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Confessions of a Broadhead Junkie

shadowpeople

Active Member
Well, I admit that I have a broadhead problem. I've shot different broadheads nearly every year so I've tried just about anything and everything. I guess I just like to see all of the new styles and designs and feel like I want to try them all.

I have a couple questions and was wondering what everyone's thoughts were.

1. Broadhead style... why do you shoot a 2 blade, 2 blade with bleeders, 3 blade, 4 blade etc...? What is your reasoning and experiences?

2. Cut on contact tip or chisel type tip?

3. Fixed or expandable?

4. Sharpen your own or replaceable blades?

My thoughts...

I haven't had very good luck with expandables, (Rage, Tekan, rocket, etc...). I prefer the fixed blades, and have had good luck with g5 strikers, montecs, but I also like the new hell razors and some of the new steelforce heads between the phatheads and the phathead s.o.b. which I think is just an awesome looking head. I'm kind of on board with the cut on contact idea. Yet, at this point I'm still undecided with what I'm going to shoot this year.

What are your thoughts?!

Insert popcorn eatin smilies...
 
Slick Tricks

Slick tricks are a remarkable head and the 4 bladed heads will allow less chance for closing of the wound IMO.

I really like the razortricks with COC heads, albeit the standards and mags are also great. Used the RT last year and with the new steel this summer will be even tougher.

CONFIDENCE IN WHAT THEY SHOOT and sharp blades..show me an archer with those two qualities and they will often have alot of trophy photos :way:
 
100 grain Slick Trick Magnums. 4 blades, can sharpen blade with a GATCO or Lansky sharpening kit (it is amazing how often you can reuse/resharpen blades) they are a chisel point but they've gone through some major bone and only once out of ~20 deer have not gotten an exit wound (it was a spine shot) and 9/10 times the arrow completely passed through. I was told to shoot them once 6 years ago and won't change broadheads again...
 
Tried expandables....yuck. Just a gimmick for a bow that isn't tuned imho. Who needs to worry about a bunch more moving parts?

Right now I'm shooting the G5 Montecs. Like em a lot. Re-sharpen all my heads/blades. (Even Muzzy blades if their not bent!) Gonna try the Simmons Sharks this year because they grouped with my Montecs and field points and I liked the design. I won't shoot a broadhead if it doesn't group to same poi as field points as my bow is Super Tuned. Only had one head so-far out of about twenty or so I've shot that wouldn't group AT ALL! The Magnus Buzz Cut w/ bleeder blades were all over the place.

Have to agree that four blades make a hole, not a cut. Definitely keeps the blood flowing. Like the two blades because they are so simple and offer less surface area for better penetration. Three blades are a nice happy medium between penetration and cutting surface. I prefer a cut on contact vs a trocar tip, mostly on personal preference but with the Montec you get a tough tip that cuts also, and I like that, A LOT. Hellraiser heads are very similar to the Montecs, so I will probably try them also.

So I guess for what I like in a head the Montec takes the cake. I can shoot them accurately to 60 yds, they crush bone, make big holes, are tough as nails, never have to worry about finding loose blades in your deer, re-sharpenable, and easy to find about any place that has hunting supplies.
 
I shot the rage and never had a problem as far as penetration. The only thing is they can be a pain changing the blades. That a poor design as far as I'm concerned.I really like the montecs, they delight great and are tuff as nails.I think this year in going to try the slick tricks. A friend of mine shot them last year an loved them. They fly just like field points with very little tuning required. I plan on going to Colorado for elk and I can't use expandables there anyway......
 
I am not too picky. As long as it flies well it will kill a deer. I am preparing for antelope hunting and I have 4 montec G5s, 1 Jakhammer, 4 rage and 3 Rocket Hammerheads. I plan on taking a few more so I might pick up a pack of Slick Tricks and a pack of Grim Reapers. I have also been wanting to try to meat seekers as well.
 
Whitetailassasin : I 150% agree with the Montecs. Fantastic broadhead all the way around. I stumbled across them when I was preparing for an elk hunt a few years back. I had been shooting Rocky Mountain expandables but the outfitter didn't allow his clients to use expandable broadheads. I started trying different fixed blade broadheads and let me tell you that gets expensive fast! I wasn't going to skimp on the hunt of a lifetime so I kept searching. There are a number of fixed blade heads that are pretty good until you reach longer distances. The handfull I tried seemed to plane at or between 40 and 50 yards. I took my bow to the best guy I know twice and each time he checked everything to make sure it was tuned perfect. Some of the fixed blade broadheads would have one good one and one or two bad ones, consistently. If you shoot 40 yards or less you may never know that there was a problem. When I switched to the Montec I was practicing to 70 yards and hitting the same as my field points. (I didn't plan on shooting an elk at 70 but if you're solid at 70 then 50 is a walk in the park..... theoretically :grin:) I have shot Montecs ever since and I had ONE that was inconsistent.
Well it turns out I could have killed my bull with a brick. LOL I shot him at 10 yards! 332" 6X6. Like I said, hunt of a lifetime for me:way:
 
seen TONS of problems with Rage's. My bros still shoot em and I hate them with a passion- even the 3 of us disagree. I really think they suck and see a lot of problems 1st hand with a lot of my buddies that shoot them too. I can explain the TONS of problems I've seen- I shot them for 1 year too.
Now I shoot 100 grain MX-3's, Muzzy. They shoot awesome, penetrate great and have a 1.5" cutting diameter (or something close to that, nice size).
 
