Fixed blade practice
Contributors to this thread:Equipment
From: Smtn10PT
01-Sep-22
Question for guys shooting fixed blades, do you shoot every arrow and broadhead to check flight or do you designate one broadhead as your practice and test it on multiple arrows? In the past I've always selected the broadhead that spun a little less than perfect as my practice head, keeping the ones that spun perfect as my hunting heads. However, thinking back I have two instances in mind where when I fired one of these perfect spinners at game I had an arrow that did some crazy fishtailing.
From: Joe Holden
01-Sep-22
I tune 1 arrow to 1 fixed blade. Easy enough to either resharpen, or change blades. Helps me build confidence that each one will hit the spot it needs to.
From: fdp
01-Sep-22
I shoot every arrow and every broadhead multiple times.
From: sticksender
01-Sep-22
Once I sharpen my FBBH's and check that they spin perfect I don't shoot them all. I keep a few aside for full-time practice heads. I rarely practice with field points.
From: Bigfoot
01-Sep-22
I will buy an extra pack of blades and sacrifice a few sets as practice blades. Every arrow/broadhead combination gets shot multiple times at 20-40 yards to be certain they each fly. Fresh blades get put in all the arrows that go in my quiver.
From: tobywon
01-Sep-22
Same here, one arrow to one fixed blade. I have been using replaceable blade fixed heads so I keep a set or two blades for practice and keep the sharp blades for hunting.
From: ahunter76
01-Sep-22
My hunting bow is dedicated to just that. I have a half Dz heads for practice (I mean, I've been bowhunting since 1956). I shoot every arrow with my Practice heads a couple times thru 60 yds. My hunting max is 40 yds & I can't remember even using my 30 yd pin is "years". Once each arrow gets a run thru I have 3 I use practicing the rest of the time. I shoot a different spot each time. Being dedicated I pretty much know things will be the same from last year (It's just a matter of checking for insurance). I practice a ton at 20 thru 30 yds. My hunter sees nothing but BHs.. I have 1 bow for all outdoor targets & 1 for indoor only. All Dartons. I have used some model 3 blade Rocky Mountain 125 gr head for 45+ years now.
From: bigeasygator
01-Sep-22
Will start by shooting just one practice blade with all arrows to see which fly the best. Once I have the ones that don't fly true ruled out, I will eventually shoot each arrow with a designated hunting broadhead. I will only do this once or twice per arrow as long as I get good flight again. I will test the broadheads for sharpness at this point and if I feel I need to resharpen anything I will.
From: Grey Ghost
01-Sep-22
I'm like Sticksender. I have dedicated practice blades, and I don't shoot my sharpened hunting blades unless its at an animal. I also rarely shoot field tips.
Matt
From: 12yards
01-Sep-22
It stinks honestly. Fixed heads are expensive and you should really shoot them all to see that they fly. I'm shooting Magnus Stingers and they have a history of shooting great for me. So I shoot a couple practice heads and not necessarily all of them. I'm also shooting VPAs out of another bow. They seem to be a bit more inconsistent so I plan to shoot them all then resharpen before season.
From: craigmcalvey
01-Sep-22
Shoot them all and then sharpen before heading to the quiver. Only way to know for sure each one is ready. Then I keep each set together until an arrow or head is damaged.
From: WV Mountaineer
01-Sep-22
Just one practice head on every arrow for my compound and longbow. As long as the arrows spin true, they hit true minus a nock issue. Which I find shooting the same practice head.
If I hunted where shots were routinely 50 yards or so, I’d be more particular. But, in Appalachia where it’s hard to see 50 yards most of the time, it’s simply not needed.
From: Smtn10PT
01-Sep-22
My thought was similar to yours WV. If I get funky flight with one I nock tune it until the practice head flies straight, then put a fresh head on that spins the same.
From: GhostBird
01-Sep-22
Shoot each arrow/broadhead combo and then sharpen broadheads for my hunting arrows and keep three or four dedicated for practice.
