Broadhead Success stories

[BigCountry49]

We’ve all heard or experienced how an animal got away due to a broadhead failure. I’d like to hear it the other way, where a certain broadhead led to a recovery that another broadhead might have failed.

I shot a whitetail way high with a two blade mech that impacted vertically and just barely severed the aorta, that I think was the the cause of a successful recovery.

What do you got?

 

[ArcherAnthony]

I put a bad shot on a doe with a rage hypodermic. Hit her in the spine. The rage severed her spine and dropped her instantly. The rage was in perfect condition. I was in shock how well it worked and held together.

 

[Dioni A]

I owe my biggest buck ever to a sevr 1.75. 82 yard shot that felt perfect but he moved before it got to him and I hit back. It was incredible how much damage it did. Entrance shown in the picture exit just in front of the last rib on the other side.
You couldn't pay me to use anything else.

 

[Wilderlife]

I was hunting a couple of days ago with a mate and reducing the numbers of pigs at one of my spots. I made a shot with a 2 blade fixed head on a decent sow and she jumped the string a tad (as pigs tend to do) so I hit further back than I wanted. Still could see bubbly lung blood coming out of her but she ran off about 200 metres and I followed her up. She was bedded in some scrub about 20 metres over a fence and I wanted to get closer to make a follow up shot but I couldn't get over/under the fence quietly. As I drew my bow she noticed me anyway and got up and started walking off, so when a good shot presented up her rear-end I sent the arrow and hit right where I wanted to - centre-punched through the middle of the pelvis and my arrow buried to the fletches. She trotted about 20 metres and expired quickly.

My reason for posting this story is that if I had a head that wasn't capable of penetrating far enough, it might have taken me a lot longer to follow that pig up with another shot.

 

[Bump79]

I was hunting a couple of days ago with a mate and reducing the numbers of pigs at one of my spots. I made a shot with a 2 blade fixed head on a decent sow and she jumped the string a tad (as pigs tend to do) so I hit further back than I wanted. Still could see bubbly lung blood coming out of her but she ran off about 200 metres and I followed her up. She was bedded in some scrub about 20 metres over a fence and I wanted to get closer to make a follow up shot but I couldn't get over/under the fence quietly. As I drew my bow she noticed me anyway and got up and started walking off, so when a good shot presented up her rear-end I sent the arrow and hit right where I wanted to - centre-punched through the middle of the pelvis and my arrow buried to the fletches. She trotted about 20 metres and expired quickly.

My reason for posting this story is that if I had a head that wasn't capable of penetrating far enough, it might have taken me a lot longer to follow that pig up with another shot.

Those Aero 1 heads are sweet. Never actually heard anyone say anything about them.

 

[OutdoorEdventure]

Schwacker-ed this doe! Hard quartering too shot. Ran 25 yards.

 

[Beendare]

Head shot at 12’ on a charging hog in the brush….it hit right between the eyes and stopped that hog in its tracks…buried to the nok.
The strong 2 blade VPA just needed a little touch up and ready to kill another critter. I was glad I wasn’t shooting flimsy heads.

 

[Wilderlife]

Those Aero 1 heads are sweet. Never actually heard anyone say anything about them.

My mate has been using them for a little while. This sow was the third animal I've taken with them in the space of a month, but I shot two more pigs the following morning.

Dan (from Crafted Archery) sent us some prototypes to test as well and they are a little wider so they make en even better wound channel, but they don't fly quite as well. A great head for sure but a slightly different purpose.

I was a bit concerned about the Aero 1 at first as I thought it might deflect a bit with the angle of the blades but so far it's doing a fantastic job. My friend is shooting a similar poundage but using a heavier arrow with a much longer draw length, and I've watched him shoot quite a few animals now will full length penetration. I'm sure other tough two blade heads would perform similarly.

 

[yoopshoot]

2 years ago I shot a whitetail buck during the rut. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever had happen - he was doggin does actively but stopped and when I released, he whirled to chase a doe, turning head first into the path of my arrow and my arrow hit him

square in the head. I was shooting an iron will 125 SB. Needless to say it killed him instantly, but just a fluke of a situation .

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[BigCountry49]

That’s a wild one!

 

[Read1t48]

@yoopshoot - that picture and Euro is awesome. What a great memory. Imagine leaving that in the woods and someone finding it 200 years from now. Not sure what our society will look like, but I’d hope you’d be the Indian that people pondered being back in 2022.

 

[diverc18]

Made a bad shot a doe with a 100 grain (total arrow weight 397) QAD Exodus at 50 yards right in the middle of the front shoulder and pinned her through the offside shoulder too and dropped her. Still sharp-ish and spins true and is my dedicated broadhead for tuning.

