Hey guys going to Kentucky on a whitetail hunt in a few weeks, can't get my thunderhead 100 gr. to fly consistent. I don't want to use an expandable. Although they fly great I've had bad experiences using them on game. What are your suggestions??? Thanks
just had new string put on and bow was tuned. been shooting a ton to break in string. Was shooting field points great out to 40 yards. put on t heads and all over the place.
What type fletching do you have? Might need more vane surface or more angle on fletching to produce more drag and spin to stabilize Thunderheads. Slick Tricks and Muzzys seem to fly better, even with the smaller vanes which are very popular today. As others have said, there are a lot of good broadheads available.
One other thing; your new string could be stretching, causing the nock point or loop to move up or down, essentially de-tuning the bow. Just a thought.
IMO any of the top end broadheads will fly well; it simply has to with how well the bow is tuned. One of the most overused terms in broadhead sales is "flies like field points". This is true for almost any broadhead as long as the bow is tuned properly. Personally i shoot Magnus buzzcuts because of the lifetime warranty but any solid fixed head (muzzy, montecs, slick tricks, etc) should fly well if your bow is tuned right.
Typically, when I get arrows cut to length I ask them to square the ends. My 'Tricks spin perfectly on Axis ST 400's.
With that said, I bought Magnus 2 Blade Stingers, 100 gr for my son. He is shooting a Browning Micro Adrenaline, 35# 22" draw, Easton Axis ST Juniors. The Stingers spun perfectly on every arrow. At twenty yards(his limit) he cannot shoot more than one head at a time at the same spot. They fly that good.
it doesn't sound like a broadhead issue. arrows all over usually relates to something else. spin test the heads, do you have the right spine shafts? what's your FOC? could be a number of things, but doesn't sound like broadheads causing it. they are all machined to fly straight, unless the ferrule got bent on them. its common misconception that changing brands is the fix. hope you get it all figured out, and best success on your hunt.
Matt Slick tricks are honestly the best flying broadhead I've ever shot. Though Rocky Mountain had a little 3 blade the same size as my tricks that flew great to....they stopped making them though.
After years of shooting Thunderheads I tried some G5 last year. I was very surprised to see how well they flew over the T-heads. For what its worth give them a try. Also the part about feathers controlling better than vanes is worth looking at also. In an attempt to get the best fixed blade flight I could I went with feathers and a helical and they fly like darts and impact exactly as field points.
I actually just shot my bow on my lunch break and although I wasn't perfect I was more consistent. I did some minor adjustments to the arrow rest and I got some great grouping at 20 and 30 yards! I was tired and kind of rushed the other day when I shot, I think I was the problem not the bow, arrow or head! Thanks guys for all your help. I shoot 2 inch blazers on 7595 gold tips btw. I guess I learned not to try and dial in your bow when your rushed/tired! lol good luck to all!
I like the Muzzys two blades, as do a lot of shooters on this forum. I've also found that the four blade Muzzys work well, possibly because the bleeder blades aren't large enough to cause planing, which is I think at least part of what's going on for you.
I was getting a ton of planing this season with my Monster, much worse with 3 blade broadheads, better with two blade. The best fix I found, especially with the two blade, was that indexing the broadhead so that it's in line with the string, made a big, big difference. I still couldn't quite get the BH's to hit the exact same as FPs, but it was darn close and very, very good out to 50 yards.
I use the hot-melt adhesive when I build my arros so if I need to move my insert, I just put a field point on it, heat it gently with pliers, and turn the insert to match the angle I need to get the broadhead to go straight up & down, matching my hen fletch and axis of the string.
There is absolutely no aerodynamic relationship between the orientation of broadhead blades and fletching.
If you simply want to orient the blades a certain way, i.e. seeing the same sight picture when drawing, or for riser clearance, etc., that is fine. But blade alignment with fletching is not necessary otherwise, and will have no affect on arrow flight.
Last year I could shoot field points very well but could not get a fixed head to fly at all. The closest head to fly well were the Magnus Buzzcuts. In the off season I upgraded my rest to a RipCord. I also upgraded my sight to a BG sight as well as quiver. My 9 year old limbs were replaced and now, broadheads are flying very good. In fact, the Razortricks and VPA's group so tight that you dont dare shoot at the same place. The VPA's seem to group the best but not by much. Both group very well. Out of my sons rig we saw the same. VPA's and Razortricks are almost identical flight with impact point the same as field tips.
I haven't had any issues with Stinger 4-blade 100s. At the very beginning, they didn't hit to the same POI as field points, but I walk-back tuned them to 45 yards, spot-on.
I also have a box of NAP HellRazors.. You think about it, and what causes planing? Well, planes, right? The HellRazors just don't have anything going on for wing surface area, so when I run out of Stingers, I'll give them a go and don't expect them to hit any different from FPs or Stingers.
That said, I'm not shooting Ultra-fast, and while I did the original tune with 3" vanes, I now shoot 4" feathers. Helical. I know my tune is good with a whole lot less control surface back there, but I have a feeling that those allow me some margin for error....
