Contributors to this thread:
Warhammer's Link
Good Evening to ya'll,
So I've decided to pick up the sport of archery after 22 years on this Earth. Boy I sure did not know what I was missing. After two months I'm pretty hooked. I'm currently shooting a Diamond Infinite Edge Pro which i purchased after looking at reviews all of which I've seen were positive. I would like to try my hand at bowhunting whitetail come September here in NC. My question is more regarding broadheads (which after reading other posts I'm bound to get 1000x opinions) I've purchased the Rage 3 Blade Kore broad-heads on a suggestion from a friend. Unfortunately these have received a lot of negative reviews online, actually I haven't seen a single positive view yet. Do you recommend I continue and try to hunt with these this year or should I choose something different?
Thanks in advance.
First of all, welcome to the sport. You will have a blast.
Second.. I've never shot Rages, so I can't give you an informed opinion, but i' m sure you will get plenty of other ones shortly!
For your first post, you inadvertantly touched the third rail;>).....enjoy!
You're going to have a great time. Enjoy practicing and developing muscle memory. I'd suggest finding someone at a local bow shop or archery club that you can take a few lessons from in order to develop proper form.
They can also help you tune your bow and make sure that you're shooting arrows with proper spine.
As far as broadheads go...I'm a fan of fixed blade broadheads. I would not be interested in shooting those, but you'll get all kinds of responses to choose from. You opened with a hot button question.
All you need to do now is ask about kinetic energy vs. momentum and you'll have everybody stirred up.
Have fun!
Welcome to Bowsite!!! Having said that you should find another friend:) If you want to shoot a mechanical you could choose another model made by Rage. The Kore don't have great reviews. Since you are a rookie at bowhunting I would reccomend a fixed head to start off with. Slick Trick, Muzzy or any other quality head. You will find a plethora of reading material to point you in the right direction. Good luck hunting this year.
Welcome to the best sport on earth. When you still get the same rush on deer number 30 as you did deer number 1, you've stumbled upon something badass! With that said you'll be getting 5 million different opinions but I'll tell you keep it simple. Montec fixed blades are devastating , accurate, and reliable but you can't beat the blood trail of a 2 blade rage. I shoot the hypodermics out of my Carbon spyder but shoot montecs out of my elite. Stick with what tunes well with your bow . If you hit your mark anything will get the job done!!! Good luck puttin one in the dirt this year!
Welcome to Bowsite lots of great information here. I would agree with orionsbrother and seek out a good archery shop that might let you try some different heads and maybe even get some good coaching there. Good luck!
orionsbrother
We have a archery club near me where its about $7 a day to shoot and I've gotten plenty good advice on proper form from some of the old timers there. They've taken me from shooting a group like a shotgun to shooting a nice tight group. I defiantly needed the help. lol.
With the fixed heads they wont fly close to what your pins are now am I correct?
My shuttle T locks muzzy 4 blades and Montecs all shoot very close to my field points all the way out to 60 yards . The important part is that the bow is tuned well and that the broadheads are aligned properly . That's where the experienced buddy/ pro shop will be invaluable in your quest for broadhead accuracy.
What Stickemdeep said.^^^^^^^^^^
Fixed blade broadheads hi-light any problems with your setup. If your arrows have a slight wobble with field tips than they will have more pronounced problems with fixed blades. Not only is a poorly flying arrow not as accurate, it does not penetrate as well since it hits the target "off-center" and does not use its energy efficiently. All that said, I only shoot fixed blades. Many deer and bigger game have fallen to mechanicals but I love the solid dependability of a quality fixed blade, such as Slick Trick or Magnus or VPA. If you do however decided to use expandables, I would recommend a different model than the Core. Like you said, nobody has much good to say about them. I'm also just 22 by the way, so you're not the only young guy out there. Archery and bowhunting are an absolute blast, and I think this is the best place online to learn more about both. Welcome!
Mechanical broadheads are fine for deer, however I wouldn't recommend a 2 inch cut, the blade angle on these heads kill penetration! Look at the new Rage SS, its a 1.5" cut with a proper blade angle, great looking head and the only rage I would consider regardless of draw weight! I shoot the discontinued snyper 2 blade with is pretty much the same head but with a rubber band to hold the blades shut. I've had 40 or so kills with these heads and I love them, everything dies within sight, and I always get passthroughs unless i hit the far side leg bone. If your planning on hunting something larger than deer or black bear go with a fixed head!
Don't do it! It's addictive.
I'm almost wary (weary? how do you spell that) of using a fixed head as for what I'm reading you have to align the the blades with your veins ect.. will shops help me with this or will I be youtubing how to do it later lol. The last thing I want is to leave a wounded animal in the field because of an error on my end.
