ORIGINAL: BobCo19-65
Here is a thought. There are some very serious successful hunters out there that swear byusing a file only method of sharpeningbroadheads. What they believe is that after the head has gone though the hide and the first set of ribs (assuming you hit ribs), thata scalpul sharpened head will be dulled significantly. A surgeon only uses one scalpulfor one cut from what I am told. The file sharpened head although somemay call it dull compared to a scalpul sharpened will retainit's sharpness better.On the file sharpened head there will be microserations (can not be seen by the eye).
Personally, I have never tried it, but there are some that swear by it.
I have heard this also, but it takes someone with a lot of experiance to get the file method right. A blade with too large of serrations will make small tears in tissue, not 'clean' cuts, and this facilitates blood clotting (bad). A more 'razor' sharp blade means better blood trails. Anyone who has gouged themselves on barbed wire as well as cut themself with a razor knows which wound bleeds longer and what I am talking about. On the other hand some oversharpen blades so that they loose thier edge entering the animal, and this results in more 'tearing' also.
Its not a huge deal tho, poke a deer in the chest with a semi-sharp branch and it is dead. Its worked for thousands of years. The marginal hits are the issue.