I was putting my arrows together, and noticed my old broadheads are not very sharp at all, and the new broadheads werent much sharper they are muzzy mx-4, i know many people many not like them but i have never had a problem with them. how sharp do the blades need to be? in theory something going that fast shouldnt have to be sharp at all, because regardless it is going to go through a deer. is my theory ok?
I use the G5 strikers, I will get a pack of replacment blades for last years heads, and pick up a new pack also. I have never seen sharper blades. The sharper they are the better they bleed.
No, your theory is not OK. Less sharpness will create more drag/resistance and that will slow the arrow down much faster. With a "light and fast" arrow you magnify the problem. Think of cutting a dinner steak with a butter knife as opposed to a razor. The razor will slice through with ease (not much drag/resistance) while the butter knife will take effort (due to drag/resistance). You also want to think about this: If you scratch yourself with something dull it clots much faster than if you were to slice yourself witha razor. A less than razor sharp BH is irresponsible, IMO.
This is the main thing. Do modern bows usually pack enough energy to punch a dull broadhead through? Absolutely. But you want that deer to bleed out quickly, and to KEEP bleeding if it's a less-than-stellar hit. I've found at least two deer that I can directly correlate to having razor-sharp heads that produced wounds that were less than optimal in placement simply because those deer bled out. Again, think of nicking your neck with a razor... a FRESH razor. Sometimes I'll be still wearing that little folded-up square of tissue a couple hours later to keep that sucker from bleeding...
Sharp as you can get them...and the Muzzy mx-4's are usually sharp out of the package. So are the regular Muzzy's. One heck of a post by Rancid... http://forums.bowhunting.com/showthread.php?t=16797&highlight=sharpening
Not to sound like an expert in biology but back in the day when i first took a bowhunting safety course i remember going over this. They used a 4"x4" plastic square and had rubber bands running horizontal and verticle representing the veins/arteries inside a deer, by quickly pushing an arrow through the rubberbands they showed how many more are cut by a sharp broadhead as compared to a dull one which basically just moved the rubberbands. The point of the story is a fast moving arrow can push some of the veins and arteries aside as it goes by rather then slicing them. Just a little thought to help with quicker kills and bigger blood trails.
Number 1. It is absolutely necessary to hunt with razor sharp broadheads. This has absolutely NOTHING to do with penetration. Broadheads kill by hemoragic shock (bleeding to death) not blunt force trama (beaten to death). The veins and arteries cut exude a substance called elastin. This elastin makes the torn vein constrict slowing the blood loss. The sharper the cut, the less elastin is exuded and the more the vein stays open, the faster the animal bleeds out and dies, the faster/more likely you are to find him. If you use dull heads, the veins are torn and not cut. They exude more elastin, the deer bleeds less, runs off further and perhaps does not even die. Please be a responsible hunter and only use shaving sharp heads. Thanks!
At the speeds bows are shooting now days I'm sure a little dull don't hurt too much but I still like them shaving sharp. If I can't easily shave hair from my arm they get sharpened.
guess i will have to practice up on my sharpening skills, i tried one on my knife sharpening stone, and couldnt get it any sharper than when i started. even new out of the box, my muzzy's are sharp enough to shave with.
If you are not very good at sharpening blades you can buy a broadhead sharpener. Thats what i am going to do when I buy my Mangus Stinger SS. I have to use a knife sharpener on my knives. Just one of those few things I am not good at.
I've never used more than three. two on one deer and one on a cat. I was given 4 by a friend and I bought a 3 pack. I have extras.
It has to be as sharp as you need to kill it. Wounding an animal is not acceptable if it can be avoided.
I use the rubber band method taught to me in the International Bowhunter Education Program ( IBEP ) , i got 4" x 6" photo frame , stretch rubber bands all around it and push my broadhead through . If it snaps the bands I'm good to go , if it doesn't I sharpen them till they do ....... Simple
