NAP Thunderhead Broadheads

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Obsession

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Apr 27, 2011
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198
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Lebanon, Tn
Does anyone else use NAP Thunderheads? I have not had the best luck with them the past couple of seasons. The reason I bring this up is that I lost my first deer Sunday morning and I am sick over it. It was my biggest buck to date and the first buck I would have taken with my bow. I know I hit the deer because I could see my Nockturnal arrow nock sticking out of the deer when he ran off. It looked to be a good shot based on what I saw. I figured the deer would be within 100 yards. I started looking for blood with no luck. So I waited for an hour before I started looking in the direction he ran. I eventually found a few small drops of blood and a blood smear on a small sapling. I then decided to back out and come back later. I looked all day and even into the night hoping to see my lighted nock. I never found the deer. With all this said it brings me back to the broadhead question. I think it may have something to do with the lack of blood. I shot a doe last year with the same kind of broadhead and never found any blood. I just got very lucky and found the deer in the water 50 yards from my boat when leaving after searching for 2 hours. My dad also uses the same broadheads and shot a doe last year with them. The deer only ran about 50 yards and piled up in sight. We found very little blood when looking for the blood trail on that kill as well. My dad shot at a deer on Saturday morning broadside at 22 yards feeding in a food plot. We couldn't find a stitch of blood in the area. We looked for about an hour with no luck and concluded it must have been a miss. We are now having second thoughts based on looking back at all these other occurances. I thinking about changing broadheads. Any recommendations?
 
If you want to stick with a fixed blade I would recommend the g5 striker magnum awesome blood trails if not u could always go to a rage i guarantee you will find blood with those 2 or atleast I always have
 
my dad a buddy shoot them they have had real good experiences with them. maybe check the blades for sharpness is all I can think of
 
tnhunter83 said:
If you want to stick with a fixed blade I would recommend the g5 striker magnum awesome blood trails if not u could always go to a rage i guarantee you will find blood with those 2 or atleast I always have
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Both of those broadheads mentioned are great. The NAP spitfires are also a good head that leaves good bloodtrails even on marginal hits.
 
Magnus Stingers (w/bleeders)... hands down. I used Thunderheads in the past, but converted to Magnus to have a solid fixed blade before elk hunting in Wyoming. Dropped an elk after 20 yards even though I hit him a little forward. Arrow went through both shoulders. Sharpened the blade and whacked a doe back home a couple days later with the same arrow.

I've shot Muzzys too, but nothing seems to whack as hard as these Magnus blades.
 
I shot thunderheads for years they always performed great. I can't think of any deer that I didn't recover if I made a good hit. I now shoot Muzzys because I can find them a little cheaper and replacement blades are easier to find.
 
I am shooting them on my crossbow,the guys on archery talk give them great reviews,even the reviews at bass pro and cabelas are 5 star reviews.Very few bad reviews for them.Are you sure of your shot? How many pounds you shooting.I've never not had a fixed blade not get a pass thru on a deer,even when shooting my compound.
 
Great fixed blade IMO. Killed my first deer with a Thunderhead. and shoot them on my Xbow still. Hate your expierence with them was negative. Im curious of your poundage also??
 
I tried them out last season in the backyard. I could never get happy with them. They were planing more than I liked so I went back to Blackouts (fixed). Since then I have switched to Blackout mechanicals and really like the accuracy. The thunderheads do get very good reviews which is why I gave them a try, but I just wasn't feeling them. I was talking with a buddy of mine at work three days ago and he said he had the same issue with them. He went back to his Rages. I am sure I could have tweaked my setup more to improve the performance, but wasnt motivated enough and went back to something I know works.
 
just started using thunderheads myself. Have not shot a deer yet. Shot a turkey that ran away wounded, but I blame it more on the turkey or shot placement cause they are supposedly hard to kill with a bow.

I will say that you shouldn't tighten the heads with the wrench they put in the package, and then attempt to switch one to another arrow while in the stand, because loosening that broadhead by hand may result in a test of how well they have been sharpened... ;)
 
catman529 said:
just started using thunderheads myself. Have not shot a deer yet. Shot a turkey that ran away wounded, but I blame it more on the turkey or shot placement cause they are supposedly hard to kill with a bow.