Slick Trick Standards, Slick Trick Razor Tricks and Shuttle T locs fly the best of what I've tried. I want to try the Ram Cat and the Wacems, they are supposed to fly really well too. I was born with the Tinkering gene, I will not leave well enough alone.
I shot the ramcat 100's this year, and they flew great for me. I shot my elk and mule deer this fall with them and was very pleased. They fly with my field points to 70+, and held up perfectly and produced great blood trails. The only blade I broke since shooting them was when I hit the 2x4 on my target stand at 60. One blade broke passing through the board and I broke a second one unscrewing the tip to pull my arrow back out. There was about 3" of my arrow sticking out the back side of the 2x4.
As I told you via text msg today - get yourself a 3-pack of VPA 100 grain vented... You won't be sorry, and you will be shooting the same head as me - for OUR Kentucky trip... See ya in a few weeks - starting to get excited for Kentucky, especially since the NJ hunting in zone 5 is worst I've ever seen. A one horn-spike in 11 hunts is only buck i've seen since 9/10...
A "great flying fixed blade BH" has more to do with bow tune, BH alignment, and shooting form than the BH. At least when considering quality, top brands. While smaller, steep angled blade, and vented types may be more forgiving of tuning and form issues, they all give up other desirable attributes that you should be looking for in a BH.
my thunderheads fly great!!!!! no problems i would check your tuning. I talked to a pro shooter once and asked him what is the best flying broadhead and he told me when in a tournament and moneys on the line the only head he will shoot is a thunderhead 100!
VPA 3 Blade...we aren't calling them VPATerminators anymore. I would recommend our vented 100. The vented version is a little more forgiving on tune/form than the unvented. If you aren't satisfied we'll refund your money! We make the toughest broadhead on the market. CNC machined in one piece from high carbon tool grade steel and heat treated, through hard, to 50 Rockwell. They are easy to sharpen/resharpen. About the only way you will have to replace one is if you lose it. If you bend or break one, we'll replace it! Bowsiters get free shipping at my webstore by typing: bowsite for a coupon code. Here's a nice mule deer taken a few weeks ago with a vented 100. Check out vparchery.com and many posts here on bowsite for others' success and comments.
Got my T Heads flying a lot better but still have an occasional one fly a bit off. I'm not going to Kentucky when I'm not 100% confident in my shooting! Just ordered some VPA 100 grain vented broadheads. Can't wait to get em and start shooting! It'll be a week or so till I get em but I'll post reports!
Strong aggressive helical on your fletchings, bareshaft tuned bow and broadheads that spin true should always fly and group well no matter the brand. The most common problem I run across, other then many people not knowing how to tune their own equipment, is the lack of helical fletching on their arrows which is vital for consistent, accurate fixed blade broadhead flight. You want the arrow to spin in flight and this is what stabilized your arrow/broadhead. Of course you can micro tune the rest by group shooting broadheads and field pts and get them together or very close, but a decent tuned bow with helical fletching and broadheads that spin true should shoot and group with no problem. Try our MX-3 series of heads, they seem to be the most popular!
In the testing I have done the broadhead feature that has the greatest effect on accuracy is diameter. All heads tested were spin tested first as any head that is miss-aligned will not give the best accuracy. I spin them on my finger because I can feel slight wobble before I can see it. Number of blades did not seem to matter. So my preference is for a small (1.125 or less) multiple blade head such as a Slick trick standard, Muzzy 90, magnus Stinger etc.
im sure been said before but all heads will fly good with a tuned setup. not the head. spin test all ur heads to the arrows and you will get any head to fly. i prefer the vpa terminators myself
As everyone else has already said, once your bow is tuned properly, you can choose from a HUGE variety of broadheads.
I've shot Slick Tricks, Magnus Stingers and BuzzCuts, G5 Montec and Strikers, and many, many others. In a well-tuned bow, they all hit with field points.
The best results I've seen in the field have been from Muzzy 100's. I don't know what it is about those heads that makes them so effective, but from experience, what they hit, they kill.
I had a frontal shot on a heavy bodied bull elk this year. Full penetration, tons of blood, the bull died in sight within seconds of the shot. I've seen similar results on coues deer, and one "marginal" shot on a mule deer that sprayed blood on every tree in sight.
Being a traditional archer.I've always wonder why the compound shooters have soooooooo many problems w/ broadhead tunning. Dose the quest for speed make archers sacrafice arro flight stability?
Are some broadheads just impossible to tune out of modern equiptment(160GR Snuffer,160gr Magnus)?
It seems once one's bow shoots over a certain fps(say 250fps???) fix blade broadhead arro flight becomes a mistery.I'm trying to learn something,so please be patient w/ me.
Ruger - nothing wrong with ST's. Never heard one, not even one negative comment about them on this site. Not heard a bad thing about VPA either. I would shoot ST's except I now prefer a strong steel head that I can resharpen myself with ease, VPA easily meets that requirement. I think Matt is intestested in that as well....