 

[Dennis]

We’ve all heard or experienced how an animal got away due to a broadhead failure. I’d like to hear it the other way, where a certain broadhead led to a recovery that another broadhead might have failed.

I think this is a great question and one I struggled with for years. I tried changing broadheads every couple years always with similar results. The head might work great a time or two then I might loose an animal with a good shot and wonder why. Maybe a different head would work better so I would repeat. Finally I lost confidence that even with a good shot a recovery was guaranteed. Fast forward to three years ago when I decided I had to figure out a better system. I focused on my entire arrow set up, by adding weight, FOC, stronger broadheads and learning to sharpen them. So far results have been what I spent 20 years looking for with in line penetration and watching a couple elk walk away and fall over within sight.

 

[MallardSX2]

I shot my first elk with a bow at about 40 yards. When I released the arrow, she whirled to run, and the arrow hit her in the ass. When I found her (~150 yards later) the broadhead was sticking out of her brisket.

Muzzy 4-blade. I figure it traveled through 4 feet of elk.

She was a chewy old bitch. lol

Picture of me with the elk. I was hunting the Flattops in Colorado. That was back when it was fun hunting there.

 

[Zak406]

I’ve been shooting rage extreme cut 2.3 inch for years (not the chisel tip the yellow body ones). Have had nothing but great luck with them. This was my buck from this year. Double lung he went 25-35 yards

 

[BigCountry49]

I think this is a great question and one I struggled with for years. I tried changing broadheads every couple years always with similar results. The head might work great a time or two then I might loose an animal with a good shot and wonder why. Maybe a different head would work better so I would repeat. Finally I lost confidence that even with a good shot a recovery was guaranteed. Fast forward to three years ago when I decided I had to figure out a better system. I focused on my entire arrow set up, by adding weight, FOC, stronger broadheads and learning to sharpen them. So far results have been what I spent 20 years looking for with in line penetration and watching a couple elk walk away and fall over within sight.View attachment 658404

What arrow set-up were/are you using? I’ve had good luck with about everything as far as broadheads go. I mentioned the expandable possibly saving me in my opening post, but honestly it’s hard to say one style is better than another. The most blood I’ve ever seen on a shot was from a magnus stinger of all things.

 

[nphunter]

I took what I thought was a follow up shot on a mature 6 point bull. It was further than I’d normally shoot but I thought I already hit him much closer. Anyway I hit low right where the diaphragm meets the guts with a Trypan, it put a giant hole in him and literally spilled his guts, he walked 20 yards and laid down and I quickly snuck up and put one through his vitals. The arrow didn’t cut the actual guts it zipped mostly through the bottom of the diaphragm, as he walked off you could see blood pouring out over top of the guts that were hanging out.

After the dust settled we figured out that I actually missed my first shot and the bull was just walking weird because he took off through a rock slide and was stumbling.



This is the second shot through the front of his shoulder.


Screen shot of the bull standing right before he laid down. The shot was just about where I like it a few inches behind the shoulder but very low.

 

[Dennis]

What arrow set-up were/are you using? I’ve had good luck with about everything as far as broadheads go. I mentioned the expandable possibly saving me in my opening post, but honestly it’s hard to say one style is better than another. The most blood I’ve ever seen on a shot was from a magnus stinger of all things

I am using an arrow set-up identified in the Ashby study on arrow lethality. The study identified 12 factors that contribute to arrow performance on game animals including structural integrity, arrow flight, FOC, broadhead mechanical advantage and additional factors. The first year I was unsure it would make any difference but I was willing to give it a try. Now in the twilight of my hunting career I realize that it I had wasted years chasing the wrong things.

 

[michaelt3719]

2 years ago I shot a whitetail buck during the rut. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever had happen - he was doggin does actively but stopped and when I released, he whirled to chase a doe, turning head first into the path of my arrow and my arrow hit him

that's wild. i bet that was one easy tracking job! a mechanical woudn't have worked so very well there... heck i saw one not work very well 2 months ago on what i thought was a fine shot. (that one cured me of ever using a rage--at least a 3 blade one--again)
what brand of a sb was that?

 

[TxxAgg]

I shot a large pig facing me in full dark. 2 blade Ace penetrated full length of the pig.

Shot a coyote through the hips with a 3 blade VPA. It was all I could see. Worked like a champ.

Shot a smaller pig with a 3 blade Woodsman at 41 yds. He turned and I caught his ham. His intestines spilled out and allowed me a follow up kill shot an hour later.