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Broad Heads Fixed vs Mechanical

4K views 15 replies 14 participants last post by  swim-with-beavers 
#1 ·
What's the general consensus? Fixed broad heads, 2 blade-4blade vs a Mechanical style that open up in fight or impact. I'm partial to the fixed version 4 blade. However. I have tried a newer version of the fixed 2 blade & I gotta say it was very impressive.
 
#2 ·
I've used Slick Trick 4 blade for at least a dozen years and see no reason to switch. Fly great, leave big mean holes and blood trails Stevie Wonder could follow. Mechanicals have come a long way since I tried them, but as I said, I have no reason to switch...
 
#4 ·
My shoulder won`t let me pull a bow any more so I got a crossbow. I had to go to weight forward shafts and then Slick Trick Viper Tricks are the only head that I have found that it shoots well, so that is what I use. I have a friend that was having trouble with his eyes this year and used a crossbow also. He hit 2 nice bucks with Rage mechanical. At 325 fps the first was well placed but he only got about 2 1/2 in. of penetration. The second, also well placed but at a bit of an angel never got through the ribs. It made a very nasty looking flesh wound, but then fell to the ground. Then one of the blades was mangled vey bad. He has taken a lot of nice bucks over the years and always used Muzzys. He said that he always got total pass through with them and that goes back to when his bow was only shooting around 200 fps. He said he is done with mechanicals and so am I.
 
#5 ·
I am also partial to the Slick Trick broadheads. I use the 100 grain Magnums and Grizz Tricks with the vertical bow and the 150 Cross Tricks with the crossbow. Love the included washers to tune the heads to each arrow.
 
#8 ·
I used fixed 3 blade Rocky Mnts. for years switched to Muzzy fixed 4 blade which gave a better blood trail. 2 years ago I tried the Muzzy hybrids (2 fixed 2 mechanical) and won't look back. I fought mechanicals for years, hearing horror stories about glancing shots ect. but these work for me. I am hunting in an area where I need good flight and big blood to avoid losing deer in the slashings. 4 deer and they have opened every time and never left my sight.
 
#11 ·
A lot depends on the draw weight, draw length and I believe most of all how heavy of an arrow you can & or choose to shoot. I have a 30" draw length and have shot 65 lb With a total arrow weight at 450 grains for years. Had lots of folks indicate that the heavy arrow is not needed or is a waste. Well this year I opted to break away from a tried & true set up for a 350 ish grain arrow.

Last weekend I had my shot opportunity and results were very successful though Ill opt to go back to my heavy arrow despite my success. With the heavier arrow passthroughs are the norm. This lighter happened to hit a bit high due to my range estimation error & perhaps my newly trauma induced cataract making the pin quite blurry.

Now the effectiveness of this particular shallow penetration hit was unarguably amazing. Despite my shallow penetration the deer dropped hind end first like he was spined. I followed up with another arrow to finish him off. wha sure He was hit in the spine though the autopsy when dressing him out proved that the BH path was early 2" below the spine.

I was surprised by both the dismal penetration and the deer dropping the spot. Oh this was a mechanical, NAP spitfire.
 
#12 ·
By far my favorite broadheads are fixed blade types to include the replaceable blade types. 160g three blade Thunderheads OMG those devils leave a mark. Unfortunately they have long been discontinued. I have a few sat aside along with some extra blades. The normal 125 g three blades still work just fine.

The Bear Razorheads work fine too.


I need a kinder gentler machine gun
 
#13 ·
i've used Schwacker mechanicals for several years now without any issue. have had complete pass thrus all but one which went thru shoulder blade but still dropped her in her tracks. These are all crossbow. The wound was far greater than with a gun and bloodtrails again were designed for stevie wonder. All thru the 80's and 90's , i used Razorback 5's and Rocky mountain razors and occasionally thunderheads. Still have a bunch and all do very well. I have Muzzy's but never used them much. Might have to try them this year with my compound.
 
#14 ·
I have not bow hunted for 20 + years, but back when I did it was MA3L's a three bladed solid welded head with no openings, nothing to get caught in brush, nothing to come off.





You could fire one through a wild plum thicket and have a reasonable chance of reaching your target. Plus have a very good chance of recovering a useable arrow on the other side. Most of the broadheads I've seen for sale today would not survive that challenge.


Also because of the way it was built, it was super easy to sharpen. They came dull from the factory, so first was a long session with a mill ******* file.
Then Arkansas stoning with oil. But there was no question about getting the angle right. There was only one angle you could get. From blade to blade.


The tame turkey I shot with one expired in less than 30 seconds. Never dropped the string on a deer, but they were the key that got me out there, watching, listening, learning.


Simple, elegant, sharp enough to shave with. Eventually the bow, quiver, arrows, camo all went to a good friend who had 3 boys who all wanted to hunt and could not afford to.


While I loved every minute of my boy hunting experiences. I vastly prefered my Rem 870 20 ga for actual harvesting. For one thing most deer activity in bow season was dawn/dusk. You stick an arrow into a deer, wait 15 min for it to lay down, and all light was gone for tracking. Seemed like a lose lose scenario.


Dawn when I would have time to track I would see deer, but always at a distance, and always spooky.


That's my experience, hope it helps someone.
 
#15 ·
Bow power and game hunted can make a big difference.

If you are feeling like you might be under bowed those two blade traditional styles can’t be beat. I’m willing to sacrifice much to get complete penetration.

I’ve always stuck with 3 blade and 2 blade as a backup plan, primarily for my tradbow setup. I feel I must mention fletch and arrow tune becomes important as you discuss broad head selection.

If you insist on smaller fletching then the mechanicals become easier to live with as pertains to tuning. Personally I would stick to moderation in all things archery related. Steer away from the extremely aggressive mechanicals.

All my opinion. I’ve shot a truck load of deer with the original 3 blade NAP 125g. A fair number with Bear Razoheads. Along the way I’ve used some extra wide type heads, can’t say I noticed enough difference to continue. When I run out of those 3 blade Thunderheads I’ll look again.


I need a kinder gentler machine gun
 
#16 ·
i recently discovered I was using the wrong shaft .had been using beemens 400's 27'' 65+ poundage . no real problem with the target points . broadhead's with that combination required some adjudgments . so I did a bare shaft test. test reviled that I should be using a 2216 . I use a 3 blade wasp 100 gr.( vintage ) screwed one on to a 2216 ,stood back 30 yd. it was sweet
 
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