You don't have to align broadhead blades with your fletching. Some guys like to do it but it's not necessary. The important thing is that the ends of your arrows are square so the broadhead does not wobble when you spin the arrow like a top.
Your goal is to have your bow tuned perfectly or as good as possible. If your bow is tuned and your arrows are square (no broadhead wobble) it is entirely possible to have fieldpoints and fixed blade broadheads grouping together out to 60 yards and beyond.
I personally use Slick Trick and Wasp fixed blade broadheads. Some guys prefer mechanicals and I'm not going to argue the pros and cons here but you're better off tuning your bow than using a mechanical broadhead as a band-aide or quick fix for an out of tune bow.
Also your broad heads & field points don't necessarily have to impact in the same spots. As long as you sight your bow in for your broad heads when you are hunting you will be fine.
Don't bite off more than you can chew starting off. You can get paralysis by anylsis if you try to learn everything at once. It can seem overwhelming with all of the technical tweaks, etc. when you are first starting out. That stuff will come easier to you as you get more comfortable with shooting your bow.
I completely disagree t-roy. If my bh doesn't follow my fp something is wrong or I need a diff bh.
Good to see more and more guys signing up for Bowsite.
Welcome
Your fixed blade heads should always shoot to the same point of impact as your practice tips do. Don't let ANYONE tell you different. In fact don't listen to any advise from those guys that tell you that.
If your arrow is flying straight and true out of your bow, and if the broad heads are properly aligned on your arrow(Do NOT try to align blades with vanes), then there is absolutely no reason for fixed heads and practice heads to hit the same spot.
If they don't hit the same spot, your bow needs tuning. With your bow, you have a standard two-cam system which is the easiest to tune in my opinion, but you'll need access to a bow press to time the cables and possibly twist the yokes.
x-man I'm actually reading this just now coming back from my local shop. Apparently my bow was way out of time, so they helped me and got everything re adjusted for free.
If your initial question is roughly - can you be successful hunting with Rage broadhead, then YES. Very popular head and many hunters use them. Many others hate them.
I shoot Rage as my expandable choice, but also have a favorite fixed blade I like. And truth be told, when its peak rut and I want to take every possible precaution on a once a lifetime buck, I do load up with fixed blades (Wac'em Tritons).
If you want to use your Rage heads to gain some initial hunting experience, then by all means have at it! You may dispel the rumors or find confirmation. Its all part of the learning curve.
If you wanted to know what advice a Rage owner would give: (1) after you get in your stand and before you nock an arrow, check to make sure each blade is still retained (2) don't take shots at extreme angles (3) take the lung shot and don't crowd the shoulder
When x-man wrote:
"...then there is absolutely no reason for fixed heads and practice heads to hit the same spot."
I believe he meant:
"...then there is absolutely no reason for fixed heads and practice heads to NOT hit the same spot."
attach a life line from the top of your ladder to the base of your tree with a prussic knot attached for accending and decending incase you slip off a rung or step, use dark rope and leave it there till you move your stand.
draw a map of all your spots and leave a copy with someone back home in case you go missing.
lock your stands with a good lock chain not one of those cheap cable locks that get cut easily with a pair of dikes or linemans,,, and if your using a camera put it across the run and towards the base of your tree so you can get pictures of the deer and pictures of the people tryiong to steal your stands, don't pan it right at your stand otherwise you'll have alot of pictures of you in your stand,,,,, also a few friends have cameras watching their trucks too!
finally its a fun and relaxing sport/hobby and I only mentioned the negative because other folks here already mentioned the positives..
When x-man wrote: "...then there is absolutely no reason for fixed heads and practice heads to hit the same spot."
I believe he meant:
"...then there is absolutely no reason for fixed heads and practice heads to NOT hit the same spot." "
Yup. who needs spell check when you've got cheesehead check ;)
you've already got the best advice you needed, so all I got is: welcome and best of luck to you!
"If you wanted to know what advice a Rage owner would give: (1) after you get in your stand and before you nock an arrow, check to make sure each blade is still retained (2) don't take shots at extreme angles (3) take the lung shot and don't crowd the shoulder"
I can't figure out why rage didn't go with a rubber band at the front for blade retention just like the original snyper 2 blades, you can see from a mile away that the BH is closed!
Rage please start using a rubber band! At least on your best broadhead the rage SS as I'm may run out of snypers one day!
http://www.bowhunting.net/NewProducts/001-Barrie-Snyper.html
I used rage one year and was walking back to my truck when i came upon a flock of turkeys. I knocked an arrow and crept my way to them. After about the fourth time the head touched a branch and kept unfolding I said screw these stupid things and went back to a fixed blade.
