annika3

You're right, you can't fix stupid so would you rather have erratic flight with a fixed which will greatly diminish your penetration or a rear opening mechanical hitting its mark.

Do you think those same guys that can't get a fixed to fly right and switch to a mechanical would actually try to tune there bow for a fixed head?

GMMAT

I don't know if they'd try or not.

But, at least they'd know they were out of tune. It's their decision, then, on whether or not to hunt that way.

Like I said....you can't fix stupid.

fordtough150

I've only taken one deer with a Rage. Very little penetration because I hit the shoulder. Gotta love a deer that drops on the spot!

annika3

I don't want to make this sound like an argument because I respect what you say but you answer everything but the simple question I keep asking.

Out of a slightly untuned bow would you have rather shoot"

A fixed head with erratic flight?
A mechanical that will still hit its spot?

BetterBirddogs

I have only have two experiences with Rage broadheads and neither of them were shot out of my bow. I was hunting with a buddy two years ago and he made a great shot on a nice big buck. He got about about 6 inches of penetration out of a Switchback XT pulling 65lbs. The Rage opened like it should and put a massive hole in his deer. One thing I found interesting is that there was NO blood trail at all to follow. He watched the deer tip over about 200 yards away but there was zero blood to follow. It puzzled me due to the hole that guy was sporting. In that instance the arrow went in and hit both lungs and destroyed the deer.

In my second experience with the Rage I had a buddy in from Miss to hunt and he shot a nice big buck with the Rage. He called me and told me he made a good shot but couldn't find any sign. I immediately thought to myself that his shot must have been off. We gathered a posse together and went through the woods in search of his deer. There was zero blood anywhere. I ended up finding the deer about 100 yards from his stand stone dead with the arrow still in him. He got 6-7 inches of penetration out of a Hoyt Trykon pulling 70 lbs. This was a good shot as well. The Rage deployed as it should and the entrance hole was massive but NO blood trail.

Both shots I witnessed first hand were textbook double lung kills with minimal penetration out of pretty good stout setups. I think the Rage is a good head. It performed like it should other then the lack of penetration and clear absence of blood trails to follow.

For years I have shot Thunderhead fixed blade 75 grain heads. I shoot and tweak my bow religiously folks. If I'm not chopping fletchings off at 30 yards I'm not happy. I stay on top of my bow through and through and have NEVER had a flight issue with a fixed blade broadhead. I piledrived several big bucks with complete pass throughs from 20 yards to 50 yards with huge blood trails. I bought a Z7 this year and switched to Grim Reaper 75 grain heads and absolutely love them. I will tell you this though. I heart shot a buck two nights ago at about 17 yards and he went 50 yards on a dead run and face planted. My arrow had very little blood on it and there was no blood on the ground whatsoever. I'm pulling 77 lbs with my bow. The end result was good but he would have left my sight I might have been in trouble.

I have shot several does with the same setup this season also and have had bloodtrails that looked like someone spilled red paint on the ground.

I agree that you can get a good broadhead to fly like you want if you pay attention to your equipment and tune it as necessary.

annika3

What's strange is that I shoot a 70lb Switchback, almost the same as your first story, and have got complete passthroughs on 13 out of 13 deer and 6 of those being mature (270-330lb live weight) bucks.

GMMAT

This is what kills me about mechanicals.

You're basically telling everyone ..."if you're slightly out of tune, it's OK to stick a mechanical band-aid on your setup".

I won't go there.

If something's out of tune -------------fix it.

annika3

NO! So far from the truth. Please don't try to mix my words. What I am saying is most guys don't ever tune their bow so they go out and IF they even practice with a BH and it hits somewhat close to their FP they go hunting.

With that scenario, which is a very common one, the bowhunter isn't going to very successful.

What I am asking you, which you continue to tip toe around, would it be better to use a mechanical that will at least hit it's mark rather than a fixed that will fly erratic.

I am not saying to shoot the mechanical to put a band-aid
on your setup. But in the real world my scenario is the most common one.

GMMAT

You'll get no argument from me.

fordtough150

What distances were both of the bucks shot at with the Rage tips?