2026 Arrow Setup

[jalexander]

Hey all, I shoot an 80lb Alpha X 33 at 29” draw. I’m looking for a new arrow build this year. I have some Bohning Heat Vanes, but I’m second guessing using them as I have read people have issues with inconsistent broadhead shooting. I’m looking to be around 460-490 grain. Open to all suggestions.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

What broadhead are you shooting?

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

Heat are good vanes for field tips or if you want to four fletch. I see no reason to though as you can go lighter with a three fletch and taller vane.

Any of the arrow manufacturers will work. I’ve gone to the Easton 5.0 and am happy. I wasn’t when I had a half out as I got some breaks. But since doing a HIT and titanium collar I haven’t lost a single arrow and a couple times I should have.

I prefer a 5mm for a good diameter and ease of finding components.

RIP TKO is great too, but I really wanted to make the Easton work as they are American made.

 

[jalexander]

What broadhead are you shooting?

Going to be shooting an Iron will or Sevr mechanical broadhead

 

[jalexander]

Heat are good vanes for field tips or if you want to four fletch. I see no reason to though as you can go lighter with a three fletch and taller vane.

Any of the arrow manufacturers will work. I’ve gone to the Easton 5.0 and am happy. I wasn’t when I had a half out as I got some breaks. But since doing a HIT and titanium collar I haven’t lost a single arrow and a couple times I should have.

I prefer a 5mm for a good diameter and ease of finding components.

RIP TKO is great too, but I really wanted to make the Easton work as they are American made.

I appreciate the reply. I plan on hunting elk and whitetail this year. I shot the Easton Axis 5mm last year and all in was around 560 grains. I want to go a little lighter this year, and am curious about the Easton 4mm long range with the heat vanes, but from what I’ve read, I don’t know how well that will workout with broadheads. I’ve always ran 3 fletch, but I’m not necessarily against 4 fletch.

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Going to be shooting an Iron will or Sevr mechanical broadhead

You're going to be around 300 fps at 80#/29" with a 460-490 gr arrow. Tuning a fixed blade broadhead at that speed might be challenging regardless of vane choice.

I personally like Bohning Heat vanes and have had good luck using them in 4-fletch with fixed blade heads, but my arrows are flying quite bit slower than yours (275-280 fps). I think a 4-fletch medium-height vane (like a Heat) will generally perform similarly to a 3-fletch tall vane (like a Blazer).

 

[Bump79]

Going to be shooting an Iron will or Sevr mechanical broadhead

I would use a DCA Super Sabre 3 fletch. Low drag, quiet, sterrs great and holds up well.

If you want to try out a new arrow build, I'd suggest a Easton 5.0, Easton 4mm LR, or Terrra Firma Dominus 4mm or their Sicario 5mm.

 

[jalexander]

You're going to be around 300 fps at 80#/29" with a 460-490 gr arrow. Tuning a fixed blade broadhead at that speed might be challenging regardless of vane choice.

I personally like Bohning Heat vanes and have had good luck using them in 4-fletch with fixed blade heads, but my arrows are flying quite bit slower than yours (275-280 fps). I think a 4-fletch medium-height vane (like a Heat) will generally perform similarly to a 3-fletch tall vane (like a Blazer).

Yeah I plan on shooting mechanical. I’ve tried fixed blade with my setup and had all sorts of issues. Should it be easier to tune with mechanical over fixed?

 

[Healthy Scratch]

I appreciate the reply. I plan on hunting elk and whitetail this year. I shot the Easton Axis 5mm last year and all in was around 560 grains. I want to go a little lighter this year, and am curious about the Easton 4mm long range with the heat vanes, but from what I’ve read, I don’t know how well that will workout with broadheads. I’ve always ran 3 fletch, but I’m not necessarily against 4 fletch.

