Let's talk broad heads...

[102]

I killed a bunch of deer with the Razorback 5 back in the day.
They made a plastic practice cartridge!

I used to cut down the replaceable blade cartridge on the bottom edge so they would spin faster. Out of the box they wouldn't spin too well so a little "work" and they'd spin with a slight blow on the blades!

Accurate heads, just not very wide!

 

[TheLBLman]

So...the best shot scenario is a mid double lung on a very relaxed (floppy eared) deer (alone), with no bleating ("meh") to stop (alert) it.

I have to agree, especially about the "no bleating" to stop it.

Either let it fly on the walking deer, or wait until it stops on it's own.
Part of why sitting up for close shots can be important,
as a walking deer is a very doable shot at 20 yds, but not so much at 40.

But if you "meh" or do something to make it stop,
it then goes "alert", and may "jump" the string,
which I think is often more a "visual" rather than "sound" thing.
They can see your limbs suddenly jerk upon release, then they can move before the arrow hits where you wanted. But at 20 yds, they may not matter much, while at 40, it may.

 

[TheLBLman]

Interesting question you asked me.
But the better one is...
What about the marginal hits?
One lung/liver.
Intestine.
Stomach.

Anyone can successfully recover the double lung, lung/heart, kidney, femoral, pyloric, etc...

But the marginal hits?

These are the tough ones!

Agree, but maybe to the surprise of many, when it comes to a "bad" shot,
I actually prefer a "gut" shot, as so long as immediately realize that's what happened,
I will almost always recover those deer.
In fact, the only ones I recall NOT recovering (that were gut-shot),
were some I was tracking for other people, who had quickly pushed the deer,
which is a big no-no on gut-shot deer.

Over the years, I have failed to recover several that appeared to be 1-lung hits (maybe no lung at all, just really close, and not nicking a big artery). But believe many of those fully recovered.

 

[102]

The LBLmanwrote
"Over the years, I have failed to recover several that appeared to be 1-lung hits (maybe no lung at all, just really close, and not nicking a big artery). But believe many of those fully recovered."

Agreed...which brings us to this observation. It can't be stressed enough how important it is (in deer recovery) to make really good decisions after shooting a deer.
And there are several clues as to where the deer was hit.

1-what angle was the shot? (how high were you and was the deer standing on a level with, above, or below the base of your tree)
2-the position the deer was in as the shot was taken? (facing, quarter to, away, or broadside)
3-alert, relaxed?
4-distance?
5-did you notice a reaction upon shot but before arrow reached the deer?
6-Deer's reaction after hit?
7-Did you mark a spot as far down the escape path as you could see and then identify (walk to) from the ground?

There are more questions but they come later.

And then of course there is this one, IMO MOST important question...What does the arrow look like,
(And possibly even more important...SMELL like)?

If there is green slime, coffee grounds, and/or stinky arrow, it gets overnight...even in HOT weather. There are a few exceptions but rarely.

Most hunters don't realize that while cold weather helps preserve meat overnight, it also helps sepsis kill more quickly.
But warm weather helps animals be less stressed (body not needing to stay warm because its hot) so they live longer, thus the meat does not spoil).

And ALL ut shot deer STINK upon recovery and gutting. It amazes me how many hunters think the meat is not good because of the smell and flies/maggots on the deer. But once the animal is quartered and washed off, as long as there is no discoloration, it's fine. (not the inner tenders)

But gut shot deer can and will travel far, especially rutting bucks, And leave VERY little sign to follow.

SO it's best NOT to! (wish I never do again)

 

[TheLBLman]

Some good questions there to always ask yourself . . . . .

And then of course there is this one, IMO MOST important question...What does the arrow look like,
(And possibly even more important...SMELL like)?

Yes!
Of course, there are times when you cannot find the arrow,
and may not know if it's still in the deer, or you just cannot find it.

Speaking of "smell", a couple of my meaningful moments from my youth involved the "smell" of arrows, but it wasn't a "stinky" smell.

It was the smell of fresh cedar, from broken cedar shafts, at the beginning of a blood trail leading up to some of my first bow kills. That aroma is one thing I particularly miss about my early archery days.

 

[102]

It was the smell of fresh cedar, from broken cedar shafts, at the beginning of a blood trail leading up to some of my first bow kills. That aroma is one thing I particularly miss about my early archery days.

Wow!, Cedar shafts.

That was a while back!

I remember my first carbon arrow.

I started with aluminum and really hated to change but finally did!

 

[TheLBLman]

Wow!, Cedar shafts.

That was a while back!

I remember my first carbon arrow.

I started with aluminum and really hated to change but finally did!

Yes, it's been a while.
I was 14 when I killed my first archery deer,
but can clearly remember all the details, especially the smell of that broken cedar arrow.
I was using a 40-lb recurve bow (no sights), cedar arrows, and a homemade head.

It was not a pass-thru, and the arrow broke off as the deer ran.
I remember smelling the cedar before I saw the broken arrow on the ground,
then seeing the arrow, a blood trail, and the deer lying only a few yards ahead.

To add to the story, since I couldn't legally drive a truck, my grandfather allowed me to drive a tractor about 5 miles down a country road to go archery deer hunting by myself. No one in my family bow-hunted. That day, around mid-morning, I came driving the tractor back with a doe tied to the front, so everyone would see it.

