Do guys realize mech heads don’t solve an untuned bow?

[Beendare]

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[JeffRaines]

This is true for sure… but what a mech head gives you is forgiveness when your form may not be perfect. While we all strive for perfect form, any time spent in the field will quickly remind you that sometimes you just can’t get comfortable.

Not to say fixed heads cant be forgiving - a lot of the smaller ones are, but you’re never gonna reach the same level of forgiveness as you will with a field point or mechanical.

With all that said - please make sure your bow is tuned and don’t try to cover up a bad tune with a mechanical. You’ll see deeper, better penetration with a good tune regardless of what style of head you choose to use.

 

[Rob5589]

I'd argue that a mech needs the same attention to tuning as a fixed. A mech needs a near perfect point of impact in order to penetrate and deploy as intended. You can get away with less than a perfect impact with a coc head. I'd also argue that if people 3 or so decades ago were as adept at tuning as they are now, mechs may have never reached the popularity they attained.

 

[Billy Goat]

A mech is forgiving, that's why I'll shoot them some.

But using one as a crutch because you can't get anything else to fly is a bad idea.


I tune my bows to shoot big fixed heads. I'll hunt with a whole assortment of heads.

I don't think @Beendare is stating not to use them, he is saying don't use them because you can't get a fixed blade to fly right.
Tho I know he is a fan of efficient broadhead design, I am too. But if you have the horsepower there's no reason you can't use a less efficient broadhead design. Just don't choose one because the fixed blades you first tried fly like shit.

 

[KyleR1985]

I’d venture to say that casually, 85-90% of bow hunters think that the point of tuning a bow is to get the point of impact to be behind their pin.

I’d say that even given time to think it through and no one to judge them, 95-99% of bow hunters thing this same thing.

This obviously includes many folks who shoot fixed heads too. Many of them just happen to tune their bows as a matter of trying to make the above true.

 

[Billy Goat]

I’d venture to say that casually, 85-90% of bow hunters think that the point of tuning a bow is to get the point of impact to be behind their pin.

I’d say that even given time to think it through and no one to judge them, 95-99% of bow hunters thing this same thing.

This obviously includes many folks who shoot fixed heads too. Many of them just happen to tune their bows as a matter of trying to make the above true.

I'd adjust those numbers a bit. Maybe in half.


Just look at the poll from this site on tuning or not tuning....

 

[KyleR1985]

I'd adjust those numbers a bit. Maybe in half.


Just look at the poll from this site on tuning or not tuning....

bow hunters who use this site are not representative of all bow hunters. It’s a bubble.

I bet the bow hunters who visit this site, post, and posted in that poll, represent some incredibly small fraction of 1% of bow hunters.

And they will be more detail oriented, and gear nerdy, than the rest of of bow hunters on average. My numbers might be low.

 

[Billy Goat]

bow hunters who use this site are not representative of all bow hunters. It’s a bubble.

I bet the bow hunters who visit this site, post, and posted in that poll, represent some incredibly small fraction of 1% of bow hunters.

And they will be more detail oriented, and gear nerdy, than the rest of of bow hunters on average. My numbers might be low.

Yeah, that's my point. And like 14% say don't tune.

Makes me think it's closer to 40-50%

 

[N2TRKYS]

A mech is forgiving, that's why I'll shoot them some.

But using one as a crutch because you can't get anything else to fly is a bad idea.


I tune my bows to shoot big fixed heads. I'll hunt with a whole assortment of heads.

I don't think @Beendare is stating not to use them, he is saying don't use them because you can't get a fixed blade to fly right.
Tho I know he is a fan of efficient broadhead design, I am too. But if you have the horsepower there's no reason you can't use a less efficient broadhead design. Just don't choose one because the fixed blades you first tried fly like shit.

Which mechanical head do you like?

 

[Idkwhyimhere]

Is it true the easiest way to tune a bow is with arrows without fletchings?

 

[Billy Goat]

Which mechanical head do you like?

I can't say that I like any, but there's several I'll use, just depends on the situation. Right now in my 5 arrow quiver (for deer) I have (1) 125 sevr 2.0, (2) s-125 IW, (1) w-125 IW, and a spitfire. I have been a fan of spitfires, no issues with them in using them for a dozen years and I have seen piles of animals liked with them as it was 5-6 of us using them. A few years ago I did switch to 125 heads from 100. I don't feel like the spitfires are shooting quite as consistent as they use to. I don't know if that's a difference in the qc of the head, or just the slightly different design of the 125. The Sevr is ok, it flies really well but the penetration sucks. I have enough energy to use it, but I'm not going to use it for anything larger than a 225# whitetail. The fixed blades are proven and I shoot several others as well, those are just what I feel like shooting right now, but that's apt to change at any time.

I tried rage a few times, I had issues. Between broken and bent blades, and on older models blades deploying on the shot I gave up on them. I have since personally seen others have problems so I stay away from "runners" as I call them.

I'm interested to try the Grim Reaper razorcut ss. It has what looks like a COC style tip instead of a chisel tip. I'm curious if I can sharpen the tip to a razor edge. Need to order a pack or two to play with.

My hangup with several of the mech's, like the Sevr 1.5, is the cutting area isn't a big enough difference to me to mess with. I can shoot a fixed blade and not need to worry about it and have close to the same cutting area. However I'm not frequently shooting long distance in the wind so that plays into it as well and gives a large advantage to a mechanical.

