broadheads

[powderhogg01]

Hey guys, well I ended my season with tag soup. I still have a plains elk rifle tag for co, hope I can get it done then.. with my bow, using the gun as a back up if I absolutely need. I am changing my current arrow/broadhead setup. I had a great hit on a muley, the NAP killzone 2 blade expandable hit very hard, yet for the second time using these broadheads, I had a very small blood trail despite the solid hit to the vitals. These 2" blades just seem to stop too quick, never allowing a pass through, leaving me to wonder if they do the damag I would have needed for an elk had I gotten that chance.
With that doubt, I am changing my set up. I am shooting 400 gold tip velocities. I would like to get new broadheads, Curious what everyone is using and there over all thoughts on them. I am not stuck on mechanical or fixed, just want honest advice and reviews from the people putting the game on the ground and the meat in the freeze.

[LckyTylr]

I have put a lot of deer in the freezer with Muzzy 3-blade fixed.

Had trouble tuning one year with my old bow, so switched to Shuttle-T's. I was never overly impressed with how sharp they were out of the package, but I killed 2 deer with them. I hear that they improved the factory sharpness this year.

I just switched over to the Montec Strikers. Frontal shot on my first ever bull, through the front of the rib cage. One of the blades slightly deformed (just barely) but I got good penetration and all 3 blades are still sharp. I like them and will be sticking with them.

[powderhogg01]

I suppose this post may belong in the equipment section, though I was looking specifically for whats being used well with elk. I think I will make the switch to fixed blades, I feel the shot I put on a muley this year should have bled hard, the arrow went in just above and behind the front leg, in the sweet spot. a 2 inch cut should have spilled blood all over but no, it was a matter of tracking its hoof marks in the soft ground. when i finally found it, after 3 hours of circling around, the arrow went through one lung, nicked the heart and stopped. I liked the rages I was using before, not only did they always pass through leaving me with my arrow to use again, but they left massive blood trails. I feel like a rage would have passed through this critter double lung, and i would not have had such a difficult time in recovery.

[Duck-Slayer]

This is only my opinion, but this is what I use for elk, about a 310 grain arrow with a 3 blade NAP thunderhead XP 100 gr., for a total of just over 410 grains roughly, I have shot 4 elk with these broadheads, 2 spike's, 1 cow, and a 6x5 bull, the first spike I spin shot him, didn't have no problems in
tracking that one , the second I shot the cow slightly quartering too me and went almost clean threw, hung on by the vanes, spewing blood like crazy, went 80 yards and died, the 3rd was another spike, shot it right behind the last rib, getting the guts, almost a clean pass threw, hanging on by the vanes, easy blood trail, I think I nicked the liver, the 4th was the 6x5 bull at 6.5 yards, frontal shot, buried the arrow up too the fletching, fletching broke off on some twigs and there was blood everywhere, bull made it down hill 80 yards and was dead within 2 min., the XP have replaceable blades and a cut on contact tip that is replaceable, I have shot 10 or so antelope, 10 or so deer and those 4 elk with these heads with almost no problems, if you don't get the head on tight enough once in about 8-9 animals I have had one blade come out but that's most likely my error for not quite getting them tight enough on my arrow, they fly like field points out of my bow, no broadhead tuning, I have tried the Muzzy Mx-4's but the flew 6" right and 7" low compared too my field points so I went back too the NAP's, there kinda hard too find these days, I always have too order them online or from Archery Central in Caldwell, Idaho,
Matt

[powderhogg01]

one thing I really did not like about the NAP killzones was this, in the event of a miss the body of the broadhead bends and you can not use it anymore. I missed a dandy muley on opening day this year, put the arrow right over his back, it stuck into the earth behind him, I figured, sharpen the blades its good to go right? wrong!!! the impact witht he ground, maybe a rock or some thing caused the broadhead to deform, the blades could not go back into the housing, it was a pain in the kneck and a waste of dollars. This is one reason I am looking more into the fixed point broadheads, I have heard stories of guys using the same head on several animals, all they need is a quick sharpening.. this is way more appealing on my wallet

[Kessler10]

I also just switched to the Montec Striker. 1.5 INC cut_125 GR. They are sharper than sharp. They are also changeable blades in you prefer. I made this switch because I will be going elk hunting next year and felt I needed something better than what I was using. After all the research I did I ended up going with the Montec Striker. They are a bit pricy but you get what you pay for. I have yet to see them in official action but I just spent several months trying to figure out which broad head to switch so thought this might save you some time searching. They fly as true to a field point as you can get.

[powderhogg01]

anyone out there making there own broadheads? curious to see what people have been making and using successfully

[Stick]

I have shot all my elk with a 100 gr. 3 blade muzzy. Never lost one and most never went out of sight. I know there are a lot more POPULAR broadheads out there but if it aint broke don't fix it!

[Indian Summer]

Um... we have a gear Forum. Just sayin'

[elkaholic]

There are a lot of great broad heads out there and each one shoots differently out of your bow. I have had good luck with Slick Tricks. Up till this year I shot mag blades and killed a 340 bull and a mature buck. My partner blew through a 6x5 rag horn at 30 yrds and it collapsed inside 80 yrds. The blood trail was impressive.

This year I had to downsize to the standard sized blades to get good flight due to the increased speed (Bowtech RPM 360). At 42 yrds it blew through the bull. So far I have been very happy with Slick Tricks, but there are some great broadheads on the market these days.