Penetration or devastation; that is the question. I shoot a Mathews Ultra II 30in draw 70lbs with a skinny carbon arrow Cabela’s SST 230 or V-MAX 2300 tipped with a Rocket Hammerhead 100gr 2in cut. The arrow w/broadhead is about 450gr and flies about 276fps.
This setup is devastating on deer and I have seen them drop in 30 to 40 yards with a double lung pass through. I know that this setup may leave something to be desired in the penetration department and that is what brings me to my question. This question has very little to do with deer and more to do with hogs.
Last year we started getting a few hogs on our place and feeling that we would get a shot on them I purchased a pack of Rocket Steelhead broadheads. They are 100gr and open up to 11/8in. They seem like they would out penetrate the 2in cut of the Hammerheads and that is what I was going to need to kill a hog was penetration and good shot placement. Well I got my chance to find out; I shot about a 300lb sow standing broadside at 15 yards. I hit her good; right behind the shoulder about mid way on her body. I am very certain about this because the arrow did not pass through and I could see it sticking out of her as she ran a circle around my stand. Well there was about 8 other hogs with her and a few moments later a 250lb boar came running back down the trail right were I had just shot her. I only had one Steelhead with me and shot him with the Hammerhead I had for deer. I hit him just beside the spine; behind his shoulders. Almost straight down. After about 30 minutes I couldn’t stand it anymore and got down and found no blood. After a prolonged search we found him about 60 yards from the stand and did not find her until the next day several hundreds of yards from the stand.
I chalked that one up to experience but was determined to find out just what to do for this year. I won’t tell you some of the crazy stuff some people told me but I again came out thinking that I needed a good penetrating broadhead and that I need to hit lower on a hog than a deer. So I turned to an old friend I use to hunt with. The 90gr four bladed Muzzy. A small 1in cut; but no one can question its penetration ability. I use to hunt with them until I switched to the Hammerheads 5 years ago. I made sure my bow was tuned a found an arrow that would fly with my field tips. I was sure that I was ready now.
Not! Same thing as last year. I shot about an 80lb boar at 12 yards quartered away. I hit him behind the shoulder about half way up again. It sounded like the arrow stopped on his other shoulder. We did find some blood; but it was very spotty. After about 500 yards the dog was unable to find any more blood to follow. Lost another one!
After much debate on the subject; an old hunting buddy convinced me to use the Hammerhead and not to go for penetration. This past Thursday I shot a 230lb boar at 15 yards slightly quartered away. I hit him high behind his left shoulder; cutting the bottom of the backstrap on that side. The arrow did not exit and the hog ran about 70 yards and fell dead running. I did not get an exit wound but I did get the hog. I do not consider myself an experienced hog hunter but I have shot a lot of deer with my bow and do nothing but bow hunt. So far I have shot four hogs with my bow and only found two (in editable condition anyway). I killed all of them but it took so long for the ones shot with the small broadheads to die that I think that devastation outweighs penetration; on hogs anyway.
Being that I have only shot four, are there any experienced hog hunters out there that would disagree with my conclusion? I have not shot enough of them to know if the two I found were just flukes. We have a trail camera photo of a hog that looks to be over 400lbs and I really want to get a shot at him. As it stands now I am planning on using the Hammerheads but I would be willing to change my setup if someone could convince me otherwise.

Wayne B.