Thorneswift

Yesterday was the first time I ever tried an expandable broadhead and it will be my last! I hit a big doe with a perfect shot while she was broadside and it hit with a really loud thunk with barely any penatration. She took off and I waited for an hour to track her. I picked up on a bright red blood trail and followed it for almost 1/4 of a mile until it turned into a few drops here and there and then stopped. I figured she was close so I waited another couple of hours and went back. I started following her tracks and jumped her. Apparently the mechanical broadhead jammed up on some ribs and stopped. Penatrating just enough to leave the arrow sticking out of her side but not enough to do much if any lung damage.

It's not worth it to have field point accuracy if the broadhead doesn't work right. We have enough to worry about with antihunters without having another deer running around with an arrow and it's bright fletching sticking out of her side for everyone to see.

I've talked to other people who have had failures of mechanical broadheads and if we want to limit the arguements of the antihunters maybe lowering the number of animals who wander off wounded by getting rid of expandables is a reasonable thought. Yes I understand that mechanical broadheads can work well but I challenge anyone to say that they are as stone reliable as a standard non mechanical broadhead. If I wasn't stupid enough to by a set of expandables and used a regular broadhead I would have a deer hanging rather than one running through the woods with an arrow sticking out of her side.

There's no good reason way a 17 yard shot with a perfect broadside centered in the lungs with a compound bow shouldn't have resulted in a fast kill. Other than that mechanical broadheads are NOT RELIABLE.

Big John

The broadhead didn't fail, what failed was your shot placement. You can kill a deer with a practice point if you put it in the right place, which I have witnessed personally. Your arrow just didn't hit where you thought it did.

Windwalker7

If you heard a loud "thunk" and had little penetration, you hit bone. Probably hit the shoulder blade. Even a fixed blade broadhead would fail, hitting a deer there. I know, I've done it.

When you hit a deer through the ribcage, it makes a hollow sounding plunk, similar to the sound of shooting a pumpkin or watermellon.

Any loud sound means you hit something solid like bone.


Its funny how people blame their equipment and not themselves.

Buck Magnet

Gotta agree with these guys, it wasn't the broadhead, it was the shot placement. I smacked my buck with a Rocky Mt Snyper this year, 13 yard quartering away shot that went through the ribs, hit the liver and lungs, and exited only to travel another 20 yards past the deer and burry itself over a foot into the ground! The outcome you had could have been the same even if you were shooting a fixed blade b-head!

Matt/TN

just curious whats you KE? whats you draw weight, length, that sorta thing

Arthur P

I could have been a hit in solid bone. It could also have been that youarrow just happened to hitthe exact healed over spot where was residing the non-functioning mechanical that somebody else was cussing when HE shot the deer.

Since I wasn't there in your shoes at the time, I didn't see where the arrow hit. I didn't hear the arrow hit. I have no way of even guessing what your shot placement was, based on the description.Bottom line is I'm not so in love with mechanicals that I immediately insist it wasyour shot placement at fault. It's one of the possibilities. Might even be a probability. But it doesn't necessarily rule out malfunction. It doesn't necessarily mean the head malfunctioned either.It might just come under the heading of 'stuff happens.' Without recovering the deer, there's no way you'll ever know exactly what happened.

It's always seemed to melike mechanicals are custom made to come face to face with Murphy's Law, so I've never even considered actually shooting one at an animal. My personal choice.

On the other hand, I agree with Cougars09. It'd be helpful to know your setup's stats.

Thorneswift

Poor shot placement? Behind the shoulder blades and centered in the lung area. All that was there were ribs. It was light, I was in a ground blind with very good visablity with nothing between me and the doe. I saw the arrow hit not in the shoulder blades but behind them and in front of the guts so it wasn't a gut shot. I was using a hoyt set at 60 pounds with a 29 1/2 inch draw, I was less than 20 yards away on the ground, I hit dead center in the kill zone and the best I can figure is maybe when the broadhead tried to open it jammed between the ribs somehow and lost a lot of energy.

It's easy to say I'm full of it and the shot placement was bad, but I've taken too many deer and boar to be overly excited and have such a whacked image of where the arrow landed. I can't force anyone to believe me but I had a good enough view of the deer in the clear, plenty of light, and I was close and on the ground with a perfect broadside.

The arrow hit and stuck in the center of the lung area and didn't go in. Take it for what it's worth, and call me a crackpot, but if I was using the regular broadheads I normally use there would be a deer hanging from my hanging tree.

Thorneswift

I should have added that the last deer I took was with a 40/45 pound bear recurve and cedar arrows fitted with 2 blade Zwickeys at about 25 yards also from the ground. Also, I would fully agree that in the majority of cases expandables work well. All I'm saying is that after seeing what happened yesterday simple may be better. It's easy to say I'm a whiney little #ussy and I didn't hit the right spot, but gentlemen, I served 12 years in the military not only in armor as a tanker on an Abrahms and in artillery, but also as a fueler in a mech infantry unit. I've been hunting for a good many years and never take chances with wild shots. I'm pretty reliable at seeing where things hit.

It's your choice whether you accept that the broadhead malfunctioned or that I malfunctioned but I sure wish somone told me earlier that there's a chance that they may screw up so I would have made a more informed decision.

Anyhow, here's your chance to say I'm a bad shot some more without me wasting your time discussing the issue anymore. I'm out of here.

Windwalker7

I'm experienced with mechanicals and fixed blades. I've taken 55 deer with bow and arrow with a majority being with various mecnahicals. (Mostly does and small bucks)

I've used Punchcutters, Rockets and Wasp Jak-Hammers all in 75 grn.

I've also used various fixed blades Thunder Head 125's, Wasp cam-lok's, Satelites and Muzzy 75's.

I've hit the shoulder blade several times ( with both types of heads )and lost several deer in my 30 years hunting. That's nothing to be proud of but it happened and I admit it.

When it happened it was exactly as you said. A loud smack sound, very little penetration and very little blood trail. So based on my experience, that is what you did. I wasn't there but you described to me what I've experienced.

As far as a Mechanical not opening and causing the arrow not to penetrate, I doubt that. I'll tell you why.

A few times I had hit deer with Rocket Miniblasters. As most people know, after one shot blades get bent, broke and twisted. They aren't very durable. Anyway I hita doe and found my arrow. The head was in bad shape with 2 blades broke off. As I was tracking the doe, it stood up about 20 yds in front of me. I knocked the arrow I just shot and shot it again, broken blades, bloodand all. It did a complete pass through. The first shot only got 1 lung while the second got both.

A similar thing happened two more times without a complete pass through but the broadhead was sticking out the other side.

Ribs are soft bone compared to leg and shoulder bones. I don'tbelieve a rib from a whitetail can stop arrows, even without blades.

Like I said , I wasn't there. You were. Just giving youmy opinion based on my experience.

davidmil

Troll Alert.