my point on broadheads is that pretty much every design when sharp and placed in a vital or damaging a vital organ, artery or likes will kill
' there is NOT a single one I know of that will not kill if placed right'
some materials are stronger, some designs are more adaptable to being rebuilt, and or blade/tips replaced.
these tings alone can cause the prices to vary, as well as the design and the costs to make them!
the more complicated they are, the higher the odds of one can fail, but most mechanical broad heads are pretty reliable these days
MY view again on a hunting bolt/arrow/broadhead set up, is when I SHOOT a deer with one, I retire it, its a personal thing, not a MUST do by any means
but every time a arrow, or bolt gets shot and impacts something, it can damage its structure, its a fact and science and physic's at work, sudden stops/impacts have effects on pretty much every thing in life!
NOW as again for bolts/arrows being deflected, yes it can happen VERY easy if your bolt or arrow hits something in flight and can be off a LOT or a little all depends on what and how it hits it
same things when you get a pass thru on a deer sized animal
some times they run truer to same traveling path, but not always it can be way off
as for if there are a lot of arrows and bolts out THERE< from pass thru on game that shooters didn;t find
I will say this, yes there are SOME< but there are a LOT more from those that shot and missed and never found there arrows, or in many places for other reasons as well
an example
I managed a farm that had an excessive amount of trespassers, but place was known to have a lot of game(deer mostly)
and folks would sneak in with archery gear(its quieter than a gun)
and shoot at things, the first 3 yrs I managed the place, me and the land owner found over a 100 different arrows and bolts, and we had a lot of deer running around with arrows sticking out of them! due to poor shot placement and or things being deflected or who know's the shooters would never stay wrong to be asked what happened!
over my yrs several decades, walking hunting lands in bunting and off seasons, I have also found many arrows, NOT many bolts, as crossbows were Illegal to use by most folks, only the past decade or so, they have been legal here, and have only found 5 bolts so far!
but I also don;t walk about as much as I used to on public lands, spend most of my time now on private lands with lower odds of finding them!