Put it this way Bry, I know I'm not the first or the last guy here to take a straight-down, walking straight-awaychip shot (10 yds or less) into the spinal column. A couple inches left or right puts it straight down through the chest cavity. A dead center hit crushes thevertebral bodies at impact, separating the spinal columnand immobilizing the deer in its tracks. The vitals from directly above areclose tothe same size as they are from abroadside treestand shot. There's really not all that much less to aim at.
QS, we've both been around this forum long enough to know not to criticize individuals for shot selection, but to look at the shot selection itself. So, please don't take that as a knock on you. I'm sure that if you felt anything less than confident in your ability to make the clean kill you would not have taken it. The straight down spine shot is always a tricky one, because the spine can stop an arrow dead cold no matter what head you are using, and if you miss it to the side you can at best hope for a one lung hit. While lethal (most times) it is not the most preferred scenario. I have trust that when you choose to take that shot it is a last resort and you are as sure as you can be that it will result in meat in the freezer. Besides, I'm not gonna knock someone from my hometown too hard.
Windwalker had an intersting post, so I'm going to go through all of the broadheads that I have shot and the results I have had.
Bear Razors-Miss
NAP Razorbak 5 blades-No shot
NAP ThunderHeads-unrecovered 8 point (gut shot)
Punchcutters-2 button bucks, 1 doe(all recovered within 65 yards)
Puckett's Bloodtrailers-1 groundhog, 1 racoon (too afraid to use them on deer)
Muzzy 4 Blade 90 grain-1 hog, 1 lost 7 point (gut shot)
Rocky MountainRevolutions-1 button buck, 1 spike, 1 non-typical odd rack buck
Rocky Mountain Snypers-2 doe, 1 6 point
Rocket Steel Heads-1 lost doe (very poor penetration after hitting shoulder joint)
NAP Spitfires-1 doe, 1 button buck, 1 8 point buck
So, I think it's safe to say that no matter what head you use, if you do your job the broadhead will do its job. Yes, because of mechanicals' design they are more likely to have damage if they are put in the wrong place, but that is not to say that the same shot would result in a successful harvest with another head. Besides it is our duty to make sure that we do our part to make sure our equipment does its. We should not count on our equipment to account for our lack of practice or skill. That is, do not count on a mechanical to make up for a poorly tuned bow, and don't count on a fixed blade head to punch through bone on a poorly placed shot. While both may do this effectively, we should do everything within our power to make sure they do not have to.
OK, soapbox session over. Thanks for indulging me.