BROADHEADS
Broadheads have got to be the hottest debate among bowhunters aside from which bow to shoot. The two major differences in broadheads are fixed blade vs. mechanical broadheads. There is this constant debate that mechanical heads - due to their moving parts-are prone to failure at soem point. Stories of blades not opening properly or breaking off on impact fill the internet and hunting magazines. The tried and true broadhead seems to always be the fixed blade broadhead. While their construction suggests they are more reliable, the fixed blade broadheads can cause many new bowhunters a great deal fo trouble in tuning and shooting their bows.
Fixed Blade Broadheads
These heads can be tough to tune out of your bow due to the fact that the blades act as rudders as the arrow is in flight. If your bow is even slightly out of tune, the broadhead will exaggerate the movement and throw the arrow off target. This often results in lasy minute resighting of your bow or adjustments to your rest to make your arrows fly properly. As a result, fixed blade broadhead manufacturers have been shy to expand the cutting diamter of their heads much beyond 1.25 inches. Mechanical broadheads have made huge strides in this area and now offer cutting diameters of 2 inches. One of the benefits of the fixed blade head is just that, the fixed position of the blades. They tend to be a very sturdy broadhead that will withstand and even penetrate bone. Mechanical heads will struggle in this area due to the loss of energy as the blades open on impact.
Mechanical Broadheads
Mechanical broadheads fly like your target tips and open their full cutting blades upon impact with an animal. Fixed blades are tougher - no question, but mechanicals are easier to shoot. The lower profile of the unopened blades offers very little wind resistance while the arrow is in flight. Manufacturers routinely advertise the broadheads will fly just like your field points-and they do. Mechanical broadheads also offer very large cutting diamters that leave impressive entrance and exit wounds, not to mention extreme blood trails. Hunters will find they do not perform well on bone as some energy is lost when the blades open on impact with the animal, but they will certainly penetrate the ribcage.
The Best Tip
Pay special attention to the tip of your broadhead, regardless of a fixed blade or mechanical design. You will find either chisel tip, which is a basic pointed tip or cut on contact tips which are razor blade tips or small blades mounted at the tip of the head. I would suggest cut on contact type broadheads over chisel tip as it seems to me that especially in the case of a mechanical broadhead, if something goes wrong and the blades don't deploy, you would still achieve a cut through the vitals. A chidel tip may be stronger and able to withstand a hit to the shoulder of a deer, but I would prefer to think that a cutting tip would result in more damage.
My Experiences
I started hunting with Rocky Mountain fixed blade broadheads and they flew fine out of my bow for years. When I upgraded my bow to a faster model with lighter arrows I couldn't get them to fly straight so went to mechanical broadheads and have never looked back.
I used a variety of mechanical heads and found some problems with their performance, but I always found well hit deer regardless of which broadhead I used. My mechanical broadheads have always opened on imapct, but I have seen many, many broken blades. For this reason I look very closely at the thickness of the steel used in construction fo the blades. I have also experienced a very bad deflection of an arrow on an extreme angle shot - but just once. Even though the deflection was terrible the arrow passed through and killed the deer within 50 yards. To see the arrow on impact made my heart sink, but it turned out ok. In short, I think you'll find that if a hunter uses a specific broadhead for enough seasons they are bound to have good and bad experiences. What it really comes down to is the hunters ability to put the broadhead in the vitals of a deer - marginal hits are marginal hits and you should consider yourself fortunate to find those animals as it is due to very little skill and mostly luck. The broadhead is rarely to blame.
As a side note, with this archery season nearly in the books here in NY I am happy to report that I collected my first deer with the Rage broadheads. I had a shot about 10 feet from the base of my tree at an extreme downward angle. The Rage broadhead performed perfectly with the deer barely flinching at impact. It trotted about 10 yards and began to wobble and then just fell over at 40 yards. A complete pass through. Broadhead went into the ground about 6 inches and didn't sustain any damage - just plugged with dirt. I'll replace the blades and use the head again next season. Very impressed with the cut in the back and belly of the deer and even went straight through a rib on the way down through.