Should've posted this back on the first, but oh, well...
But seriously, here's how you do it....
Get a compass and draw a circle the same size that you believe represents a solid hit and manageable recovery on the animal of your choosing. Let's say it's a deer at 8" or maybe an Elk at 10".
Then extend the compass by 1/2 the difference in the cutting diameter of the fixed head and the mechanical you want to compare it to. So if you were starting with a 10" circle, and wanted to put a 2" up against 1 1/4", you'd expand the compass by 3/8".
Now take 100 shots and see how many more hits you get on the larger target. Scoring is 1 or 0, and line-cutters count. That would be your best-case scenario for what percentage of the time you would be better off with the wider head.
Note that this assumes that if you're cutting through the right stuff, any amount of blade will do (as long as you penetrate wall-to-wall), and if you're hitting the wrong stuff, then hitting MORE of it won't do you any good.
If you are spraying your shots across the target almost at random, the 10 3/4" diameter target should give you 15.5% more hits (so call it 16), but let's assume that you can actually hit what you're shooting at with some regularity, and a 16% larger target makes a difference only about 1/4 of the time. So 16% more, 25% of the time, you get 4 more hits out of 100... Assuming that you never once missed entirely, once you started using the bigger target.
So the burning question is... What % of the time does using a mechanical head screw up a shot that would have gone down just fine with a fixed?
I kinda doubt anybody will actually test this for themselves, but it sure would be interesting to see some real-world results....
I am so happy turkey opens tomorrow! More time in the woods, less time here. Killing paper will not settle anything. When you draw on an animal, practice is over and there are a million more variables, at least. I have been successful, and burned by mechanicals. I have been successful and not been burned by fixed blades.
I am so happy turkey opens tomorrow! More time in the woods, less time here. Killing paper will not settle anything. When you draw on an animal, practice is over and there are a million more variables, at least. I have been successful, and burned by mechanicals. I have been successful and not been burned by fixed blades.
Not quite sure why guys on here keep bashing mech heads and claiming thin blades? My grim reapers are .035 thickness same as the loved slick tricks, and not opening, how many in their personal experience have actually had a failure. Not heard from a friend etc, etc. I'm sure there are tons of guys on here that bash mech heads without even giving them a try.
Damn, bet Pat is super pissed that the mech/fixed thing is finally settled. Thats a lotta posts that woulda happened but won't now because Its undeniably obvious that fixed blades are the best. And all we needed all this time was a compass...
i will keep puttin my rockets thru them and then puttin them in my freezer, time after time after time
Silverado, that is my thought exactly. All these failures, Have seen an awful lot of deer/turkeys harvested with rockets, never seen one not open. Its possible, blah blah, its also possible your sight Pins could get moved, your release could malufunction.....if you aint shootin a recurve instictively, i dont wanna hear "it could fail", cuz quite frankly, i just flat out havent seen a rocket fail to open. My very short experience with rage was not great, and i refuse to use them. But lots do and i wont tell someone who has used them with lots of success they shouldnt. Like a few ALWAYS say on these threads, use what the heck works for you and what you believe in.
My taxidermists love the fact that I started using mechs 15 or so years ago! Love them for deer and bear, I actually hit where I aim now! During the adrenaline rush my form suffers and fixed seem to fly all over the f'ing place making, I would quit hunting if you took my mechs away!
Like I've said big cut expandables are definitely the broadhead of choice for guys that can barely hit a ten inch circle. ;) I just hope theres no bone in that circle to hit with a 2" cut head. Better aim for the guts like the tv hunters. You give me a 10" circle at 50 or less and I should be 100% regardless of broadhead choice. Lol. Now out of all those shots which heads had a failure, blade didn't open, arrow bounced off at an angle, didn't penetrate. I guarantee you a 1 1/4 cut will out penetrate a 2" all day. It's funny how the rage hypodermic +p(penetration) has a smaller cut. Even rage is acknowledging that large cut expandables suck at penetration. Those heads are for turkeys. Gosh if your going to use an expandable at least use a 1.5" or less.
Too me it boils down to only one thing and that is penetration. I want two holes. I will admit that I have not used any of the newer expandables(15 years at least) but I watch enough youtube videos and hunting shows to see the lousy penetration they get. I believe a lot of folks shoot them as they cannot get a fixed blade to fly perfectly. Cutting diameter has nothing to do with it for me whatsoever. Scooby
I started shooting mechanicals eight years ago. I think the cutting diameter is 1-7/8...or something like that. In think I have shot 26-deer and three turkeys in the last eight years. I have recovered all but one deer. All but one inside 75-yards, most inside 50. I deem that to be a sufficient test and unless you are either a draftsman or a sixth grader, you are not likely to have a compass. Use a pin and a piece of string.
I've never seen any broadhead penitrate the shoulder of a big bear,ever!This is a foolish argument as both fixed and mechanicals are harmless when you miss the target,both fail to penitrate big bones and both are just the leading edge of a series of possible failures.Minor details.
I was always taught that an adjustable wrench will do the job, be it turning a nut or hammering a punch but there's a better and more appropriate tool for the job. One that will also keep you from rounding the nut and busting your knuckles. An adjustable wrench will work most of the time though, at least until it doesn't.
One thing I've noticed is the guys who have piles of dead animals to their name, whether they use mechs or not, rarely belittle someone elses broadhead choice.
I am not impressed with the animals on the video's running off with half or more of the arrow sticking out. I am impressed with the grip and grin photos they get when they find that animal that ran off with half or more of the arrow sticking out.
Never killed a deer with a mechanical, don't see myself doing it in the near future. That doesn't mean they don't work, they do.
Isn't it great we live in a country where we get to pick which one we use?
I'll take max penetration over max cutting diameter any day of the week. Call it common sense or personal preference whichever makes you feel better. ;-)
Sensible people refer to those as opinions. People who irrationally over-value theirs are apt to come up with more self-important albeit less objective descriptors.
HDE a sharp rock has put down more animals to this point than a mechanical. Most of us shoot what the hell we want and don't worry about someone else but when someone starts a broadhead debate in the off season what do you think you're going to get. I'm thinking about trying a 2.5" cutting diameter piece of flint. I suspect if I put it on an 800 grain arrow it will out perform most mechanicals. It will literally be like throwing an axe through them, along with the axe handle ;)
I don't recall anyone telling someone else to do anything. I just see a bunch of people, with nothing better to do, telling each other what broadhead is the best/ worst and why. I personally don't care whether you use a five inch cut expandable with a 200 grain arrow, just don't expect me to tell you how smart you are.
OK- so how many of you drive a FORD truck............................................but refuse to use a mechanical BH because it has moving parts that are "prone to failure"?! ;-)
OK Guys, give me a minute to get my popcorn.............................................
Work with me here. Gobbler G flies great, has .035" thick blades. Cuts a big hole. Sure, it uses energy because of the big cut but hey, that's not a problem anytime anyone else is discussing heads is it? Lack of penetration? pfffff as long as it kill, penetration doesn't matter, I've seen that in the other threads.
long thin blades? This thread has already put that to rest
so why NOT a Gobbler G for elk ? it's legal isn't it ?
