Since I've never shot a mechanical, I'm certainly no expert. But my rationale is like this: Of the 9 deer I've killed with my bow,7 have been either double lung or single lungandheart. Of the two "bad hits", both were too far back, in the paunch. I managed to recover both, but only after extremely long tracking jobs (like 2 days).

In terms of "margin for error", when I miss, it's ususally because I shot too far back. I have never missed too far forward, in the bony part of the shoulder. I think this is the case with most bowhunters. There is a greater tendency to miss toward the guts than toward the shoulder bone.

So in the case of a liver, stomach, or gut shot, I'd rather have the biggest broadhead I can get. Penetration isn't a problem on paunch hits. On the extremely rare occasion that I miss forward, in the bony shoulder, a small fixed blade might be better, but it stillmight not penetrate. However, since I'm more likely to miss "too far back", I think bigger is better.

Don't you think the "too far back" hit is more common than the "too far forward" hit for most bowhunters?

The 250 lb 9 point that I gut shot in Illinois, that ran for 2 days before he died, might have gone down alot sooner with a 2"+ hole in his stomach.