From: Lawdog
01-Sep-22
I shoot every single one to insure that they all fly to the same POI at 30 yards. I put a lot of time into tuning to get the BHs flying to the same relative POI as the FPs. Once I insure that the BHs fly the same, I'll choose one to test and use at all yardages. Sharpen and put back in the quiver for use. I also don't practice with my BHs. I do that with FPs. I don't really care if they fly to a little different POI. I know where they hit relative to my BHs anyway. It's only 2" anyway, and that's a difference I may not be able to tune out.
From: Shug
01-Sep-22
Personally I shoot 3-4 different arrows with broadheads to be sure they fly good the rest of my arrows I just make sure fly excellent with field points as well as spin true with broadheads
From: Mhg825
01-Sep-22
Once I find an arrow and broadhead that shoot perfect they go to my quiver.i will put practice blades on and shoot them but the ferrule is matched to that arrow.
From: Buffalo1
01-Sep-22
Sight bow in with BH and use 2 BH’s to practice with. From there it is game on !
I don’t deal with the FP vs BH don’t fly the same conversation. I’m sighted in - end of story !!
From: Blood
01-Sep-22
I shoot all my arrows and keep mixing the BH’s on each arrow until they all fly perfectly. I keep these heads with their respective arrow. Then I just switch out the blades for new ones when I hunt. Slick trick Mags 125 Gr.
From: butcherboy
01-Sep-22
I’ve been bow hunting for a long time and I only shoot one maybe two broadheads as a dedicated practice broadhead. Brand new ones, sharp, or never been shot Before go on the rest of my arrows. I’ve never had to broadhead tune from shooting field points. Once my bow is sighted in and tuned then everything flies great. No shooting multiple heads and multiple arrows. Pretty simple
From: DRR324
01-Sep-22
Shoot every arrow and swap heads (cutthroat 150 SB) until they all hit where I want at 40. Then sharpen them.
From: WV Mountaineer
01-Sep-22
Butcher boy x 2.
I know arrows can make impacts different. Nocks surely can. But, if the nicks are causing it, it shows with field points too. So, pick out the fliers, fix the nicks and go with them has been my experience. Short shooting simply doesn’t require more.
From: rooster
02-Sep-22
I spin arrow and broadhead combinations to get the best result. Then those heads and arrows stay together. I keep three arrow/BH combos for practice and hunting arrows go in the quiver or box until time to hunt.
From: carcus
02-Sep-22
Once I get a bullet hole through paper I nock tune all my arrow using a muzzy practice head(easier on my target) then screw on exodus swept and go hunt
From: Corax_latrans
02-Sep-22
Well, I guess if you’re shooting woodies, that’s a silly question ;)
When I shot Thunderheads, I shot every arrow and ferrule as a set, but only dulled up 1 set of blades to trst yhe lot of them.
With Ace & Magnus 2-blades, I have tested every complete arrow, because they’re all getting resharpened repeatedly anyway.
I wouldn’t shoot a non-disposable head if I didn’t think I could get it as sharp as it needs to be. In principle, it seems reasonable that if it spins true, it will fly true, but it doesn’t cost me any to proof every complete arrow.
From: Smtn10PT
02-Sep-22
It just seems that no matter what I do, even if I get the field point and broadhead hitting together for a week or two they will inevitably drift back apart.
From: Dale06
04-Sep-22
I designate one or two BHs for practice. The others are spin tested and on a specific arrow and are kept on that arrow. I do not shoot all my BHs ahead of hunting.
From: fuzzy
04-Sep-22
Use a good backstop or you might lose an arrow like this guy and not find it for 5,000 years: https://www.livescience.com/iron-age-arrow-norway-mountain
From: rallison
04-Sep-22
I've shot Zwickey Deltas out of compounds when I used em back in the 80's, and multiple recurve & longbows since then.
After many years with them, if they spin true & perfect, no worries. I have a number of practice heads that I shoot, but once I have them filed & sharpened they only get shot once...unless I happen to m-m-m-miss. Then resharpen, spin, and back in the quiver.
