Which Broadhead and Why?

This is going to be a long post, so if you aren't interested in a broadhead discussion, I suggest backing out now...

Welder Guy brought this up on the "hub blind" thread and I'd like to have a reasonable discussion about broadheads.  I know this topic has been completely beat to death, but I'd like to think as time has moved on, we continue to learn and I think it is worth discussing again.  

I've been bowhunting since 2006.  I did a ton of research then (I research everything I do to no end = blessing and curse).  I settled on Montec G5 broadheads.  I wanted a sturdy cut-on-contact fixed blade.  What drew me to the G5 is that they make a "preseason" version of their heads, which is just a dull version of the broadhead for practice.  I practice almost exclusively with the preseasons.

My results have been stellar.  Believe it or not, I've never clean missed a deer (or the 1 fox I shot).  I've only lost one deer so far in my bowhunting career, a doe in 2012.  She went down in sight.  I waited 30 minutes.  When I got to her, she popped up and took off.  It was user error, I hit her far back.  Hours of tracking later that night and the next morning came up empty.

Aside from that one deer, I have seen all but one of the deer I've shot go down.  And the one I didn't see, I heard crash and walked right to him without any tracking.

Because of my results, I've became a massive believer in cut-on-contact, fixed blade broadheads.  I cannot see a reason why NOT to use them.  The biggest reason is simple:  the deer do not react like you just hit them in the side with a baseball bat, causing them to run like crazy!  Three of the last four deer I've shot jumped, then WALKED 20 - 25 yards away from the shot and tipped over.  All three were double lung shots.  The one that ran was a heart shot, and running proved futile. 

Over the years, I've read HUNDREDS of threads about expandables.  Deployment issues, flight issues because one blade prematurely opened, deflection on bone issues, etc., etc.  Also, when you hit a deer with an expandable, they know it, and they are going to run as far and as fast as they can.  Expandables in my mind have 1 benefit:  they do leave impressive blood trails.  The issue I have is you will typically need the blood trail, because that deer is going to make it as far as it can.  I reject the concept that expandables fly the same as field tips as being an advantage.  Out of a properly tuned bow, a good fixed blade will also fly the same as field tips.  At least that's what I've been told!  I don't practice with field tips!

So what do you use and why?

big, long ferulled 2 blade heads with the least amount of blade angle.  Woodsman, cutthroat,  strickland helix, magnus stinger/buzz cut, grizzly stick, iron will, VPA etc etc.  there are many of them.  

I can back up what dude says, all the heads above or similar slip right through and the deer have no idea what just happened.  I've killed several deer in just the two years that simply walked away and fell over.

you don't need a rage for a gut shot deer,  a 1 inch sonic will kill the deer in 12 hours as well...big cuts are not what they are cracked up to be.  single lung shot deer can live regardless of head, whether it's a 4 inch rage or 1 inch sonic.

Rage Hyperdermic +P. They fly very well for me. I like to think the slightly smaller cut will help with penetration, but who knows.

It doesn't matter what broadhead you are using, if you make a good shot the deer is going to die.  You can shoot field points and if the shot is in the zone the deer is dead.  99.9% of the excuses about broadheads coc or expandables is from someone who can't admit they made a bad shot.  One issue with expandables I see is people using them with slow bows and light arrows.  If people have the proper setup they shouldn't have issues using anything.

My bow is set at 28" draw and 62lbs and is chronographed at 295fps and my KE is estimated to be in the 75 ftlbs area, so plenty of power for a deer.  I started out bowhunting in 2010 I believe.  I was using Muzzy 4-blades from the start and shot a few deer without issue.  I ended up switching to Swhacker 2" about 3 maybe 4 years ago.  Reason being is I'm colorblind and have a hard time following blood trails, so I wanted something that might make blood trailing a little easier when I'm hunting solo.  I've shot a few with the Swhackers without issue.  The last deer I shot on opening day this year was shot with the Shwackers and blew through both front legs, so I know penetration on my setup isn't an issue.  Out of all that time the only deer I shot and did not recover was one buck where I had a deflection on some brush and in hind sight I should have probably been more patient and made a much better shot.  I also did clean miss a deer at one point a few years ago. 

Edit:  One thing with the Swhackers that is a negative is the durability.  I've only had one that wasn't completely destroyed and unusable after a shot.  

Shwacker 2 inch for me. Shot two large bucks and had great results. Both fell within sight. To me the blades have to open because design. I am a broad head critic so if anyone has had a bad experience with these please post. Shoot straight fellas.

I've pretty much tried them all until Slick Tricks came out.  Been using Slick Tricks for probably 10+ Years or however long they've been on the market.  Strongest, sharpest, best flying fixed head I've used.  I've had no reason to try anything else.  Probably killed 15+ deer with them.  Never lost a deer and most go down within sight.

