Bow wounding article
 

In this month's Bowhunter, not to be cornfused with Bowhunting, C.J. Winand wrote of two studies and his own experiences with this issue. He mentions a doe he thought he had hit well that went about a half mile before they found the single lung hit animal.

He suggests we are 110% sure of a double lung hit before we loose our arrows.

While the AR groups often quote a 50% non-recovery rate, two studies mentioned show that the actual number is closer to 13-14%.

He goes on to say that he, like someone else I know :), fully supports the use of mechanical heads. He works with urban bowhunter groups and sees many deer harvested and is convinced these heads lead to good blood trails and quick recoveries.

He notes that most hunters get excellent arrow flight with them and therefore also get the most important shot placement- to make the much desired double lung shot. They also commonly open up to larger than fixed broadheads in cutting diameters and this caused the good blood trails and quick recoveries.

He noted this was going to generate a lot of comment and said if your getting good results with a fixed head, great, but don't be afraid to try a mechanical either.

Well done CJ!

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I heard that mechanicals can malfunction....a.k.a. not open up when they hit a deer and just bounce off.

"Pain is weakness leaving the body"

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I'll stick with my 3 blade 100gr Muzzy's. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I've taken better that 20 deer with mechanical broadheads. Never had any malfunction.

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I'll stick with my fixed blades for now, maybe I'll try mechs just to see what they are like

"Pain is weakness leaving the body"

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I have been using mechanicals for the past 3 years and have taken 12 deer with them and never a mishap all flew and opened perfectly and most deer dropped within 40yds some even less. In fact the last one this year ran about 10 or 15 yds and stopped and just lay down and dies . I love them . I must also say my bow is in perfect tune also it flies muzzies great bit I just love my mechaincals.

RE: Bow wounding article
 

maybe I will use the mechanicals in the future, but here in NY you have to be careful with the regs! I like my Muzzy, 3 blade 100s and will stick with them for now! The one question I got is how can you be 110% sure? I remember this years hunt and the excitemtn of the first bow kill and adreline, and the varibles that exists! 110% at the time the arrow is shot can dwindle quickly after that because of so many factors! Well at least it seems to me that way in MHO!

Der Jagd Meister
aka [email protected]

RE: Bow wounding article
 

Good point, but the way to be 110% sure is to wait for a clear, stranding, broadside shot at CLOSE range. I know very few bowhunters who say their effective range is anything less than 30 yards, but very few of them should be shooting at a live animal past 20 yards.
A 30 yard shot is a long one, and most bowhunters, unless you shoot year round, have no business slinging an arrow 30 yards at a live critter.

I use Muzzys and Shockwaves interchangeably, either one will kill a deer with a double lung hit every time. I've never actually saw a case where a mechanical head failed, too many times the bowhunters blame their own bad shot on the broadhead.

I must say, if I lost better than 1 out of every 10 deer I shot at, I'd give some thought to improving or trying another sport.

Just my rambling thoughts...


"In heaven, even the fish have antlers"

RE: Bow wounding article
 

PAhunter,If a mechanical head didn' t open when it hit a deer it wouldn' t bounce off..I' ve killed 4 deer with rocket steelhead 100' s and none went over 50 yds.In fact last year I hit a buck and he ran about 20 ft. straight into an oak tree and died..

RE: Bow wounding article
 

I have Never lost a deer while bow hunting, I hope I never do. The closest it came was about 8 yrs ago, and I was using Mechanicals. I made a double lung shot the arrow passed through, but the blades did not open. The li' l o' ring was stillin place when I found my arrow, there was some blood and and I spent the next 11 or 12 hrs looking for the deer, that was the last time I used any Mechs. If I had not punched a hole through a major artery I might not have found the deer. I will also admitt to killing 2 other deer with the mechs up to that point. I' ve used only the Muzzy 3 blade in 100 and 125s sense.

RE: Bow wounding article
 

Looks like there are more positive reports then negative here on mechanicals. My fixed blade Steel Force 85' s do the job well, also a well placed arrow doesn' t hurt either. But like PAhunter said, I might give them a " shot" .

RE: Bow wounding article
 

6ptsika, I agree with you completely. So many times a hunter screws up and blames in on their gear. Here' s a point; How can you be sure the broadhead failed (mechanical or fixed) if you don' t recover the animal? I have had the unfortunate incident of losing a wounded deer and the only thing I can attribute to my failures is myself.

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RE: Bow wounding article
 

I have been using mechanicals for about 5 years now and can find no problem with them. This year I tried something different. I am using a drop away rest for 3 Ds and I tried it for bowhunting. What I did was fletched my arrows with six fletch, 2" long and some other lengths. My bow was set up with a quarter bubble above 90 degrees and 5/8" from the sight window for center shot. I tried muzzy, and various other blades that I have accumulated over the years. All of the fixed blades seemed to fly as good as mechanical heads and I tried them all the out to 35 yards. This is something that we used to try for field archery with a flipper rest and with the proper set up you could shoot six fletch very well. With the proper set up this may help if you are having trouble shooting fixed blades.