Rookie Question on Broadheads

[SheddingLightTravis]

Thanks for all the tips and advice everyone. I knew I’d get a variety of answers but it points me in a direction that I’m comfortable with.


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[Btaylor]

My setup is 66# @ 29". Killed my first elk last year, a cow. Arrow was a 495 grain axis including head which was the Deadmeat. Pretty significant quartering shot and didnt catch any big bone but the arrow was 30' the other side of where she was at the shot. She ran about 70 yards and tipped over. Not an elk expert obviously but have shot a few critters and I think you can shoot about any quality head you want to if your gear is well tuned. CoC heads are the most fail proof, nothing bow fired is going to consistently bust a shoulder joint on an elk, mechanicals make big holes but use more energy. Setup for what you have the most confidence, get your tune dialed and go kill stuff.

 

[Gumbo]

I am pretty unimpressed with Rage Hypo penetration, even with a good shot at 70 pounds with a 455 grain arrow. The last straw for me was an antelope at 43 yards that got about 5 inches of penetration right in the sweet spot. I switched to Ramcats after that and am very impressed. Honestly they fly better and more consistently than Rage Hypos for me (I played with both side-by-side when I first bought the Ramcats). They hit with my field points at 70 yards provided I maintain form and my bow is tuned, and the penetration is excellent. I've shot 2 antelope, 3 whitetails, and one elk with them in the past two years. The elk was slightly quartering at 72 yards, which I didn't notice in the heat of the moment (my buddy told me afterwards), but the broadhead plowed through the shoulder and penetrated to the fletching. I'm sure there are other equally performing heads on the market, but for now I am a believer.

FWIW I felt I got far better penetration with the Rage SC that has the blade on the tip, but my sample size was pretty small but did include a 43 yard elk that was a pass-through.

 

[aaro9991]

Iron will broadheads are sweeeet


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[keithstrausbaugh87]

Hear great things about iron will broadheads just cant bring myself to pony up the money just yet

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[Swede]

I have shot many elk over the years different fixed blade broadheads including cut on contact and the center spine ones. I can't say one is deadlier than another. It seems to me any sharp broadhead that flies well and hits consistently where you aim will be fine. I have found that the shorter broadheads like the Slick Tricks are easier to tune, because thy don't act as much like a wing on the front of your arrow as the longer cut on contact ones do. Still I think you would have to look hard to find a Quality broadhead that is not up to the job. Aluminum ferrule (center spine) broadheads will break inside the animal, but they only do that after they have done their deadly mission. They break when they have a side force on them. If you shoot through the body and the broadhead sticks in the off side shoulder, the leg movement will break the ferrule.

 

[sneaky]

I know everyone is going to say shoot a fixed blade - I have gutted myself with the same question many times for my elk hunts, once even using a Montec. For my hunt last year in Montana, I decided to shoot a Rage Hypo. I was nervous thinking the guides would be upset with my choice. It was a tremendous relief when they all agreed that the best broadhead for elk was a Rage Hypo and that is exactly what they all shoot. They all agreed, that if you shoot one "in the shoulder", it doesn't matter what you shoot it with. If you make a good shot with a rage, it would splice him open and leave lots of blood.

Just my $.02 for what it's worth. Oh yeah, I am going back this year and will be shooting a rage again.

My buddies went with an outfitter in MT that wouldn't even allow expandables in camp. Guys that showed up with them had to go buy fixed blades and tune them in camp. They didn't read their contracts when they signed and sent in their deposits.

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[jc91]

For weight of arrow, depends on draw length and spine...but anything over 450 grain total weight coming out of a bow at 310+ FPS is good to go in my experience. I wouldn’t go below this, but right now I shoot 475 grain at 67 lbs Andre have always had passthroughs. Also, shooting modified gravediggers 125gr out of a prime centergy hybrid

 

[sodakarcher]

If you have had good luck with deadmeats and have confidence in them, they will work just fine for your setup. They are a great head and are good penetrators for a mechanical. If you're shooting a fairly heavy arrow, you should be fine.

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[Brushhawg]

I started elk hunting with 100gn grim reapers and had great success for a time, and then that time passed. I had 2 seasons back to back with unrecovered bulls largely, I think, the the reaper bh. Looking back they always performed great on broadside shots but ran into trouble on both quartering shots. 1 of those hit the shoulder blade and 2 of the blades failed to open with poor penetration. The other I didnt recover the arrow but penetration was also poor from what I saw.

Anymore I wont use anything but a cut on contact. Switched to QAD exodus and haven't had any issues with quartering shots or hitting bone that i ran into with the expandable.

 

[adamantine]

Got into bowhunting elk 3 years ago. First year, didn't know how to tune a bow so used a rage mech (as per shops advice). Shot my first bull that year, arrow only penetrated about halfway (28.5/66lb/430gr). Recovered the elk despite a nonexistant blood trail (unless that single hole is low, it won't drain. If you have two, one is always lower so you'll always get drainage).

Since then went to 480-500gr arrow w/ a vipertrick 125gr. That setup has zipped through two elk so fast it knocked branches off a tree on the other side of one, great blood trails (it does seem really small when you get it!).

I tested rage practice broadheads and a bunch of other fixed heads (including exodus) in a 10+mph crosswind at 40 yds before I selected the vipertrick. YMMV but the slick trick was the most accurate of the fixed, pretty much right there with the rage. Very happy with my setup but do like the look of those iron wills (basically just a fancy viper trick with nicer steel... exact same dimensions and design). Hope that helps!

 

[JK9897]

I have also had good luck with deadmeats. Seem to hit with a lot of force. Have killed bulls with both deadmeats and Montecs. Prefer deadmeats!

 

[wesleyelee88]

I will be using Vortex this year. My brother has killed numerous hogs with them and they perform great.

 

[sillystvie]

I have had great success over the years with viper tricks, and don’t plan on changing. But as far as mechanicals go, I have been hearing good things about Sevr broadbeads.

 

[RLK3]

Had great results this year w/ Iron Will on a couple big hogs.

 

[gerardoxg]

Like some other guys we’ve taken elk with expandables - Grim Reaper 1 & 3/8 cut.

That said my nephew lost one last year. We’re not sure why, but he didn’t have great penetration on a frontal. We’re switching to fixed blades this year. I’m going to give the Iron Will s100s a try.


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[tumble]

Growing up whitetail hunting a lot, I never had any issues with shooting fixed or expandable broad heads except in the early season when I spent more time stalking I did not like using expendables as they were prone to getting caught on something and expanding before shooting.