At the time, it was pretty taboo to kill a doe, and my family was very upset I had done so, even embarrassed some of the neighbors might have seen me with it. They talked about stopping my archery hunting, but didn't, but made it clear I was to kill no more does if I wanted to keep hunting on the family farms.

Back then, all gun hunting was buck-only in TN, but you "could" legally kill a doe with a bow. Also, TN had a 1-buck limit, a very short gun season, and there was no "juvenile" hunt, nor was there a "muzzleloader" season. In fact, most hunters I knew hunted deer with the same shotgun they hunted everything else. Heck, the opening of squirrel season was a bigger event then than the opening of "rifle" deer season is today. Times have sure changed.

A few years later I went to aluminum, and probably stuck with aluminum for over 30 years, long after most had switched to carbon. Still have my Arizona arrow straightener, which only works with aluminum arrows, but is still valuable in checking arrow straightness. Probably was still using Easton's 2216's until @ 15 yrs ago when switched to carbon.

 

[102]

2213 Autumn Orange for me. I to still have that arrow straightener !
I Started in1981. People don't believe me when I tell them I could legally kill ELEVEN bucks statewide in 3 separate units (counties) with different weapons if I wanted.

And antler less tags were the RARE possession. We had to get drawn for a antler less tags in my county.

My goal each year was to kill ONE deer with my bow. I didn't (and still don't) gun hunt much I see nothing wrong at all with gun hunting, it just doesn't really excite me.

I started with a purple Broadhead. I can't remember what brand it was but it was 145 grains.
I've killed with Savora, Rocky Mountain Snyper, Gator, Supreme, Rage, Magnus, Steel Force, Thunderheads, Later Strikes, Fred Bear, Snuffer, Razorback, AND MANY more.

Interesting observations...dull heads clot faster. And bleed less.

Big deer fall quicker on good/marginal hits, ESPECIALLY in cold weather.

 

[tonybart55]

I'm shooting Tooth of the Arrow XLs, haven't gotten to use them yet, but pretty excited to see what they do!! They perform pretty well in Luke's Archery Adventures tests on YouTube

 

[Wolverine72]

Bought some Montec G5's in 125 grain last month. I've heard they are hard to sharpen, what do you guys think?

I shoot the G5 in 100 grain. sharpening is no trouble for me. I use the diamond stones. I've been fortunate to harvest 2 does this year and both shots the tip got a little messed up. took me about 10 minutes of sharpening to get them both back to usable (not perfect) condition. ready to go.
good simple how-to video on youtube will help

 

[tree_ghost]

Update. I picked up some German Jaeger 2 blade heads to use with a couple of my recurves. I like the geometry of the swept back blades. They are nice and thick but sharpen very well also. A couple pulls across my ceramic stone and it was scary sharp. They fly very well and are $30/3. Very good value head in my opinion.

 

[maddhatter82]

Muzzy trocar hb. Through the deer double lung and after an hour and a half I finally found the arrow in a tree 40 yards behind the spot the deer was standing when I shot.... from the ground

 

[Gravey]

Thunderhead 85's but rarely bow hunt these days. Too hot!

 

[gary66]

America's greatest company, Mangus. I just love their CS. Stnger! Great head, great company. 2 kinds of companies, ones that only want your money and ones that want a relationship, Mangus is the later, I love that.

 

[102]

America's greatest company, Mangus. I just love their CS. Stnger! Great head, great company. 2 kinds of companies, ones that only want your money and ones that want a relationship, Mangus is the later, I love that.

A BIG AMEN!

 

[tree_ghost]

America's greatest company, Mangus. I just love their CS. Stnger! Great head, great company. 2 kinds of companies, ones that only want your money and ones that want a relationship, Mangus is the later, I love that.

I shot my bucks this year with the Black Hornet 4 blade. I touched the blades up out of the package with a ceramic honing stone and they got really wicked sharp! I made a poor shot and hit him in the liver. The arrow slipped through him like butter and I honestly don't think he realized what happened. He just meandered off slowly ( I understand that is usually the behavior of a liver hit deer). I immediately backed out and we found him the next morning about 300 yards in total distance away. As far as the crow flies it was about 80 yards. He made a circle around the location of the hit to try and wind "whatever" stung him. I can't speak enough good things about the reaction of a deer that's hit by an extremely sharp COC head vs the reaction of them hit by a mechanical head. I'm loving these Black Hornets!

 

[Gobble4me757]

Slick trick magnums for me!

 

[DeerCamp]

I'm still slinging Rage 2 blades until I run out. I've yet to have an issue with them so I'll probably continue to shoot them until I do.

Same here. I bought a couple packs when Gander was going out of business. Figure they will last me at least a decade.

 

[WTNBowHunter]

Have shot rage 2-blade since about '06. Started with original rage, then shot chisel tips (bc a friend gave me two packs), now shooting the hypodermic no collars. Anyone remember shooting poison pods? I grew up hunting in MS and we were allowed to use poison…as a kid I thought it made them freeze dead as a hammer but learned the hard way it's all about placement regardless of the broadhead you use.

 

[redblood]

Have shot rage 2-blade since about '06. Started with original rage, then shot chisel tips (bc a friend gave me two packs), now shooting the hypodermic no collars. Anyone remember shooting poison pods? I grew up hunting in MS and we were allowed to use poison…as a kid I thought it made them freeze dead as a hammer but learned the hard way it's all about placement regardless of the broadhead you use.

Are you serious?