Broadheads
Contributors to this thread:General Topic
From: PECO
28-Dec-19
Do you loose, or break/bend/destroy more broadheads while hunting? What is the ratio? I would say, I loose more, probably by a 3 to 1 ratio.
From: Grey Ghost
28-Dec-19
I'm curious, how do you lose broadheads while hunting? Are those missed shots in which you lose the entire arrow?
I've been using the same 6 Montecs for 5 seasons. Although, I don't take many shots per season. This year I shot once, and killed one buck.
Matt
From: Drahthaar
28-Dec-19
No, I had 1 VPA 175 grain non vented I killed 25 animals with before I lost it. Forrest
From: Bou'bound
28-Dec-19
I’m at 1:1.7 lose to destroy ratio based on my estimates.
From: PECO
28-Dec-19
Loose them by taking longer than 30 yard shots with out putting the range finder on target first. Also, lost plenty of arrows, even when ranging sketchy whitetails in Michigan. They duck the string and I've missed at 30 yards. I limited myself to 25 or less in Michigan.
From: Grey Ghost
28-Dec-19
Hmm...it's been a long time since I completely missed an animal, and the only time I use my range finder is when I initially setup at an ambush spot just for reference distances. I've never actually ranged an animal before shooting at it. I'm not saying that all my shots are perfect by any means, but I usually hit what I'm aiming at. Elk and mule deer aren't wired as tight as whitetails, though.
Matt
From: jingalls
28-Dec-19
Been hunting with QAD Exodus heads for 8 seasons now. Never broke one even with all the practice shots. I’ve lost a bunch. I’d say 9 lost to 0 destroyed.
From: PECO
28-Dec-19
I like to range reference points when I set up also. For mule deer here at home, sometimes an animal is 20 yards away from the 30 yard stump. The terrain and my absolute inability to judge range with the naked eye, thinks the deer is only 10 yards past the stump. I'm good for a 40 yard shot, but if the animal is 50 and I set my 40 pin, it's a clean miss. I have a very weak/lazy right eye, really messes up my depth perception and ability to judge range.
From: JohnMC
28-Dec-19
What if the one you lose was damaged on the shot? What category would that go into and how would you know?
JTV you should get a prizes for the most times someone found a reason to post their kill photo on bowsite! ;)
From: Timex
28-Dec-19
Bought 9 abowyer bonehead lites in 2005 I still have 4. One got lost on a hard quartiring away shot & the arrow deflected off of a rib & the arrow went up the backstrap in stead of inside the chest cavity. 2 deer I shot through both shoulders & the impact seperated the glue bond between the broadhead & aluminum adapter & 2 the arrows went through the deer & snapped the broached off in the rocky ground & I couldn't find them. The remaining 4 have killed a lot of deer & I have never had one break they are great heads... iv since switched hot melt glue and when hunting in rocky areas I now use the less expensive zwickey no mercy so there ya go 5 lost abowyer heads in 14 years
From: Grey Ghost
28-Dec-19
Here's the Montec that zipped thru my buck this year, then buried 10" into the ground. Not a nick on it. I'll just swipe it across a stone a few times, and it will be ready to kill again.
Matt
From: Trophyhill
28-Dec-19
I'm more concerned with recovering the animal than the arrow. If I don't see the arrow fairly quickly, I focus on the recovery effort and the pack out.
From: Shuteye
28-Dec-19
I have lost some over the years but due to pass through shots, especially when shooting from the ground. The ground can be soft where I hunt and even from a tree stand a double lunged shot makes the arrow very hard to find. The arrow can go completely underground. With the Jak Hammer broad head the deer are a lot easier to find than the arrow. I have killed up to four deer with the same broadhead. I always change the blades after every shot.
From: Ucsdryder
28-Dec-19
Sign me up for the lose category, usually after a pass through.
From: wyobullshooter
28-Dec-19
Like Shuteye, I lose a few on pass throughs. I’ve also lost a few that have hit the off-shoulder. Since I do gutless, I’m not digging into the junk just to save a BH. When I am able to retrieve the BH, I replace the blades and they’re good to go. As far as a ratio? I’ve never given it a second’s thought.