I'd also like to add once again.. a big misconception about rage is the human error on the side of things. When i first started out i thought the blades went into the slots of the shock collar.. i was young and didn't know any better.. after learning several years ago that the blades need to actually be opposite of these slits, i have not had any mishaps with the blades popping off unless they had some excess force jamming into my quiver too far or raking against trees while stalking.. but never while sitting in a stand or in flight.. (Again, crossing both fingers and toes). So maybe take that into consideration as well if you too were assembling them incorrectly...

For me I went like this in my broadhead quest.  I will say my bow is not the quickest and my arrows are not very long or heavy (I have short arms to begin with).

Thunderheads - Old standby worked fine, but didn't fly like field tips.  

Spitfires - Shot a lot of deer with these.  I always got the deer but could have sworn a few of those arrows turned a little when they hit the deer.  The exit hole would not line up with the angle I shot, like one blade caught first and caused it to turn.  Also had one of the heads freeze up on me, which is probably the result of snow melting into it.  It was below 0 that day and I shot a deer.  The head was not open and the deer had a tiny hole on each side of it, no blade deployment.  Not many passthroughs.

Rage - Worked fine, had some of those massive trails that people get excited about.  Rarely had a passthrough, broke lots of arrows.  Sometimes the blades would pop out and that sort of freaked me out.  But I also tried shooting a few like that and they still seemed to be ok.

Bloodrunners - Were fine but I only used them on a couple deer.  I liked that even if they failed they would be like a fixed head.  Never gave them a ton of time though.

NAP some small/fixed head - don't remember the name but the diameter was small and even though I drilled 2 deer with them I hardly had any blood trail.  Gave up on those after.

Montec G5 - I currently use these.  Have passed through every deer I shot and they just hop a little and tip over.  Agreeing with the dude on this, they act like they were not even shot.  Kind of freaks me out because I think I missed.  Last year a buck I shot trotted towards me, was standing at 10 yards.  The way he acted I really thought I missed, then he stumbled backwards, coughed and fell over.  Its different from the others, for my particular setup anyways.

I have to agree with previous posts about magnus broadheads. Watched 2 or 3 bucks and some does after the shot look around for the bow noise and then tip over. They seem to shoot same as field points and usually a clean pass through. Gotten plenty of deer with probably the same 6 broad heads ( easy to sharpen and very strong) and the same compound I’ve been using since 2000. Tried expandables when rage first came out. First experience was good. Second was bad and still can’t figure out why I didn’t get penetration and lost second biggest buck ever seen. Back to magnus and never an issue. Even shoulder hits with my slower old bow

Interesting theory on missing ribs and the walk vs run.  It makes sense to me.  Cut on contact and no bone hit, they don’t even know what happened.  If it’s true, I’ve been really lucky and have missed a lot of ribs.  I’m going to start looking now when we butcher.

In my opinion, with 40 yrs of bow hunting, deer that walk away from a boiler room hit never had a bone hit.  I've skinned out a lot of deer, after skinning out a (walk away deer) the arrow never touched a rib on either side (between).  You hit a rib on either side and that deer is going to run.  If all your deer walk away, your extremely lucky by not hitting bone.  It may be that with expandables, that extra cutting diameter prohibits a shot between the ribs without touching bone.  Just something to think about.

I've shot thunderheads forever but went to rage the last 10 years or so.  Moreso because I got 4 packs of them as christmas gifts over the years.

Another 40+ year bow hunter here. Fixed all the way for this guy. 100 gr Slick Tricks do a great job for me on both deer and elk. Shot one moose with the same set up as well.

Many western outfitters do not allow expandables in their camps. With good reason.

Exit holes on lung shots create a different kind of death typically.  The heart lung area in front of diaphragm is a vacuum.  If u put a hole on both sides, the vaccum collapses and lungs collapse and they can't run.  Not all deer do this but all the quick kills where deer slows to walk fast and tips over are most likely this reason.  If u can with a mech go for it,  but most would be better with a good fixed head.  Hitting both lungs is a quick kill but both lungs with exit is the fastest kill for this reason.  I get pass thrus with hypos but would switch back to a fixed if I dropped poundage and arrow weight.  

Shwacker all the way! Why cause they work havent had any problems tracking balance well i hunt 10acres an only 1 made it across the line.4 deer same arrow same broad head .then figured id better put on new one.

How about those broadheads in the ads all over lake link with the fish hook tracking device, how do you think those things fly? Anyone intrigued by them? 

not as many years bow hunting as some of you on here but still many years and many bow kills under my belt and I will probably never switch to a different head than a magnus stinger or buzzcut 100gr. always see them drop in sight.