# Standard broadheads or mechanical broadheads for compound and crossbows?



## Outdoorfan (May 14, 2012)

What broadheads do you use for bow hunting and compound bow hunting? Do you use mechanical broadheads or standard broadheads?


----------



## HonestJoe (Feb 27, 2015)

Over the years I have truly lost count of all the Brands and style of broad heads I've used. I have always searched for the details which lead to quiet, accurate and lethal characteristics. In 2021 I first learned of the Sevr broad head. A mechanical marvel which I believe to be a next step in my hunting arsenal. I was fortunate enough to have real world experiences this past year during deer season. Both 2-1/2 yr old animals were 40+ yard distance and for one I was positioned on the ground level, the other from elevated tree stand. Both shots were passthrough and I was able to witness both harvested animals fall. I was able to blood trail both also. This unique mechanical tool has drawn my attention and has not disappointed me in the field. I plan the continued use of this broad head for the upcoming 2022 season.


----------



## shell waster (Nov 5, 2004)

Wasp jakhammer, 1.75 inch. for compound and spitfire 1.5 inch for crossbow. If fixed then slick triks...4 blade 1 1/8


----------



## John Hine (Mar 31, 2019)

Proper shot placement!


----------



## 98885 (Jan 18, 2015)

+1 for shot placement. Tried 4-5 different mechanicals. Had poor performance with 2 of the 4. Never had poor performance with fixed blade heads, only poor shot placement (which I'm sure many can relate too). Many people say with a 2-2.5" mechanical head, even if your off a little, they still kill. If that keeps people using what they prefer, great. It's just not the case 99% of the time. For the couple bad shots I've had on deer vs the couple times mechanicals have failed me, that's an even score. Fixed have never failed me. Lots of options out there so poor flight isn't the case today with fixed heads. I shoot the F15 heads in my crossbow and the Stinger 2 blade smooth edge with my compound.


----------



## 12970 (Apr 19, 2005)

Testing the One you try is important as to getting the BH to Fly the same as your FP when your Bow is "tuned" you should get the same POI with both BH's and FP's! Once you have that then Practicing is key to knowing your Equipment and and You making the Shot. Each Archer has their Idea what is the best BH. Some use Mechs because they think they fly getter and easier to tune their set up. I prefer Cut in Contact BH and my choice is because they Do Fly the same as my FP's are Magnus 2 Blade 125 Stingers been using them for 20 plus years. Get Complete Pass Thru's when I take the Shot but I wait till the Deer is Broadside or slightly quartering away for a quick clean kill shot! So far in my 40 years of Bowhunting I don't take iffy shots know others that have and then had to help trailing a poor shot deer. As for Blood Trails many things can have an effect on how much blood you might get as there is never 2 exact same shots and no 2 deer have the same body and fat. Too Much talk is poor blood trails. Never worry about it just sit and wait for the last grasp from the deer and then head in the direction the deer ran towards. So far the Farthest maybe 75 yards. Most maybe 50 yards! But again each Archer has their Idea what is best and so far no 2 have the same idea and pick what "They" think is the best / right one! And so you will get different ones posted it is just how asking works as like no 2 have the same bow, arrow, rest, sight, release, draw weigh arrow length... etc!
Newaygo1


----------



## MattyP (Jan 25, 2018)

Hands down mechanical broadheads. Agree with shot placement and skill is number 1. I have shot many deer and have a hard time with blood trails with normal muzzies. Here is a pic of a mechanical wound. These are entry wounds.


----------



## textox (Jan 30, 2020)

Ford ,Dodge, Chevy rant,,,,,


----------



## 454casull (Jan 6, 2005)

Long winded reply..........Remember the genesis of todays mechanical, "My broadheads don't hit with my FPs". in the beginning as it is now the bow, arrow and shooter (form) must all be tuned and properly fit and spec'd (arrow spine). Many archers just screw the mechanical on a poor flying arrow and say Look, it impacts together or at least it's better! This really puts the shooter even further behind in the penetration game. the arrow HAS to be flying true or both COC and mechanical BH will not penetrate to their best ability. Add the massive 2"+ cuts with short DL and low poundage.....see where this is going? I've been using GR Razor Cut 100 grain 1 3/8-3/4" heads for going on 12 years. The only failure I have had was a heavy shoulder hit, fotr you shot placement guys, but even then the adhesive failed, head peeled the shaft away and the arrow was at that time probably not flying the truest it could. We Bhunters are always in search of that magic bullet that kills der dead just by passing by. Forget the mkt hype, forget this EFOC trend etc....get your equipment in order and stick with a reasonable cut 1 1/8 to 1 3/4" either mech or fixed and go hunting. For those who cannot tune or do not have the equipment, buy and learn it is such a freeing experience or find a shop that will work with you until everything is right. this could go on all day.


----------



## textox (Jan 30, 2020)

454casull said:


> Long winded reply..........Remember the genesis of todays mechanical, "My broadheads don't hit with my FPs". in the beginning as it is now the bow, arrow and shooter (form) must all be tuned and properly fit and spec'd (arrow spine). Many archers just screw the mechanical on a poor flying arrow and say Look, it impacts together or at least it's better! This really puts the shooter even further behind in the penetration game. the arrow HAS to be flying true or both COC and mechanical BH will not penetrate to their best ability. Add the massive 2"+ cuts with short DL and low poundage.....see where this is going? I've been using GR Razor Cut 100 grain 1 3/8-3/4" heads for going on 12 years. The only failure I have had was a heavy shoulder hit, fotr you shot placement guys, but even then the adhesive failed and the arrow was at that time probably not flying the truest it could. We Bhunters are always in search of that magic bullet that kills der dead just by passing by. Forget the mkt hype, forget this EFOC trend etc....get your equipment in order and stick with a reasonable cut 1 1/8 to 1 3/4" either mech or fixed and go hunting. For those who cannot tune or do not have the equipment, buy and learn it is such a freeing experience or find a shop that will work with you until everything is right. this could go on all day.


