broadhead for bear

[Pietila]

This spring will be my first time hunting black bear.. my bows all set and ready i just need to know if i should use mechanical or a fixed blade broadhead. I know the fixed blades usually have better penetration.. but the mechanical shoot true to the field tips ( or so they say). any info is appreciated

[Bowzone_Mikey]

shoot a quality head and take high percentage shots and it dont matter which one you use

general school of thought is you need a higher KE to use a mech head .... depends upon the design ... general school of thought is because of the hair etc .. only use fixed blades on bear ... I dont believe that ... But when I have mechanical heads on I wait for a better broadside shot on spring bear.

Quality heads in my expiriance include, Fixed G5 Montecs, Slick Tricks, Muzzy MX series, Rocky Mtn Premeires, Rocket Ultimate steels,
Mech heads include Rocket Steelheads, NAP somethings ... G5 Tekan II, Newer Model Rages (I found alot of the earlier ones opened in flight on me ... a common problem with fast bows evidently... later ones this problem has been fixed)

I am sure others will pipe in with what has worked for them

[TheProvider]

Its an old age question. Which is better mechanical or fixed? Everyone has their preference. Better penetration or ample blood lose? I myself have never used amechanical head. I've always used fixed muzzy heads and never had a problem with penetration. However I'm very interested in trying out Rage mechanical broadheads. My suggestion is to do as much research on mechanical vs fixed broadheads. Once you decided on one or the other research brands and choose one you feel confident about. Even if thepackage says "Fly's like field tip!" practice with them! You don't wanna have a bad shot due to your broadhead not flying the same as your field tip. When it comes down to it you wanna be 100% confident in your equipment. Good Luck on choosing

[Pietila]

My set-up is a mission maniac 70# but its set at about 60 (going to get it weighed before i buy new broadheads) and my draw length is 27.5. I was just shooting field tips cause this is my first bow and i got it during the last 2 weeks of deer hunting not wanting to take anything.. more to just get used to packing it in the bush and practice my shot.

[Nathaniel Poe]

general school of thought is you need a higher KE to use a mech head .... depends upon the design ... general school of thought is because of the hair etc .. only use fixed blades on bear ... I dont believe that ... But when I have mechanical heads on I wait for a better broadside shot on spring bear.

what has your personal field experience been with mechanicals vs fixed? You seem to favor Mech heads?????

[tomahawk]

Whatever you choose you need to buy some and get out and shoot some into sand or a broadhead target to make sure that your arrows with that broadhead attached are tuned in for accuracy. Like Kirby and The Provider I have only ever used Fixed Blade 125 Thunderheads but then I have been shooting a bow since the 80's and there was not a good selection of heavy duty trustable mechanical's to choose from back then so I have just stuck with the Thunderheads. They are tough as nails, busted bone on moose, deer, mountain goats and bears and never had a failure with the blades.

[Bowzone_Mikey]

what has your personal field experience been with mechanicals vs fixed? You seem to favor Mech heads?????


I shoot em both ... I Started bowhunting with fixed blades ... But living in the windiest place in North America at the time ...I found I had alot of planing even with cutout blades ... found some quality mechs, knocked my vane size right down ... not nearly the amount of wind drift after that .... My heads of choice are Rocket Steelhead XPs (the XPs have a cut on contact skinner blade where the original Rocket Steelheads have a chisel tip... Both are great heads and I have harvested everything I have ever shoot with either one ....) and Rocket Ultimate Steels (they are a 7/8" cutting diameter fixed head and Zip thru anything from bear, deer elk and moose)

I personally choose small profile heads because of personal expiriance dictates to me they are more versatile in adverse weather conditions
And both heads I have the same impact point out to 60 yards with my bow

[mikeboehm]

ive used rage 3 blade broadheads and they are a waste of money. they never opened up when shot into a target. the blade woulld catch and not open. ive never tryed the 2 blade but i will never waste my money on a rage product again. too much money for junk broadheads. i use muzzy mx4 and are very happy with them

[Ambush]

Nap Spitfires with the chisel point are my choice for mechanicals. Big holes, big blood trails, and never had a failure. For a fixed head, it's Slick Tricks. Four blade, VERY sharp, tough and they also leave wide, red path to follow.

You can buy a set of practice blades for the Spitfires, so you don't have to wreck your hunting heads or your target.

Most broad head "failures" are actually nothing more than poor shot placement and an unwillingness to man up to it.

[325]

I'm hoping to try my Slick Tricks on a big blackie this spring.

[backcountrybowhunter]

shoot a tekan broadhead tuff as nails, and rearword deploying blades minimizes kinetic energy loss

Good luck

[backcountrybowhunter]

killed my first and only bear with a bow, with slick trick standards in alberta

[killman]

I have Both Slick trick (grizz tricks)fix blade and the Nap spitfires( Mech.). I have killed nothing with either so I will keep my opinion to myself.... :)

[wiggy]

spitfires; everything ive ever shot is dead:mrgreen:

[Bow Walker]

All I have ever hunted with have been fixed blade - well I class replaceable blade heads as fixed - and they have work very well for me.