I was shooting Axis and also wanted lighter; I ended up with Easton 5.0s. I absolutely love them. I didn't get a deer last year so, I have no 'real world experience' with them. That being said they do shoot Sevr's well in practice (and I've practiced with them a lot). One caveat, I'm not shooting the monster poundage that you are. I'm pulling back 62 pounds. My arrow set-up is, 5.0 with 2.75 Tac Driver vanes and tipped with a Sevr 100 grain, Hybrid 1.75. I don't add extra weight up front (just standard HIT insert). Also, I live in Michigan (shots from trees are not that far). I practice at distance and the arrow works well, however, my hunting shots would be 40 yards and closer.
Also, if you want to experiment with different arrows, I recommend Podium Archery; they will let you buy single arrows. (A lot cheaper than purchasing a dozen and finding out that you don't like them.)

 

[jalexander]

I would use a DCA Super Sabre 3 fletch. Low drag, quiet, sterrs great and holds up well.

If you want to try out a new arrow build, I'd suggest an Easton 5.0, Easton 4mm LR, or Terrra Firma Dominus 4mm or their Sicario 5mm.

Thanks for the advise. I’ll definitely look into those!

 

[Bump79]

Yeah I plan on shooting mechanical. I’ve tried fixed blade with my setup and had all sorts of issues. Should it be easier to tune with mechanical over fixed?

What spine arrow were you using? The right mechanical will always tune better than a fixed. However, in my opinion everyone should be able to get a fixed to fly or something isn't quite right. I like to stay below 295 fps above that and my form errors really start to show and tuning gets harder. It's just more forgiving to be a little slower.

For example - 305 fps^2 = 93,025. 295 fps^2 = 87,025. That's 7% more force driving a slightly out of tune broadhead every millisecond of flight.

 

[jalexander]

I was shooting Axis and also wanted lighter; I ended up with Easton 5.0s. I absolutely love them. I didn't get a deer last year so, I have no 'real world experience' with them. That being said they do shoot Sevr's well in practice (and I've practiced with them a lot). One caveat, I'm not shooting the monster poundage that you are. I'm pulling back 62 pounds. My arrow set-up is, 5.0 with 2.75 Tac Driver vanes and tipped with a Sevr 100 grain, Hybrid 1.75. I don't add extra weight up front (just standard HIT insert). Also, I live in Michigan (shots from trees are not that far). I practice at distance and the arrow works well, however, my hunting shots would be 40 yards and closer.
Also, if you want to experiment with different arrows, I recommend Podium Archery; they will let you buy single arrows. (A lot cheaper than purchasing a dozen and finding out that you don't like them.)

I appreciate it. I didn’t know about podium archery, but I’ll definitely give that a try. I’ve also considered the 5.0. Have you had any issues with durability on those?

 

[Mighty Mouse]

Yeah I plan on shooting mechanical. I’ve tried fixed blade with my setup and had all sorts of issues. Should it be easier to tune with mechanical over fixed?

Generally speaking, yes. Less exposed surface area on the front end of the arrow makes the arrow less sensitive to inconsistencies in form/shot execution and to misalignment between the string path and rest.

Less broadhead surface area also requires less fletching to counteract the broadhead and keep the arrow on its original trajectory. 3 Heat vanes may work just fine with mechanicals; the only way to know for sure is to try it.

Proper arrow spine is also important for good broadhead flight. At your DW/DL, I would go with a 250-260 spine arrow.

 

[jalexander]

Generally speaking, yes. Less exposed surface area on the front end of the arrow makes the arrow less sensitive to inconsistencies in form/shot execution and to misalignment between the string path and rest.

Less broadhead surface area also requires less fletching to counteract the broadhead and keep the arrow on its original trajectory. 3 Heat vanes may work just fine with mechanicals; the only way to know for sure is to try it.

Proper arrow spine is also important for good broadhead flight. At your DW/DL, I would go with a 250-260 spine arrow.

I’ll probably give it a shot with the 3 vane configuration. I have a few different vanes to try, but I like the rigidity of the heats. Shooting 80lb into targets I get some deep penetrating shots down to the veins and the less rigid veins tear and crumple up. I appreciate the responses!