I heard an interesting story about a mechanical(Rocket) last night at the range, just wondered if anybody has heard of similar happening??? Last fall a mulie buck was hit a little low just behind the front leg, the deer went over the hill with the arrow hanging out , wrenching as he trotted (the guy who shot it figured it would be working over the vitals as a fixed head should do while the deer was trotting away). To shorten this it took 8 hours and another shot to put the mulie down for good. Apparently the head opened up on impact & then snapped back to the closed postion. I know the guy very well who told me the story and have never known him to not be honest. He is an experienced bow hunter with a good number of harvests to his credit, so I have no reason to believe he is BSing me. Anybody hear stories or accounts similar to this before?

It seems with every positive story I hear at least 2 negative stories with regards to mechanicals, some can be attributed to poor shot, not enough KE, BH choice, etc. I just can' t bring myself to load mechs and switch from fixed BH' s which have never caused me a minutes worry.

skeeter those bad stories will never end with mechanicals as long as you have people shooting cheap ones or shooting them out of bows that do not produce enough KE. Good mecahnicals shot out of a bow with enough KE do an excellent job.

Here is my theory......why take the chance of a mishap?

I agree with tazman. Too many clowns use mechanicals as a crutch for poor tuninga and shooting abillity. I' ve been using rocket mini-blasters for five years and have yet to see one fail. I also think that the blades do close and don' t do secondary cutting damage. The cure is to not rely on this kind of damage and shoot through the beast. Use good heads and enough KE and pass through is common.

Cougar here is another theory, why take the chance on a fixed head sailing on you and winding up with a wounded or missed deer?

Fixed blades do on occasion sail.

Taz & biggunz I personally have only limited experience with mechanicals at that it is in the backyard and only foam. I have no clue if the blades snapping closed is an actual failure or true to design, as this was one of the better mech. heads on the market (Rocket). This guy mentioned the shot was low and he admits not perfect, he had tested the rockets through wood, foam, calf hide...you name it and was pleased up until the game end. I guess he was saying had the head been a fixed that deer would have went down easier, but due to the lack of secondary damage it did not happen that way. We all know mistakes can happen in the field and that if excuted most heads will perform as intended. I was more curious to see if other had any similar recounts with mechs por if this is indeed a failure of the head. I agree a lot of the FUD (Fear, Uncertainity and Doubt) may not be from the head but rather the shooter, but I have had no problems or worries with a fixed head prior so why chance it now. I do regularily try different fixed heads and this year I will be using the Magnus Stingers instead of my muzzy' s. Just to say I am not one who is opposed to change by any means, I just haven' t experienced the flight or tuning problems some have with fixed heads.

My understanding is; most who prefer mechanicals is due to the BH acting like their field points vs Fixed heads, is this not the case??? If not what do you feel are other advantages of mech over fixed BH' s??

Taz, I have had a fixed blade broadhead sail in the past but.......that was while I was checking each broadhead and arrow. I have not had any fixed blades(Muzzy) sail on me while hunting. Honestly, ,my fixed blades shoot right with my field points. I can shoot both without moving my sight pins, and hold the pin exactly in the same spot with either. I don' t have to worry about the blades opening at any angle or opening upon impact because my fixed blades are already open.

well, larger cutting diameter for one, especially handy for turkeys, and the other, is the mech. won' t plain as much, which can be caused by bad shooting form and also shooting in a cross wind, such as out here in the west on antelope or mule deer! As far as weather or not a fixed head would keep doing more damage in an animal than a mech head would, heck, I thought evryone that shoots fixed heads ALWAYS get pass throughs! So, apparently, with either type of head, the damage should be already done on entry!!

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Try shooting 30 - 40 yards with them on a windy day and tell me they hit exactly like your field points every time!

That happens to be the main reason I prefer mechanicals over fixed blade heads! It has nothing whatsoever to do with tuning my bow! I guarantee you my bow is as well tuned as anyone elses bow here. I use to limit my hunting shots inside twenty yards on windy days. Now with the decent mechs on the market I' ve gone back to my forty yard max regardless of the wind.

Are there stories of mishaps with mech heads? Sure! Are there stories of mishaps with fixed blades?? Darn straight!
Shoot what you want and let your own track record speak for itself!