Tried expandables....yuck. Just a gimmick for a bow that isn't tuned imho. Who needs to worry about a bunch more moving parts?

Your new Hoyt, fall away rest and various other high tech gadgets have more moving parts than any expandable will ever have. I shoot Rages right now, but have shot several different kinds of expandables because they're simply the most accurate head out there...especially in windy conditions. They are too expensive, and I don't even try to replace the blades. I always get a kick out of how many guys will spend a grand on a bow and then whine about $40 for broadheads :D

NWBuck
 
I've always shot 3 blade 100 grain Muzzy's and have never had a problem dropping a deer with them. I always wait for that front shoulder to clear so I don't have to punch through much. I've always had great blood trails with them as well. It's fairly rare that you get to reuse the blades, but if you straighten them, they become practice heads at that point for me.. I doubt I'll ever change..
 
I love my Rocket Hammerheads and Grim Reapers expandables out of my 110% perfectly tuned bow.
 
I shot Muzzy 3 blades for a long time and couldn't complain. I have been shooting expandables now for 8 years and have had good luck with the Reapers, but nothing cuts like a Rage! I'm not gonna switch until I see a comparable cut. My buddy did shoot an elk last year in Montana with a NAP Bloodrunner and that cut a monster hole as well, I'm just not sure about that design. My bro lives in Wyoming and shoots Montecs and swears by them. There are definitely alot of good choices out there.
 
Ive been shooting 4 blade muzzys for years now with zero problems.I just cant change until i do.
 
Used to shoot Crimson Talons until they changed the design. Then I tried Rage expandables, talk about pure junk. Always breaking/not opening on impact. Now its G5 Montec, just can't beat them. Shot three deer one year, with the same broadhead and no sharpening. I won't change until I have problems with them.
 
I used muzzy 4 blades for years. I switched to Rocket Meatseekers last year. Killed 5 does last year with them and the furthest tracking job I had to do was 30 yards. Leaves one heck of a wound channel. One doe jumped up after impact stood there for 30 second with blood spraying and fell dead. Every kill was a pass through and most were angled shots. Will never switch back because I am not a big fan of tracking.
 
100 gr 2" Grim Reaper Whitetail specials here.
I'm lucky enough to have a long DL and hard shooting bow, so I can shoot this high KE broadhead.
It leaves CRAZY big holes and cuts like butter.
Last year I blasted a doe @ 55 yards and the blade literally sliced through the ribs on a complete pass through.
 
Slick Tricks all the way, a lot of people are afraid to use them because they only have a 1" cutting diameter but let me tell you, they leave a HOLE in the animal. They are extremely accurate too. I used to use expandables (Rage 2-blade and Trophy Ridge Meat Seekers) and have had good luck with both, but hardly ever got complete passthroughs with them. That is why I switched to the slick tricks, and every deer I have shot since has been a passthrough. Take into account that I am also a short draw archer shooting 60# and only hunting with a 330 gr. arrow so penetration might not be as big of an issue for you. Also as far as accuracy, I get just as good of accuracy with my slick tricks than I did with my Rage's, even in wind. As long as you tune your broadheads they will fly just fine, I think a lot of people go to expandables because they are shooting poorly and automatically blame the broadhead before even attempting to tune. Just my 2 cents.
 
Last year when I got my Z7 and cranked the poundage up to 71lbs, I had to switch broadheads. Previously, I was using Muzz 3-blade 100 gr with my 65 lb FX and they were dead centering out to 60 yards. Unfortunately, I never got to see how they worked on deer (missed a mulie) before I switched bows and, therefore, broadheads. I started using the Shuttle T-locks last year when I got my Z7 and they shoot phenomenally. They are dead on with my field points and leave a great hole. I got my first deer (anything) last fall in south Texas (doe) and she fell within about 10 yards from the ground blind I was in. The hole was amazing and the blood trail was AWESOME, even in the south Texas red dirt.
 
I forgot to mention that if you do decide to go with mechanicals, go with the trophy ridge meat seekers. Rage heads are good too, I hear people say that they don't open on impact, I find that hard to believe but stranger things have happened. I think that people many times are quick to blame the broadhead when maybe they just made a crappy shot. I have shot 3 deer with the rage, one from a very steep angle, and all 3 times the blades deployed and destroyed the deer. I can however see the Rage's opening in flight if the blades are not snug to the O-Ring, which is another common complaint. The meat seekers on the other hand seem much more fail proof, and get better reviews on the most of the sites I read. Really if you look at the design of them there is almost no way the mean seekers wouldn't open on impact, and if you have the rubber band on properly I highly doubt they would ever open in flight. I take the rubber bands off that trophy ridge gives you and use the ones they give out for braces from the local orthodontist because they are less stiff, works awesome. I wish I could use the meat seekers all the time but I don't have the most KE with my bow so I switched to the Slick Tricks.
It's a matter of personal preference but I'm definitely not one to shun mechanicals, I think probably 90% of the bad reviews you see on them are from user error, not mechanical error. I still gotta give the top dog to slick tricks though because no matter what you know that if something happens, there is no way it could be the broadhead's fault. And they put one MEAN hole in deer.
 
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