Bowsite.com

A First

Back when I was a teen aged boy, I had a old fiberglass stick bow which I started my bow hunting career of with. Deer were rare, never got a shot off. I'm 60 now, bought a Samick ILF bow last year. I hunted during the Heritage season but weather was mostly terrible. I took it out yesterday after practicing most of the spring with a couple months off while I practicing with my compound bow. This week, pulled it out a couple days and when I felt confident I took it out yesterday evening. Shot this "trophy" spike yesterday evening and I was very worried because my penetration was minimal and too far back from 22 yards. No blood when I was looking for the arrow but low and behold I did find the deer.

Very nice. Congrats. May not kill as many deer but I love it. You have to really scout and know where the deer are. Get em close.

Congrats!!!

Koogie congrats it is a lot of fun, as JR said above shoot em close and enjoy!

That’s awesome, congrats!

Congrats. Nice deer for the pan.

One question to you guys, I purchased the 3 blade steel muzzy. When I shot the deer and he turned it looked like the broad head only penetrated a couple inches, he looked as though it was going to fall out, fletching almost dragging the ground. I'm shooting 167 ft/sec. I noticed many of you mentioned the 2 blade magnus. Would I assume better penetration, a exit wound at least. While skinning the deer, the head passed thru but did not exit the skin on the other side.

But thanks guys, it felt like an accomplishment even though it was only a spike.

It’s a great accomplishment and a beautiful and tasty trophy!

I think a two blade would be just fine.

So much more to the hunt than the size of the animal….

I personally feel like any deer with archery equipment is an accomplishment. Using a stick bow is an even greater accomplishment in my opinion. No need in saying “just a spike”.

I agree. I am thrilled to kill any deer.

Didn't mean to sound like I wasn't pleased with it being a spike, though I was hoping for a doe. I was thinking though of taking the recurve to Kansas in a couple weeks and try for a doe. But my hesitance deals more with why I didn't get a pass thru all the way thru. I got lucky, even though it was a liver shot I literally got 1 drop of blood. Since I didn't start a track job, the spike only went 80 yards off the food plot and laid down and expired. Is a 3 blade broad head too much to expect a pass thru? Should I look toward a 2 blade head instead?

Congratulations on your deer. I prefer a cut on contact broadhead. Meaning that the cutting edge is Sharp to the tip, not having a bullet type tip. It is critical to have your broadheads shaving sharp. If your shooting a lighter weight bow, 45# or less, then a 2 blade head may give you better penetration. Just some things to consider. Good luck.

When I first started hunting 50 years ago with recurve I liked the old bear broadheads. Sharp cut on contact point and I used the small bleeder blades with it. The bleeder blades didn’t seem to hinder penetration but helped with more cutting surface and helped keep open wound channel open for better bleeding . JMO

That's what I wanted know. I bought the Muzzy One cut on contact 3 blade and sharpened them. They are somewhat sharp but not razor sharp. I read a piece where a hunter sharpens his heads and it sounded as though he gets them razor sharp. These heads I have I cannot get them that sharp. On my way up this weekend I'll stop at Bass Pro Shop and pick up some Magnus heads. On the 28th I'm heading to Kansas and I'd like to try hunting some with my recurve. I'd like to be sure I can get better penetration than what I did against that mighty spike.

First off... congratulations. Any deer with a recurve or longbow is a trophy.

{{{{"...I'd like to be sure I can get better penetration than what I did against that mighty spike."}}}

Don't quite understand what you're saying here. You said the broadhead went all the way through the deer. Anything beyond that is just wasted energy.

{{{"...the head passed thru but did not exit the skin on the other side..."}}}

You didn't tell us how much weight you're shooting and how many grains per pound the arrow weighs. The liver is a dense organ. If you shot all the way through it, you'll have no trouble.

In this day and time (most folks shooting compounds) there seems to be a big confidence gap. Hang in there and keep shooting. IMO, yes, a 2-blade, cut-on-contact broadhead will get better penetration.

I can assure you a 40# efficient recurve with a tuned arrow and shaving sharp cut-on-contact broadhead with an 8.5 to 10 gpp arrow will shoot through any critter in North America. I know one fellow who shot a nice bull moose with a 36# recurve. :^)

Good luck in Kansas.

Congratulations again.

Indeed I passed thru the body but the arrow stopped when it got to the skin and did not cut thru the skin. I'd like a hole plum thru the deer hide and all. As it was the deer did not bleed onto the ground. Like I said I got lucky because I did not look for the deer until the next morning where he just entered the woods 90 yards and laid down. He did bleed but all internally. 50 lb draw, shooting 170 ft/sec. Just wondering is there a broadhead anyone else would recommend that they feel so confident the arrow can make it to the other side and out. I'm not feeling too confident in mine and I don't want to hunt from the ground to get a low entrance wound for blood tracking purposes.

Recurve bows don't have the kinetic energy that a compound has. (I think that's the correct term to use) But an arrow weighing 450 to 500 grains with a razor sharp cut on contact head should give you adequate penetration as long as the shot placement is correct. In my opinion, a heavy Sharp arrow will out penetrate a fast light arrow most of the time. Good luck and stick with it. Hunting with traditional equipment is addicting.

I have read so Lone Eagle. I'm running around that weight but those COC heads I bought from Muzzy are more shaped as a wedge in geometry so I can't get them razor sharp. I'm not looking to stick my arrow in the ground after a pass thru, I would like my broad head to pass thru though. Hard to find deer if your not getting good blood on the ground. I'll try another broad head for sure. I'm no stranger to taking deer with a bow but I am at taking them with a recurve. I read the accounts of some of the old wise guys here on bowsite and just decided to give it a try this year. I'm proud to say I have been bow only hunting now for 26 years and I would never had imagined the amount of success I've enjoyed over that time. It's made me a more complete hunter both mentally and physically. Adding that recurve kill was just one more step in the transformation. I just want to make sure I give the animal the respect of making sure my equipment will give me the best opportunity to recover any game I fire upon.

Use a 2 blade like a magnus stinger or if good at sharpening get Zwickeys or Ace heads then you will achieve the exit hole you are wanting. I try to keep my shots under 20 yds.

I have been using the 135 grain land shark this year. Have passed through all my deer shooting 52 lbs with freat blood trails. I have used just about all the two blade heads out there and this one produces the biggest hole of all I have used. Every deer and blood trail is different it seems. Good luck.

That's the answer I was looking for, thanks. On another note, every time I get into bowsite I have to re-register. Anybody else experience the same damn thing?

Happened again, logged on and I get that green bar message that I have to register to reply to this thread. I keep the email because the code they gave me several weeks ago seems to be suffice when I get the message, but I do have to dig thru saved emails to find it again. Why would I have to register so often, heck I created the thread?

I don’t post much, but have had that happen a fair amount when I do. I assumed it had something to do with cache or cookies being cleared from your browser but do not know for certain.

You mus be deleting your cookies?

Just started about 2 months ago, never had to do it before then. And, it happened again today and I just entered the registration number yesterday. Anyway, got the truck packed and heading out to Kansas this evening.

The Muzzy One can get sharp. It’s what I have in the quiver on my longbow. However, I’m shooting 62 pounds out of it.

I use a file to get them close, then finish on a fine grit diamond stone. A good whetrock or Arkansas would do the same.

My only advice besides that is file them until they are pretty dang sharp. Then go to your finish stone. They are a hard head. They take a file or you’ll be forever getting them sharp on just stones.

They are a weird geometry. But, when they are sharp, they will shave just like any other 3 blade. Just file them sharp before ever putting them to a stone. You’ll get them razor sharp that way.

Register here to reply to this topic