Mechanical or fixed
#11
125 grain 4 blade Magnus Buzzcuts. Been thinking about trying a mechanical, but the Buzzcuts have yet to give me a reason to switch. I have a whole mess of different broadheads that I've tested on a target, intending to take them hunting, but they never seem to make it in my quiver.
#13
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 282
I've used the Magnus Stinger and Buzzcuts for many years and harvested quite a few deer with them. I liked the lifetime guarantee with them but the reason I switched is they are not as strong as the Slick Trick Viper Tricks I am now using in my lighter poundage bow. In my heavier bow I use Rage Hypodermics for deer size critters. Blood trails are excellent and death is quick. The big cut is a plus too should I ever make a less than ideal shot which is bound to happen sooner or later but which I don't ever want.
I do like the ferrule they used on the Rage Hypo's, but I'm not a huge fan of the blade angle. If they'd made the ferrule a little longer and swept the blades back a little more (or just made it 1 3/4" cut) I'd probably be more interested. I do have some of the new SS heads, but I'll probably end up using the same old Stingers I used last year.
#16
The Rage 3 blade has a tendency to "hang up" after being deployed into an animal. The way they operate, on a slide rather than a pivot point, they SOMETIMES, not all the time, will lock open which NY state considers that to be a "Barbed" or "hooked" point. Now, this was 3 or 4 years ago when this issue became a pretty hot debate among hunters in NY state that really liked the Rage 3. Since the design is for them to retract, and they do just not consistently, many feel they should not be illegal. NY State disagrees. Honestly, I don't use mechanicals anymore but back when I did, I did have a couple lock open after penetrating rib bone. A couple of the blades got a little bent. These were the popular Rocket Steelhead BH's 100 grain. So my opinion on NY's ruling is if they disallow the Rage 3 then they should disallow ALL mechanicals because any one of them could get locked open.
As far as what I use, and have been using since around 2000-2001, is the G5 Montec on my hard and fast compounds and the Slick Trick standard or magnum (depending on the bow) on my Traditionals and my slower bows. Thinking seriously about switching to the Viper Trick on my traditionals as that is a mean looking cut on impact design.
#18
#19
Fork Horn
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Illinois
Posts: 282
But, back to the broadhead issue - Why would you advocate a ban on ALL mechanical broadheads? It seems to me they were very specific, in that they banned the 3 blade Rage only, because it was the only model that had issues with the blades retracting properly. If the blades on other heads had similar issues, don't you think they would have banned them as well? Banning ALL mechanical broadheads when the 3 blade Rage is the only one with an issue would be kind of like recalling every single pickup truck on the road, when they found an issue that is specific to the Ford F150 only...
Besides, if you're telling me that it's possible for a Grim Reaper or a Wasp Jackhammer to somehow get locked open, you're nuts.
#20
No just saying that yes ANY mechanical has the possibility to get one or more blades locked open if they hit heavy bone. Say clipped the back of the shoulder joint on entry. Yep even a Reaper blade can and has been bent and if bent, they aint going to go back up into their slots. In other words, LOCKED OPEN. Was saying that if you ban ONE for this possibility then shouldn't you be fair and ban ALL that this can happen to? Basically, it's not fair for them to ban a perfectly good broadhead for something that pretty much any other mechanical broadhead is susceptible to. Just NY State doesn't agree with that perfectly reasonable concept.