I will say that you shouldn't tighten the heads with the wrench they put in the package, and then attempt to switch one to another arrow while in the stand, because loosening that broadhead by hand may result in a test of how well they have been sharpened... ;)
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HA,I did that same thing yesterday,still wearing the bandaid to prove it..Yup,they are sharp..LOL
 
Thunderheads are a GREAT bh. I used them for years and have killed as many as 5 deer with the same head! Any good fixed head that is very SHARP and durable will do the job! Its all about shot placement!!!
61 lbs is more than enough. My son has been shooting through them one after another and he started at 38 lbs when he was 11 and is still just shy of 50 at 14.
 
cecil30-30 said:
catman529 said:
just started using thunderheads myself. Have not shot a deer yet. Shot a turkey that ran away wounded, but I blame it more on the turkey or shot placement cause they are supposedly hard to kill with a bow.

I will say that you shouldn't tighten the heads with the wrench they put in the package, and then attempt to switch one to another arrow while in the stand, because loosening that broadhead by hand may result in a test of how well they have been sharpened... ;)
Click to expand...
HA,I did that same thing yesterday,still wearing the bandaid to prove it..Yup,they are sharp..LOL
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didn't have any bandaids with me so it got a bit bloody till it finally dried up, and I haven't touched it since then other than washing my hands. it's one of those "U" shaped cuts from the blade hitting my finger sideways. I always somehow manage to cut my hand, last time it was with a bow saw and wasn't pretty
 
I have been shooting NAP products almost totally for many years. Have neverhad a complaint. The Thunderhead 125, in my opinion, is one of the finest fixed blade heads around. I am currently shooting a NAP mechanical and I cannot recall what it is called. Just go them this year. Shot one deer and it looked like chainsaw masacre. Hit the shoulder, broke it, went all the way through and made a huge exit hole.

I sure wish I could find that arrow. At $11 a head, I don't need to be losing them :(
 
ruger7mag said:
tnhunter83 said:
If you want to stick with a fixed blade I would recommend the g5 striker magnum awesome blood trails if not u could always go to a rage i guarantee you will find blood with those 2 or atleast I always have
Click to expand...

Both of those broadheads mentioned are great. The NAP spitfires are also a good head that leaves good bloodtrails even on marginal hits.
Click to expand...

I agree I use 125gr Spitfires and naver had any problems.
 
At 60#, are you shooting that on a 70# limb, or a 60# limb. I had terrible results with 70# limbs turned down to get 60 as opposed to 60# limbs and a bow shooting like it was designed.
 
I have never shot another broad head, I almost switched to Rage didn't want to make the change due to price and the thunderheads have always performed well for me. The only deer I lost was a bad shot on my part and it looked good, but I assume i hit her a bit high between the spine and the vitals. I had trouble finding one I shot last year, but it started raining just after the shot, so... I have killed a deer during archery since 2008 and I killed one on the opener this year and it died within 50 yds and there was plenty of blood to follow.

you may not have hit him where you thought. Also with the arrow not exiting he may not have bled too much. either way he may be dead. look in the last place you'd want to go (thickest nastiest place)
 
As a very loose rule, when an arrow does not get full penetration and pass through, either it hit bone or went through a whole lot of innards.

It use to be common back when our bows were lightning fast about 170-fps. We shot big, heavy arrows and anything less then 125-grain head was laughed at.

However, we killed a lot of deer. The arrow nocking on trees and spinning around made a heck of a hole. The last four deer I have killed, the arrow went through so far, I never found them. I hate that.
 
This is one of those "Hell I was there moments" but, I once accidently shot through two deer at the same time using a thunderhead tipped arrow. I never did recover that arrow! It went through a big does lungs and hit a yearling doe that came running from nowhere about 15 feet behind the doe. The arrow hit the yearling in front of a ham and came out behind the opposite shoulder. If I have ever lost a deer with any broadhead it has always been my fault. I've only shot fixed blades during my hunting time these past 20 years.
 
I shot 125 Thunderheads for over 20 years with a compound and would still be if they shot good on my xbow. Excellent broadheads.
 

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