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Ok so I'm fairly new so what gr broad head does everyone use for white tail? What are the advantages to one over the other.
My favorite broadhead is a125 gr. Montec. I like the softer carbon steel one's ,as you can put a great edge on them after use most times. Whether you shoot fixed blades or mechanical heads,having your bow tuned properly will give you the best performance. Make sure you paper tune your bow,and work on shooting form. This way,you will develop good habits that will translate to more accurate shots in the field.I shot Rage broadhead a for a while; but didn't like how damaged the broadheads became once through an animal. I shoot 125 gr. to give my arrows a little more weight forward advantage.
Broadhead weight means very little in terms of what is best for a particular animal. The entire arrow combination is the end goal. You build the entire arrow including broadhead to achieve the best flight and penetration characteristics, the weight only matters to that end.
For example, if you are striving for a particular total weight arrow, the broadhead weight will help achieve that either more weight or less weight. Arrow Spine will be affected by the weight of the broadhead. for those that believe FOC actually means anything, you can factor that into your decision. In short you are selecting broadhead weight based on how it affects arrow tune rather than type of animal you are hunting.
Now The arrow you build might be influenced by the type of animal you hunt, but as a single component to the system, it doesn't matter.
Tuning your arrow to match your bow/draw length, is to develop accuracy. Total arrow weight is more of a consideration if you are hunting larger game like bear, elk, moose, buffalo. In those cases you want maximum penetration, thus a heavier arrow.
Some in the traditionl gear comunity have gone into extreme FOC(forward of center). The thinking there is that the head pulls the arrow and drives it deeper into the target.
Target shooters want a balanced arrow to reduce wobble and maximize accuracy/efficiency in flight.
How much FOC does one need? The range of FOC recommended for different forms of archery varies. In their charts, Easton shows the following recommended FOC ranges, with calculations based on the AMO Standard formula: o FITA (Olympic Style) 11% to 16% o 3-D Archery 6% to 12% o Field Archery 10% to 15% o Hunting 10% to 15%
FITA shooters, who compete at the longest ranges, use the highest average FOC’s; 3-D shooters the lowest; with field archers and hunters in-between.
However, the heavier FOC arrows will be more affected by crosswinds. Think of the arrow as a lever and the fulcrum point moving forward as the weight is added there. Extreme FOC will allow wind on the fletch to move the arrow easier off target.
When I selected my broadhead point weight, I started with what was the most common weight sold. I shoot aluminium and tuned the shaft to carry the head weight I selected. My FOC is in the 10% range, which means I have about three inches of shaft ahead of my rest at full draw. I shoot a recurve, sometimes longbow.
Here is a site that has research on arrow weight and FOC.
For fixed blade, muzzy 3 blade 100 grain is a great deal. Always spin true, sharp, less expensive and you get six in a pack (instead of 3!). Expandable are great, but once in a while they screw you. Not often, but if its the buck of a lifetime and your head lets you down, you will want to break your bow in half. Elmer Edge, Rage lead the way but the G5 product looks good, though I haven't used it personally ($$). If you are really new, tune it right, shoot a muzzy, take good shots and get a few deer behind you with the good penetration and short trails you are likely to experience.
Don't forget to match the weight of your broadhead to the weight of the field point you've been practicing with all summer!! Otherwise you're going to cry when the arrow hits the ground in front of the deer or sails over it's back.
The club I belong to has a broad head target, so I always practice for a few weeks before the season with one of my broad heads to make sure I know how it flies. All of them will act a bit differently than your field point, so it's good to know exactly how they fly.
The best broadhead is the one you can shoot accurately. Shot placement is the single most important thing to consider. Any broadhead on the market will kill a deer when the arrow hits the right spot.
Montec G5 100 grain virtually indestructable
you have to givem the shaft along with the head...lol... sorry , couldn't resist... do what everybody said above ...I used 125gr 2 blade rage for years but wasn't happy with them lately ( not opening or blades bending) . last season I went to a fixed 165gr zwickey eskimo which brought me to 530gr arrow . I might try the 135gr this year..play around with different heads and have fun
Notme, heres some nasty looking heads for my recurve, 125 grain single bevel and thick blades. They ended up being Helix fakes but still look tough.
That looks like a hell of a way to test penetration
There are two advantages to higher FOC.... As Wild Bill mentioned, the longer lever in back can be more susceptible to a crosswind, but it also lets you use smaller fletchings because of that same leverage advantage.... Higher retained velocity, more penetration.... What more do you want?? Guess it depends on how far you plan to shoot and how windy it gets where you hunt....
But matching the target points & having a well tuned arrow are the primary considerations. FWIW, I had my bow set up at Hilllers' and it took me about 10 minutes to walk-back tune to 30 yards with Magnus stingers (100s - 4-blade).. They're not necessary AT ALL with most compound set-ups (IMO) but a good COC will never let you down. I'm basically a trad guy, so I despise mechanicals just on principle.... If you're dying to get the huge width, you can go with a fixed, COC in the Simmons sharks.... TreeSharks are probably overkill and I'm skeptical about mixing them with lower-poundage tradbows, but again, with most compounds... I'd probably trust them more than any mechanical...
Honestly, the most important consideration for you may be simply whether you are planning to sharpen your own (which does take some skills that you may or may not possess at this point) or if you are going to rely on factory-sharpened blades....
I have used a lot different broadheads,test drove just about all,Its more of a personal choice,They will all work,try to find one that flies as close to a field point as possible,I like rage 100 grain.Been using them for three years and have taken 8 deer and 5 turkeys.Its more about shot placement and patience and waiting for a good angle to shot.
What the hell? I dont even have that picture on my phone. That pic is somewhere on the leatherwall site. Let me try this again.
i was trying to figure out the injured hand broadhead connection..lol
The injured hand looks like a carbon arrow splintered into the bowhand.. I am a fixed blade guy. never trusted mechanicals. I shot Ramcat 100's this year. I'll maybe experiment a bit.. I keep 2 sets of blades, the used ones become practice blades and new blades are for hunting. Cardboard box filled with rags is great to stop broadheads. I'll shoot the practice blades to make sure I'm still hitting the aim point before going out each season.
spike
glad it wasn't YOUR hand that had the arrow going through it. Took me a while to figure out what the heck it was.
BBB, no, not my hand although I did have an arrow blow up on me on a NY hunt. I still dont know what happened but it scared the crap out of me and the deer. I ended up getting the deer on the second shot but the first was a nice 15 yard broadside wide open shot. Never had an arrow blow up until drawing on a deer. Just my luck. That pic wasnt in my phone so kind of odd. Looks like it hurts though.
spike, at first i thought it might be a trophy scar from the beaver trapping days..lol
Wasnt that from somebody on this site from a couple of years ago?
"That looks like a hell of a way to test penetration"
Notme says: "you have to givem the shaft along with the head". That's how he does his test
Notme, Im still getting beaver scars today, them Irish beaver are crazy! Correction, I saw that pic a few weeks ago on the big game forum.
i had one of those for a while, brought a whole new dimension to f@#*in nuts...lol
