What broadhead is everyone shooting

Daniel Bybee

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Just curious to see what broadhead everyone is shooting out of your trad bows, I have been bouncing back and forth between the Magnus 125 gr snuffer ss and the 125 grain Magnus Buzzcut 4 blade. May go ahead and try the Magnus four blade stinger or the killer bee in 125 gr this year. Daniel
 

G Posik

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Mar 1, 2012
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Houston,Texas
210 gr Silver Flames. They are scary sharp out of the package and they have an awesome warranty. If you do get a ding in them they sharpen right up with ease.

Glenn
 

ElkNut1

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View attachment 1627Daniel, both are very good heads, penetration wise both are very similar! It's a tough choice there! Shoot which one gives you the most confidence! I've taken a few animals with the SnufferSS 125grn & a 75grn brass insert in beman classics 500 at 500grn arrows & 55# longbow. A couple were pass throughs, it's a great head but needs sharpening out of the package as do all COC heads. This one was Snuffered!

ElkNut1
 
B

bearguide

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nice elk with trad / what bow
 
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ElkNut1

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bearguide, the longbow is called a BearsPaw, it's by a bowyer out of MT. It's a 60# @ 28" - I pull 27" -- I also have a Sapphire Hawk longbow made by another MT Bowyer that is 59# @27" it's my favorite between the two, it's a very smooth shooter!

For the thread starter, I'd consider staying with multiple bladed heads for elk, more blood for tracking!

ElkNut1
 
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145 Grain STOS flatblade. I can't sharpen and do not want to learn. I use for my BH's as well as my knives a small device (5$) that has a handle and 2 tiny tungsten V shaped pieces. Stroke a couple times and shaving sharp
 

Broken Arrow

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Elknut I do agree that multi blades do make nice holes. I disagree that they make better blood trails. I love my Bear heads w/bleeders always have good blood. The Simmons also leave amazing blood the hide is actually open away from the wound channel and the blood just pours out. My opinion is that shot placement is much more important than which head.

Now you guys that have shot a lot of elk.
Would u pass on a steep down hill shot?
I know on deer from a tree stand that on a high entry shot that doesn't exit as long as the deer is headed down hill you have some blood but level or uphill it gets tough to track.
 

ElkNut1

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Broken Arrow, I would take any shot with a Multiple-blade I would with a two blade head, I'm not partial! (grin) A two blade with bleeders is a multiple blade head.

The reason for multiple bladed heads is mainly for better blood tracking, this is of special concern when hunting thick stuff as shown in the photo above. Notice you do not see dirt, dirt is a luxury for picking up tracks when blood is sparse as with most two bladed heads. When hunting thick ground cover country you are at the mercy of blood to track with, from our experience 3 & 4 bladed heads produce the best results for this, it's also the better head of use when hits are marginal, bigger wound channel the better. I'm referring to elk here not deer, as deer are not the same structure as elk, a deer hide is very thin & blood spills much easier.

I put together a study regarding this subject on the various heads used over the years, the study shows 2 blade versus multiple headed blades on many elk taken & their results. I can dig it up if interested & post it here? I will mention that 2 blades kill, no problem there, it's the lack of blood in general that raises issues. Conclusions and ones decisions are best made with lots of info & kills in comparison to 2-3 kills & then coming to a conclusion. Not saying this to anyone in particular but the more data the more ones can see a trend & better decisions can be made for those with less experience. Thanks!

ElkNut1
 

Broken Arrow

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Elknut that's why I always end up back shooting my Razorheads. I think you get the best of both worlds with those little bleeder blades 4 cutting surfaces and if you contact bone they just snap or bend out of the way. I've shot 30+ deer ( I know we are talking elk but I'm a rookie elk hunter) with 2 blade- Grizzlies, Simmons interceptors, Zwickey eskimos, and Deltas. 4 blade- Muzzys, Razorheads, and Magnus. I know I lack elk experience but have seen my share of blood trails good and down right terrible. If you are willing to dig it up I would absolutely love to see your findings, as I'm sure a lot of others would as well. I have an amazing amount of respect for you and your knowledge and always enjoy reading everything you write.
 