From: Oryx35
28-Dec-19
I probably damage more than I lose, but it's been a while since I've done either. The current #1 arrow and broadhead (Gold Tip and Slick Trick) have two whitetail and a blacktail to their credit. They should also have an elk, but I centered the shoulder and got less than 2 inches of penetration. I just change blades after each shot.
From: drycreek
28-Dec-19
Never lost a broadhead (unless I lost the whole arrow) until I started shooting hogs. If you don’t get the right angle you won’t get a pass through and they’ll break your arrow almost every time. Sometimes you don’t find the hog and the broadhead is usually in the pig. I used to carry one arrow with a 300 spine and a walmart broadhead to shoot hogs with. Bought used arrows from AT for that. A hog ain’t worth a $15 head and an FMJ......
From: Catscratch
28-Dec-19
Lost a bunch when I was younger and practiced by shooting at anything; rabbits, birds, squirrels, etc. Now I just shoot targets for practice and use a lighted knock when hunting... so now it's the damage category.
From: PECO
29-Dec-19
When I say loose a broadhead, I do mean the arrow also.
From: Jack Harris
29-Dec-19
rarely lose a VPA 125 or 100gr 3-blade. They generally pass through and stick in the ground very easy to find - spin, sharpen, re-use over and over again. . I did lose one to a pass through into a white oak once. This year tried some 2.25" cut 2-blade swhackers in 125gr. On two big bucks - no damage, blades still sharp and just touched them up and re-usable. On a doe - lots of shoulder area impact and BH still good but blades all twisted up.
From: Bob H in NH
29-Dec-19
Between wife and I this fall, 5 shots one lost arrow on a miss and no damaged heads or arrows on the other 4. All pass through from a tree stand.
From: PECO
29-Dec-19
I should say I'm also a ground hunter, so even on a pass through, it's easy to loose an arrow.
From: MichaelArnette
29-Dec-19
Well I shot magnus stingers this year so I bent and broke more than I lost (don’t think I lost any?) Going back to my VPA 175 and 200 because you literally can’t break them lol
From: midwest
30-Dec-19
Struggling to not be a grammar nazi… ;-)
From: Ucsdryder
30-Dec-19
Big difference in lost arrows between ground hunters and tree stand I imagine. Elk hunting in the brush it’s almost impossible to find an arrow.
From: GF
30-Dec-19
Lost, for sure - all on shots from the ground. Only damaged one so far that I know of. Shot through a leg bone and crushed a HellRazor.
From: goyt
30-Dec-19
I loose more with the VAP heads as I have not damaged one. I shot a doe at close range and she broke the shaft off in the ground. This happen twice.
From: Brotsky
30-Dec-19
Definitely lose. If the shot is good and I see the animal go down I only give a precursory look for the arrow. If it doesn't jump out at me I recover my game and start the process of breaking them down and don't waste a lot of time looking for an arrow that has already served its purpose.
From: Bake
30-Dec-19
I'm a breaker. I lose some arrows from time to time, but the ground is so rocky where I hunt, that I trash almost all broadheads once they've hit the rocky ground. They're a one time use for me usually. Maybe wasn't so bad about that when I shot Montecs and VPAs, and have a drawer full of them I could sharpen up and use. But I'm on a mechanical kick right now
From: mtnlvr
31-Dec-19
Shot twice this year. First a total miss into the dirt...mechanical Jak Hammer appeared OK, Couple of nick's that I may not be able to get out. Second a double lung pass through on a doe. I somehow found the arrow in 10" of snow. The Jak Hammer's blades were mangled.
So no lost broadheads this year, 50/50 on damage or not.
From: fubar racin
01-Jan-20
Never found an arrow that hit not for lack of trying found 2 of my 3 misses the muzzy didn’t live through it the vpa did without even a slight wobble and the Magnus has still not been found after 5 or 6 years of looking.
From: dnovo
01-Jan-20
Shooting wood arrows with 2 blade glue on broadheads, I’ve never damaged a head in 45 years. Lost a few after hitting an animal and the arrow gets broken when they run. On misses and passthroughs I don’t recall ever not finding the arrow.
From: bowslinger 2
01-Jan-20
Unfortunately I did not pick a spot. I was shooting 3 blade muzzys with lighted nocks. I shot 7 times lost one arrow at three different deer. The one with no lighted nock. Re sharpend the rest of them. If it wasn't for the lighted nocks might have lost more no dought.
