt that as far as equipment goes, the BROADHEAD does the actual killing part of the process. So why would a hunter leave ANY details about the broadhead to chance?

Sharpness
Accuracy
Blade diameter

CRITICAL stuff!

You practice ALL summer, (maybe longer), waiting and dreaming of that opportunity to make the shot. Why leave ANYTHING to chance?

To become EXTREMELY EFFICIENT at killing deer with GREAT regularity takes time, effort, and is a work in progress. Like ANYTHING from typing to playing golf, the amount of time varies dramatically from person to person.

The first step is becoming EXTREMELY EFFICIENT at being able to routinely place your arrow in the bullseye at your maximum EFFECTIVE range. NOT YOUR MAXIMUM RANGE. There is a HUGE difference between these two.

Your maximun range might be described as how far you can shoot your bow and HIT THE TARGET.

Your maximun EFFECTIVE range SHOULD be thought of as how far you SHOULD shoot at a live animal, and EXPECT to have CONSISTENT success with a LOW probability for a negative outcome.

Again, these two vary from person to person.

But I would venture an educated guess that foe MOST of us, the maximum EFFECTIVE range for our arrows (to insure highest probability for success) is a distance of NO GREATER THAN 25 yards. And probably more like 20 yards.

We once did a small survey within our 7 member group of archers. Our combined deer kill total was over 500 bow kills.

Our AVERAGE shot was 19 yards. NINTEEN!

Several of these guys use only ONE pin set at 25 yards. Any deer that gets within that range, that these guys decide to shoot, is in trouble.

THe funny thing is, that MOST of these guys couldn't win a 3 D shoot if their life depended on it.

But then 3-D shoots generally have longer shot scenarios and focus more on accuracy at unknown distances at nearly invisible x-rings. In actuality, many times 3-D shoots don't resemble hunting at all. (we RARELY guess distances in actual hunting conditions, either we KNOW the distance or we do NOT shoot).

Not to say that 3-D shooting won't help you prep for deer hunting, IT will. But KNOWING how your bow will shoot inside your EFFECTIVE maximum range is MUCH more important than slinging arrows at unknown distances hoping for a 12 ring.
ANd then expecting to be able to achieve similar (12 ring) results in the deer woods at these longer distances is going to be disappointing for MOST archers.

If I had to give a simple bit of advice for a bowhunter. Advice that would help more hunters achieve better results, it would be this;

Know how your bow shoots at 25 yards and in.

Know how it shoots with the quiver ON AND OFF the bow.

Know how your bow shoots a a 3-D target from 10 feet to 25 feet off the ground and out of your stand with your safety harness and ALL your gear on. DO this WITH a broadhead tipped arrow at distance from RIGHT under your stand to your MAX range.

Check and RE-CHECK all your equipment for squeaks and odors.

Shoot Sharp, accurate, dependable broadheads.

Wear rubber boots.

LEARN THE ANATOMY OF YOUR QUARRY like a DOCTOR.

Know what your arrow WILL look like after passing through ANY part of the deers body. (i.e.-lungs exit, heart exit, stomach exit, liver exit, intestine exit.

Learn what to look for in a deers reaction after the shot and
how YOU should react to that situation (go to lunch, bed, etc.)

LEARN HOW TO READ A DEERS BODY LANGUAGE.

AND MOST IMPORTANT...Become a STUDENT of bowhunting.

102

 

[BowGuy84]

Broadheads are often blamed for poor shots and Blood trailing skills .

I think poor blood trailing abilities is more to blame than we realize. I've learned a lot from trailing other peoples deer and mine.

One thing that is preached on here that really helped me is to "shoot for the exit" a low exit!

 

[BowGuy84]

102, I think I shot 2 out of 7 deer last year with my second pin (set for 30 yards. Both were right at 30... All the rest were top pin wheelhouse shots. This is how I like them.

However, my effective range is much greater that 30. More like double that. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot a deer at 60 or further. However, truth be told, hunting woods and cover if you are going to get on a deer and are set up right you will be inside of 20 yards and typically for me inside of 20...bowhunting is a close range affair!

 

[Winchester]

Good posts and I couldnt agree more! A deers body language was mentioned briefly and I think this is a HUGE area that needs to be learned, but only comes with experience. I luckily was given the advice early on as to how important this is in all deer hunting. Taking the time to stop and really observe what each and every deer you encounter, any time, any place, year round, will help you profoundly. Knowing what a deer will do almost before he does it makes your decisions on stand so much easier to make correctly. All the way from staying frozen, to literally yelling to get one stopped! Same goes for after the shot, as to how they react. Paying attn and learning from each and every experience vs just taking it as it comes helps tremendously. Same with blood trailing. Get yourself involved in each and every tracking job that you possibly can, it will teach you things you couldnt even imagine. This is a very deep subject and I could go on and on! Great post as usual 102 and one that will actually help some people out here!!

 

[102]

Winchester wrote:
" Get yourself involved in each and every tracking job that you possibly can, it will teach you things you couldnt even imagine."

EXCELLENT POINT!

THis can't be stressed enough. If you want to REALLY increase your YEARS of LEARNING and speed up how long it takes to become EFFECTIVE at killing deer by arrow, then HEED THAT ADVICE.

ALWAYS carry a good tracking light or three. I usually get a couple of big lights (just befor the season opens each year) at about 3.50 each and keep them in my truck all season. THis will get you a QUICK invite to help track a hit deer.

Also, toilet paper works well for marking blood trails and then FINDING your way OUT after dark. (thought now I will use the hanging light trick)

AND another tidbit (talking about speeding up the learning process) do a complete and thorough job of gutting your deer CAREFULLY after recovery to see what organs were affected by the arrow. I will see if I can find some of my field info to post!

102

 

[102]

Here is a partial list of some of the info I collect on ALL kills I make. I started this in 1981 an have continued this through NOW. I hope to add several more to the list this season.

THere are some REALLY GREAT things that come out of keeping field notes and kill tallies. Patterns become VERY obvious the longer you keep this going. It is just ONE of the aspects of being a STUDENT of deer hunting.

THere are over 200 entries on my excel spreadsheet as of now.

 

[Radar]

I use toilet paper to mark a sparse trail as well . I also take a compass bearing on the last spot the deer was seen from the treestand . I use this as a starting point if the blood trail is sparse at the spot where the shot was taken.
Blood trailing is a skill acquired from experience . I have seen inexperienced trackers take off like they are on a race to see who can recover the deer the quickest , only to jump the deer from it's bed or miss vital clues when the trail peters out . The slow , experienced tracker will stay off to the side of the blood trail , while dissecting the blood trail , direction of travel , while making the decision on the blood trail . When in doubt , back out .

 

[Hoss]

AND another tidbit (talking about speeding up the learning process) do a complete and thorough job of gutting your deer CAREFULLY after recovery to see what organs were affected by the arrow. I will see if I can find some of my field info to post!

102

Great Advice as well. Absolutely get in on every trail job you can. But also autopsy every deer you and your buddies take. Slow down and pay attention to where the arrow went into the hide (what you may have thought you saw, is often not supported in the proof), pay attention to where it exited, Note each and every organ that shows a cut from your broadhead. Most bowhunters cannot accurately tell you exactly where their arrow hit. But, all of them think they can.

 

[Buck Assassin]

Very good info 102!