My hunting buddy was shooting the NAP killzone max. He always had good success with them until Monday evening. He shot a doe at 23 yards, great shot, and she took off running. She went past another buddy that was in his stand, and he couldn't see any blood coming out or anything. He waited until dark and got down to look for blood and couldn't find any anywhere, he only found the two broadhead blades in the leaves at the point of impact. So apparently the little connector that allows the blades to slide back and open all of the way, snapped on impact and he basically shot the deer with a field tip. First deer in 6 years he has shot and not found. Needless to say, he ordered some fixed blades yesterday. Thoughts?
My first thought is shot placement. Heart or lung shot should have still killed the deer. Questions for you or your buddy.... Did he find the arrow with the broad head and missing blades as well? Was there blood on the blades and arrow? How far away was the 2nd buddy the deer ran past from where the shot took place and how far was the deer from him? Did he grid search for the deer or decide not to look because of no blood? Finding the blades in the dark was a stoke of luck I'd say. Although they are metal so maybe they reflected well from a flashlight. I wouldn't throw away all his mechanical broad heads just because of one failure in 6 years. I've known guys have fixed blades fail too so they aren't perfect either. You take the mechanical part out of the equation with a fixed blade but if the shot was right, the deer should have still died.
I hit a deer with a Grim reaper a couple of years ago which is an over the top head, For reasons unknown, the head did not open until it had passed through the skin leaving only a bullet hole in the hide. It did open perfectly after it pierced the skin and I did recover the deer. I switched to a fixed after that shot. You have to have confidence in your setup.
Id also like to know where he hit the deer. Kinda strange that both blades broke off at impact. a gut shot deer usually will result in very little blood to begin with, so who knows what it would be like with basically just a field tip going through.
My first though is how old was that head and how much was it shot. Anything will eventually succomb to fatigue. Although it obviously could have been just a bad part. Happens to EVERYTHING. Next thought is shot placement. If it was a heart/lung shot she IS dead and most likely in less than 200 yards. I'm not saying I wouldn't switch to fixed blades (I exclusively shoot fixed anyway) but I would bet money that extenuating circumstances occurred (fatigued/failed part, bad shot placement) that led to the failure of the head and recovery of the deer. From the outside looking in I don't think I would necessarily blame the head. Failures happen. I once opened up a new pack of Thunderheads and had a blade break in a target on the 2nd shot with that head. Don't think I would throw away six years of success based off 1 shot.
Well if this is true that means he got both lungs and that deer is dead not very far away. I will agree it is hard to find them without a blood trail no matter how far they go.
He hasn't been shooting these heads for 6 years, just first deer in six years that hasn't been found.
From the sounds of what he found I would say the shot was through the shoulder. I know its easy to get excited and confused about where the shot was but unless he has video all evidence points to a hard bone impact.
If that was the shot then even without blades that is dead deer. Did the blades have blood on them or hit a limb or just fell off in flight? Something fishy but while not a mechanical head fan they have taken their fare share of deer. No matter the head, a bad shot is a bad shot... it happens sooner or later to all.
I've had that pin/screw on a NAP Killzone break it did however retain the blades but that was just a lucky break no pun intended. That said I've heard a failure story with just about every mechanical head out there. It's just a fact of every shot there is a % chance of failure. Fixed heads can fail but the odds are much much lower especially all steel heads. Or just get some VPA's and then something else will break long before the head does. I generally shoot an all steel fixed head except when I hunt certain places where I want the deer to go down much faster. Then I shoot mechanicals however I just deal hunt them, and don't buy any hype. I also stay away from rear deploy heads the entry hole is nice but I prefer designs that will go through bone before deploying. Then you might get a sucky blood trail but the deer won't go far typically they will go down within sight.
Killzone blades will shear off on impact of deer ribs. Killed a buck in 2014 and had a similiar result. Double lunged and recovered within 75 yards. Very poor blood trail. I quit using them that day.
Well, a fancy smancy study may have shown better percentage of recovery with mechs, I still personally feel that's utter BS because I hear several stories every year of just the opposite. A shot may be pulled or be off with a fixed but if I do that it's on me...if I put an arrow where it should be and the damned thing doesn't open, opens too soon and veers, breaks when it hits a spindly rib or gets terrible penetration then that's on the mech and just not acceptable.
I'm shooting NAP spitfires 125gr from a raptor fx xbow. 25 feet up the tree and a 30 yard shot. The arrow entered the 7 point shown below a little high because he ducked around 6" before impact. The arrow was deflected on entry by a rib that broke 1 of the 3 blades. Because the deer ducked down and away, the exit was almost in the exact position as the entry. Absolutely no blood for the first 20 yards and then a pin head every 5 yards after until I reached 60ish yards from shot. then it changed to a pencil eraser head of blood every 5 yards until 100 yards from the shot. At 100 yards, the blood trail was great and I found him at 130 yards from the shot, crashed into a fallen tree. It took me over 2 hours to track him 130 yards even though I heard him crash. The time from shot to crash was under 6 seconds so I thought he was only 50-60 yards away. He was really moving. Before switching to the NAPs, I used Rage 2 blades. Three premature blade deployments in 4 years caused me to switch. Two of which were at deer, one during practice. Nothing worse than watching you arrow corkscrew through the air completely missing the deer. Last year I shot two bucks opening day with these NAPs and had great blood trails. 7point - YouTube
Before switching to the NAPs, I used Rage 2 blades. Three premature blade deployments in 4 years caused me to switch. Two of which were at deer, one during practice. Nothing worse than watching you arrow corkscrew through the air completely missing the deer. Last year I shot two bucks opening day with these NAPs and had great blood trails. 7point - YouTube View attachment 72152 [/QUOTE] I have shot Rage broad heads with 1 blade open, partially open, and have tried to get then to open while in flight couldn't get them to do it and have never seen flight affected by blade status on a Rage head. What I am saying is I have tried to duplicate the failures that some claim to have had happen and have not been able to match the description that users claim to be the fault of the head. Good idea for you to stay away from any mechanical.
I like mechanical and most of my successes with rage were awesome. I'd even say that when everything goes normally, rage has the best entry and exit damage that I have ever seen. I also switched from two blades to three at the same time based on a "pro-staffers" recommendation. Not sure if I buy into the whole vertical vs horizontal entry issue. The final straw was when target practicing at 30 yards from a rest, I had one completely miss the target. I missed the bulls eye by over 16 inches. I can understand skepticism when "buck fever" could come into play, but this was an arrow in the middle of a practice session of 20 shots. I can't believe that you would shoot a rage or any mechanical with 1 blade deployed and not see a difference in arrow flight. That is like a 1 winged airplane flying at 300+ fps. The whole reason for shooting a mechanical is to limit the surface area of the broadhead to prevent planing and allow the fletchings to steer the arrow. Admittedly, my problems were very early in rage's development. Since then, there are collars and replacement o-rings specifically designed to prevent premature deployment. Not trying to start an argument at all. Just giving my opinion. Fixed Blade vs. Mechanical Broadheads | Bowhunting | Realtree