Overall I haven't found a perfect broadhead, I use them animal and anticipated situation dependent.

 

[Billy Goat]

Is it true the easiest way to tune a bow is with arrows without fletchings?

I think the easiest is broadhead tuning, but you burn up targets doing it.

Bareshaft tuning ( no fletching) can work well to get very close if not exactly the same with broadheads if the shooter has really good form. I'm a decent shot, but I have days that I'm wasting my time with bareshafts and I need to come back to it. Meaning in the evening after a good day of work I'm sore, tired, just not with it, and any little form change is picked up immensely with bareshafts. It can cause me to pull what is left of my hair out. Fortunately I have recognized it and I just know that occasionally I have those days. No shooter is top of the game everyday anyways right?


So for the right shooter bareshafts are an excellent way to tune, but it's not for everyone.

 

[N2TRKYS]

I can't say that I like any, but there's several I'll use, just depends on the situation. Right now in my 5 arrow quiver (for deer) I have (1) 125 sevr 2.0, (2) s-125 IW, (1) w-125 IW, and a spitfire. I have been a fan of spitfires, no issues with them in using them for a dozen years and I have seen piles of animals liked with them as it was 5-6 of us using them. A few years ago I did switch to 125 heads from 100. I don't feel like the spitfires are shooting quite as consistent as they use to. I don't know if that's a difference in the qc of the head, or just the slightly different design of the 125. The Sevr is ok, it flies really well but the penetration sucks. I have enough energy to use it, but I'm not going to use it for anything larger than a 225# whitetail. The fixed blades are proven and I shoot several others as well, those are just what I feel like shooting right now, but that's apt to change at any time.

I tried rage a few times, I had issues. Between broken and bent blades, and on older models blades deploying on the shot I gave up on them. I have since personally seen others have problems so I stay away from "runners" as I call them.

I'm interested to try the Grim Reaper razorcut ss. It has what looks like a COC style tip instead of a chisel tip. I'm curious if I can sharpen the tip to a razor edge. Need to order a pack or two to play with.

My hangup with several of the mech's, like the Sevr 1.5, is the cutting area isn't a big enough difference to me to mess with. I can shoot a fixed blade and not need to worry about it and have close to the same cutting area. However I'm not frequently shooting long distance in the wind so that plays into it as well and gives a large advantage to a mechanical.

Overall I haven't found a perfect broadhead, I use them animal and anticipated situation dependent.

Sounds like you have every situation covered in your quiver. Heck, I couldn’t make myself fletch each arrow a different color for my quiver. Lol

Seems like experiences are all over the board on mechanicals. I’ve never used one, but I hear great and not so great things about them from time to time.

 

[Reburn]

Heck, I couldn’t make myself fletch each arrow a different color for my quiver. Lol

Huh. Guys do this?
Fletch different heads different colors?
I can see the reasoning behind it but what happens when you want to switch heads, you refletch?

 

[Skerhunter]

Unfortunately, I have heard/witnessed people be given this advice when poking around the archery shop (so they think it's the right way). "If you buy these, you don't have to tune your bow". I would guess that most people that live around me don't actually broadhead tune, because they don't know how to do it and have no one to help them. They paper tune at the store, then shoot mechanicals or move their sight to the BH point of impact.

 

[Billy Goat]

Sounds like you have every situation covered in your quiver. Heck, I couldn’t make myself fletch each arrow a different color for my quiver. Lol

Seems like experiences are all over the board on mechanicals. I’ve never used one, but I hear great and not so great things about them from time to time.

All my shafts are same color, just the heads change. They might change a lot.


I think a lot of the poor experience with mech's is in reference to what this thread is about. A poorly tuned setup, or not tuned, resulting in undesirable hits. Either not where they should be or not ideal entry angles. Easy to blame a component.

But there are lots of poor designs out there as well, both fixed and mechanical.

 

[N2TRKYS]

All my shafts are same color, just the heads change. They might change a lot.


I think a lot of the poor experience with mech's is in reference to what this thread is about. A poorly tuned setup, or not tuned, resulting in undesirable hits. Either not where they should be or not ideal entry angles. Easy to blame a component.

But there are lots of poor designs out there as well, both fixed and mechanical.

I was talking about the head itself. Most of the folks I know have a tuned bow with good arrow flight. Years ago I saw this more than I do nowadays, though.

 

[N2TRKYS]

Huh. Guys do this?
Fletch different heads different colors?
I can see the reasoning behind it but what happens when you want to switch heads, you refletch?

Idk, do they? I’ve never heard of anybody doing that, but could see how it would keep things straight for them.

 

[Billy Goat]

I was talking about the head itself. Most of the folks I know have a tuned bow with good arrow flight. Years ago I saw this more than I do nowadays, though.

The bows have gotten easier to tune, but things push the boundaries now making it more critical than it use to be. Faster the arrow, the harder to tune.

 

[5MilesBack]

When my bow isn't tuned, my mechanical heads still follow my fixed heads so not sure how "not" tuning would fix anything using mechanicals. Anyone that thinks their mechanicals fly just like their FP's should shoot a bare shaft FP and bare shaft mechanical both from 40 yards and see what happens.