The current bow set up that I have shoots 247 fps with 58 ft. lbs of kinetic energy. Is this enough K.E. to use mechanical broadheads like Rage or G5 T3 reliably? I have previously used fixed blades, however they are not tuning as well as I would like them to. Thanks!
No mechanicals for me at any amount of KE. Tune your bow. Find the correct spined arrow. Try a different BH, I like QAD Exodus. I found most BH flight issues come from poor grip. I watched a show last night were a guy shot a deer at 20 yard with a Rage. It looked like it only penetrated 4-5". He even said "I didn't get much penetration but it was a perfect shot". Really? Perfect shot to me is pulling a blood covered arrow out of the ground. Of course they found the deer. It looked bloated like it was there for days.
I have nothing against people choosing to use mechanical broadheads but please don't use them as a cover up for a poorly tuned bow. It's possible that a poor tune will cause a mechanical to under perform even if it flies well. My bow is shooting almost the same specs as yours and I was having trouble getting my broadheads to tune as well. A switch to a stiffer spine arrow solved the trouble for me.
I shot a similar set up a couple years ago. Mechanical broadheads did not deploy for me and I lost two deer as a result until a more experienced bow hunter clued me in. I would fix your tuning issue and stay with fixed blades. Look at slick tricks. It is a solid fixed blade head that required very little tuning. I recovered every deer since switching. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
You are on the edge for a mechanical. I shoot 60# @ 28.5" draw and wouldn't consider using a mechanical for anything but turkeys. Slicks are a consistent head for me, (as well as German Kinetics or Solids when I have a lot of extra spending money).
Thanks for the replies. It looks like I will stay with fixed blades. I will try re-tuning again and see what happens and then switch to a different broadhead.
What broadheads are you having trouble with? What is your arrow spine? How are the broadheads impacting in relationships to the field points?
I am using G5 strikers. The broadheads are impacting about 3.5-4 inches left of the field points. When I slightly adjust the rest, Both the field points and the broad heads move right equal amount. I am shooting Gold Tip 400s.
Don't know how much weight you are drawing but 400's are a very light shaft. With my 60# draw weight @ 28.5" I shoot 340's and it seems to be a great combination.
Here are a couple suggestions that might help. 1. Try moving the rest in a smaller increment. Sometimes you can jump over the sweet spot and not know that anything was changed. 2. Give you limb bolts a series of 1/4 turns in. A left impact indicates a possible stiff arrow and a little more draw weight might fix it. (if your shooting a left handed bow, reverse this advice) 3. Have a bow shop check your cam timing and/or adjust your yolks.
I agree with elkguide. 400 is right on the line between 340 and 400 spine on the chart for a 60 lb bow. However, with a right hand bow, left of the field point impact indicates a stiff arrow. This seems counter intuitive unless the op is left handed.
Yes. Really do need a little bit more info. I'm thinking that the cams might not be quite in time to be jumping/moving that much but then that is truly just a guess without more backround.
I am shooting a left handed bow. Would this indicate that I should try a stiffer arrow like a 340 spine?
Some good advice here. My 10 cents: If you are right on the line when it comes to choosing your spine, I always tend to go with the stiffer option. I would go with 340's.
OK. A lefty so that does indicate a weak spine. As many have said, try some 340 spined arrows and I'm guessing that that will solve your issue.
If you want to test our advice without spending a large amount of money, I recommend the Beman white box arrows. They are 340 spine, cut to 29.5 inches and only run around $25 per box. Walmart arrows in the 60-70 pound rating would work too.
