People pass that shot on a doe or small buck, big rack people talk themselves into shots they can't make.
The reason they are afraid of the shot is that they never climb down out of their stands to hunt. It's all about limited scope and experience. To the OP, the broadhead choice is half your issue. If there is worse penetrating head for anything other then broadside shot then killzone I have yet to see it.
Let me try to explain the shot placement & maybe see if it was a broad head failure. I used a Rage Xtreme 2.3"cut. Shot placement between the middle of the brisket & shoulder. The arrow hit the mark. I wonder if the head just didn't expand or if it glanced off bone. I'll admit I got an itching finger, but I didn't rush the shot, took my time with it. Maybe just a bad decision. I guess for me it's a live & learn situation. I just hope the deer makes till next year.
It hit something. In that spot there is nothing more than ribs to contend with. You either hit the shoulder or the brisket. I would personally go with a smaller head, like the hypodermic or grim reaper 1 3/8"
Light and fast if you want to try to take some of the string jump factor. Heavy if you want penetration. Take good shots if you don't want to see them bound off with a wound.
With that broad head and that placement, I would wager at least one side of the blades hit the front edge of the shoulder. That is one thing with two blade mechanical. If it goes in with the blades vertical, they can slip through easily, if they go in horizontal, they likely hit any bone within an inch either way. Direct broadside the shoulder is pretty thin, you turn that shoulder and you increase the amount of bone you are cutting through and if you hit the edge it is like trying to shoot through the leg bone.
The head opened, I use Rage heads and don't like angles like that especially with an extreme. I use a piledriver with a 125 grain hypo, I don't use this setup to take marginal shots from a tree I use that set up incase I get a marginal impact. Not being preachy I just learned from experience. I still have a broken arrow (not a piledriver) with my tag for that season hanging on the arrow with a trail cam pic of a the buck standing in the same position as when I took my shot on him sitting on a shelf in my office.
Then why the hell do you use them things? It's asinine what **** poor performance bowhunters are excepting, wait not even excepting welcoming from their broadheads. Just use a solid fix blade head and avoid all the issue and it kills the deer just as dead.
Whats your draw length? Personally i just think the big cut diameter of that broadhead was a big problem. If that was a smaller diameter or a fixed blade it may have punched through. That is not a shot i will take but ive seen a few shots like work out at close distances
You mean like hitting solid bone that will stop a fixed head? Or the huge cutting diameter saving you on a marginal shot? They are every bit as effective (if not more effective in many cases) than a fixed head. Time for the fixed head nazis in the bowhunting world to hang it up and quit living in denial or delusion.
I have another story about using a slick trick, I am not one to blame any broad head. I think there are more stories of failures as hunters vs failures of broad heads but people find it easier to blame the outcome without an honest analysis of what lead up to the failure.
Sounds like your a bit wet behind the ears if you think you have better chance of getting a mechical though bone intact that an fixed blade, more so if your looking for " huge cutting" diameter to bail your *** out on marginal hits. Having killed more then my share of game with mechanical heads it's became very clear that they have serious short comings in a lot of situations. I am not denying the existence of many inexperienced bowhunters who have been more experience with marketing hype then actually bowhunting so my advocation of more reliable conservative designs may help someone at some point.
If you want to shoot through bone. Probably best to use a gun. Doesn't mean a bow and arrow can't do it, but it is touchy. I've done it on quartering away shots, but I've read of too many people having problems with quartering to shots hitting shoulders to try with a bow. Shooting through both shoulders with an expandable sounds iffy to me. Could have happened though I guess? I like a heavier arrow because of a harder hit on initial impact. You will have a better chance on bone with a heavier arrow. You will have a better chance getting through bone with a fixed broadhead also. Heavier arrows are supposed to be quieter also. I would just try to stay away from the quartering to shots and your arrow set up shouldn't matter. Advantages to both sides of the arrow/broadhead debates. Comes down to your preference.
Failure to execute is just as likely with any broadhead. However it's about controlling as many variables possible. By eliminating as many potential points of failure in the Broadhead design you have that many less variables to consider when you analyze what took place. It in fact makes it easier to to except self blame and improve.
Trial exibit A would be my 2014 buck. A mature 237 pound dressed Buck. Broadside shot Rage titanium with a CX piledriver total weight 456 grains. Entered shoulder blade arrow kept going exited other shoulder blade. The arrow broke and the rage was found just inside the skin, dead buck 50 yards later. You could not have had a better result using a fixed head. Marginal shots happen sometimes it is the hunters fault sometimes its the deer moving. I learned from that experience and moved up another 25 as insurance. Don't be condescending just keep your comments on the facts in this case.
Dry enough to know you're and your. lol...but I digress... I think you need to read what I wrote about 3 times..then read it again. I said bone that will stop a fixed blade. If you would like videos of animals running off with a 3 inches of penetration from a fixed head there are plenty of them out there. Let me guess though...wasn't the heads fault??? You know what you sound like? The guy that has an incessant need to be right for the sake of his ego. Look at me...I'm right dammit!!! Why is everyone else so stupid??? Sorry, bud, but the evidence is there...keep sailing on that river of denial. Both types of heads are effective...both have pros and cons...like every other damn thing in life.
