Wanting to get some opinions from guys who have shot one or both. What are the pros and cons of each and what kind of results did you see ( Blood trail, entrance and exit hole, accuracy, how did the head hold up ) Thanks in advance!
No experience with either. I lean towards more than 2 blades. To that point, I have had good success with the Spitfire Maxx’s the last two years on deer and hogs. I will say, I’m tipping a couple of hog arrows with 2-blade mechanicals this year. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I had actually thought about those as well. How do your fly Planopurist? Did you have to do much tuning or were they pretty much hitting where your field points were?
Zero tuning. I first used them a couple of years ago. I threw the practice blades on and shot out to 40 yards with no noticeable grouping difference than my field points, at least not for my skill level. Since then, I’ve a better tuned bow, better built arrows, and better shooting. Now, I just screw it on and go. If I switch heads, I would practice shoot that head, but not the Spitfire Maxx’s. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I recommend you watch a few episodes of BHOD from back in 13-15. Most of the staff used KZs quite a bit and killed a pile of deer with them. I have shot both but not into an animal. I can say they have the basic same flight profile so should hit to same POA.; both are very accurate heads. The KZ has a bit more to it mechanically so there are more potential failure points; but I don't know anyone who has had a problem with either one really. Given they have the same profile/diameter they should make pretty much the same hole. I did kill 2 bucks with Rage Hypos which are very similar in concept and style to the Slingblade; both deer died pretty quick. One was a perfect pass through double lung where I managed to slip it between ribs on both side (hit no bone at all.) Deer was pretty much broadside so there were 2 perfect vertical 2" openings on both entry and exit side. Bloodtrail was a stream from both sides and he didn't make it 60 yards before flopping over. I imagine both NAPs would have done the same thing.
I should mention that I shoot the 100 grain Trophy Tip version of the Spitfire Maxx. I got 2 pass-thrus on deer in 2016, 16-yards and 25-yard shots. The 25-yd shot broke the offside femur as well. Deer went 10-15 yards. 2017, I got 3 pass-thrus on deer, 1 on a hog. 1 on the deer was a 30-yard shot and the deer never knew he was hit. He flinched, to 3-4 steps and started looking my direction as if trying to figure out what that sound was. Then just tipped over. Another, exited the offside scapula and the meat processor asked me what in the world broadhead did I shoot the deer with. This coming from a man who skins and cleans deer for a living (i.e. seen lots of fatal deer wounds). Two of the guys that hunt on my lease thought I was shooting fixed blades like them, judging from the exit holes. The only non-passthru was a spined hog that fell in its tracks. None of the broadheads have come out damaged on these shots. I’d probably go with a fixed blade for a elk or mule deer out west though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I like the idea of the Killzone for two reasons. 1 I like the idea of the 2 inch cut and 2 I like the idea of rear deploying blades. I like the thought of a big entrance hole just incase you don't get a full pass through and don't have a big exit hole but I also understand the concept of the opening style of the spitfire's. They don't open until after penetration so your blades are still sharp when they get into the body cavity to cut vitals but to the point dnoodles made they are more moving parts in the Killzones which give you more chances for something to go wrong so I guess I just need to close my eyes and pick one lol
What’s your bow and arrow setup? You’ll probably have success with either, particularly the Killzones. However, I don’t like the blade angle of the Killzones. Like most 2” heads, it’s fairly shalllow so penetration can be challenging. Nor am I crazy about an aluminum ferrule being that lone. It seems more prone to breaking. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I shot to kill zone and they are a big head that takes lots of horse power. I wanted to shoot a sling blade but they do not offer a practice head or replacement blades. Now I am shooting the wasp dueler and they are sweet. You can switch between 1.5 inch 2 inch cut Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Bow’s ibo speed is 350 but I don’t know what kind of speed I’m getting. Shooting 70 lb dw with 29 inch dl and arrows are around 410 grains including the 100 grain broadhead. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
You’re probably pushing 300fps. You can shoot almost any broadhead-arrow combination (properly spined) you want and probably get away with it. Your main issue will be budget, not election, as long shooting under 50 yards to most deer? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I've shot and killed deer with both the Killzone and the Slingblade. If I was choosing between the two I would vote for the Killzone given your setup. It's plenty of horsepower to get you the penetration you want. Both heads fly right with field points and I've never had accuracy issues with either one. As stated before the Killzone doesn't always have the best penetration in the world, but keep in mind that's not what it was designed for. Fixed blade heads are designed for max penetration. Mechanicals are designed for big holes and the Killzone certainly leaves those. Entrance holes with the KZ are commonly in excess of 2" in my personal experience. Blood trails are good and recoveries quick if you hit them in the proper spot. The Slingblade works a little differently than the KZ in that the blades are independent of one another and not driven backwards/open during entry. I've only shot one deer with that head and had a complete pass through at 35 yards with a relatively light arrow (under 400 grains). Entry and exit were the same size - guessing 1 1/4" to 1 1/2". Not huge but not small. Blood trail was excellent (heart shot) and recovery was about 60 yards. I don't think you can go wrong either way. If you like the idea of the Slingblade but want a couple extra blades for some added cut check out the Spitfire Doublecross. In essence it's a 4 blade Slingblade. Very deadly and works great.
Thanks for the input Justin! I have been kicking around the idea of the double cross. I don't know anyone who has shot them. You may or may not have but if you have do they fly about like the rest of the Spitfire heads or do you have to make any tuning adjustments due to the 4 blade configuration? I'm hunting in Georgia and 99% of the areas that I will be hunting are hardwood bottoms or pines where I'm not shooting 30 or 40 yards max so I wont be stretching it out like some guys out west who are spot and stalking have to do.
I've shot one deer with the Doublecross and it worked great. For an entire season just about every person on our team used them and we killed something like 30 whitetails with them. No major problems to speak of and they fly no differently than any other mechanical head I've shot. The big drawback to the Slingblade/Doublecross is that the blades aren't held closed by any sort of band, clip or spring. So if you bump them on something in your quiver or on a branch, etc they will start to open up. More of an inconvenience than anything.
I had 2 Doublecross heads fail to deploy the rear blades. Once when hitting a shoulder on a sharp quartering away shot. The deer bellowed; turned 180* and the arrow just popped out. When I recovered the arrow the rear blade had pinched/jammed so hard against the ferrule it snapped and basically acted like a brake. It never opened. I doubt I got more than 2" total penetration. This was about 25 yards with a 65# Mathews Z7x pushing a 435gr TAW arrow at about 275fps. The other time was admittedly not a typical shot- I hit a sapling; I just flat out flubbed the shot. But the resulting fail to deploy was similar. The arrow struck the very edge of the tree; stuck in the bark and the rear blade again pinched shut and didn't open. The arrow just stuck in the side of the bark so hard it bent the shank where it meets the ferrule; but only went in as deep as where the rear blades stick out. Long story short; if you hit bone on entry at an angle the rear blades could easily pinch shut and then you basically got a Slingblade with a judo point behind it. I'm not a NAP hater; but this one has a design flaw that is really exposed on angled shots. The regular Spitfire likely could experience a similar pinch issue in a sharp angle situation. I've killed deer with the Spitfire but all were broadside. It's simple physics. You could take a straightedge and a protractor and figure out the angle from the tip of the head to the outside edge of the rear blades...any angle less than that puts more force on the outside edge of the blade (as opposed to the inside) which would force it shut rather than open.
