Sevr BH and Elk

[doc holiday13]

Learning how to tune your bow and animal anatomy also helps! Aiming off the shoulder is also where people seem to aim if they are frightened to not hit the scapula which can result in a gut shot.

I would agree that overthinking is most peoples cause of target panic and bad shots. I'm either ignorant or hyper focused but I honestly can't ever recall thinking "Am I going to hit a bone on this shot" . Bury your pin and follow thru

 

[Eastonsgrandpa]

I didnt want to horn in on the other thread about Mechanicals but reading through it I got a bit courious.
I bought 6 Sevr 2.0 last year and used them here at home whitetail hunting. Killed one deer with them and was very happy with them.

Reading through the other thread most are saying they use the 1.5 Sevr for Elk.
For those that do use the 1.5" is it just a KE thing that you use the 1.5 over the 2.0?

Just generally courious as I am still not positive if I am going to use the Sevr heads I have for my hunt this year or if I am going to go back to my Slick Trick Viper Tricks.

Sevr seems to be a love it or hate it head. Heard so many bad stories of failures that I’m leery. But I also have a hunting buddy that killed a nice Muley buck with a 1.5 and a great bull with the 2.0. Both one shot kills and zero problems. Both were last fall. If I was using them I’d go 1.75. A little more penetration than the 2.0 and a little more cut than the 1.5.

 

[Billy Goat]

I haven't had great experiences with the 2.0 or the 2.1.

I'm not a mechanical hater by any means, but the tabs covering the blades, and the fact they can lock past what should be open seems like a poor design.


I haven't lost animals with them, but tge arrow definitely doesn't exit like it does with 3 blade mechanicals in my experience.


I'd think the 1.5 probably works well, but no bigger area it's cutting personally I'll use a fixed instead.

 

[mod-it]

I shot a bull this year with a Sevr 1.5. First year trying them and my only sample of using one.
I have a shorter draw length and shoot 65 lbs. The arrow was 425 grains and doing around 270 fps.

Shot was slightly quartering too at 27 yards. Arrow went clear through, in between ribs and notched a rib on the way out. I had the full cut on the entry side, exit was about half that size due to pivoting from hitting the rib.
The bull ran about 60 yards. I did call to try to stop him and when I called, I heard his crashing through the brush stop. So I doubt he collapsed after running 60 yards, I think he stopped when he heard the cow calls and then went down a bit after he had stopped. He went down in a little open spot, so I did not hear him go down.

The blood trail was not real great until about 10 yards from where he was found, but not surprising to me. It was a center lung shot halfway up and he sprinted full tilt from the shot location to where he stopped. I find it pretty common to have animals not show good blood on the ground for the first 40-75 yards for the center lung shot I prefer.
His body cavity was very full of blood and lung tissue when I cleaned him out. Also, I've always used a fixed BH before this and have never seen the ribcage have the amount of blood-shot on it like this one with the Sevr had. Both sides had a significant amount of blood shot around the holes, I'd say double the size of a paper plate.

The ferrule and tip were still in good shape and still spin true. One blade was bent and had a nick in it on the cutting edge and I replaced both of them to be on the safe side.
Overall, I was pleased with the result.

With that being said,
I find them to not be very sharp at all out of the package. Really unimpressed with them in that regard. They wouldn't even begin to cut hair off my arm. I don't necessarily want BH's to have so fine of an edge that they're "hair poppin" sharp, but they should shave hair at least. I sharpened mine with a KME BH jig.

Also if you end up using them. Shooting them in practice mode will really crud them up with target media. It is very important to take them apart afterwards and clean out the target crud so they will open easily. Do not just remove the screw and throw the rubber band back on and stick it in your quiver (this is in the instructions, but how many fully read those?). The blades on mine opened very stiffly after I shot them in target mode. I took them apart and blasted with air and they then returned to opening easily/smoothly once put back together.

 

[Read1t48]

I had a 1.5 bounce off a hay bale in practice mode. 72lb draw weight at 30 yards. That wasn’t great for my confidence.

 

[CB4]

The pivoting blades is why I wont use them on elk anymore. I had the blade hit a rib and bend and then get stuck with one blade stright out and one swept all the way back. It made for terrible penetration. The bull died but seeing it fail I knew there has to be better.

For deer sized animals they are great but I believe elk is their cut off point.

 

[ATL]

Bow hunting since 1992. Since the mid 2000’s my primary BH has been the ST Standard 4 blade (1”). Great success with it on Elk and Deer. I have a short draw, so was looking for an advantage to get more penetration. Majority of the time I got pass throughs, even on Elk.

This past season I used a mechanical for the first time. I used the Sevr 1.5, on only one animal so far, but it was the most blood I have ever experience. The trail started immediately and went to where he fell approximately 60-65 yards away. Complete pass through, low in chest. The attached photo displays exactly how I found the deer shot with the Sever 1.5.

As always, scary sharp blades and shot placement is what matters.