Spot ON!!


----------



## 454casull (Jan 6, 2005)

FWIW....29.5" DL 60 & 70# bows, arrow weight 382ish. You do not need 400gr+ to kill thin skinned game in NA. Oh and the bow is quiet! and vibe free because it is operating as designed and in tune.


----------



## Hillsdales Most Wanted (Jul 17, 2015)

I keep 3 crossbows sighted in for hunting, all rated over 400 fps. Too much of a pain trying to find a fixed head that is accurate enough for me. Therefore it's mechanical, Rage. Has to be a rear deploying or I won't use it(large entry hole)


----------



## syonker (May 7, 2004)

The YouTube Ranch Fairy info on this topic is interesting.


----------



## stickbow shooter (Dec 19, 2010)

Hillsdales Most Wanted said:


> I keep 3 crossbows sighted in for hunting, all rated over 400 fps. Too much of a pain trying to find a fixed head that is accurate enough for me. Therefore it's mechanical, Rage. Has to be a rear deploying or I won't use it(large entry hole)


How do they hold up ? Do the blades break or ferrels bend. Just asking because I've heard both good and bad with mechanical heads. I saw at the ATA show , Its called the barbarian mxt by cobra. It's a mechanical head with .50 -.70 blades. It will weigh from 125 - 170gr. Up to 1.3\4 cut. Thing looks pissed. But they cost way too much, almost $70 for three. No way I'm paying that to any broadhead.


----------



## Hillsdales Most Wanted (Jul 17, 2015)

stickbow shooter said:


> How do they hold up ? Do the blades break or ferrels bend. Just asking because I've heard both good and bad with mechanical heads. I saw at the ATA show (I think it is crosman) has a mechanical head with .70 blades. It will weigh about 150 gr. 2 inch cut.


I've had a couple blades bend slightly, but no big deal. Every deer hit with a rage has opened on impact leaving that big entry hole.

I would shoot a fixed head(xbow) but I'm not happy with the accuracy at 20 yards. I would never shoot a mechanical with a compound bow


----------



## Jimbo 09 (Jan 28, 2013)

Spitfires for compound/crossbow. They have been around for 20 years for a reason. No collars. always open and hold up well.


----------



## anagranite (Oct 23, 2010)

I've been using Rage 3 blade with chisel tip for 7-8 years. I've had great luck with them and I can only blame me when had to wait for a deer to expire. I've had blades bend, break, and ferrules bend. Most of the time it's because of a pass through and I hit rocks or I hit the offside leg bone. 

I'm a firm believer in chisel tip and 3 blade.


----------



## syonker (May 7, 2004)

454casull said:


> Long winded reply..........Remember the genesis of todays mechanical, "My broadheads don't hit with my FPs". in the beginning as it is now the bow, arrow and shooter (form) must all be tuned and properly fit and spec'd (arrow spine).


I haven’t had a problem with my Excalibur xbow shot placements, but I was curious to see if paper tuning made any difference in bolt flight.

From a lead sled rest, I shot each of my 100 gr field tipped bolts 3 times through a piece of paper suspended 3’ in front of my xbow target block that was 7 yds away on a calm day.

As Excalibur bolts have flat knocks, I rotated the position of the bolt by changing which fletching was facing down in the xbow rail grove.

I used a mechanical cocking device for improved cocking consistency.

When I found which fletching produced the best paper results, I took a Sharpie & colored the fletching that was in rail grove so that I could load the bolt correctly in the field.

Here are 2 pics of the same paper tuned bolt-bottom pic is what I used to determine the best fletching in the rail grove for this bolt.

This summer I'm going to repeat the bolt paper turning process but use my broadhead instead of a field point.


----------



## 454casull (Jan 6, 2005)

Crossbow is a vertical bow set sideways in a rifle type stock. Typical tuning methods that apply to both the bow portion and the arrows are no different.. Excal the only 'Tuning' you can do to the bow portion is twisting/untwisting the string to make sure powerstroke and pondage are correct, whatever the factory recommends here. For compound then a twist here or a twist there can sync the cams for even more pinpoint accuracy, obviously you need a press for those designs. I used to work at Gander and we had the Tenpoint prebuilt aluminum arrows, typically it took me 10-12 arrows to find a half dozen that spun true. Never trust anything you didn't assemble and then double check your own work.


----------



## Joe Archer (Mar 29, 2000)

I have been bow hunting with compounds for about 40 years and have only used 3 different broadheads. Started with Wasp 4-blades in the early 80's. I switched to Thunderheads in the mid 80's and used them religiously up until the 2020 season. In 2020 I decided to try 1.5 inch diameter Spitfires because of the performance my lady was getting with them out of her cross bow, and because they are NAP like the Thunderheads. AWESOME from my compound as well. 
Other than that, go back and re-read 454's post!
<----<<<


----------