My two heads of choice are Slick Tricks and Muzzy's.

[troutseeker]

I have been shooting 125 gr Thunderheads for as long as I an remember. They are strong as heck and have flown true in the 3 bows I've shot them from, plus they killed everything I shot with them.

[BiG Boar]

My thinking is one less thing to fail. I went with fixed. The montec G5's have yet to fail me and seem to fly exactly like a field point. But I think even a field point with proper placement should kill anything.

[triggr31]

Skinny arrows small fixed blades are about your best option encourages great opportunity for pass through . one main thing on bears is 11 grains per pound of bow .It gets the KE (kinetic energy up) garanteed to pound boo boo . Good luck out there .let me know how your season goes . send pics

[Ambush]

Skinny arrows small fixed blades are about your best option encourages great opportunity for pass through . one main thing on bears is 11 grains per pound of bow .It gets the KE (kinetic energy up) garanteed to pound boo boo . Good luck out there .let me know how your season goes . send pics

Skinny arrows with a stiff spine I can agree with.

If you meant 11 grains per inch of arrow and not 11 grains per pound of pull, then OK for that to.

BUT I totally disagree with the small broad head. Bears are not tough to penetrate or kill. But they are notorious for not leaving a blood trail for the first part of their run. Big holes put them down faster and leave a trail quicker.

Here's a post I put up sometime ago offering my opinions on choosing a broad head.

Broad Heads: How to Pick One.
Anyone looking for info on broad head selection on HBC may have to do quite a bit of "sifting". Hope this may help anyone new to bow hunting. As most advice, this is free, so take it for what it's worth. This discussion is specific to modern compound bows.

Many hunters shoot certain broad heads for different reasons. Some research and ask around, others because they heard this or that kind kill better than anything else and some because that's what the neighbor gave them when he was cleaning out his garage. Some buy on superstition it seems. But there are some physical properties that a hunter should consider, that can be mathematically determined.

To kill an animal cleanly, you have to first hit it and then have that hit inflict a mortal wound.

So first, you have to hit the animal. That means a level of repeatable accuracy. But here is where things can separate. Acceptable accuracy to a southern US treestand whitetail hunter, would spell disaster for the man hunting caribou, mountain sheep or open country mule deer. So what and where you hunt dictates, in part, your head choice. If I never shot past twenty yards, I would use the biggest cutting blades I could find. Wind planing is not much of an issue out to twenty yards and a huge entry and exit whole will mean short heavy blood tails.

If I was a hunter that stayed on the Island, where most shots would be close and the vegetation is thick, again I'd pick a big head. But in this case, I would use a fixed two blade. With all the leaves and small vines, I think the possibility of a mechanical head snagging a twig or vine and deploying that blade should be considered. Also, a two blade, being essentially one dimensional, would thread through the vegetation with less contact, lessening the chance of deflection. Something along the lines of the German Kinetic heads.

But a good portion of BC lends its self to longer range shooting. So now we need accuracy at longer ranges and I think that leaves the large fixed blades in second place. Wind planing being the culprit. You can help overcome planing by spinning the arrow faster with extreme helical fletching. But this robs speed, which you need for penetration and trajectory. So I think that is a poor choice. Better to avoid the problem than try to manage it. This is where the smaller heads and heads with generous cut outs, in the blades, take over. Good arrow flight is essential for longer range shooting and many of the new heads can deliver it.
This is where mechanicals [expendables] have really gained in popularity. Field point shape, gives field point accuracy and still maintaining the large wound channel that means a quick recovery. Precision mass-manufacturing has made them available at price's any hunter can afford. Quality has become common place in most company's offerings for all types of heads.

So now you have a head that you can hit them with. But will it do the job when it gets there?

Since blood loss is the cause of death in bow hunting, then it stands that the quicker the blood loss the sooner the death of the animal. And that is accomplished by putting the largest hole possible through the lungs and or heart. At close range, that is easily done by using a big head and pushing it all the way through.
At longer ranges, we have to deal with the accuracy issue AND sufficient blood loss. Penetration needs to be a consideration now also as velocities diminish. The choice of broad heads is now narrowing. We start trading between cut area and flight characteristics. Small head, good flight, but small wound channel and vice versa.
For myself, I won't use a fixed head with less than a 1 1/4" cut, a sentiment that many will challenge me on. That's fine, I'm not here to argue mine against yours, only what I prefer. I was very impressed with the Slick Trick, Grizzly Trick, four blade 1 1/4' fixed heads I saw tear through two bears. It could be the extra blade that makes them just that much more effective. I bought some and have been shooting them at targets and so far the flight has been excellent. I will have some of these in my quiver, next to the Spitfires, this fall.