 

[307ArrowSlinger]

Love the SEVR! I've used the 1.5 in the past due to penetration reasons over the 2 but switched to the 1.75 this season and will stick with the 1.75. Never have had a bull run past 85 yards yet! They are the real deal

 

[Zac]

I think as far as rear deploying 2 blades are concerned they are as good as anything else. The issue with gator style heads is always going to be that the blades don’t stay open the entire time. Sevr tries to negate that with the locking blades. This system works most the time, but not always.

 

[Bigborealaska]

Watching Western Hunter and Nate Simmons in many episodes gets it done with a SEVR. Not sure the size he's using as it just shows a quick pic of the broadhead. He doesn't use them in all his episodes but some he does and it always shows a bull down.

 

[Bump79]

I had a 1.5 bounce off a hay bale in practice mode. 72lb draw weight at 30 yards. That wasn’t great for my confidence.

I had the same initial impression but then realized that wasn't really a good example - that just means they'll definitely open as it takes that much force on those wings. If they aren't in practice mode they'd just deploy fast.

I think as far as rear deploying 2 blades are concerned they are as good as anything else. The issue with gator style heads is always going to be that the blades don’t stay open the entire time. Sevr tries to negate that with the locking blades. This system works most the time, but not always.

Completely agree. The other gator style heads make zero sense to me. They seem like they would slap open then collapse to a smaller size, which I guess helps penetration but doesn't make sense to me. This is what they do in tests too.

I think an improvement on the Sevr would be to increase blade thickness from .032" to .040". Get them sharper from factory. Then make the pivoting limited so it doesn't completely close. I also don't think they need to take as much force to open on the o-ring. That thing really stretches and is overkill in my book.

 

[2Stamp]

No help on elk, I've only used them on black bear (2.0), Mtn lion (1.75), and Pronghorn (1.5). None of those are hard to kill. All were pass through's with blades locked open except the Lion. He was against the truck so the tree prevented it from passing through, tip poked through the off side then arrow broke and remained in when he jump out of the tree. Now for what it's worth, my draw length is 27.5" so I'm very hesitant to use a mechanical on elk, even though my arrows generally weigh around 460-480.

 

[CMF]

All arrows basically poked the tip through on the offside.
Arrow didn't pass thru, cow made it 40-50 yards.

I think an improvement on the Sevr would be to increase blade thickness from .032" to .040". Get them sharper from factory. Then make the pivoting limited so it doesn't completely close. I also don't think they need to take as much force to open on the o-ring. That thing really stretches and is overkill in my book.

And make the tip more like a cut on contact 2 blade

 

[Zac]

And make the tip more like a cut on contact 2 blade

 

[Timjohnson11]

I switched to SEVR 1.5s two years ago and I can’t imagine ever changing away. I’m 2 for 2 with them the last two years. Both were full pass throughs, and remarkably, both bulls fell within eye sight..

 

[Bump79]

And make the tip more like a cut on contact 2 blade

Have you played around with a Sevr? The tip is super pointy and I've done a bit of amateur push tests. The tip takes very little force to penetrate. If there's a gain by adding a blade it's going to be very minimal in my mind.

I'd buy into lengthening the tip before the blades though.

 

[ScreamingPotato]

Have you played around with a Sevr? The tip is super pointy and I've done a bit of amateur push tests. The tip takes very little force to penetrate. If there's a gain by adding a blade it's going to be very minimal in my mind.

I'd buy into lengthening the tip before the blades though.

If you weaken the tip the heads will end up being disposable. I like a strong tough tip and replaceable blades.

 

[Bump79]

If you weaken the tip the heads will end up being disposable. I like a strong tough tip and replaceable blades.

I didn't mean to infer that the tip should be weakened

 

[ScreamingPotato]

I didn't mean to infer that the tip should be weakened

Sorry I was flyby posting, was quoting you in agreement.

 

[ddowning]

. So in summary - A pass through with a mechanical (or fixed) is never a guarantee regardless of cut size. I'd rather cause the damage now. My vote is to go 1.75/2.0 if you've got the ability and sharpen it to an extreme level with a Blade Sled or sisimilar.

This is true. I have not shot sevr heads, but have used 3 blade large mechs for whitetails for a long time. I'm nearing 100 kills with mostly the same 1.75" 3 blade. The first deer I ever killed with a bow over 20 years ago was at 52 yards with those heads. I was shooting the same bow for IBO and hunting. Since I was in the youth class I couldn't shoot over 60#. At 60# with a 300 grain arrow going around 300 fps, (chrono said 304 but chronos 20 years ago) I got a complete pass through at 52 yards. The broadhead cut the diaphragm, the liver, and the back of the lungs. The deer piled up in less than 30 yards.

I think the main reason I got that kind of penetration was because I sharpened the blades. If you aren't getting your blades scary sharp then you are leaving a lot of penetration on the table. I have seen bad penetration with high energy setups and good penetration with low energy set ups with the exact same head. The difference was dull blades vs sharp.