ElkNut1

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Broken Arrow, there's no doubt we can all learn & take something away from nearly all hunters if we keep an open mind & not feel we know it all. No one knows it all. (grin) I'm always keeping my eyes & ears open as there's lots to be still learned! Here's the info I put together a while back! >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

2-Blade , 3-Blade or 2-Blades with bleeders! Which are best? A lot depends on what you're hunting & what you expect from your head of use. It seems to be a subject often discussed & will continue to be so after we're all long gone! (grin) I have my preference as well, the only difference may be that I've been able to pull some stats together over the years of using both types of heads. My conclusions as to what's best for us are supported by my stats & findings under real elk hunting conditions with a few deer thrown in here & there! (grin) I gathered these from the last 5 years from our elk hunts, this is important to me because elk are thick hided, more so than deer. What works well on elk will no doubt carry over into like animals. When hunting elk I want blood on the ground, even on less desirable hits. This is very important if you hunt country with thick under-growth where trailing is tough without it.

These stats are from 24 elk killed, 2 cows & 22 bulls, here's my documented stats. Out of these 24 Elk two were hit in the scapula/shoulder plate, one with a 2-blade Swickey 125grn & the other from a 3-bladed muzzy 125grn. Both elk were recovered. Seven other Elk were hit in less desirable areas bringing that total to 9. The remaining 15 were hit in the heart & lung area. This shows us that 62% of the elk taken or the 15 would have expired quickly no matter the head used. The less desirable hits were 9, that's 38% out of the so called "kill zone" when this happens you need your head to do all the damage it can & still have a blood trail to follow. Fortunately for us this was the case with razor sharp heads, this can not be emphasized too much, razor sharp heads are an absolute must!.

Here's how I view the results, 2 scapula hits out of 24 elk. That's 6 1/2% that were hit where a 2 blade could have made the difference, the one 3-bladed muzzy scapula hit was from a compound bow, it still had the energy to penetrate & do it's job. This leaves us with 93 1/2% of shots somewhere in an elks body away from major bone as scapula/shoulder hits that so many are concerned about. Ribs on an elk or like animals are no match from a reasonable setup where 40+ pounds is used along with 400gn to 500grn arrows depending on your draw wt. & equipment. Distance is always a factor especially in lighter draw weights & setups. Point is, we have now turned to using nothing but 3-bladed heads or 2 blades with bleeders, why, larger wound channel & way more blood for trailing. We've taken 6 elk with 2-blades all results are the same, that is, little to no blood spilled. Funny thing is where the elk dies there's generally lots of blood from 2 blades but none in-between for tracking. This would be bad for the 38% where elk were hit outside major organs. I will play the odds & use 3- bladed heads, 93 1/2% chance I will miss the scapula & yet have plenty of blood on the ground for tracking purposes when needed!

Yes, 2-blades kill, but blood trails are at a minimum. 3 blades kill & blood loss is maximized! This is not a post, use what I use, this is a post we stick what has proven itself time & time again to work & offer us great blood trails in very dense underbrush much of the time. It's not uncommon to be in chest high grasses & willow brush, if you've tracked game in such spots you'd better be following blood because tracks are no-where to be found! Use common sense & consider the areas you hunt, use what works best for you!

ElkNut1
 

Broken Arrow

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Very well done sir. That is why I will go with my bears as long as I can find them. With the bleeders of course:)


In your opinion, from your stats of the 9 not hit well what do u think was the most come reason for the poor shot placement?
 

ElkNut1

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View attachment 1667View attachment 1668There is no one thing that generally happens when a bad shot occurs! A bad shot can stem from excitement, distance, elk moves at shot, you move bow arm too quickly at arrows release to see where it hits. It's things as this that can happen to anyone!

For example, the two scapula hits were by my Son & I. His shot was 12yds at a spike elk, the spike ducked instantly at the shot, too it's possible my son shot a bit higher than needed as well but the two together sums up a high shot. Things happen fast! He was shooting a swickey 4-blade, the head & about 2" penetrated the bottom half of the scapula just under the ridge or fin thus taking out the top of the lungs, the spike went 150yds with no blood trail at all, it took us an hour to find him after a 45min wait.

On the other hit I was the shooter, the shot was 27yds, the bull was called to & kept vocal for a stalk, I slipped in silently & had him perfectly broadside with his nose up the rear end of a cow as they were both walking from my left towards my right on a very steep uphill shot in very heavy timber, as they neared a window sized opening I gave them a nervous grunt to stop him & drew my bow at exactly the same time, the bull froze & looked down my way & I released the arrow, I can still see him in my minds eye as he immediately sank towards the grown instinctively. The shot that was once on target was now going to hit high! It did, right in the scapula, the muzzy 125grn head busted through & took out the top of both lungs, the 6-point went 65yds & moaned his last breaths.

In both instances we were very fortunate to hit where we did in light of the animals movement, things like that cannot be scripted, you do the best you can & always seek out the best humane kill possible. Thanks!

Here's the spike & 6 point!

ElkNut1
 
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