My preference for the last several years has been the NAP Spitfire expandables. Superb flight and a 1 1/2" cut with plenty of penetration to double lung a large bull moose at forty-five yards. Bears are nearly always a pass through. I find the Rage two blades are deadly accurate and just deadly, but I've had trouble keeping the blades in place. For that one reason alone, I'm using them up in controlled situations and buying no more. They do have a new version out that addresses this issue, so they should be worth a look.

So I'm counting on two broad heads to cover all my hunting. The Spitfire and the Grizzly tricks. One mechanical and one fixed replaceable blade head. Both deliver downrange accuracy, penetration and the kind of blood trail that even I can follow.
Are my choices right for you? Maybe. But, if they were the perfect broad head, they'd be the only ones still being made.

When choosing, keep in mind, your target, terrain, shooting ability and the energy your capable of imparting to your arrow. Kinetic energy, which plays a vital role, is a topic for another day or for someone else.

Fall is coming fast and now is the time to get to the point. Good luck.

[rattling_junkie]

My set-up is a mission maniac 70# but its set at about 60 (going to get it weighed before i buy new broadheads) and my draw length is 27.5. I was just shooting field tips cause this is my first bow and i got it during the last 2 weeks of deer hunting not wanting to take anything.. more to just get used to packing it in the bush and practice my shot.

I suggest shooting a fixed blade since your draw length is rather short and you aren't pulling much weight. I actually have an inch shorter draw and only pull back 56 lbs.

I believe in fixed blade although I have killed a bear and multiple whitetails with expandable heads. I have used the Rage head once and it worked like every broadhead will if placed right. What I do not like about it is that the blades open up really easily and with a short draw and low weight pushing a two inch open head is difficult through an animal. I didn't get a complete pass through on my buck.

I have shot Magnus Snuffer SS head. This is a low profile head. Magnus offers lifetime warranty with no questions asked. If you actually wanted to replace the heads you could shoot them all intentionally into a rock an mail them back. They actually tell you themselves. Mike and Woody are good guys, you should have no problem with customer service. These heads are being revamped and should be out in July but you can still buy some of the old design which works great. The only down side to this head is that it takes some time to sharpen since they don't come razor sharp out of the package. Hence the reason for a new model. These heads tune extremely easy. Oh ya it is a 3 fixed-bladed broadhead.

Steel Force Phatheads are an awesome broadhead. Very very sharp! Shaves hair out of the package and very strong. It is actually thickest head on the market. It is a two replaceable bladed broadhead with 2 bleeder blades. This company offers free sharpening as well. I have no complaints with this head and it tunes relatively easily but not as nice as the Snuffer SS.

Before you shoot any broadhead at an animal make sure your arrows are tuned. By this I mean that they are flying straight. You can tell if they are when pulling your arrows out of the target. Also bare shaft tuning works really well and I would advocate this over paper tuning. Enlist one of the employees at your local bowshop to help walk you through the process. It will feel really rewarding to know that your bow is tuned and that your arrows are flying straight.

Good luck!

[ThinAir]

The new rage's are great!! I've seen the old style...and they are junk.

[ROEBUCK]

3354I use 100gr montecs and easton 400,s with my switchback :-D

[Bow Walker]

What I look for in a b'head is the blade strength, and what it has for a tip. By that I mean I want a strong bladed head (.40" or better) that has a trocar-type tip for breaking through bones and such. Width of the blades doesn't really matter to me all that much as anything that is 1" or more will do the job, providing it is placed in the appropriate location.

The ability to re-sharpen the blades is a concern as well.

[StoneChaser]

I'll be using Slik Trick 100gr this year on bear.

[Long bow]

I agree. tune broad heads today in a box filled with foam insulation. the arrow stuck out just enough to reveil 1 fully open blade, and 2 binding on each other. I would never use them to hunt... expesive crow tips maybe...

[Slugman]

How bout a quality Canadian design here boys? PX2 Ribrunners sure did a number on my buck and I have heard of guys having great success with bear as well. These require very little tuning if any to get them flying with field points and offer a healthy 1 1/4" fixed blade cut.

[Superdeuce]

Slick Tricks are one of the better quality broadheads for hunting. I actually have 2 brand new paks of 100gr SlickTrick Magnums if anyone is shooting this broadhead and is interested. I posted them on the classified thread.

[badboybowhunter]

I am new here but I wanted to share this with you. I am not much for mechanical heads...I purchased my MX-3s there...www.broad-head.com.

[jetboat jim]

i have taken animals with both slick tricks and muzzy's in 100 gn....both did tons of damage

[badboybowhunter]

I have found the muzzy's to hold up especially if I hit bone