I currently shoot slick trick standards but I'm considering switching to mechanicals this year. I have it narrowed down to NAP Killzones or the Dead Ringer Super Freak. Does anyone have any experience with either of these heads? Thanks!
I have shot the NAP Killzones. I like the damage that they do, But you do sacrifice penetration because of it. I have shot four bucks with them and two were pass throughs and the other two were not. To be honest, i would switch to a different broad head this year but since i have so many left, i will give them one more year.
That was my biggest concern with the huge cutting diamater. From what I have seen they do incredible damage though.
With the large diameter mechanicals you really need to have your bow tuned for best arrow flight and performance. My friend shoots the big 2.3" Rage Extremes and with a 60# PSE Drive he gets pass throughs but he is very particular about making sure his bow shoots as close to perfect as he can get it.
A heavier arrow generally leads to more kinetic energy which = greater penetration. I would say 450 isn't completely necessary but I do agree with a heavier arrow for use of mechanicals.
I used Nap Killzones last year for the first time. First buck was a double lung pass through with excellent blood trail (I could follow it even with being color blind) deer went 40 yards. Second buck taken was a double lung no pass through, excellent blood trail again deer went 75 yards. Entrance opening was about 1.25"-1.5" and exit was 1.5"
Have shot NAP Killzones and Rage Hypo's and Rage regular heads for years. Have had great success with them all, deer and bear no problem. Like any head it's about shot placement. I really like the Killzone blade retention over the Rage but Rage did mitigate that with shock collar IMO. Have not heard about or used Dead Ringer SF's.
Thanks for the input guys. I'm not a fan of the blade retention on the Rages. Just not something I would feel confident in.
One thing that I think gets over looked by lots of people is that any broadhead will do the trick when the arrow goes where you want it to. We should buy broadheads that give us the best chance to recover an animal when the arrow doesn't go where we want it. I'm fortunate to see LOTS of animals get shot with lots of different broadheads. In my experience 70%+ of "poor" shots are too far back. Mainly because animals never walk backwards... Two holes are nice don't get me wrong but a big nasty mechanical does far more tissue damage than a fixed blade head, there is no denying that. Aside from that, if you can't pass through the guts, you have a problem. Do fixed blades head penetrate better? Absolutely. I guess I would think about any animals that you didn't make a perfect shot, where was the bad hit... which would have provided better results more penetration or more tissue damage? I shot this doe from the ground, the arrow never entered the body cavity and she died 150 yards later. The arrow hit behind the shoulder and above the spine (yes, it's possible and we can discuss that in a different thread :D). The broadhead cut across almost horizontally as you can see, there is no exit hole because it was one big slice. This was an NAP killzone, I truly believe I wouldn't have had the same results with a 1" hole.
Thanks Dubbya! I had a guy last year give me an almost identical explanation of why he uses Rage broadheads...to make the marginal shots have better results. Quite frankly it makes a lot of sense. I think that is why I'm leaning toward a mechanical, I just can't make up my mind on what to go with.
Here's an exit with a G5 Montec . I know I've posted this half a dozen times but I will give this broadhead props until the day it fails me but as mentioned above, placement is the key, not the broadhead.
I'll post some photos of a mule deer on the hoof, 12hrs and 7 miles after impact... shot with a Montec :D Had it been a big mechanical, there's slim chance he would have gone that far. Gotta dig them up.
How was the placement? I've never had a deer go more than 60 yards with them. The pictures won't change my mind just like I won't change yours.