I bought the Rage 3-Blade broadheads this year, and to tell you the truth I was very disappointed. I wasn't able to connect on an elk this year, and yes I'm sure the results are devastating, but my problem with them is that they're so high maintenence. I take an ATV about 6-8 miles in on an incredibly rough road, then get off and walk a in a couple of miles through a lot of brush. The o-rings on them would never hold a lock on my blades, and in a couple of instances were actually cut by my blades while still in my quiver just walking around. Yes, they are probably great out of a treestand, but walking mile after mile hunting elk they just made me more frustrated than anything. If anyone has a response it would be great, even to debate my dislike or give me an example of what they did when the arrow penetrated an animal.
I have nothing to debate but I purchased the same ones to try this season. I don't know why if the band is on tight it would move around and come apart even with a bunch of walking. Would love to hear from others what they think or have experienced also. I am really looking forward to trying them in a few days!!
Elkoholics Anonymous has no idea how the blades lock. The orings are for shock absorbtion on if you hit bone etc. They have nothing to do with the Locking of the blades! Yes the blades are a little difficulte to lock properly, you must wiggly them a little untill they grab propperly. However it is extremly easy for those who are not totaly dumb. Once the blades are locked CORRECTLY they remain so. I travel and hike with my bow a lot and have had no problem as long as I take the time to check and secure all my stuff properly, What any good hunter will do before leveaing for the hunt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I haven't tried putting them in my quiver yet. I haven't decided if I am going to try them now this week or go with a fixed blade. I am a little upset with myself that I went with the 3 blade instead of the 2 blade. I might go pick those up instead and get rid of the 3 blades. I haven't heard to much good stuff about them.
Calling someone totally dumb when you have several mis-spellings in there may not be the "smartest" thing to do :smash:
I also like that fact that it was his first and only post so far on the boards. That is a great way to make a great first impression!
I can't really add anything to the "rage" comments. I've not used expandables for all the usual reasons. But mainly the "If it ain't broke don't fix it." reason. Good, solid, sharp broadheads have done the job for years and will continue. When I hear some guys talking about hitting a deer anywhere and killing it because of the "Huge Hole!", it makes me sad. They have lost sight of the need for good shot placement, understanding the anatomy of the animal and when not to take the shot. Shot placement is number one.
Bowman, thanks for enlightening me! I guess hunting for 16 days and working with them everyday I never figured out how they lock properly, haha. I promise I will work on my intelligence though and maybe next year I'll figure out how to get my release to lock!!!
I definitely agree with you Carp and Jferg about the shot placement being the ultimate key. I have never been one to take stupid shot's hoping that a huge cutting diameter would bail me out. Basically, I've been shooting expandables for year for the fact that they shoot so much better in my eyes than most fixed blades. I haven't shot one thats been any different than the field points I shoot. I used to go with the Rocket Arrowheads and they were very reliable for me, I just switched to the Rage this years because of the hype about them (yea i'm an idiot ). If you guys have any suggestions for some fixed blades that fly great with 5575 Gold Tip XT Hunters with blazer vanes that shoot roughly 280 FPS I would greatly appreciate it because I definitely know that fixed blades are the most reliable and fail proof tips you can use!
I'm shooting the NAP Crossfire's @ 310FPS on Easton Axis Nano's with Blazers and an arrow weight of 403gr. They fly like a fieldpoint and are pretty tough broadheads.
Thanks Race, that was another thing I was considering. I heard the Axis' are a great arrow with a stiffer spline. I was probably going to switch to those pretty soon.
"just switched to the Rage this years because of the hype about them (yea i'm an idiot )." I won't call you an idiot for that. (I reserve the right to for something else, like if you vote for Obama) I'm also shooting about 280fps out of my new bow. I'm going to use Muzzy 3 blade heads for the first time. I shot a recurve with wood arrows tipped with grizzly El Grande or Ace super express before this year. The reason for Muzzy, Christine has shot them for some time now and I've seen her drop several deer and a hog within sight. (big plus not having to track an animal on public ground) Two, they're available most everywhere so if you need more you just might be able to find them at wally world. They don't fly like my field points but I can live with that. It's deer season. Time for broadheads. I had to move my sights to where the muzzys were hitting. ('bout 2 in at 20 yards) Now they're right on at anywhere from 11 to 32 yards that I've shot so far. When Hunting season's over I'll move the sight back for fp. Good luck to you.
Yea man I shot Muzzy's several years ago and I also killed just fine. I just have a mental block telling me that FB heads just won't fly like expandables, which is sometimes true at longer distances and when it comes to hunting elk, you never know where you're shot might be, from 5 ft. to 50 yds! I just may switch to FB though because of the high maintenence factor and the fact I worked on getting my hair gray worrying about the heads the whole time . Oh and the comment about Obama, it would be a cold day in HELL before I voted for that man!!! Good luck on the season, mine is over already with nothing down, that's the downfall of living in Colorado! I want to make a trip for a deer hunt somewhere if you have any suggestions, I don't even know where to start looking for that.
Thanks for the tip OKbow, that's something I'll definately look into. What vanes do you shoot with those, because I shoot 2" blazers.
2" Gateway Rayzr Feathers is what I use. But before I used those feathers I was using blazers and they worked just as well. I was just wanting a change:d
Certainly can't argue with the good shot placement argument. However, the if it ain't broke argument would put us all back to shooting recurves and hand-sharpening our broadheads. There is nothing wrong with shooting recurves and resharpenable broadheads, I did that when I was younger and I killed a few deer, but when compounds came out, they were definitely an improvement as were replaceable blade broadheads and I wouldn't go back now for anything. I feel the same way about expandable broadheads. They DO fly better than any non-expandable head that I have used, and they DO cut a fairly wide swath through the animal as they expand. I don't think that most hunters that use expandables use them so that they can lob an arrow at a running deer in thick brush at 75 yards knowing that if they hit the deer anywhere, it will die from the "huge hole" that the expandable has made. Unfortunately, there will always be "trash" hunters that take shots they shouldn't, break game laws, poach, and whatever. That has nothing to do with their choice of hardware. They would do the same thing with a stick bow and field points if given the chance. However, all of us (including you purists that use only recurves and non-expandables) have made shots on animals that didn't turn out exactly as we had planned and perhaps an expandable blade may have made the difference between a long, difficult +/- successful tracking and a quicker, more humane death for that animal. Being and elk hunter, that could come in real handy for Elkaholics, seeing as how elk are notorious for traveling a long way after even a well-placed shot. This seems to be the same ol' argument that we have had over the ages amongst ourselves that anyone that uses anything new in terminal hunting equipment, be it compound bows, carbon arrows, or inline muzzleloaders, they somehow take away from the sport. That may be the case for you and that's fine, but that doesn't mean it has to be the case for everyone else. Let's all have fun, hunt safely, and let each other choose what we feel is the best equipment for ourselves. Elkoholics asked for information as to what he needed to do differently with his Rage expandables and all I can see that he got is a rant from some jerk in Florida, and a bunch of pontification from a bunch of nice, well-meaning guys about his choice of expandables, which helped noone as far as I can tell. Can anyone actually answer his question, please? P.S. - Elkaholics. Anywhere in Pike county Illinois would be a good place to deer hunt if you have the $$$. I also have a friend that guides a little further north in Illinois that I could check with for you if you don't wanna spend TV hunting show host money on a deer hunt.
